south dakota family vacation noteables

we are home from our vacation to south dakota.

we had the most amazing time.

it is hard to put into words....it just was so good.

here are a few noteables from our trip

• jake took a trip to urgent care the day before we left and had a double ear infection. he was a trooper. and was in a great mood the whole time. man those antibiotics can do wonders.
• maggie had her first s'more. that we know of....she says she has never had one before. she has had all the parts just never all together. 
• we ate a subway two days in a row as we traveled out....and the girls easily would have ate there again...but daddy would not. 
• cece's favorite part of vacation was our new selfie stick. in second place was seeing mt rushmore and crazy horse. 
• maggie enjoyed seeing the three?......or four?......heads. she had fun pressing a mt rushmore penny. 
• jake liked walking around any chance he could get. 
• within the first 10 minutes of being at our cabin jake had rolled down the hill in front of our cabin. it took him all five days to get the hill mastered. by the end he was doing pretty good. 
• tim did most of the driving. 
• we stayed in a cabin at horse thief campground. it was quiet and calm and relaxing. 
• it hadn't rained in months....but rained every day we were in the black hills. the last day there was a pretty intense hail storm with golfball size hail. luckily we weren't back at the campground yet and didn't have to watch our van get hailed on. phew. 
• we visited three states--minnesota, south dakota and wyoming. 
• we visited three parks in the national park system--badlands, mt rushmore, and devils tower. 
• jake was a super sleeper. he napped. he went to bed on time. he slept all night. 
• we learned about the damage the pine beetle has done to the black hills forest. 
• ellie can't get past how big crazy horse is compared to mt rushmore. (the four heads can fit into just the side of crazy horse's face). 
• maggie spent her vacation money on a pink sheriff's set, a sling shot, and a pink wall drug hat. and she also some how managed to get a book.......
• we cooked all of our meals at the campsite. i even baked an apple pie in the dutch oven. tim and i are really starting to get campfire/campsite cooking figured out. 
• ellie's favorite parts were.....all of it. specifically she liked the campfires, mt rushmore, and crazy horse. and seeing things we don't usually see like the badlands and the mountains. 
• cece spent her money on a pink sheriff set, fudge, and treats and soda from the general store at the campground. 
• the kids watched the movie flushed away at least 10 times. we think six times in a row as we drove home!
• ellie spent her vacation money on a deck of mt. rushmore playing cards, fudge, and treats and soda at the campground general store. 
• the girls all loved getting ice cream!
• i loved seeing mt rushmore at night. 
• the girls loved sleeping in the top bunk of the bunk beds. 

it was a good trip.

it filled my heart.

and for that i am so very thankful.



p.s. there are sooooooo many more pictures from our trip. i am hopeful to get some posts up this week. right now i am trying to the vacation mess that is all over my house! :)


happy monday y'all.