Mt. Rushmore Day 1

Today we visited Mt. Rushmore, Custer State Par, Reptile Gardens, and various odd stops along the way. Jakson was a trooper - and walked most of it (before succumbing to the alluring hypnosis that is the car ride and dozing off!).We stopped of at Reptile Gardens to see many of Nana's favorite animals. Jakson got to pet "Fluffy" - a 2 year old alligator, and we met the old tortoise and several of the furry, lazy and not to mention chubby prairie dogs. We saw the alligator show, and the snake show. Next time we'll have to bring Nana along too!

More adventures to come.....

The trek continues...

Ever been to Wall, SD? If not - something you should definitly see. We have been here once before, and now Jakson can proudly say he has conqured the maze that is Wall Drug. We stopped off to peruse the many knick-knack and jewelry shops, have some pie (mighty tasty!) and have our picture taken on the giant Jack-a-lope. Of course, todays notable quotable was from Karla - who actaully asked "Jack-a-lopes aren't real are they?" (snicker....I may have to bite my tongue the next time we see one of those stuffed rabbit mounts - or suffer a kick in the shin...)

The 2007 Mt. Rushmore trek begins...

Karla and I decided it was time for a much needed long weekend, so we made plans to bring Jakson to see Mt. Rushmore, ride the 1880's train, see Reptile Gardens, etc. Now - that being said we had never undertaken a roadtrip this long before with Jakson, so we were hoping for the best, and preparing for the worst. Needless to say - iPods rule! After a 2 hour nap Jakson was getting bored- so I had loaded his favorite movie onto my iPod and away he went. That thing is definelty coming along for long car rides!

Evel Kneivel - you got nothin' on me...

That's right - I have had a growth spurt this summer and can now successfully reach the pedals of my fire red tricycle. Pedestrians beware as I show no regard for safety as I careen down the driveway and onto the sidewalk at mach+ speeds!

Not recommended for the faint of heart...

Ok - the title is a little misleading, it's not that bad. We finally broke down and got Jakson a play system (thanks Grandma Phyllis!!!). We thought we could put this together ourselves, to save some money, and how hard could it be? Well - I wouldn't say it was hard - but if I had to do it over again - I would have someone else do it! And I recommend you do too. Jakson was giddy with excitment the entire weekend that we put this together. He couldn't wait until it was ready - especially the slide. The instructions weren't exactly clear, and the parts - they were everywhere!!!. We finally put the finishing touch on - a pirate's wheel - today. We were waiting on some instructions and parts that we didn't get with the other 5+ boxes of stuff. Even Nana took a turn on the slide this weekend (sorry - I didn't get any pictures, and no - she didn't get stuck). We let Aesa slide too, not sure that was what she wanted to do when she tried to climb up but that's what she got.

Jakson's 1st Fish

Over the Labor Day weekend - we finally got to take Jakson on his first real fishing trip - where he could actually hold the rod. He did pretty well - as a matter of fact - he was the only one who caught any fish on this particular lake. He was very excited and if you ask him he will be glad to tell you all about it! Now - granted - the fish he caught wouldn't be listed on any records but I don't doubt his fish tales will be BIG!!!!

An apple a day...

This weekend was the annual Applefest at one of the local orchards. Nana and Papa came up and we all went to pick apples, ride the ponies (well Jakson did - if i tried to ride one of those ponies - we'd be replacing a pony!), and Jakson even tried the big jumpy-inflatables. Nana and Papa created a monster buying that ticket. We all had lots of fun.

Welcome to Our blog......

Welcome to what we hope will be a regular stop for you.