road trip to south dakota: day 2, our "buffalo walk"

after dinner, we walked up and down main street and the girls got to take pictures with each other the beautifully decorated buffaloes. all was well until 8 pm, when amelia crawled into bed and scarlett refused to sleep. period. I took my turn driving so jeremy could sleep, she fell asleep in her carseat and made another easy transfer to her pack'n'play. However, she woke up screaming at 2 in the morning and we had the most eventful night of the trip. I took her driving again, and attempted to transfer her, but she refused. I decided to take her back to the car and just sleep with her outside. jer, not wanting us to be by ourselves outside in the middle of the night, got dressed to switch me, but shut the door to our room, leaving the three of us stranded outside and amelia snoozing away in her room. no one was at the front desk in this small town hotel, and neither of us had our phones, and I was just sick thinking about amelia waking up to nobody in the room. neither of us slept, and scarlett didn't make a sound. we talked about leaving the next afternoon-- if we weren't going to sleep, we might as well drive home, right? amelia woke up right before 6 am, and timidly popped the door open... we both rushed to her-- of course, she was fine, but very confused about what we were doing.

and that's how day 2 ended and day 3 began.
ah, adventures.

road trip to south dakota: day 2, crazy horse

the history behind crazy horse is devastating. I'm glad there is now education about the native american history for the tourists of south dakota, and how they suffered in our hands. I'm glad there's funding going towards such a phenomenal monument. and it IS phenomenal... the head of crazy horse is larger than 6 of the combined heads of mr. rushmore. we loved driving past and seeing crazy horse in all it's glory between all our activities. the construction of the memorial began 68 years ago and it's estimated to be completed in a few decades, though completion is not certain. we hope to be able to visit it again.

 the girls with a small model of the completed memorial.

 on the bus to see crazy horse!

I just adore this candid shot of my family.

grateful and proud to be an american and learn from our tragic mistakes.

road trip to south dakota: day 2, cluster state park

not sure that these pictures are chronologically correct, but oh well...

cluster was beautiful and so amazing to see wildlife to close.

amelia freaked and wanted her window rolled up when this donkey put his head in our window. then he proceeded to poop right next to our car.

see my car door at the bottom of this picture? that's how close this guy was!

 causing traffic.

 one of the massive herds... j guessed there were about 300+ total

 I loved seeing him so excited-- I just adore him.

 me, with a mama and baby

 a picture to show how these guys literally stuck their heads in cars!

I love these girls!

road trip to south dakota: day 2, mt. rushmore

we got up bright and early, like 6 or 7 am early with our favorite alarm clocks and had breakfast the bavarian inn's complimentary pancake bar. first stop was rushmore, a first for all four of us! I love how smiley the girls were for this trip, lucky me...

amelia looking through the binoculars before the presidential hike// the girls hand-in-hand//  scarlett decided she didn't want to ride in her backpack for the first bit// a cave with a sliver to see the mountain// this is where jeremy shot down the names george, thomas, and theodore for a baby boy, but put lincoln on the maybe list// amelia standing in front of the original model for mt. rushmore... you can see the detail on washington's jacket that wasn't able to be carved in the mountain due to natural shifting/changing of the mountain// amelia giving old georgie a kiss!// a random turkey that j insisted on using my phone to take so he could show his dad...

road trip to south dakota: day 1

I was actually quite nervous for this 10+ hour road trip. I did some research, prepped a few (10 to be exact, for each hour on the road) homework kits for amelia and packed puzzles for scarlett, and planned parks and bathroom breaks accordingly. surprisingly, the girls did amazing! we were also pleasantly surprised when they fell asleep in the 9th hour and we had a moment to chat among ourselves.

we hit the indoor pool as soon as we arrived at the bavarian inn. afterwards, we had dinner at the pizza place, and amelia and I went to sleep while jer drove scarlett around for an hour before she fell asleep. he successfully transferred her into her pack-n-play, and this was the best/only night she slept in the hotel room.

may for the bodtchers

 (amelia's favorite purchase... her very own umbrella!)

(scarlett and the adamson's cat, chewy!)

 (stop and smell the roses!)

(amelia figured out how to get to the camera on my phone from the lock screen. where was I? yup, busted, passed out on the couch behind her.)

 (scarlett trying to get in on the snack goods)

 (love that she left her helmet and backpack on)

 (our favorite part of the day)

 (amelia's birthday card to brook, I love that she included scarlett in her picture)

(13.1 miles in 1:49, only 6 minutes from my pr, even with an annoying bathroom break in the middle of the race.)

(we sent scarlett into nursery in may... a little early! she struggled at first, but now is so so brave and great. I would feel so free in church, if I wasn't serving as a nursery leader in the other class...)

(we got amelia a $5 two-wheeler, and amelia struggled a little bit at the beginning. this was her saying, "I can't do it. I'm dead.")

(celebrated jeremy's birthday with dinner at iggy's, where I told our server it was his birthday and got him a yummy sundae.)

(out on their "bikes")

 (how to shop with three kids!)

 (last day of preschool)

(last week of dance, where they learned a little routine to justin beibs "sorry." weeks later, we heard it at the food trucks and amelia yelled out, "I did my dance to this song!!!!")

(a little roadtrip prep-- lots of car activities for the girls)