Playing Catch up again: MAY

We're Making It A Family Tradition!

We live only 4 hours away from Mt. Rushmore so we decided to take a weekend trip to see the sites. (For those of you wondering, there is sooooo much to do in S.D., you can make it quick weekend trip or a week long visit) We started our journey in Hill City, SD. David had done his research and found an old 1880 Train Ride for us to take. The kids LOVED it. They were so excited to go for a ride on the Polar Express train. It was about a 2 hour ride round trip. The kids were soooo quiet. We plan on heading back there in December when they decorate the train like the PolaR ExpresS and you get to take a ride to the North Pole to see Santa.

Hanging out while we waited for the big train to be serviced

Checking out one of the older cabooses

Filling up & getting ready to let off some steam! :)

Getting ready to leave the train station

Next, we headed on over to those "guy's faces". I've never been to Mt. Rushmore before so this was exciting for me too. Harley loved seeing the "guy's faces" on the mountain.

And proof to show we were there! :)

There really were so many different kinds of attractions to see. The kids chose to see Old McDonald's Farm. This was the Goat Bridge you could see from the highway. We thought it was pretty cool. Just some hanging bridges and some daring goats. There was nothing below the bridge so you could walk under it and get a good look at the goats above.

The kids were so excited to see all the baby animals.

Mav met Harley the bunny. I'm not sure what he thought,

but I'm pretty sure he knew he wasn't petting Harley!

We couldn't leave without seeing the pig races. It was hilarious watching those pigs scurry around the race track. And what did they race for, cherry cool-aid! :)

Let's not forget the horsey ride... Okay we got a picture of each of them on a horse but Harley was the only brave one who actually rode the horse.

Yep, we enjoyed trying new restaurants, swimming at the hotel and of course, spending some quality time with the FAMILY!

Oakley Visits The Hospital

Don't worry yet, we're not... I think. So, quick update: A couple months ago I found a bump on Oakley's cheek. Had it checked out by a friend, nothing serious. It went away on its own after about 3 weeks. No side effects. Fast forward to a couple weeks ago, while we're on vacation... Oakley starts complaining about his legs hurting. We think it's probably growing pains. We find the bump on his cheek has returned. We see no correlation between the two. (Sightseeing and and things not the best when we had to be in the car or walking. Oakley complained of being in pain) Home for a couple day and he's not getting better. Starts limping so off to the Dr. we go. The Dr. is more concerned about the bump in his cheek than the legs hurting. He orders tests and sends Oakley to the hospital, for quicker results he says. A quick in and out visit turns into one over night and then another. More testing. More Dr.'s. No Answers. Three days later, a very CRANKY little boy and no answers, we get to go home. SERIOUSLY?! OH and I forgot to mention that we are in between insurances to who knows if any further treatments will be covered and so on... enough complaining. We have been blessed with good health thus far to which we are grateful!

Sorry that wasn't very quick

Before they start poking and prodding

An I.V. 3 blood draws and much medication later

And an hour before he gets to go home! YEAH!!!!

The bump really is BIG!

Harley's First Dance Recital

Yep, my little girl had her very first dance recital and we missed it... Seriously, we have had so much going on this past month it's ridiculous. We were going to be out of town during the recital so I wanted to make sure she at least made it to the dress rehearsal. This way she got to wear the costume & make up and get to dance on the big stage. I wanted cute pictures and a video but I was stuck in the hospital with Oakley. Thanks to a great friend who picked her up and took her. Thus only hospital pictures and no video. :(

Isn't she so dang cute? She wasn't fond of the costume at first.

She asked if next time she could get a costume that was a little longer!

She's all girl. She was so excited about wearing the make-up!

Oakley's Birthday

We also celebrated Oakley's 3rd birthday the end of the month. We had a birthday party for him in Idaho. I forgot my camera so no pictures. He wasn't feeling the greatest so He had been telling us for weeks that all he wanted for his birthday was a Tractor. " The big tractor from the store!" He told the nurses watching over him that he was getting a tractor for his birthday. We couldn't disappoint and so...

Yep, he got his tractor.

(You'll have to excuse the pouty face. We had just gotten back from Idaho and his legs were hurting. )

Honestly, at this point I think Harley & Maverick were more excited about Oakley's present than he was. He climbed in, pushed the gas, it jerked, he cried (not unusual for him by now), climbed out and said he didn't like it because it scared him. What a great present... for Harley. She's lived in that gator since we got it. She keeps telling us it's the best present EVER! She's not a bad driver either. She gives the kids a ride when we go for walks now. I love that we can make it around the block in record time now, I'm even willing to go around 2 blocks! :)