Lazy Days of Summer

Haven loves "momowers" and has been playing on our broken one. She likes to hang out on them at Lowe's too. She's been a trooper this week while having the dreaded Hand, Foot, Mouth (bottom, knees, face) Disease. Plus, she gave it to me, so that is lovely.



She has really started playing with her toys. She wants them to eat with her and she likes to take them on walks or in the car. Her imagination has started to soar and it is so fun to watch.

Haven in daddy's shoes with baby and horse.

Baby and Horse were hungry too.

Daddy loves using his imagination. He is really good at it to.

TOAL 2010- Crazy Horse and Mt. Rushmore

Our last few stops were Devils Tower, Crazy Horse Monument and Mt. Rushmore.

Crazy people climbing Devils Tower

Crazy Horse has been in the works for a really long time. They still need millions of dollars to finish it. It will be an amazing carving when it is finished.

Haven and Daddy with Crazy Horse in the background.

Native American beads donated to the museum at Crazy Horse.

The finished model of Crazy Horse is behind us with the actual carving behind that.

Haven thought Mt. Rushmore was cool. She mainly enjoyed running around with Grammy. They have a nice museum and trail leading to the base of the mountain. We walked with a park ranger to hear all of the details about Mt. Rushmore.

Grammy and Pop

View from the base of the mountain

Me and Mom

Pop and Havey

Doesn't he fit in well?
Wall Drug Store was a quite a sight. We drove to see this huge, general store that had just about everything. It was pretty neat, but overwhelming with all of the small stores within the huge store. They give away free ice water and it seems to draw people by the thousands. Amazing.
Haven riding the Jackelope. She liked it.
We had a great trip and were sad to come home to the humid weather. It was cool outwest and the air was thin. It just makes us more excited for the fall.

TOAL 2010- Cody and Sheridan

We stopped in Cody, Wyoming next on our journey. We ate lunch at the Buffalo Bill Hotel in Irma's Restaurant. There was lots of taxidermy and lots of original saloon stuff, so it felt like we were back in the early 1900's. Jeremy and Pop had the Buffalo Buffet. They tried quite a few buffalo dishes and seemed to enjoy them.

Sheridan sunset. This hotel had a great view.

Sheridan was filled with bronze artwork. They were all very lifelike and beautiful.

MOOSE! I really wanted to see a moose and one was on the side of the road.

Some odd thing poking up out of the ground as we drove through Wyoming into South Dakota.


Devil's Tower was our next stop. You can see some crazies climbing it. We did the trail walk around the base to see all sides of the weird thing sticking up out of the earth. Most of the motorcycle riders from the Sturgis Rally were there that day as well, so we got an eyeful of tattoos and bikes.

TOAL 2010- Yellowstone National Park

Even after 3 trips to Yellowstone National Park, I am still amazed the beauty of it all. We saw a beautiful eagle as we entered the park and then had a great time riding around to see all of the other sights.

Yellowstone Falls

Norris Geysers

Playing with Pop in the van

Old Faithful

Bison resting

We definitely saw more bison herds this time than before. It was amazing. We also saw elk and a coyote

TOAL 2010- Glacier National Park

We just returned from our annual Trip Of A Lifetime (TOAL) 2010. This year we went with my parents to the Rocky Mountain Region of National Parks.

Haven was a superb traveler and slept on all of our flights. She also did very well in the van as we drove long roads. We couldn't have asked for a better traveler. We pray she always enjoys it this much. Here is a picture of her airplane bedhead. Too cute.

We flew into Kalispell, Montana on Saturday, August 7th. Kalispell was a beautiful little town with mountains surrounding it and lots to see. We visited Glacier National Park, a local Kalispell park, and Whitefish. Whitefish was a pleasant surprise with a modern, but oldwest downtown area and a beautiful lake.

Whitefish Lake and Beach

Glacier National Park gave us quite the surprise with a the sighting of a bear as soon as we got there and then sleet with 50 degree weather as we got to the top of the mountains. It also has beautiful waterfalls, lakes, and rocks. The glaciers and hiking trails were on the far side of the park so we left that for another trip.

The Bear

Us

A waterfall we saw on a hike

Artist painting the scenery

Beautiful rocks on the bottom of the crystal blue lake

Where did we go next?

Haven was our official map translater. She told us that we were off to Yellowstone Park next.