Great Places, Great Faces…

For a couple of years now, we’d been discussing a trip to South Dakota. Neither Aaron nor I had been to the Black Hills or seen Mount Rushmore and thought our kids were about the right age to enjoy it – and make the drive without too much complaint – especially with the much-anticipated stop at Wall Drug to stretch their legs towards the end! To make things even better, Aaron’s aunt and uncle have lived in the area for years now, so we would get to visit them and have knowledgable tour guides. It’s one of my favorite ways to travel 🙂

We started off with a bang and went to Mount Rushmore our first morning there. It was a beautiful day and super fun to see, even if some of the paths were closed for construction. We were able to see George Washington from several different angles, because – knowledgeable tour guide 🙂 The kids earned their first Junior Ranger badges of the trip while we were there.

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While Mount Rushmore might be one of the most well-known places to visit in the area, we were able to enjoy several other attractions. I’m a huge planner, but I didn’t do much research or planning going into this trip, knowing that others would know where to take us. I have to admit, it was a nice change to have someone else leading the way. Place we visited included…

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Reptile Gardens: We were able to catch the shows with birds, snakes, and crocodiles. Aaron was extra thankful that only the bird show was interactive for us, and we were able to sit in the back row for the snake show! The kids were also able to play on the playground there, and we saw lots of other animals.

Jewel Cave: The elevators were down at both Jewel Cave and Wind Cave, which ruled out most of the tours. Thankfully, our tour guide hooked us up with the historic lantern tour. It was just about the right amount of challenging for the littlest legs, without being too hard or too long. (Meaning, we didn’t hear complaints!) The kids were able to get another Junior Ranger Badge after our tour. We also got both kids a souvenir of the trip – a hat for all of their ranger badges!

Custer State Park Wildlife Loop: While we enjoyed all of our time spent with our tour guide(s) on this trip, I think Aaron especially enjoyed it during our drive on the Wildlife Loop. He was able to enjoy all there was to see instead of having to pay attention to the road. We stayed in our car when the buffalo roamed by (and were able to have really good discussions with the kids about making safe choices about interacting with wildlife when others did not stay in their cars…) and, saw the not-so-wild burros, and Devon especially enjoyed spotting the prairie dogs.

The Mammoth Site: I had no idea this place existed, but it was so fun! On this tour, we got to see an active archaeological dig site and learn about how scientists think so many mammoths ended up buried in the same place. Strangely enough, there was someone in our (small) tour group who works for the same company as Aaron, just out of their Bozeman office instead of the Ames office. We tend to see fellow Workivans everywhere we go, although we’re usually closer to home when we do, but Aaron was happy to be able to declare it an official trip after we saw a co-worker.

Sylvan Lake: We were able to take a beautiful walk around and hike near Sylvan Lake before brunch one morning. Impending breakfast foods were a great motivation for the kids, but we still had to stop and take a snack break mid-way through. Although I’d love to live closer to the mountains, I’m not sure I could handle the number of snacks it would take to get my kids through our hikes 🙂

Crazy Horse Memorial: We could see Crazy Horse off in the distance from Aaron’s aunt’s house. We could even spot it when Devon woke me up for the sunrise (which I was thankful for, but would have been more thankful if he hadn’t woken me up on a cloudy morning the first time…) We got so busy doing other things that I wasn’t sure we would actually make it there, but we went on our last afternoon. We were accompanied by Aaron’s uncle, who actually worked on Crazy Horse for years (and has done work on Mount Rushmore – I think he helped with Abe’s nose job, if I’m remembering correctly…) It was nice to hear about his experiences and wander around all the exhibits for a bit.

Aunt Denise’s house: I always enjoy being able to connect with people in their “natural habitats.” The kids (and adults!) are able to interact so much more than when we gather in a public space or only for a couple of hours at a time. Some of the simple pleasures the kids enjoyed were:
– Aunt Denise being an early riser and telling the kids they could get up with her in the morning. (We always make them stay in bed if they wake up before 7AM. They can read, but getting up is so much more fun. They’re obviously not teenagers yet…)
– The plastic bowl of water she let them use on her deck, which was a swimming pool for some LEGO people they brought. There was a diving platform set up at one point and only one LEGO person fell between the slats of the deck and had to be rescued!
– They helped shuck corn for dinner and Chloe made the husks into pigtails and a skirt. For herself. It was shower night. It all worked out.
– The kids used a large set of dominoes for pretty much everything except playing the game – chain reaction falling and using them as building blocks were favorites!
– We were able to get out some energy taking walks on her property, waving to the cows that wandered near our path, and occasionally stopping to hug a tree. Totally normal.
– She also showed us some of her “usual haunts” in Custer, including a stop at the post office. The kids loved looking through her collection of post cards and picking a few to send to friends and family. And a few more to take home, possibly to send back to Denise!

Amazingly, the drive home, despite everyone being tired after days of being on-the-go, went well. We listened to audiobooks, the kids drew pictures of the dogs they were so dearly missing, and we stopped at the Corn Palace – which we were totally unimpressed by. One of my favorite trips to date!

Here’s to 2018!

For our family, and many others I know, 2017 was a rough year.

I don’t want to be a Debbie Downer. It certainly wasn’t all bad. I delivered a healthy baby to help complete a family. Our kids continued to do well with their schoolwork and enjoy homeschooling. We travelled to view an eclipse in totality and explore the mountains. Most importantly – we were healthy, safe and had a roof over our heads.

But looking back, it just feels like there were a lot of struggles for our family and those we love. There are many things from this last year that just plain sucked. Over the course of the year, we learned, or were reminded, that we can’t control others’ actions; only our own reactions. We learned about perseverance and taking things one day at a time. And we learned about love and loss, firsthand.

While 2017 may have been a year of unintended lessons learned, we’re hoping that the start of a new year gives our family a sort of fresh start. While life continually gives us chances to learn from our mistakes and struggles, we’re looking forward to the lessons we can learn from our triumphs and adventures in 2018.

Follow along and I’ll do my best to keep you up-to-date on our adventures – by plane, train and automobile!

28 weeks and counting

According to BabyCenter, BabyMort weighs about 2 1/4 pounds and is 14.8 inches long.  She can open and close her eyes – her eyes that now have cute little eyelashes.  She’s adding on body fat and her muscle tone is improving. 

I’m feeling pretty good.  I’ve still been having heartburn, hip pain and lower back pain.  I’ve had trouble falling asleep the past couple nights, but I think I’m just adjusting to the time change.  The good news, is that once I’ve fallen asleep, I’ve been sleeping much better and woken up with less back achiness.  Thanks new bed!!

At 28 weeks, I’m considered to be in my 3rd trimester, regardless of what you read.  (Different sources have it starting anywhere between week 26 and now.)  28 weeks feels like a much bigger milestone for me, personally, though.  My mom delivered my older brother by emergency c-section at only 28 weeks.  When she was pregnant with me, she was put on bedrest at 28 weeks and I still arrived 7 weeks early.  

This is what my brother looked like at 2 days old.  When he was born, he weighed in at 2 pounds and was 14.5 inches long.  He spent the next 12 weeks in the hospital and had a lot of close calls.  My mom and dad were told that he would have cerebal palsy and would be in a wheelchair.  Well, 25 years later…

…here he is with his beautiful 2-day-old daughter.

Although my brother is living proof that a baby could survive, and thrive – living a normal, healthy life – if born at this point, I hope that Chloe will happily stay put for the next 12 weeks (or at least close!!) growing bigger and stronger every day.   I consider myself lucky that I’ve had a healthy pregnancy so far and hope that I will continue to be so lucky!!

Through the eyes of a 7 year-old

I have a great little brother, Roarke, who is 7 years old.  He lives about 2 hours away and we only get to see eachother every couple months.  He and his mom just moved so that they’re about a block away from my dad, so he’s been getting to spend more time with him, and as a result, I’ve spent a lot more time talking to him on the phone.  Between our phone conversations and seeing eachother every now and then, he makes me laugh a lot.  Since my sister-in-law got pregnant, there have been some great baby-related ‘Roarke-isms’ that I don’t want to forget!!

• Justin and Becky called Roarke to tell him they were pregnant when they were about 9 weeks along.  His mom was in the background feeding him questions, so he asked, “How far along are you?”  When they told him they were 9 weeks along, he responded, “Well why didn’t’ you tell me 9 weeks ago?!?”
• Then he started suggesting names for them.  His favorite show is Ben 10: Alien Force on Cartoon Network.  So Roarke suggested to Justin and Becky that they name their baby “Ben” if it’s a boy and “Gwen” if it’s a girl, because that’s like Ben only for a girl.  They said they hadn’t decided on any names, but Roarke was pretty insistent.
• Roarke and my dad came to visit when I was about 6 weeks pregnant, so we told them in person.  Roarke’s response was, “but you’re not even fat!!”  Becky was starting to show, and the typical image of a pregnant woman is when she’s big towards the end, so I can see where that was coming from.  I didn’t fit into his schema for someone who’s pregnant – or “fat” as the case may be 😀
• I called my dad one day when he and Roarke were hanging out.  I had just started experiencing morning sickness, so when my dad asked how I was feeling, I told him this.  Roarke heard tid-bits of the conversation and then asked my dad what that was.  My dad very nicely explained to him that sometimes when a woman is pregnant, she gets an upset stomach.  After that, Roarke and I talked for a minute, then he hung up with me and immediately called Becky to see if she had a stomachache.
• After we heard the heartbeat, I called my dad to let him know.  Roarke was just coming in the door, so I got a chance to talk to him as well.  He asked something along the lines of ‘why did you call’ or ‘what have you been doing’ so I told him that we’d heard the baby’s heartbeat and I wanted to tell dad about it.  He responded, with a tone implying that I was crazy, with, “You heard the baby’s heartbeat…huh…”  I quickly changed the subject, because I didn’t think I’d convince him!!

I still have a hard time believing that Roarke is as old as he is.  I was there when he was born and was one of the first to hold him, feed him, change him, etc…  It was amazing.  I imagine that it will be even more special with our baby next summer.  And I can’t wait to see how Uncle Roarke handles having baby nieces and/or nephews around next year!!