Black Hills Vacation- Part 3

We must have pushed the kiddos too hard yesterday because today was a total bust.  Luckily, we did still manage to see and few thing and have some fun.  Both Punky and Buddy were exhausted and cranky.  Oh well.  We were actually okay with taking the day easy since we knew this was a destination we would be sure to visit again.  There are so many things to do in the Black Hills and it is a pretty easy road trip for us, so we are sure to be back in a few years.  We've already decided when the kids are older, we are going to go on a horseback ride and visit a cave.

This morning we went to Mount Rushmore.  Punky studied Presidents (specifically Abraham Lincoln) in preschool, so she was aware of who those guys on the big rock were.  She really wasn't happy being there though!  As we walked up to the visitor center, Punky trailed behind us, sulking along the way, complaining how she wanted to go swimming.  I had flashbacks to my own childhood because I can clearly remember a few family vacations where I did the same exact thing.  Buddy was wild, yet exhausted.  He did not want to walk, yet did not want to be held.  It was an interesting morning.

 

This was the best photo I got of the kids today.  At least Punky is smiling!

We headed to Keystone for another picnic lunch.  We found the city park, made sandwiches, and let the kids play for awhile.  As a kid, I remember looking through all the shops and visiting the taffy store in Keystone.  We tried to do the same, but it was difficult to say the least.  Punky was sweaty (it was 88 degrees today!) and still said she wanted to go back to the hotel to go swimming.  Buddy was tired and hadn't gotten a nap yet.  It was difficult to look through the shops because Buddy wanted to touch everything!  Especially the breakables!  I realized how souvenirs are really different through the eyes of a child and a parent.  I remember thinking everything in those shops was so cool as a kid (I was big into Indians), but now I see most of it as junk.  I am pretty sure half of the stuff that was for sale was left over from 1995 too.  Anyway, we were able to find two cute t-shirts for kids and we high-tailed it out of there. 

When we got to the hotel, Daddy and Punky went swimming while I stayed in the room and Buddy napped.  We had to wake Buddy for supper.  After our meal, I asked Punky what her favorite thing was about our vacation and she said "swimming".  We were able to go swimming one more time tonight when we got back to the hotel.  Punky even went down the water slide with Daddy!

We are so happy we were able to take Punky and Buddy on our first family vacation together.  Derek and I will have lots of good memories of our trip, and I am sure Punky will surprise us with what she remembers too.  It was a fun time and I am glad we can share our love of traveling with our kids.  Now please pray for a fast and easy drive home for us tomorrow!  Not looking forward to it one bit...

Black Hills Vacation- Part 2

Our second day in the Black Hills was very busy.  Both kids went to bed without a peep tonight.

We started our day at Bear Country USA.  Bear Country is basically a drive-thru zoo.  Before we started the two mile drive, we unbuckled the kids and let them sit on our laps during the drive.

 We saw elk, deer, big horn sheep, mountain goats, reindeer, bison, mountain lions, wolves, grizzly bears, and black bears as close as a few feet away from our car window.   The bears were definitely the highlight of the trip.  There were probably 40 or 50 bears roaming right next to our car.  We even got to see the bears getting fed (day old bread).  There was a walk-around area at the end of the road with baby bears and smaller animals like skunks, badgers, fox, etc.  Buddy enjoyed seeing all the animals and waved hello and goodbye to them.  He perfected his bear growl and chose a plastic bear figure at the gift shop (after we told him he couldn't get another horse). 

After a picnic lunch, we decided it would be a good idea to drive through some of the scenic roads in the Black Hills.  We thought it would be perfect timing for Buddy to hopefully take a nap.  We headed to Iron Mountain Road to search for the roaming burros.  Punky was most excited to feed the donkeys and had been asking to do it for the past few days.  Grandpa Max gave her a bag of donuts and we also brought some stale crackers and cereal we had at home.  We found one lonely burro on Iron Mountain Road.  He was very gentle and no one was scared to pet him.

As we looped our way towards Custer State Park, we spotted three buffalo sitting in the shade right next to the road.

Little did we know, we would see hundreds of buffalo and many more burros at Custer State Park.  Punky was very excited to see more "BUR HOS" (she threw quite the fit when we had to leave the first guy).

All those black dots in the background are buffalo.

The burros at Custer State Park were much more aggressive.  We were a little worried the kids would get knocked over or get a nibble on the finger. 

Next we headed through Needles Highway.

In the end, we spent over 5 hours in the car this afternoon.  The kids were exhausted by the end of the day and sick of sitting in the car.  We sang songs, listened to The Fresh Beat Band CD about 10 times, and played so many of Punky's silly games (library, Calliou and Kai Lan).

We had reservations for a Chuckwagon Dinner and Show for tonight.  Punky was pretty cranky and didn't want to go.  She was set on going to the hotel and swimming.  But, on the way there, she fell asleep in the car and woke up in a better mood.  We were prepared for a chaotic dinner and for chasing the kids around during the Cowboy Show.  But, Buddy got sleepy and mellowed out.  And Punky met a new friend and danced with her during the show.  She could not remember the girl's name and kept calling her "my new friend."  It was so funny!

"That's so silly, my new friend!"

When we got back to the hotel, Daddy put Buddy to sleep and I took Punky to the pool for a little while.  We've got another big day planned for tomorrow, but I think we'll be able to fit in some more time for swimming and hanging out around the hotel.

Black Hills Vacation- Part 1

We decided to take the kids on a mini-vacation this year.  Growing up in South Dakota, the Black Hills was our ultimate family vacation.  So, I was so excited to share some of my memories as a child with my own children.  We also knew that we would be able to take this vacation on a budget.  Since we are a one-income family now, vacations like the ones we took in our pre-baby 20s aren't in the budget anymore.

On Saturday morning, we drove halfway and spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  We were able to leave at a pretty decent time (considering we didn't start packing anything until after 10pm on Friday night and we had to get the oil changed on Saturday morning).  The kids did pretty good in the car, despite the fact that our trip was 40 minutes longer than expected since I left my laptop at home and we had to turn around for it.  The car DVD was a big help!  I also made a bunch of "worksheets" for Punky to do.  They were things like tracing letters, counting numbers, and matching.  She really liked those, so we had to make more at Grandma's house. 

We left Grandma and Grandpa's bright and early on Sunday.  We only had another 5 hours in the car, but we also had a few things we wanted to do in Rapid City that day.  Our first stop was at an interstate rest stop for a picnic lunch.  Buddy was wild!  It was obvious that he was sick of sitting in the car.  He ate about two bites of food and then did a few laps around the picnic area.  This cycle continued for an hour.  Somehow, both kids managed to skin their knees too. 

Our next stop was Wall Drug.  Punky did a good job at spotting a few of the famous billboards along the interstate.  We stopped for a short while to take some cheesy photos and look through a couple gift shops.  Punky chose a purple jewelry box with a spinning horse that sings "Home on the Range".  And Buddy chose a plastic horse figure.  He loves playing with his animals! 

Grandpa Max had told the kids about the T-Rex at Wall Drug, so of course we had to check it out!  Every 12 minutes, the dinosaur roars, growls and "attempts to feed".  As we were waiting, Punky kept pushing Daddy forward and telling him to get closer.  I wasn't too sure how Buddy would react, so we stayed a little ways back.  Immediately after the first big roar, Punky sprinted behind me.  It took her awhile to look up at the dinosaur again.  Buddy buried his head in my shoulder and began quivering right away.  I've never seen him so scared.  It was kind of cute! 

We made it to Rapid City around 2, so we still had some time until we could check into the hotel.  We drove right to Dinosaur Park which is basically a huge hill with a bunch of painted concrete dinosaurs on top of it.  One of those fun (and free) places I remember going to as a kid.  Buddy liked these dinosaurs much better and waved hello and goodbye to each of them. 

 

On our way to the hotel, I made everyone stop at this place I saw online when I googled "Free Black Hills activities".  There is an AWESOME alley in downtown Rapid City filled with graffiti and artwork.  I was hoping to practice my photography skills and snap an awesome shot of the kids.  The kids were a little freaked out by it, but by the time we had walked from one end of the block to the other, they had eased up a bit.  I don't know how it happened, but they actually posed for us!  And I am in love with this image!  I'm not sure what that black symbol is right behind them, so we are going to pretend it isn't anything inappropriate.

We checked into our hotel and got upgraded to a two room suite because Derek is a rewards member through work.  Then we went out for some burgers and beer, came back and went swimming.  I had to rock Buddy to sleep (he was a little scared) but I really didn't mind doing it.  I wish he'd stay little so I could always snuggle him, but he is growing so fast.  Punky fell asleep soon after.  Now Derek and I are relaxing in our half of the suite.  Derek's reading a book while I'm on the computer and we are about put in a movie.  I hope the rest of our vacation turns out as great as the first day!  Stay tuned!

Preschool Wrap-Up

Punky's last day of preschool was this week.  She had so much fun and she learned so much.  (Just today, she told us how volcanoes have lava and rocks coming out of them.  The Hawaii unit was in February and she still remembers the information!)  She's come a long way since her first few weeks at preschool.  There were some tears at first.  I remember her being so worried as we were driving to school one day because the last time a kid told her she couldn't cut in line.  She thought that kid was mad at her and didn't like her.  I never knew Punky was so sensitive.  Since then, she's made lots of new friends, can cut with scissors and now knows how to wait for her turn and form a line!

On the last day of preschool, the kids put on a little program.  They sang a few songs and were presented awards.  Punky's award was for "always singing many songs to us."  The teachers told us that she would break into song during snack time or play time quite often. 

One of my favorite parts of preschool was seeing the cute art projects Punky created.  I decided to only keep my favorite one or two, so I took photos of the rest.  (Clockwise- Corduroy the Bear, Clifford hat, bear painting with sawdust fur, a pineapple painted with a potato masher, duck, and frog).  

Buddy's 1st Haircut

After a month or two of bugging Daddy, he finally broke down and agreed that Buddy needed to get his hair cut.  We had a trip planned to Grandma and Grandpa's house this weekend, so Daddy said that when we got back, we would go get Buddy's first hair cut.  I think he wanted to show Grandma and Grandpa how long Buddy's hair was getting.  Coincidentally, Derek's aunt emailed us and asked us if we would like her to cut Buddy's hair while we were in town.  We thought it was a great idea and very special because Derek's aunt gave Daddy his first haircut some thirty years ago (she used to be a hair stylist). 

I forgot to get a good picture of his long hair with the beautiful curls before we started, but this shows the length of his hair mullet.

Here's a picture from April that shows his long hair.

Anyway, Buddy did so well during his haircut.  He was happy to play with the squirt bottle and his animals.  When he was bored with those, he chomped on a sucker (and a crayon). 

The cape came off halfway through so Buddy could use his hands.

 

 

Look!  There's still a little curl!

I had prepared myself for a big change, but I really think he still looks like the same old Buddy.  I am glad we kept it a little longer, I am not ready for Buddy to grow up too fast! 

And just to keep things fair, Punky had to get her (2nd ever) haircut too... I think she just wanted the candy. 

Thanks so much, Auntie Traci!  We love our new hair cuts!

Animals

Buddy's favorite toy right now is his animals.  He has probably 50+ animals (he was very spoiled this Christmas), anything from dinosaurs to farm animals.  His favorites are a giraffe, a horse, and a zebra.  He usually ends up taking two or three animals with us in the truck when we run errands or bring Punky to preschool.  Months ago, he started playing with the animals by lining them up on the coffee table or shelf, then pointing to each one and saying their sound.  "Moo, Baa, Roar, etc."  Recently, though, he came up with a new game he likes to play with his animals.  He finds a book with animal pictures in it and places each toy on top of the photo.  It's too cute to watch!  What a smart boy! 
Here are some photos I've taken of his creations: