Best Friends at Lagoon Amusement Park

Tasha and Erin Christiansen went to Lagoon with us for Tom's G.E. Work Day. While Natasha LOVED all the rides, even the scary roller coasters, her friend Erin hated all of them. Here's a rare smile from Erin before my camera died.

Halloween

Natasha is Snow White and Alyssa is a Fairy Princess
Alyssa loves her wings and "Sunday Shoes"
Kindermusik Halloween Party on October 30th--Alyssa (she's a spider girl) and Maddie
Alyssa was having fun shoving stuffed animals down her P.J.'s
What a lot of love they have for each other

July 2nd KOA, Custer SD, Custer State Park, First View

Our first full day at the KOA camp. The kids loved the splash park right next to our cabin. Alyssa even tried to drink the water! Yuck!


After getting wet and playing for a while, we went to lunch in Custer, SD (about 10 miles away). On the way in on the first day, we saw the cutest little restaurant and decided to check it out on this day. Here, Alyssa is playing Peek a Boo. I just love this photo as it shows off Alyssa's fun personality and darling curls.

Just after our helicopter ride. We're a little wind blown from the moving blades.


















We went to Mt. Rushmore right after the helicoptor ride. It was about 15 miles away. Since it was the 4th of July, the kids dressed up in patriotic garb. Alyssa is fascinated with her red, white, and blue beads. I love this shot. This is natural lighting too. This is the start of the Presidential Trail which walks to the base of the faces, and through the park. It was quite a walk with a stroller as we had to carry it down multiple flights of stairs. What workout!
See Old George peeking through the trees?
Look! Natasha is the 5th Face on Mt. Rushmore! She must be going to be famous one day (and look at her little side kick--already stoic and regal).

Having fun the first day in South Dakota at our KOA camp.

Happy 4th of July at Crazy Horse Monument near Custer, South Dakota.

We went on a helicopter ride over Crazy Horse. Short ride but really fun for all of us. Tasha makes a cute co-pilot!

Alyssa was in absolute heaven watching the helicopters land and take off. She had a blast on the ride and couldn't believe how high up she was. When I showed her these photos after we got home, she said, "Want go again, Momma!"

MT. Rushmore

We just got back from our first family roadtrip (a REAL roadtrip with just us--no one else). We were gone from June 30th to July 7th, 2007. Our main destination was Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota. This photo was taken on the 4th of July, hence the kids in patriotic garb. It was a very special and interesting experience. What a beautiful sight. This sculpture is truly an amazing feat--one worth seeing in person!

Getting Started

I'm wasting way too much time playing around with my new site, but it's been fun. I need to start rearranging the furniture and moving things out of rooms because we're having our carpets cleaned tomorrow. What a chore (and not one I'm looking forward to as Tom is out of town until Saturday morning). Tasha went back to school today after being off track for three weeks. I really dislike year round school for this reason. Here it is June 7th and she's going BACK to school, not getting out of school for the summer. She finishes 2nd grade on June 29th, then it's off to Mt. Rushmore! We've been planning this trip for months now. We're booked into a KOA in Hill City which is just 5 miles from the monument. The KOA camp sounds like a blast with lots of fun things for the kids to do. We'll be at Mt. Rushmore for the 4th of July fireworks (which are supposed to be the largest in the Country). Natasha has been researching Mt. Rushmore and each of the four presidents on the monument. She's pretty excited to go now since she knows a lot more about the history and facts behind the building of the monument.