South Dakota--Badlands

On Regan's last day of school, we planned to meet Clint's brother, his wife, and their five kids in South Dakota for a few days.  We found our campsite and set up camp just before a rainstorm came through.  It was great having Dale with us.  He's fabulous entertainment, plus he helps keep track of my hooligans.  The next day we had planned to go hiking in Badlands National Park.  The night before, one of Clint's nephews asked why it was called Badlands.  Clint told him all about how there are little cannibals that live there and they try and shoot you with their poison tipped blow darts.  My kids and most of Clint's nieces and nephews know Clint well enough to know not to believe a darn thing he says that seems the slightest bit ridiculous. They all loved playing along, though!

 

Lila refused to wear her "sturdy" shoes and instead insisted on her sandals.  I pick my battle with that one.  I do love that she did just fine hiking, sparkly sandals and all!

 

 

 We hiked the Notch Trail.  It has a spectacular view at the top and it is super short!

 

 Lila loved hiking with her Camelbak.  It will never happen again, though!  She drank so much water that it just went right through her.  She had 4 accidents all within an hour of each other and she used the potty (or the closest, most comfortable rock) in between each one.  I have never been so grateful to find extra jeans and  panties in the car for her!  She always apologized profusely, so it was hard to get mad.

 

Regan and Andrew with their injuries.  They both insisted that a cannibal grabbed their foot and made them trip and they only barely escaped!

 Clint confiscated Lila's Camelbak, but the damage was already done!  I can't imagine hiking in wet pants, poor little girl!

 I love my little family!  They are always so much fun to be with!

 Seriously, she really is the most adorable almost 3 year old!

 But, she found a cactus and fell on it.  Clint was awesome about getting each needle out of her little leg.  It's a good thing she's so tough!

We stopped at Wall Drug for milkshakes on the way home.  Haden found all sorts of things (junk) to spend money on, but Clint talked him into waiting.  We had to stop at Walmart because I forgot several crucial things.  Haden found an awesome bow and arrows that Clint agreed to buy.  Haden loved it, and it kept all the kids busy and out of trouble at the campsite!

 

High Flyer Awards

Every quarter at Regan's elementary school, a few kiddos from each class are recognized for their good behavior.  Regan has received an award every year and I try to make it a special day for her.  Clint takes the afternoon off and we find somewhere else for Haden to go.  Assemblies are not his favorite thing!  Lila is usually fairly well behaved.

 Regan earned two high flyer awards.  The first, from Miss Berwecky, I knew about.  The second one, from her movement teacher, was a surprise!

 Regan always carefully picks her outfits and accessories for these assemblies.  She insists on dressing up and loves wearing her heels to school.  She got her ears pierced a few months back, but will only let Clint change her earrings for her.  Clint waited around to go to work so he could put her earrings in for her that morning.  He really is a pretty amazing dad!  I was rather offended, though, when Regan said she didn't think I knew how to put earrings in.  I'm pretty sure I have put more earrings in than Clint!  She will forever be her daddy's girl!

Afterwards, we picked up Haden and had a picnic at a park while Clint played hooky for the rest of the day.  I love hanging out with my little family!  I am proud of my very well behaved little Regan! 

Memorial Day 2013

Memorial Day started out just the way it has for the past 7 years.  We headed up to Boulder for Clint to run in the Bolder Boulder 10k.  The kids always have a good time!  I was trying to watch for Clint, but it's hard to distinguish between hundreds of guys running when you also have to watch the antics of your children. Luckily, Dale spotted him.

 After he raced we wandered around and collected our stash of free stuff.  Lila was in absolute heaven.  People kept handing her chapsticks!  She had three in her fist and wouldn't let me put them in her bag. 

 

 After the race, we took the kids fishing.  It was already late morning so we weren't expecting many, if any, fish to bite. 

 My kids don't have the patience for fishing.  After a few minutes with no action, they started throwing rocks in the lake.  It's a good thing I really didn't want to catch any fish anyway!

 Then we headed further up into the mountains to check out a campground.  Lila had refused to relinquish her chapsticks and was liberally applying them to her entire face.  She likes to smear chapstick on her eyebrows.  But, she was a very quiet, well behaved traveler!

 The kids climbed trees,

 took turns with the camera,

 and shot my bow.  Clint gave me the bow for Christmas.  The weather had been crummy for so long that I hadn't had a chance to shoot it, yet.  Everyone loved it!

 Dale's not a bad shot!

 Regan is a super cute archer!

 

 The more Lila played, the filthier her face got!  This was after she "cleaned" herself up.  I was not allowed to help her.  Chapstick makes fabulous glue!

 

 Haden was very good with the bow, as long as he had help holding it.  He was also the very most animated when he hit the target!

 And then it got cold and we headed home.  The kids got to ride in the sunroof while we were on the off-roading trails.  I have had several requests from Regan and Haden for their own bows.  It may be a good Christmas present!

 

Regan's field trip

Regan's 2nd grade class went to the Wildlife Experience for their field trip.  I was unable to go, but too nervous to trust Regan with anyone I didn't know, so I volunteered Dale to chaperone.  He only had to take care of three girls--super easy, especially considering all the mischief makers in Regan's class!  Regan loved having him there, but didn't really know what her friends meant when they kept saying that the really "liked" her uncle.  I'll keep my little girl innocent and naïve as long as I can!

 

Regan had fun, and I was happy knowing she would be well taken care of.   

May the 4th

 This was the second year in the row we've attended a local museum's May the 4th Star Wars event.  I will never cease to be amazed at how many grown ups dress up for this kind of thing.

 

 

 

 

Haden and Lila were both in heaven!  Regan opted to stay home with me.  She's been over the Star Wars phase for quite a while.  We're still waiting for Haden to outgrow it!

The yurt trip

Clint has been wanting to camp in a yurt for quite a while now, but we just never got around to it.  We're kind of last minute planners and reservations for yurts fill up really fast.  There was one reservation left for a Thursday night in March that he jumped on.  He took off work and I pulled the kids out of school.  He neglected to mention, until the night before that the yurt was just over a mile from the road and we would have to rent skis and pack everything in to get there.  I was apprehensive, to say the least!  Especially when we had to drive through white out conditions to get there.  The fresh coat of snow made everything beautiful!

 

We brought the sled for Lila.  She just isn't big enough to cross country ski yet. 

 Regan is an awesome little skier!  She loved it!  After skiing in to the yurt, she and Clint dropped their gear and kept going. 

Haden did the best he could skiing, but after countless falls, he climbed in the sled with Lila.

There really wasn't much room, though, so they had to improvise!

I'm really glad Clint is as tough as he is.  If it was up to me there would have been no way all three kiddos would have made it all the way to the yurt!

I was really surprised how small the yurt was!

 

 We had to make a trek to the outhouse.  Lila had insisted on being potty trained the week after we got back from California.  On the way home from dropping her siblings off at school one day, she told me she was tired of wearing diapers and wanted to wear panties from now on.  And she did. Out houses are so not ideal for newly potty trained little girls with teeny tiny bladders! I didn't even count the number of trips we had to make!  Every time she was perched on the seat, she begged me not to let her fall in!  It would have been really stinky had it not been so cold!

 Lila loved watching everyone playing in the snow from the warmth of the yurt.  Smart girl!

 Clint surprised everyone with new headlamps for the trip.  The kids love them and use them every chance they get! 

  All ready for bed.  The stove made it so hot in the yurt that the top bunks were completely unusable.  Until the fire went out, and we all were freezing.  Clint had to rebuild the fire in the middle of the night.

 I love living in Colorado!

 Dale had moved in with us the previous month and came with us on our adventure.  The kids love having him around so much!

 

 Dale has never been able to have his picture taken without making a dumb pose.  I have stacks and stacks of pictures from when he was little to prove it.  Some things never change....

 The next morning we washed dishes,

 cut firewood,

restocked the stash of wood in the house,

 and headed back to the car.

 Clint checked his email as soon as we had service.  There was one from the guy in charge of the yurts warning us that the lady who had stayed in the yurt immediately before us had seen fresh mountain lion tracks close by.  He was worried because he knew we had kiddos with us.  It is a very good thing I had not seen that email before we left or I probably would have cancelled the trip.  Luckily, we all came back and no one saw anything remotely resembling a mountain lion.  Next time, though, I think we'll bring a gun.