Mt. Rushmore, cont...

Finally! The not so anticipated recap of our Mt. Rushmore vacay! We spent day 2 at the mount itself! It was everything I had imagined it to be! I honestly could have stayed there a whole lot longer than the several hours that we did. There's just a serenity about this place. We just loved it! We took the kiddos on the hike around the Presidential loop. I had Pip in the baby bjorn for most of the hike. We swapped out at some point and Matter got to carry her. We took the hike nice and slow for the kiddos and really enjoyed ourselves. The kids did great. I love that whenever Pippi saw the mountain, she screamed, "HI FACES!!!" So, so cute! Beck was being a weirdo about taking pictures this day, so he's pretty much just in the group ones. He's really into making crazy faces right now... Recap: LOVED the Mount Rushmore! Loved it!
Entering the park!

the fam

Beck insisted on wearing my mom's golf visor for most of the day. He looked stellar...

The whole gang! Isn't the sky the most beautiful shade of blue?

My 2 beauties at an overlook point!

Pip and her daddy!

After the "Mount," we headed to Bear Country USA! It's a drive through park with millions of amazing animals. We all really loved it! TONS of bears, both big and babies! It look well over an hour to drive through the park, and then longer to see the Babyland. So cute!

Piper looking out the window at the animals

The baby bears

This was the only family pic we took here, and my mom cut off most of the Pipsters head!

DAY 3: Reptile Gardens and Custer State Park

We headed out to Reptile gardens bright and early day 3. It is a smaller park, but the kids went crazy there! There were bird shows, alligator shows, and a snake show. The kids got to pet a lot of the animals, too, so they were in heaven! Custer State Park was kind of bust. The best part was definitely the "Beggin Burros"! There are wild burros wandering in a part of the park. We had heard of them, so we came prepared with lots of carrots! They ambushed our car and ate like crazy! My mom said she'd pay Matt $5 to put a baby carrot in his mouth and feed it to one. He, of course, did it. She, of course, didn't pay... The rest of the park was pretty, but we had had it with being in the car at that point! My mom and the kids were carsick, and I was just done with whiny kids!

below: the kids petting a baby alligator!

I absolutely LOVE the look on the Londybug's face when she saw the prairie dog upclose!

Beck and Pip checking out a tortoise

waiting for the reptile show to begin

In the Custer State Park: the beggin burros!

matt and his special "burro!"

Can't imagine what Beck is doing here...

Matt hiked up a bit in the park

Day 4: homeward bound!

We woke up bright and early to a sick little Londy. She had a sick tummy. She started to throw up and throw up. I was in with her when I noticed something big and white in the mess. It looked an awful lot like a water balloon. She swears up and down she didn't swallow it as she throws up 2 or 3 more water balloons. I'm livid at this point. She had made these cute water balloon flip flops in her finishing school this summer. I guess she had eaten a handful of them on the drive. Anywho, she was sick for a bit and then started to feel better. She skipped lunch, but about 30 minutes after lunch, we stopped to get gas and bought the kids slurpees. She was feeling lots better, so we got her one too. About an hour later, we stopped at Martin's Cove. I thought it would be amazing to spent Pioneer Day at this historical site. Half way through the tour, the kids were being loud and Matt took them ahead to play. Not 2 minutes later, Beck comes around the corner screaming that London had thrown up everywhere. He wasn't kidding! There was about a 6x6 area or larger of light gray carpet COVERED in bright red slurpee! Good times. I spent the next hour on my hands and knees trying to clean it with a spraybottle filled with liquid Dawn and water and scrubbing with paper towels. Not the best supplies! She threw up all over the grounds, too, but they just sprayed that mess away.

We finally headed home and the kids were amazing the rest of the trip! For as much driving as we did in 4 days, they couldn't have done any better!

It really was a great trip!!! Can't wait for our next one!

Londy and Beck at Martin's Cove

Probably the only decent picture I got of Beckett in almost 3 days!

Mount Rushmore Mini Vay! Day 1

Several months ago, London watched the movie, National Treasure 2. The ending is in Mt. Rushmore, and since then she's been asking to "go to the place with those big faces." I've always wanted to go there too, so we decided to make a little trip out of it with my mom and Dave! We left bright and early (4:45 am) the day after the kids' birthday carnival and headed east! We stopped to see Independence Rock, a pioneer memorial spot, and then headed to the South Dakota! I'm a bit of an archaeology nerd, so I was super excited to see the Mammoth Dig in Hot Springs, SD. It's about 50 miles south of Rapid City, and on the way. I had no idea that it was an active Mammoth dig! It's indoors because of the crazy Dakota seasons. There are hundreds of mammoths buried on top of one another in this spot. It was so amazing to see the excavation happening before our eyes! We went on a tour and then just wandered around the facility. The kids loved it too! After a local dinner, we headed up to our hotel in Rapid City! Next stop, Mount Rushmore!!! Note: it's no short drive to South Dakota. I was so impressed with my kids both ways! They did amazing! Thank heavens for car DVD players!!!

Pippi and Grandma Jilly!


Pippi and Daddy listening to the tour

Londy Bug!

Some excavation of a full mammoth skeleton

Pretty sure she wasn't supposed to be on this...

The fam in front of the dig site

The crazies in the visitors center in a bone teepee home

Beck thinks he's big enough to help swing the babe. It worked out ok, but not great!

The Becksta in the visitors center digging for dinosaur bones and doing petroglyphs!

Well Child Checks

The one, and probably only, good thing about having 3 kids with July birthdays is knocking out well child checks every year in one fail swoop. Other than Piper and her freakish amount of illnesses (better now that she's on antibiotics prophylactically for the next year) we rarely see the pediatrician. Yay! The kids adore our pediatrician and look foreward to yearly checkups! Here's this years stats...

Londy:
Height: 47 3/4 inches (48%)
Weight: 51.2 lbs (54%)
summary: just right!

Beck:
Height: 42 inches (31%)
Weight: (51%)
aka: stocky little guy, but darn cute!

Piper:
Height: 32.75 inches (19%)
Weight: 23 lbs fully clothed (12%)
OFC: 19 inches (69%)
aka: the runt with plenty of brain room!

The dr. said we can discontinue whole milk and just switch her to regular milk, but to supplement with Pediasure on occasion. She's just a tiny thing, but she eats like a horse! Everything looked good with the kids. Still watching several enlarged lymph nodes in Pippi's groin. There's a handful of them that get as large as quarter sized. We'll follow up with the pediatric urologist in the spring, and hopefully be able to get some more answers on her kidney reflux. Pip had one vaccination and is set until kindergarten, and the Becksta had his kindergarten shots. He tried to be so brave, but 4 shots is a lot! Hopefully we're done until next July!!!

Happy Birthday Beck!

Today, my little guy turned 5. He chose crepes for breakfast, followed by a bike ride (biking for him, running and pushing a stroller for mom and dad). Then onto the HAFB Air Force Museum because he has a fascination with the Air Force. He chose Iceberg for lunch, then Matt took he and Londy to see the new Harry Potter movie. Lots of playing with friends tonight. Busy day!

What a character he is! He's hilarious! He gets in trouble and more often than not, ends up making me laugh while I'm trying to punish him. He still sucks his thumb, loves his ladybugs (his blanket) and is obsessed with riding his bike. He just taught himself how to ride without training wheels 2 or so weeks ago, and is now hell on wheels! He's also obsessed with everything Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, and Star Wars... I completely understand the Indiana obsession, the the other ones baffle me! He constantly is holding one of about a thousand light "savers". He loves to read and is doing great in preparing for kindergarten in the fall. He's super athletic! He'll go out with his daddy all the time and play 9 holes of golf, and he's getting pretty good! He also loves soccer and baseball. He's started running with us and ran 3 miles with us a couple of weeks ago! His well child check is in the morning, and I'm really curious to see where our little midget boy falls on the charts! He really is one in a million! We love you Beck!

The Birthday Carnival!

As stated previously, we decided to do a joint bday party for the kids this year. Last year, we just rented out the local aquatic center for the kiddos party and it was great! We tried to do it again this year, and it was booked. So, on to plan B! I thought a carnival would be fun! We had 6 game stations, face painting, food, and an amazing balloon animal guy. We had almost 50 kids plus some parents come, and it was crazy fun! I felt like a chicken running around with my head cut off for most of the party, but everything turned out great! Thanks to all the friends and family who helped out! We are so blessed to have such incredible people to share these memories with! I think the most chaotic part was the opening of presents. First of all, there were SO many! I was trying to take pictures of both kids opening, but it was impossible! They were both thrilled with everything they got, but it was a total blur for me! The balloon guy did a fun demonstration while the kids ate hot dogs, chips, and popcorn. He also made animals for each child. He really was so good! Overall, I think it was a success! Happy birthday kiddos!
Maggie manning the soda ring toss booth!

Beckett playing the "tee time" game!

Part of the food booth!

Grandma Payne surrounded by the crazy 3; Pippi, Paige, and Tess!

Piper making her way around the carnival with her sippy and her pink balloon horsie!

London and some friends watching the balloon demonstration!

Mike, the balloon guy

Malea transforming Beck in to "Black Spida Man" from Spiderman 3?

The best part was after he was done, he ran out screaming, "Don't laugh at me just because I'm black!!!" Kind of funny!

BFF's, cousins, and lookalikes, Londy and Cammers

Beck and Kennadee

Londybug opening presents

Cammers and her balloon lizard!

London's 7!

Our Londybug is 7! Her birthday was on July 20th, and she had a great day! She opened her presents from us first thing and was super cute about everything she received! She was dying to ride bikes to her favorite donut place for breakfast, so ride we did! It was about 12 miles round trip, and not an easy ride! At least we got in our cardio for the day! Then, we had to get ready for the carnival!!! We decided to celebrate the kids' birthdays together this year, and carnival was the theme! More to come on the big bash!!!

London's first theatre performance!

London and I saw the play, Annie, several months ago. She LOVED it, and has been begging to be in a play ever since. We signed her up for a summer theatre program with Up With Kids and she LOVED it! It was a week long program from 9-3 every day with a performance. Her play was "The Pirates of the Caribbean meet the Little Mermaid." She was one of the mermaids and had several speaking lines. She wasn't nervous at all and had an amazing time! We are so proud of her trying out new things and doing her best! She did this all on her own, without knowing anyone!

Part of the cast picture. She's the one in red in the front row, left side

All ready in her mermaid costume!

Beck and Pippi wishing Londy luck before the big performance!

A classic pippi look! I love it!

Beck waiting for the show to start!

Cuteness!

The whole cast!