Mt. Rushmore

As most of you know, we visited Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse a few weeks ago! Here are just a couple of pictures from that trip. I might post more later but here is the deal! This trip Rob and I did not take our own camera. Some of you may be thinking...why would we not take a camera on a family vacation? Well, we let the boys take their own digital cameras and decided our memories from this trip would be made with a child's perspective! I was/am thrilled about this idea! The kicker is....the boys won't let me download any pictures off their cameras yet. So as soon as they feel they can part with them (or school starts...hahahaha), I will pull their pictures off and post a few.

It's All Fun and Games Until.....A Bear Bites Your Bumper!

Yes, indeed, I do not lie. A bear actually bit the bumper of my car as we made our way through Bear Country in South Dakota. For those who may not be familiar with Bear Country it is an attraction in South Dakota where you drive your vehicle through a wildlife park and view animals in their natural habitat. We saw Elk, Reindeer, Wolves, Mountain Lions, Mountain Goats, and of course Bear. At first it was pretty cool to see the bear walk so close to your vehicle but this particular bear decided our bumper was its lunch. We were in my car....a manual...and on an incline. So, the bear decides to walk behind our car. We had two choices, either start up the hill and roll back into the bear (it was that close) or sit there and wait for the bear to pass. We decided to wait for the bear to pass and much to our dismay....we were eaten. Like I told the boys.....you will always remember your 1st trip to Mt. Rushmore because that was the trip that a bear bit our bumper. Enjoy the pics and I will be posting more of our trip to Mt. Rushmore shortly!!!

The Loot

This week marked the beginning of the fair and rodeo in Casper. This morning was a parade. Who else thinks it is a little strange to be having a parade on a Tuesday morning rather than a Saturday? I thought it was crazy. So we headed off this morning and I was expecting to have a small crowd gathered for the event. Much to my surprise, downtown was packed full. I guess this is the thing to do in a small town on a Tuesday morning the week of the fair. The boys and I enjoyed a parade that lasted over 2 hours. And you can tell by the picture....we took home a fair stash of candy!!! I was happy to see there still are towns that partake in the tradition of throwing candy during parades. We have lived in some places who no longer allow it. The boys were super excited and shouldn't everyone start off their morning with sugar.....hahaha

I'm a BIG kid now!

Cooper is officially a big kid.....according to him. At least that is what he said after he taught himself how to ride his bike without training wheels. Yes...that is correct...he did it all by himself. No push offs by me, dad or brother, no holding on to the back of his seat while he steadied himself.....nothing. I was a bit saddened by this yet happy at the same time. We had slowly been coaxing Cooper to try riding his bike without his training wheels because he was getting frustrated that he was not able to keep up with Parker or the other kids in the neighborhood. Although...he has always been one to try to assert his independence more often but he is also one who will idly stand back and observe and then when he feels comfortable he will jump at the speed of lightening. So all in all, I should not have expected anything different given this situation. He went out in the driveway and said he was playing with his bike. I checked on him 5 minutes later and he said, "Mom look at me!" There he was riding his bike with no problems. And to make the story better....the darn munchkin has not even crashed. Yet...I should say! I am totally proud of my little man but sad that I was not there for the big moment (when he first pedaled solo) nor was I there to help him along. I can say that I am happy because he was completely thrilled at what he had accomplished!!!

Summer Rain

Actually, I should have titled this "Thunderstorm"! We have had rain off and on the past couple of days but late this afternoon a big thunderstorm moved right on in. It dumped a lot of rain in a short period of time. We were under a flash flood warning but as far as we know the only thing that flooded was the street in front of our house and a bit of the yard. I love the rain, the smells, the sounds of thunder and the pitter patter of rain but I will admit....this was a down pour and we couldn't even see across the street for a while. And we were out of power for about 2 hours. As the rain stopped, we all went out on our front porch and took in the sights. The boys then wandered out to the flowing water at the edge of our side walk. And you can only imagine what happened when cars drove by. DRENCHED!!! The boys had a blast and the cars driving by were waving, honking, and laughing. Some even sought out the biggest puddle by us to drive in as fast as possible to get the boys as wet as they could! Good times and good memories!!!!

Denver

We had a fabulous time in Denver a few weekends ago! We met up with our dear friends from Iowa and it was so great to see them. The kids have grown like weeds and mom and dad were fun to hang out with. Just like old times! We were in Denver for 3 days and we took in the Denver Zoo, The Aquarium, Boondocks, Casa Bonita's, Hard Rock Cafe, The Brown Palace and of course the hotel pool! I hope we make this an annual event! Enjoy the few pics in the slide show below!!!

Casper Mountain

Today was a beautiful day! High 80's, very little wind and the whole family was together....including Grandma Moore. What a great day to take a drive up the mountain! It was so pretty. The pine trees, the wild flowers and the beautiful country side. It is days like this that I cherish the most. Just taking in the beauty of our surroundings. What a perfect day!