Just keep driving!

We kept driving and checked into our new home the Hapton Inn in Rapid City, the parking lot of the hotel had about 3 cars in it but we could not get into our rooms. We called Michael and he was not close so we went off to eat lunch. I think this might have been the start of the quest to eat every kind of buffalo my family could find. I know Scott had the Rachel Ray special.....she had visited Rapid City for the Food Network and the menu showed what she ate. This was a cool place since it was a converted Fire House and they had a lot of old equipment and patches from firehouses all over the USA. We also went to a store on the same street to see how much a Buffalo Robe would cost Clark. I can say once he saw the price he knew there was NO way I was letting him bring one home. I still have no idea what he would do with it once we got home! The other interesting thing in Rapid City was the bronze statues of famous Americans on almost very corner. The kids loved looking for them and Kyle wanted to walk around and take pictures of all of them. We had other plans and wanted to go back to the hotel to drop off our luggage.
We got settled, called Michael and he was dropping off his trailer so off we headed to chessy touristville....The Flintstone park! We had visited this park 30 years ago and had a great time so we had to go back. Here my dad is trying to pick up on 2 of the local babes!
The boys all trying to ride a cool Flintstone motorcycle. Good thing the tires are made of rock or it would have been overload rubber splat! The houses in the backgrounds are replica's of Flintstone houses. We saw The Fintstones, The Rubbles, The Slates, the beauty shop, Rock station and more. The kids had a BLAST running from place to place and checking everything out. They pretty much have no idea who the Flintsones were but they had fun. There is a huge playground area too so we all rode the swings, went on the tetter-totters, and slides.
We posed for this picture at the end. The kids loved these foot powered cars!
My people posed with the Waterbuffalo helmets that Fred and Barney used to wear. These did not make it to the register though.....where would they wear these once we were back home? Maybe boy scouts?????

South Dakota-Day 2 Traveling!

After a early morning breakfast of Cinnamon rolls, trix strawberry banana yogurt, and cranberry juice.(just what I ate!) we were on our way to meet up with Michael and his family. This day was basically driving across the whole state and trying to see as much as we could see in one day! Westward Tally HO!!!!
We stopped at Wall Drug because at this point everyone was pretty much tired of being in the car and we needed to get out and walk around. When we made our first trip to South Dakota, I remember Michael and I being soooo exicted to go to Wall Drug. They had FREE ICE WATER!!!! What could be better? I swear we stopped at each and every place they had water and made sure to get our free drink. I'm sure we had to pee within 15 minutes of leaving here! Our second trip to Wall Drug now let's me see the tourist trap that it is and get to see the joy that my kids are getting out of running around and checking everything out!


Kyle decided to stop and pick a president's nose! Hope Mr. Lincoln doesn't have a cold! He is also begging to go Mining in the back building....something to do with Rebecca when we come back tomorrow is what I told him......don't worry he will hold me to it.





Scott gives a thumb's up to the free ice water stands in the backyard area, he said he does not rememer any of this so he can not compare to my memories! He also enjoys checking out the stores, shooting gallery (which your flash on the camera will set off...don't ask me how I know this-just trust me!), fresh donuts, and the T-Rex that goes off every 12 minutes!





Clark is probably asking this chick if she will make him go on crazy family vacations.....being the perfect silent woman that she is she keeps quiet! He also checks out the jackolopes and BIG knives that no human will ever need even if a bear tries to attack a troop of boy scouts.



I decide to try my luck at riding a jackolope....actually we all rode it and man he was huge! I was lucky that my mom took my picture and didn't chop off my head like she did with Scott's picture on his camera! This was a fun stop and after a gas fill up we continue on to Rapid City. This is one of my few pictures to prove I actually went on the vacation with them. I really need one of those Photopass dudes to travel with us!

South Dakota-Day one/Tuesday is travel day!

Day One of our trip is pretty boring. We started out very early...3:30 a.m. for the alarm clock and up and in the shower for the 3 of us. Savannah woke up and got dressed and she was ready to go. She is a really good traveler.
The airport shuttle came and had already picked up a guy so when you add 7 more plus a driver guess what?.....yep, not enough seats so I used my butt muscles to sort of surf to the airport while holding on to Clark. Funny stuff and then the airport shuttle driver must have been related to Clark....we went on 3 freeways to get to the airport. We made it and got Great Grandma a wheelchair which gave us access to a special check in line and a fastpass thru the TSA security line. We went to the family lines once inside and it was a breeze thru. I can't imagine the number of families who must leave some stuff when they go thru the security check points and you have your shoes, watches, belts, electronic junk and so much more floating thru the xray machines. Scott did not catch up to us in time to jump the line but he met us at the gate 40 minutes later!

Pretty much flying until Minneapolis and then the run thru the airport to the next gate. Yep, they moved planes on us so off as fast as you can to catch the next one. While we were waiting to board our entertainment was an information lady who kept yelling, "There's a monitor behind me!!!" We don't know why this was so funny but it was and if we could only come close to her midwest accent it would have been better. Scott, Kyle and I had our line for the next few days. If anyone was looking for something we would yell "There's a monitor behind me!"

Made it to Sioux Falls and got the rental cars. My mom and dad got a minivan and we got a Nissan Armada. Checked into our hotel. The Holiday Inn Express and walked over to Tailgators to get a bite to eat for lunch. After lunch and unpacking, we checked out the waterpark/pool area and chilled out for a bit. Mom and I headed to the grocery store for water & juice and soda and a couple of snacks for the kids. Nice that we had a good size frig and wet bar area in our room. Also a microwave for popcorn!




After our relaxing time we headed back to Aunt Alice's to catch up some more and have dinner. Nancy and Rich had been in town a little while and they were so helpful in making sure we knew what events were planned for the week. We were watching the hot air balloons in the distance and hoped they might fly over but sad to report they stayed closer to town.



Savannah and Great-Grandma were playing some games and checking out the South Dakota tourist guide. We were off on our across state visit to catch up with Michael and his family in Rapid City.

Easy for us to go to sleep tonight ---the time change helped and we had all been up since 3:30 our time and we planned to be on the road by 7:30 the next morning. (5:30 CA time but who's counting!)

Happy 4th of July! and 90 YEARS!!!!

Happy 4th of July from all of us!!!! This is one of our family shots from South Dakota. I sent out an email asking everyone to wear red, white, or blue so we would not look all crazy and if you notice the one person not in red, white or blue is the one without email!!! Yep, she did pretty good for not knowing the plan! Way to go Great-Grandma but I can make a sure 99% bet that she will be wearing blue pants almost everyday! I also just noticed that I picked the wrong picture......this one looks like my mom has an extra long wacky arm....it is just Kyle being lazy and draping himself over her. The boy has no idea that he is 12 years old but built like a man already and at 5'10" is too big to be draping himself over anyone!!!
Yes, today is her "Real" birthday! We celebrated in South Dakota too since she wanted to go there for her birthday. I think she was truly surprised that we got her a cake. It was yummy marble cake with light and fluffy frosting. Kyle told me his favorite part of the cake was the crunchy part. I thought he was crazy until my mom told me that the cake had sparkling sugar on the top, my piece did not have any "crunchy" part!Today we will celebrate with giant Costco cupcakes!
The great-grandkids with Great-Grandma......how lame am I that we did not do a picture with the grandkids....meaning me too!
My little Sparkler having a great time playing with the fireworks Uncle Michael bought. She loved every minute of it.
The big kids playing with fire. Uncle Scott only had to stamp out a couple of small grass fires while they were playing on the dirt driveway at Aunt Alice's house.

The fireworks are part of the funny South Dakota story. Michael, Scott, Clark and Catalina all decided to go to Cabela's in Mitchell. Yes, we had been there earlier in the week but it was closing in 15 minutes so they did not get much time to run around and check everything out. It was also over an hour drive away but Clark seemed to love Interstate 90 there was never more then about 5 cars on the whole thing! After the visit to Cabela's, they went to Black Cat fireworks and Michael was in heaven. He skipped the basket and went straight for a shopping cart! The lady at the counter said, "Can I ask you which state you are from?" Scott said, "No" and then she asked again so they said we are from South Dakota.....wrong answer! South Dakota people can not buy fireworks yet! So then they said they were from California and bingo buy a ton and we will help you take it to the car!!!!!

Hope everyone has a fantastic Fourth of July and Happy 90th Birthday to Grandma! She has lived an amazing life and we wish her another 100!

More wedding pics and stuff.

Savannah and LB looking at the tractor.













Sitting like little angels and waiting for their next move..which was usually chase each other around the grass. So fun to see them having a fantastic time!

Savannah got a very pretty necklace to wear that looked just like Alison's. It fit perfect and looked really good on her.

The Bride and Groom with the kids. The kids were running around and they loved to pretend to blow out the Unity candle in the Gazebo.





Savannah was sitting on this golf cart and as Alison walked by Savannah asked her to take her for a ride! Alison being game for that was going to drive them to Disneyland!!!! We will have to meet up with them the next time they decide to go to Disneyland!!! Vroom!

Alison and Brad get married.....

Savannah was a flower girl in Alison and Brad's wedding this weekend. Yes, we spent two more nights in a hotel in Livermore this month but we had a wonderful time and were so happy to celebrate with Alison, Brad and LB. They were married at Bent Creek Winery at 5 p.m.

The girls got ready at one of the bridesmaids, Courtney's house. Alison had her makeup done and while the girls were getting ready Savannh practiced walking around in her dress. The sash on her dress is actually one of the bridesmaid's shawls. They were not going to wear them so we used it to form a sash and big bow in the back. Savannah is watching Alison get her makeup done and looking for Courtney's dogs Angel and Dusty.












LB is Brad and Alison's son. He will be 2 at the end of July. The kids did pretty good walking up most of the aisle. They were first down the aisle and after a dropped flower basket and a "Mommy, I tired of this wedding!" made it back up the aisle. LB came back to help walk his mama in and then sat with his Grandma.














Alison and Brad-Husband and wife! She was a radiant bride and soooo happy. I think she brought enough energy to light the place up with her smile. So great to see a bride willing to do anything and have a great time with her guests. Brad is very laid back and he pretty much stayed in his normal persona! Happy and having a good time. Congrats!!!!!







The winery was a wonderful backdrop for the wedding and I can't wait for the photographer's pictures to come back. I know he got some wonderful shots and the lighting and winery backdrop was beautiful!










LB and Savannah were supposed to be in the dinner line (the food was OUTSTANDING!) but they decided to dance! They are really cute together and had a great time!!!! Wish they lived here instead of Colorado but I know Alison would love to move back to California and she will make it happen!

I will post more pics soon.....

Dance Class

Due to the overwelming requests for new pics of something.. (hi Missy!) I will cycle in the South Dakota trip after a few commercial breaks!

Here is our girl getting ready to take her very first dance class. She was tired since we had just come home from South Dakota the night before and a little off on the schedule but man, was she ready to dance like a ballerina. About 15 or 20 other little girls lined up and waited for their teacher Ariel to come and show them the moves.












This picture was taken thru the glass since no Mommy's or Grandma's are allowed!!! They were wearing their tap shoes for the first half of class.These tap shoes will forever be known as "the slippy shoes that I do not want to wear!"

While doing a heel, toe shuffle across the floor someone fell on her butt and cried and cried. I felt bad and the teacher really did nothing to help her get back up so I waited and waited and finally my genius figured out how to open the door and tell me she was ready to go NOW!!! I have never let Kyle quit a class (well....we did all flunk out of a music class but it was way too much and not what we thought it was so we did go to most of them???!!!!) so I went in and gave her some hugs and told her she had to watch the other girls or do the practice moves on the side but we were NOT going to be leaving no matter how much crying she did! She quickly knew I meant business and started doing the moves on the side. I switched her to her ballet shoes and she seemed to enjoy that better and joined the class again. I slipped out when she was not looking.


Doing some ribbon dancing to the Aladddin song. There was a small amount of crying and she opened the door for me again but did participate and lined up with the other girls for a sticker at the end.

I think this week will be more successful......esp. since I am not going!!!! I am banned until the final week recital unless Grandma has some place to go!