2010 Vacation - Part 2

Day 7 - Thursday, May 27



Today we did some driving through the Needles Highway and the Custer State Park Wildlife Loop. OOPS!! I forgot to put the memory card back in my camera so there are no pics from that part of the day! Monty took a lot, but I have to resize his to fit on Blogger and I just don't really feel like doing that right now! We did enjoy the drive though and saw a chipmunk, buffalo, pronghorn, and a donkey (not even kidding). You used to be able to ride donkeys through the park so when they stopped using them for tours they let them go in the park. Now they roam free. The one we saw was standing next to a car while the man inside was feeding him cookies. I don't think you're really supposed to feed them ......



You can feed wildlife of the human variety and boy does this kid LOVE to eat! He'll eat pretty much anything! Here he is enjoying BBQ and baked beans!

Our Rushmore pass is good for the rest of the year so we decided to go back and visit one more time before heading home. It amazes me every time how they were able to carve such perfect faces into the rock. It is such an awesome sight and I think it's something that everyone should experience at least once in their lifetime.

Aiden, as always, loved being outside and running around. Monty got some good shots of him that are so precious (just too big for Blogger).
We try and get a Christmas ornament each time we go on a trip. This family photo will go in the ornament we bought at Mt. Rushmore. Every December when we decorate the tree we remember the fun places we've visited together. We love to travel and have enjoyed seeing lots of new places! This trip we went to 4 new states (IA, SD, WY, and MN), 2 National Parks, 3 National Monuments/Memorials, and 1 National Historical Site. Day 8 - Friday, May 28

Time to head home! We got packed up and headed out of town at about 10:00. On our way our we stopped and bought some goodies from one of the downtown stores. I got rocky road fudge and Monty picked out a "pigtail" (a pretzel rod dipped in caramel and then white chocolate) and an orange creamsicle treat. It was all so good. I even managed to make my fudge last a couple days!

We saved Badlands National Park for the way home since it was basically just a drive through park. Monty got our at several of the pull over areas to take pics while I opted to stay in the car with Aiden. It was SO hot that day! We all got out at the visitor center to stretch our legs before hitting the road again.

Near the Badlands is the Minuteman Missile Site. This was a nuclear missile site. Unfortunately we missed the tour for the day and we really couldn't see anything from the visitor center. So that stop was pretty much wasted. However they had nice picnic tables so we were able to eat lunch and launch out again across the state of South Dakota.

Having never been to Minnesota before, we decided to cross the border and spend the night. We were soooo exhausted when we finally went to sleep that night.

Days 9 & 10 - Saturday and Sunday, May 29 & 30

After leaving MN Saturday morning we drove to Kansas City to spend the night. We have an atlas (that's a book form of a GPS system!) that has the locations of all Walmart and Sam's Club stores. We tend to choose an exit with one of these for two reasons 1) they usually have gas and 2) it's usually a decent part of town. All that said, we stayed in a nice part of KC in a super nice La Quinta hotel. When Monty walked in to check their prices they told him it would be $109. Yeah...no thanks! He started to leave and the desk clerk asked where he worked. Monty told him Walmart. Well, that made the price of the room $59. Yeah...that's more like it! The room was HUGE and we enjoyed the king size bed. Can't wait to move into a bigger house and buy one of those!

Sunday we headed straight home so we could be back in time for church services Sunday night. I was so glad to be HOME! No more sharing a room with a baby or living out of a suitcase!

I do love vacations though and have already started dreaming (I am such a plan ahead person) about where we might go next year. I'm thinking the beach......

2010 Vacation - Part 1

This is going to be a loooong post, but I want to write down the details of our family vacation. I want to be able to remember how much fun we had!

Day 1 - May 21

Monty got off work early so we were able to leave town about 2:00We drove as far as Council Bluffs, IA (right near Omaha, NE). Not a bad drive considering it was all interstate. After checking into the hotel we ate dinner at Cracker Barrel, went to Walmart to pick up a few forgotten items, and then crashed for the night.

Day 2 - Saturday, May 22

Aiden let us sleep in a little but we were on the road again by about 9:00. It was raining a little, but nothing too bad. In Sioux Falls we stopped to see the USS South Dakota Battleship Memorial. The visitor center wasn't open but we were able to let Aiden get out and run around for a while. We arrived in Mitchell, SD at about 2:00 and found a hotel that had an indoor pool! Aiden had a blast in the kiddie pool. That day we toured the Corn Palace and did some walking downtown.

Day 3 - Sunday, May 23

After church we headed to Keystone, SD, our home for the next week. We stopped in at Wall, SD and walked around Wall Drug. Aiden got to get out and run around and we enjoyed delicious ice cream! The visitor center in Wall had lots of "stuffed" animals and Aiden was in awe of them all. He kept walking around pointing to everything saying, "ooh, oooh!!". When we got to Keystone we set up the tent and then went to Mt. Rushmore to eat dinner and watch the lighting ceremony. Aiden fell asleep shortly after the show started.

The first night in the tent was a rough one as storms blew through all night. Monty kept checking the radar every hour to make sure there were no tornadoes. We stayed mostly dry, but every time the rain cover hit the tent, big drops of water would fall on us. Aiden ended up sleeping with us after a huge drop of water hit him in the face. Thankfully, in between storms we managed to get a little sleep.

Day 4 - Monday, May 24

We knew it was going to rain later in the day, so we decided to get up and head to Crazy Horse as soon as we finished breakfast. Aiden fell asleep as soon as we got in the car and slept for two hours! It was about a 20 minute drive to the Memorial. We parked and Monty got out and took pics while I stayed in the car to let Aiden sleep. I got a lot of reading done on the latest series, Above the Line, by Karen Kingsbury! After Aiden woke up we all toured the museum.

Storms looked like they were rolling in so we decided it would be best to head back to the campground. We got back just in time for a HUGE hailstorm!! The campground had covered picnic tables, so we moved a table out of the way and parked under the canopy. I think we played in the car for an hour while the storm continued. When it appeared to be dying down, we headed into town for lunch. Unfortunately we ran right back into rain and hail AGAIN! It continued all afternoon. It finally did end and after a run to Walmart to get groceries we headed back to camp. This is what we found:Not only was the tent blown down, but some of the poles were broken! That meant moving into a cabin for the next four nights. Fortunately there were vacant cabins and we only had to pay the difference between the price of the campsite and the price of the cabin. It ended up being a blessing for several reasons:

1. Aiden's allergies started acting up and it was better for him to sleep indoors.

2. The second night had WINDS that were worse than the first night. There is NO WAY any sizeable tent would have stood against them.

3. The second night was COLD! Way cooler than any of the forecasters thought it would be.

4. We had a fridge, TV, microwave, and private bathroom.

Day 5 - Tuesday, May 25

We drove to Wind Cave National Park and Jewel Cave National Monument. We had a fun time looking for wildlife at WC.

We chose not to do any cave tours b/c they were long you had to walk down 300+ steps. Not something I wanted to attempt while carrying a wiggly one year old. We did take a short tour at JC. It was about 20 minutes which was about all Aiden could take. I carried him in the front carrier, but he did not like being confined for that long! No more cave tours until the kids are older!

Day 6 - Wednesday, May 26

This was mostly a driving day as we went to Wyoming to see Devils Tower. While we were driving we saw Reed from the TV show "Storm Chasers". Thankfully he was taking a day off to hike and wasn't chasing any storms in our area.

We hiked the trail around the base of the tower but didn't make it all the way around as Aiden's allergies were getting worse. Here is a shot of the prairie dogs on the way in:

On our way back to camp we bought a travel humidifier and some baby vapo-rub hoping that would help make him more comfortable. Someone really needs to come up with an OTC allergy medicine that kids under 2 can take!

Stay tuned for Part 2!

Look Who's Talking

Here is a short clip of Aiden talking. He knows more words, but this is all I could get him to say (and usually he says "mama" better than he does here!). Enjoy!

What It's Like to Be One

The following was inspired by an article in the most recent issue of American Baby magazine.

Aiden
Weight: 21 lbs, 9.5 oz.
One word to describe him: Busy
Tell us more: Aiden loves to be on the go! He is constantly crawling and playing. He loves to climb and has trouble sitting still for long periods of time.
How many teeth: Six
Drinks from a cup? Yes
Walking yet? Yes, but he loves to crawl because he can get where he wants to go faster. He can walk across a room if he wants something bad enough.
First words: "Daddy" (not "Dada"), "Mama", and "Kitty" (sounds like "Tid")
Favorite thing in the world: Mommy
Favorite food: Yogurt and Goldfish
What makes him laugh? Being tickled and playing Peek-a-boo
Favorite book: The Hungry Caterpillar and The Very Busy Spider
Favorite song: "The Itsy Bitsy Spider"
First reaction to new people: He'll usually smile but then he'll turn away and act shy.
It drives me crazy when: I'm trying to do something and he pulls on my leg and whines to be picked up.
Cutest thing he does: Scrunches his nose and smiles showing all of his teeth

He's One!

Our precious Aiden turned one on Sunday! So hard to believe. We celebrated with a big birthday weekend full of family and friends. My mom came on Friday morning to help with Aiden while I finished up all the last minute cleaning and cooking. She brought him a red rocker for his birthday. Her and my dad bought it for me when I was 18 months old. Dad refinished it so it was as good as new for Aiden. He loves it and has already learned how to crawl in and out of it.

We went to Tulsa Friday afternoon to pick up my brother, Andy, from the airport. He flew in from Seattle to help us celebrate. We were so glad he got to come. Monty's mom, dad, and sister came in to town Friday afternoon. They were able to watch Aiden while we went to the airport. They enjoyed getting to spend so much time with him! Monty's grandparents also made the trip from Alabama for this special occasion. Aiden's party went great! My brother, Alex, his wife, Amber, and my grandparents came from Hot Springs. Aiden is such a happy kid. He had a great time visiting and playing with everyone!

Amber made his first birthday cake! She did a great job!!

He had a great time opening all his presents. On a side note, it's time for me to clean out his toys in order to make room for all his new cool stuff. Addyson and Hallie were a great help opening his new toys! They'll be two soon so they know what presents are all about!

Aiden was very particular about his cake. He took the snake off and ate that first. Then he carefully picked up handfuls of cake and ate it. He did not smash it or play in it. The green icing still made a mess so we got some good pics. (That's the purpose of cakes, right?!?)

My dad and brother, Austin were able to come up Saturday evening when Austin was done with his track meet in Hot Springs. It was good to have the whole family together. That doesn't happen too often. Did I get a picture? Of course not! We were too busy having fun for that I guess!

Here are some things I want to remember about Aiden as a one year old:

* He has started taking some steps - as many as six or seven at a time!

* His vocabulary is increasing. He can say mama, daddy, kitty, bye, out, and balloon (pronounced "ba-yoo"). Last week at church he saw his friend Addyson sitting behind us and he yelled out, "Addy!".

* He is OBSESSED with helium filled ballons. He will point them out at stores and get soooo excited. It's hilarious!

* We were very blessed during his first year of life. He only got sick (enough to go to the doctor) with allergies once and he had NO ear infections or other sicknesses!! I was also able to breast feed for the whole year! That was a prayer answered.

It's Tuesday now and everyone is back at home. Time for us to get back to life as we know it!

First Haircut

The day finally came for my baby to have his first haircut. I was not dreading the day and I didn't put it off like some moms will. I knew he needed a haircut!! We just had to find a time when my sister-in-law could cut it. Saturday was the day! As you can see, the hair over his ears was ridiculously long. It looked like he had wings sprouting from the side of his head. lol

The hair in the back was long too and needed a good trim.

He did really well for the most part! We sang and looked at books to keep his mind off the lady with the scissors. A few times he tried to reach back and grab the comb and scissors our of her hand.
Now he looks MUCH better!! So handsome! Thanks Amber for doing such a great job!

11 Months

It's hard to believe that a month from now we'll be celebrating Aiden's first birthday! It doesn't seem like he's been here that long. We have been blessed with such a wonderful little boy. Every day is a joy and I am thankful that I get to stay at home and enjoy every minute of it! Monty is such a great husband! He works so hard to provide us with what we need and realizes how important it is for me to be at home with Aiden. Kids only grow up once and I am glad that I am able to experience all the new things that Aiden is learning to do each day.

He is into EVERYTHING these days. His favorite places are in the cabinets and climbing onto the dishwasher door when I am trying to unload it.

He is eating almost everything we're eating and we haven't found anything that he doesn't like. This week his fourth tooth on the top finally broke through. So far I see no more teeth on the bottom or any sign of one year molars starting to come in. He is very proficient at using his front teeth to take bites of food. He still won't pick up anything that is too squishy.

Every day he stands alone and more and more but still hasn't taken any steps. Maybe he'll be walking soon!

We are so glad that the weather has warmed up because Aiden loves to go outside! The back patio is the perfect place to crawl and he actually stays on the concrete! The boy cannot stand to crawl in the grass. He'll sit in it all day long, but will not crawl in the yard. He'd rather be on the rough concrete. Go figure! Hopefully we'll be able to take lots of trips to the park this summer.

Aiden and I went to Alabama about 2 weeks ago to visit my grandmother. He got to meet another one of his second cousins, Bryce.

It's about to get real busy around here. Next week we are going on a mini vacation to St. Louis for two days with our good friends, Josh and Tracie. The next weekend we will be busy having a garage sale and building a fence (thanks in advance to my brothers, Alex and Austin). The first weekend in May we'll be partying with all our family to celebrate Aiden's birthday. Then we'll wrap up May with a week long camping trip to Mt. Rushmore. Can't wait!!

Here is Aiden and his Uncle Austin sporting their almost matching shirts before church on Sunday. And yes, Aiden does have a bruise on his head in almost every picture. It seems like each time he falls it's on the EXACT same spot. We joke that he's a little top heavy!