Common Mom

Finally - a Wednesday that I have off, that Hubby is home, and that we don’t HAVE to do anything after we drop the kids off at summer camp. When I first started having my Wednesdays off from work, Hubby and I used them as a sort of “Date Day” - he’s gone flying so much that it was great to be able to have a day without the kids where we didn’t have to pay a sitter. Didn’t matter if we ran errands, got groceries, rode bike, did work around the house, or went golfing - we just did it together. We’ve all had so much on our plates lately with his new business, his getting is Ph.d, the kids getting older and needing more “running around”, me doing a little freelancing to make some extra moolah - Wednesdays have been used mostly for cleaning, catching up, and other “things” that aren’t necessarily fun, but are necessary.

Today, however, Hubby and I are going here . . .

We’re FINALLY hitting the golf course. Usually by June we’ve gotten in a couple rounds and made it to the driving range. Not this spring . . . our clubs are as dusty as can be, and we are as rusty as can be!

And, Hubby found out yesterday that he will most likely need surgery on his wrist this month . . . the same wrist that he broke snowboarding on Easter. It hasn’t really gotten better, and they think he has ligament damage (wear wrist guards when snowboarding people!!!). So, we’re gonna get out there and get a round in while he can still golf.

So, off we go to play and have some fun together today! I hope you have a Wonderful Wednesday

Day 1, Day 2, Day 2 Part Deux, Day 3, Day 4

It was finally time to leave. We got up and headed down to the pool for one last harrah, then the kids got showered and hung out in G’ma and G’pa’s room while Hubby and I packed everything. My brother and SIL met us at the hotel and we went to Godfather’s for lunch. It’s a requirement of Hubby’s - to get taco pizza at Godfather’s when we get the chance . . . it’s his favorite and we don’t have Godfather’s here! It was totally yummy

Then we were off - headed home. We took a different way home - it was very uneventful! Well, except for when we had to pull over so Princess could throw up . . . twice. Poor thing

I do have to brag on my kids a little bit . . . they are SUCH good travellers! They spent countless hours in the car driving to and from The Black Hills . . . they spend hours in the car sightseeing . . . they spent time just hanging out while the adults did some things . . . and they never complained. I’m so glad that they are so easy to take places . . . it makes it so much fun to go on family trips

I hope you all had a great weekend like we did!

Day 1, Day 2, Day 2 Part Deux, Day 3

Day 4 was another rainy day, with cold temps. added in! But, with my family there is never a dull moment We met G’ma and G’pa in the hotel parking lot and drove through Bear Country. It’s expensive, but it’s fun to see the bears . . . and we’d really done well not spending money up until then, so we went for it. We saw Elk, beautiful white wolves, reindeer, mountain goats, timberwolves, and of course bears, bears, and more bears! We even got to see 5 timberwolves congregate on top of a hill and then rush a bear and chase it around!

After that, we headed to the hotel for some MUCH needed naps. Then we all met up again and played games and had drinks and dinner in the common room at the hotel. There weren’t really any other people in the hotel since most of them had gone home since it was Memorial Day, so we had the place to ourselves. We played games for hours and laughed and had a great time. It was definitely a great ending to the vacation - just spending time with the family before we all went our separate ways.

Day 1, Day 2, Day 2 Part Deux

Day 3 was BEAUTIFUL! It was actually the only day that it didn’t rain. My brother and SIL, my SIL’s sister and her husband, and two other of their friends met us and G’ma and G’pa at the hotel and we all headed out for a day of fun and sightseeing. We started off with a stop at Reptile Gardens. Grandpa insisted on going here and it was fun We saw all kinds of yucky snakes and other fun reptiles like giant tortoises as well as prairie dogs. We also watched a snake show and got to see real live poisonous snakes - the rattlesnake rattle was cool! I live where there are rattlesnakes and, thankfully, I’ve never seen or heard one. At least now I know what it sounds like if we encounter one hiking!

After Reptile Gardens we headed to Keystone for a yummola lunch. Then we rode the chairlift to the top of The President’s Slide. We walked around and enjoyed the scenery before heading down on the alpine slide, which was fun! Jason rode with me and wanted to be in charge of the speed . . . I almost wished he couldn’t read because then we wouldn’t have gone at a snail’s pace every time he saw a sign that said slow down, sharp curves Here we are at the top - if you look in the upper left corner, you can see The Heads in that rock.

We drove by The Heads on our way to Custer State Park. I still think Mt. Rushmore is absolutely amazing.

We had an EXCELLENT adventure on the Wildlife Loop in Custer State Park. The kids rode with G’ma and G’pa all day (oh ya . . . that was AWESOME! Hubby and I had a kid-free ride all - day - long!). Right when we got into the park we saw the hugest herd of buffalo. We had to wait for 45 minutes for them all to cross the road. There were so many babies with them that we had to wait extra long before leaving because my brother and SIL, and the other 4 people that were with us were on motorcycles. The mommies are very protective of their babies, so they couldn’t start the bikes because they are loud and might startle the moms. A couple years ago a guy was killed when he started his bike and startled a mom - she threw him off the bike!!! Here are the kids checking out the herd through G’ma and G’pa’s sunroof - they thought it was the coolest thing

We also saw some burrows . . . Diana got off of her bike and gave the kids some food to feed the burrows - they of course thought that was really cool as well.

After that we saw a ton of pronghorn and some rabbits as well as some fox. We headed back to Diana and Brad’s house (SIL’s sister) for a BBQ and had a wonderful relaxing evening. We made the most of this day because they were forecasting nothing but rain for Day 4!

On day 1 we got to drive for 8 hours.

On day 2, it rained in the morning and we hung out at the pool.

On day 2, after a couple hours in the pool, the sun came out, so we went out to explore! We had a great time! We started out at Storybook Island . . . a free park. How fun!

After a great time at Storybook Island, we went to get a quick bite for lunch, even though we had ice cream at the park already After that, we drove up a hill to check out a huge dinosaur sculpture we’d seen while eating lunch. Turns out there’s a whole dinosaur park up there! And it’s FREE!!! So far so good on not spending moolah . . . and we’re having a great time!

After a late night driving last night and getting up early this a.m. and having all this FREE fun, Princess was getting tired. So we decided to drive to see The Heads while she took a nap in the car. We didn’t stop to see the heads because it was raining . . . and we’d been there just a few years before . . . and really, you can see everything from the road that you can see from in the park. So we stopped at a profile pull out so Hubby could tell George that he had a bat in the cave . . .

After that, we decided to continue on to check out the Crazy Horse Monument and see how much progress they’d made in the past 3 years. They’ve made a lot of progress . . . although it’s tough to tell since it’s so friggin’ huge! Did you know that when the monument is finished, The Heads will fit on the nose of the horse? That’s how huge this thing is! Anyway, when we got to the monument, we weren’t actually going to go in, but when you turn on the road, there’s no U-turn. So we got to the gate, disappointed that our FREE day of entertainment would be “spoiled” with the $25 entrance fee per car. Turns out, our car has the correct license plates. No kidding! The guy at the ticket gate said “Hey. Looks like you’re from X! Are you sure you’re from X?” Yes. “Excellent. Well, today we’re letting people from X as well as 4 other states in to the monument for free. All we ask is for a small donation to the food shelf.” Um, cool! So we hand over $10, he gives us a ticket that says “Free” on it and away we go. We’re figuring that it’s just “free” day for everyone. But when we get to where you give them your ticket, there are actually lots of regular paid tickets and only a few “free” ones - so it was actually true! Cool! Anyway - the monument is so cool . . . totally worth it if for no other reason than to marvel at the detail and sheer size of the thing. As we left, Dude asked if we could come back to see it when it was finished. I told him that we’d come back, but unfortunately none of us would ever see it finished. I said his grandkids might see it finished. I explained how it had taken over 50 years to get it this far, and that they had so much work left to do. It actually made me really sad to think that I would never get the opportunity to see this beautifully monument finished. I just hope that in 80 years my kids will make the journey back to see how far it has come.

We headed back to town, stopping to let mountain goats cross the road. We met Noisy Grandma and Monster Grandpa at the hotel for some dinner and dice playing. Hubby took the kids back to our hotel (right across the parking lot) to get ready for bed while I stayed and talked to Mom and Brother to make plans for tomorrow. All of a sudden, my mom screams and jumps onto the coffee table. Turns out there was a MOUSE in their room! No kidding!!! So I called the front desk and they immediately moved them to another room. No small task considering how my mother packs for a 4 day trip (I love you Mom!!!)

Heading to bed early to prepare for a fun day tomorrow with Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Pat, Aunt Dawn, and Aunt Dawn’s sister and BIL

I sure hope you’re all having a great holiday weekend like we are!

Day 1

The weather forecast was icky . . . and we were a little bored to start the day.

So we headed down to the pool first thing in the morning while it rained. Turns out, the hotel pool has a water slide! What fun!!!

Then the sun came out . . . check here to see what we did next!

Finally - summer weather. After snow a couple days last week, in typical front range fashion we’ve rebounded with 80 degree temps the past couple days. Looking forward to a couple more 80 degree days - woo hoo!

We actually got to wear shorts for the last soccer game - what a concept!

 

And we found the PERFECT spot for lunch on our hike in the canyon.

We are SOOOO looking forward to summer fun outside! Look out summer - here we come!

They may not remember what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feel.

The 3rd Installment of our weekend on the move.

Getting ready to head into the waterpark! They could NOT contain themselves. We only had about 30 minutes before we had to leave for the baseball game, so they got as much fun in as they could

 

This huge play structure was cool! All kinds of fun water surprises. See the bucket on top? It holds about 1000 gallons of water - and periodically dumps that water onto anyone standing below it.

 

Here they are waiting for the water.

 

Here it comes!!!

 

I swear, they’re under there somewhere! That’s a LOT of water!

 

Warming up in the hot tub after getting all that cool water dumped on them. They LOVED the hot tub. It was for kids, so not too hot. Only 3 feet deep and they had a blast!

Dude relaxes with a snack. I keep telling him he needs to loosen up his goggles, but he refuses

Keira got one last picture with the bear on her way out of the waterpark before we headed to the airport.

We had a wonderful time on our trip - it was worth the time and the money We had a great time on all the waterslides, in the wave pool, and playing in all the other water. I highly recommend it for anyone with kids of all ages.

We had a great time at Great Wolf Lodge! It was truly worth it - I will get around to posting about it . . . but this made me giggle. As Dude and I were hanging out in the hot tub Tuesday morning before we left while waiting for Hubby and Princess to finish breakfast and join us, this is the conversation that ensued . . .

Dude: Hey Mom. Did you get a picture of that big water structure over there that we can walk around on with all the fun stuff?
Me: Yup.
D: And did you take a picture of that huge bucket on top?
M: Yup.
D: And did you get a picture of me and Keira standing under the bucket before the water dumped out?
M: Yup.
D: And how about when all that water came crashing down and there was so much that you couldn’t even see us . . . did you get a picture of that?
M: Yup.
D: And what about after, when we were standing there totally soaking wet? Did you get a picture of that?
M: Yup.
D: Good. Because that would make a really cool scrapbook page! You could start with cutting out some water to put across the bottom. Then you could put the pictures in order across the page so people could see how huge it was and how much water there was and how you couldn’t even see us through all the water and then how wet we were. That would be really cool.

Ahhhhhh - I’m teaching the boy well