Park Hopping 2012

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(what they are looking at in the picture for park #8!)

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#16!!!!!

We had a beautiful day, and accomplished our goal with lots of laughter!  16 parks.  8 hours.  One of my favorite days of the summer!

Summer Fun

Oh My!  In the past 5 days we have had so much fun!  I'm not taking as many pics with my phone to collage, so here's a bunch from my camera....capturing the moments of summer.  Savoring the moments of summer.  Loving every moment of this amazing summer. 



Summer List:  Cover the back patio in chalk!





The kids built an amazing fort.  It even held up in a terrible wind/thunder storm!





Summer List:  Make homemade Graham Crackers (Martha Stewart Living).  YUM!!





Summer List:  Create your own s'more.  (there was nutella and chocolate chip cookies involved...and homemade graham crackers!)  Yes, Noah's has 3 layers! 





Loving the farmers market!  Today we picked up all the veggies for 'Cheese Soup'.  The kids cut them all up and we had an amazing dinner.  With sweet, juicy yellow watermelon for dessert. 





With seeds to spit!



Wednesday of our trip to South Dakota

Wednesday we slowed things down a little to enjoy Custer State Park!  There was so much to do there we could have spent everyday exploring!!  The kids also worked on a 'junior naturalist' badge at the State Park, where one of the requirements was a kids program.  The class they attended was about weather.  While they did that Tom and I enjoyed a little bird watching at the ranger station!  That afternoon the kids enjoyed some much needed down time at the cabin, they made bow and arrows and tried to build a tee-pee out of sticks!  For dinner we ate at the Bluebell Lodge (one of the many options within the park).  The food and atmosphere were amazing!!  We topped off the day with another drive of the wildlife loop, where we saw even more Buffalo (and blew our plans to have the kids in bed early!!) 

Tuesday of our trip to South Dakota

Slowly but surely I'll post trip pictures!!  The Tuesday of our trip was another wonderful day!  Tom took the kids to 'hook 'em and cook 'em' fishing in the park.  Unfortunately there was no 'cooking' because of the fire ban.  Sophie caught a fish though!  (Tom did not take a picture of that!)  After fishing we headed to Mt. Rushmore.  It was amazing.  They have a wonderful 'junior ranger' program that the kids could do, by filling out a booklet they would earn a badge.  It's safe to say we all learned quite a bit!  From there we headed to the Old West town of Deadwood.  On the way we hit a hail storm!  Very unexpected!  The kids and I found some great antique shops in Deadwood and even a vending machine for homemade truffles at a great chocolate shop, "The Chubby Chipmunk'  We had dinner at a wonderful place in Rapid City, where Noah had his first of 3 Buffalo Burgers of the trip!  So many great memories!!

Ahhh Summer!

Even while I am trying to catch up on my trip pictures, the fun keeps rolling!  This week we spent a day at the cottage of our friends the Robbins.  The boys tubed and fished and played, the girls swam and played, we all had a blast!  We also spent an annual evening at the Ottawa County Fair.   The kids continue to amaze with their braveness and inability to become dizzy!  (The adults did not do as well!)  WE LOVE SUMMER!