Minnesota and Wisconsin Friends

We spent Thursday travelling to Minnesota to visit our good friends Steve and Karen. It was a long day of driving, but we were heading East, so at least we were going in the right direction towards home. We stopped at Falls Park in Sioux Falls for a lunch picnic. The Falls were absolutely beautiful, right there in the middle of town. Wish we had something like that back home. We arrived in Minneapolis around 8:30 and had a fun time catching up with our friends. Their oldest is only a month younger than our Anna, so they hit it off right away. The younger girls got to have a sleepover inside, which was a nice change for them.

Friday was a very special day, Anna's 11th Birthday!  Once I retrieved her from the house, she had a special breakfast treat and opened her present of all her favorite gf snacks. Then we all went to Mr. Steve's Chick-fil-A for breakfast and a tour. As a special birthday treat we went to Mall of America. We took their Anna with us. The 4 girls rode a roller coaster, in the mall!  Then our Anna finally got her ears pierced. We had a delicious lunch at Rainforest Cafe' complete with a volcano for dessert. 

For dinner we cooked out in the backyard. Then we carted the whole crew in the RV to a local park to see the waterfalls and walk around. We ended the night with a bonfire and s'mores. It was so much fun to catch up with our friends, see the kids play together and celebrate our special girl. She said this was a great birthday. Having a summer birthday can be hard because we never know where we are going to be, but she never misses out on the fun and feeling special.

We left Minnesota early this morning and headed to Madison, Wisconsin to see some other friends from church. They just had a baby last week, so I got newborn snuggles:) It was fun to catch up for a couple of hours before hitting the road to Chicago. I'll save the Chicago post for tomorrow though! We are one state closer to home!

Can you find Keegan? Six Westies live in our friends' neighborhood, Keegan met 3 of them and loved it!  So fun to see them all together.

Wind Cave and Badlands

Yesterday we visited Wind Cave National Park and Badlands National Park. Wind Cave is one of only 3 caves that are National Parks. It was discovered when hunters noticed wind escaping from a hole in the ground. We arrived bright and early so we could get tickets to tour the cave. We were on the first tour of the day. It was cool and damp down in the cave, but really fun to explore the dark pathways. The girls really enjoyed the experience. Of course, Anna and Megan worked hard after the tour to complete the Junior Ranger requirements and became Junior Rangers.

We headed to The Badlands National Park after a quick stop at Dickies BBQ for lunch. We all needed a break from the sandwich and chips on the road lunches we normally have. We made a quick stop at the National Grasslands Visitor Center and the girls completed their Junior Ranger program. 

The Badlands is more of a drive through park, not a lot of trails or hiking. We stopped at most of the scenic views to take in the uniqueness of this place. As you can see, it looks like a sea of sandcastles dipped in various colors. It is called Badlands because the Indians named it that due to the harsh environment. It experiences hot summers, extreme winters, wind, not potable drinking water. The conditions are not conducive to human living. The prairie dogs, bighorn sheep, ferrets and bison love it however. We were excited to see some of those.  

After completing yet another Junior Ranger program(that was a record of 3 in a day!) we headed down the road just a bit to a quiet campground. I was going to cook dinner, but this campground had pizza and wouldn't you know it, they even had gluten free pizza. So I was outvoted and I'm glad I was. While we waited for the pizza, the girls took Keegan to the pet obstacle course and tried to train her to jump through hoops!  Joe and I tidied up the place, which is always nice. When you live in close quarters, you have to keep it clean or else you'll go crazy. We had a lovely sunset pizza picnic outside. 

After dinner the girls decided to play Yahtzee together. This was one of my favorite moments, I love when they all get along, love each other, enjoy each other's company. Taking in the beauty of the wide open plains, a gorgeous sunset and my family was a breath of much needed fresh air. We are on the final countdown, one week to go. There have been many times I've said that I just want to go home, I was over it.  I've cried a few nights, yelled a few times. We've all gotten frustrated with one another on multiple occasions. But watching them play games together, ask to eat outside, truly enjoy the experiences we've had, make it all worth it. I've learned a lot about myself and my family and I look forward to reflecting on that...when I have a moment to myself!

 This is Keegan's new friend Fritz, they had fun playing together!