South Dakota bound- Day 2 (6/9)

 We spent all of Monday in Sioux Falls.  Woke up to rain, but it actually worked in our favor!  I had only planned on the Zoo, Butterfly House/Outdoor Campus, and Falls Park but with the rain, I needed to find something indoor.  I had read about the Washington Pavilion and all that's in it (Science Center/Museum, Omni theater, art museum, music hall, etc.) but was kind of under the impression that the science center would be outdated and not much for Logan to do.  We decided to give it a try and it was really fun!  3 floors of stuff to explore. We spent the morning at the science center, went to the Zoo around Noon or so and then the Butterfly House/Outdoor Campus until they closed, before ending at Falls Park.

Tornado ride.  $1 for some windy fun.

 Logan loved all the cute space toys!

 There was a fun young kids room with tunnels, slides, climbing stuff and a big water table.

Once the kids got the hang of this robot, it was pretty neat.  You had to program the directions on the computer and it took off.

 Harley Davidson had an exhibit with motorcycle simulators.  It was pretty cool.  You could decorate your ride, hence Em's purple flames.  Let's hope this is the only time she's ever dressed like that, on a motorcycle.

 Faster you pump, faster the train moves...

Time for the Zoo! 

This bear was a riot.  He was in the far back for a while, we were hoping he'd come closer.  He started walking towards us, scratched himself on a log, sat on a rock and stared at us.  It even looked like he was waving.

Luke was looking at the monkeys and said that he saw something on one of their backs.  Sure enough, a baby!  It was so little and they move so fast that I'm not sure I would have spotted it.

The start of our South Dakota "smashed" penny collection!  The kids ended up filling an entire tri fold album.  The zoo was fun and I'm glad we went but, I don't think we would come back here again.  It just wasn't one of the better ones we've been too.  It was worth it to see the funny sitting bear and the adorable baby back monkey though!

After the Zoo, we went to a place called The Outdoor Campus, which is affiliated through the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks and is free.  Cute place for the kids to run around and play with some fun things.  Air conditioning, clean bathrooms and cold water too!  It is right across the parking lot from the Sertoma Butterfly House and a huge playground that looked really fun.  But, we still had the Butterfly House and Falls Park with only a few hours left and the kids didn't want to give up pool time!

The Sertoma Butterfly House was pretty neat.  Small, but has a marine cove and some touch tanks also.  Plus a cute kids playroom with books, etc.  One of those places you try once!

 Our final stop of the day was Falls Park.  It seems like everyone passing through on vacation must stop here.  Nearly every license plate in the parking lot was different!

 We walked up to the observation tower which was fun.  Great view.

 There was a U.S. Air Force plane making several touchdowns and passing by a lot.  Of course, Daddy found a spot off the road to take a video.  We got back to the hotel, Daddy took the big kids to the pool and I tried to get Logan to bed at a decent time.  Like before 10 pm :)

South Dakota bound- Day 1 (6/8)

 We made it home!  Dave is back to work today, Stella came home from the kennel.  The kids will be getting back into their activities this week, swim practice for Em, karate, etc. for Luke.  We had a great time during our road trip to South Dakota.  I think we saw and did nearly everything we wanted to and I'm hoping to plan a Yellowstone trip within the next 3-5 years, so whatever we missed, we can try to do and see in a couple days while driving through.  Our rental cabin was in Hill City- a nice, central location to everything.  We got to spend some time with Jessie, Rylie and Nico towards the end of the trip, which was great.  It was really fun seeing the little boys playing so good together.

 The kids are better travelers when we can make a stop every couple hours.  I was slightly worried about Logan and potty stops, so I brought extra pull-ups in case it was easier than having accidents.  But, he did great and let us know every time he needed a potty break!  We left Sunday the 8th around 11am and headed straight to the SPAM Museum in Austin.  Surprisingly interesting!

 Trying to be their quickest at the SPAM assembly line....

 SPAM game show!

 We got on the road and stopped again in Blue Earth to see the Jolly Green Giant, a DQ treat and a potty break.

 After a potty break in Luverne, we were pulling into the Holiday Inn Express in Brandon, SD with a couple hours to spare for some pool time.  Nice water slide for the big kids and a smaller slide/water area for Logan!

First Day, Last Day

My how they change in just 9 months!  The kids have their last day of school today.  We leave for South Dakota on Sunday, so unless something super exciting happens, the blog will probably be dormant for a few weeks.  Unless I get the blogging urge while we are in for the night at the cabin!  You can follow us on Instagram though, I'm sure I'll have plenty of pictures of frisky baby bears, kids holding snakes, the presidents, and begging burros through the windows.

preschool picnic

 (Thomas and Casey, high school helpers in the classroom.)

(Logan and his teacher/asst. teacher, Mrs. Braun and Mrs. Dulek)

Logan had his last day of preschool (and ECFE) this week also!  The kids and I went to the potluck Wednesday night.  I wish I had more pictures, but Logan is sometimes hard to keep safe and smile at the same time, especially with his selective hearing, a busy parking lot and a lake near by.  He's been known to disappear in seconds!  I know he'll miss preschool over the summer, he woke up Thursday morning and asked what day it was.  I told him and he insisted we go to preschool!  We'll keep the same days for next year since he'll still be 3, almost 4.

May Display

A couple Fridays ago, the kids had their May Displays at school.  You can pick any topic you want and put your thoughts on a tri-fold tag board.  Always fun for us parents :)  Emily had to do hers on a book.  Emily had her big end of the year trip on Tuesday.  All of the E2's, so every 4th-6th grader, rode coach buses up to the Minnesota Science Museum and the State Capitol.  All that makes me think is..... she's growing up!  Only 4 more days of school for the kids, which consist of PJ/Movie/ice cream treat day, Mississippi River fishing/Lake Park boating day, Field Day and both get to go to the aquatic center.  Hopefully the weather will cooperate!

3am

Early last Wednesday morning, we woke up to loud explosions.  Our neighbors garage was on fire and the vehicles inside were burning.  It seemed like an eternity before the 4 fire trucks were there and hooked up and finally getting water on it.  It eventually burned up the garage and upstairs bedrooms.  Everyone got out safe, their Golden Retriever woke them up.  Firefighters had to save the kitty, but she got out too.  I don't think I'll ever forget seeing Sassy, their Golden, sitting in Jake's truck (that was parked in the road in front of our house) watching what was going on.  So sad.  There has been non-stop rubberneckers coming by, but luckily it seems to be dying down some.  It will be nice to have them all back after the rebuild is done.