On the Fourth Day of Vacation

As our vacation continued we packed up camp and headed back to town and our hosts, the Frees. We took a rather meandering route making several stops along the way.  First we did a little hiking at camp. Then we headed to Prairie Berry Winery to taste some new vintages and some old favorites.  We did, of course, bring some home with us as well.  Then, since SD has had more rain than it ever did while we lived there, we wanted to see the Pactola Reservoir full instead of 30 feet below full.  After arriving back in town and doing a few loads of laundry we had supper with our friend Cynthia at our old house.  Cynthia taught with Nate and then bought our house when we moved.  She's made it her own with lots of vibrant colors and cats but it was fun to visit the place we called home for so long.  Cynthia made a great supper and her foster daughter made an apple crisp for dessert.  Later in the evening Nate put the kids to bed back at Frees while I headed out for drinks with two gal pals, Dayna and Erin. We caught up, laughed, and I found out Erin is expecting again! It was another great vacation day.

Day 3

On our third day we made it to the most popular destination in SD, Mount Rushmore.  In the years we lived in SD we visited often enough to have favorite parts in the informational movies.  The boys had vague memories that visiting refreshed, but for Lydia it was like seeing everything for the first time.  She was wowed by the vastness of the monument and for the first time the boys started to understand the history of it.  It was a great, great visit. 

Our day came to a close with dinner with our friends the Larson's at Alpine Inn in Hill City.  Nathan and I've dined there before with friends and on our last SD anniversary, but this was the kids' first visit.  For dinner the menu is limited to two sizes of fillet mignon or a hot dog for the kids.  The boys picked the steak so at ages 6 & 7 they dined on fillet mignon.  Crazy fun.  Thanks, Larson's for taking the time to treat us to dinner. It was unforgettable. 

Day 2

On our second day in SD we headed to the Hills to hike with our friend Denise. This was a hike we'd done several times before and were eager to do again.  It was AWESOME.  We also set up our tent at Sheridan Lake campground and made our home away from home for the next two days. For supper that night we dined with our friends the Smiths.  It was an evening of catching up and memory making. Thanks for everything Smiths.

ps. I took lots of hiking pictures and only one at Smiths. I guess I was too busy enjoying the evening. :o)

Day 1 in Pictures

We spent the afternoon hiking Boulder Hill with Pastor & Mary.

Our family on top of Boulder Hill with the glorious Hills in the background.

My three little mountain goats.  They loved climbing around the rocks.  Lydia even declared, "I AM a mountain girl!"

Evan wanted to venture off the path on the way down. He was with a college age friend so I let him give it a try. The satisfied look on his face after making it down was enough to know it was the right hike for our adventurous son.

Home. Sweet. Home. Or perhaps, Hills. Sweet. Hills.

Just breathe.

On the Road

Check out all the wind turbines in southern Minnesota along I-90.

Those are fields of ripe sunflowers. It was such a beautiful drive.

Sunflowers with a Wall Drug sign seemed a little iconic.

We were traveling at the close of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. There were literally 100s of bikes rumbling down the road with us

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Summer vacation is comming to an end and what better way to celebrate that end than with a family vacation. Last week we enjoyed just that. Friday, after Nathan was finished with work we headed to his parents, from there we left Saturday morning for Rapid City, SD. Since we called Rapid home for seven years it was a familiar drive as we eagerly headed west.

Discovery World

Last Saturday we got together with my college roommate Bekah and her family for a day of discovery. We met up at the Discovery World museum in Milwaukee. It was a beautiful day filled with seven kids exploring, playing, laughing, and learning while the adults used them as an excuse to do the same.  As we headed our separate ways the kids were very disappointed our time together had gone so quickly. The adults agreed.  Here is a peak at what we saw and did.

Frees!

From l to r: Lydia, Jon, Pastor, Hans, James, Evan, Mary

We had some fun company a few weeks back. Four of the six Frees stopped over for an evening since they were in the neighborhood. Really they had a family wedding to attend and a son to visit but we'll take a visit for any reason. Our boys lapped up the attention from their boys. Lydia took a little warming up but eventually made friends with everyone. Of course time moved too quickly as we visited, caught up on each others lives, and shared the evening. Thankfully we'll be in their neck of the woods soon so we'll have more time together. Thanks for stopping Frees. Please come again.

EAA Airventure 2010: Take Two

A big highlight at AirVenture is daily airshow. There is such a variety of show planes from military to civilian, jets to sail planes, helicopters to triplanes, deafeningly loud to nearly silent. This year EAA added another piece of variety, a night airshow. It was amazing. The first acts were very well lit planes with special effects lighting on a variety of places.  Then, as the night grew darker, some planes added pyrotechnic effects.  These were even more impressive. Finally the evening ended with fireworks.  In this video you can see a brief piece of the daytime show and then several highlights of the night show.  Enjoy.  As mentioned earlier, we're looking forward to next year.

EAA Airventure 2010: Take One

One of the joys of Oshkosh is the annual EAA Airventure. Each July approximately 600,000 people and 10,000 airplanes gather for the greatest aviation gathering in the Unites States. Like any trade show type event one can find everything from casual observers to dedicated enthusiasts.  Here are a few of our still pictures from the week. We watched many of the daily airshows, wandered the grounds on foot and in a jeep, and took advantage of some perks of Nathan's new job being on the airport property. It was a great week and we're looking forward to next year.

Visiting the Trailer

Smile! Or at least sit still for just a second please.

Evan, Grace, and Hans in the splash pool.

Just a swingin'.

On a sunny summer we were invited to go with some school friends to their trailer (permanently parked large camper) to play, swim, picnic, and visit. We had a great time! The kids loved playing on the deck, catching minnows in the pond, swimming in the two pools, jumping on the jumping pillow (giant inflatable pillow), wading in the lake, swinging on the tire swing, and visiting with friends. Dee Ann and I visited and played right along with the kids. It was a beautiful, relaxing day just right for summer. Thanks for a great day Dee Ann, Grace, and Cooper!

Summer Activity: Read to a Dog

This activity isn't just a summer activity but a program at the library that happens several times a year. It is, however, a great excuse for me to keep the boys reading during the summer. We all signed up for the summer reading program and read 20 minutes a day and for eight Mondays the boys 20 minutes was to a variety of dogs. This picture was taken the last day of the summer session when they were short a dog so the boys got to share the dog.