Day 2 of vacation

On our second day of vacation (Thursday), we had ...

Coffee,

grass and clouds, 

coffee, 

happy passengers, 

a goal for partway there, 

interesting company on the interstate, 

plenty of billboards to read, 

thoughts to keep us happy, 

a big river with a fun bridge, 

dollar grab bags filled with fun, 

tired passengers who napped when asked to, 

grass and more clouds, 

rocks to sit on, 

grass and still more clouds, 

unknown animals to bicker about,
(no, really, what is that?) 

a very educational tour ...

at an underground missile launch control center, 

Badlands, 

rocks to climb really, really high, 

(Seriously high. The little circle is the girls and me, taken from where Evan was standing in the picture above.) 

rain, 

differently colored Badlands, 

wildlife on the passenger side of the van, 

wildlife on the driver's side of the van, 

a late supper stop at Wall Drug for buffalo burgers (or chicken nuggets and hot dogs),

photo opportunities, 

the oft-advertised free ice water from Wall Drug, 

still more clouds, 

and a tired family. 

Day 1 of vacation

Evan and Kendra got out of school on Tuesday afternoon last week. Laura had been helping us keep vacation a secret from them for nearly a week. (If she ever loses her ability to keep a secret, I'm in trouble. She always knows birthday and Christmas presents and going-away surprises. And she's never once slipped, not even a little.) On Wednesday morning, we woke the kids up early, told them to get dressed and grab a snuggle (a stuffed animal), ate breakfast, and got in the van.

One of my ideas for vacation was to take along a notebook for each of the kids. I knew if I tried to enforce a vacation journal, it would probably be met with arguments. So, instead, I wrote a few questions in each kid's notebook every night after they were in bed, and they answered the questions the next day.

So, for the first day of vacation, their first question was: Where do you think we might be going?

Here we are in the van, ready to leave!

And, look! We're in South Dakota already! This was clearly the leg of our trip that involved the camera the least. Two pictures in the garage, one picture at the state line 4+ hours later, and on we went.

After crossing into South Dakota, we stopped at a visitors center to pick up brochures and maps about various places we could go in South Dakota. Our first vacation-y stop was to play at the falls in Sioux Falls. Please take note of the exposed legs and arms. You won't be seeing them in any more pictures for the remainder of our trip!

And on we went. Our destination for the night was Mitchell, South Dakota which was about halfway to our ultimate destination. While we were in Mitchell, we of course checked out the Corn Palace.

Outside the Corn Palace, we told the kids to act corny for a picture. Evan's idea was to act like he was eating the corn. The girls opted for hanging on it.

Then we headed to our hotel which boasted a 150' water slide. We thought this was quite something until we noticed how many hotel signs in Mitchell touted "130' water slide", "150' water slide", "160' foot water slide". There clearly was a race to have the longest water slide in Mitchell at some point. Here's ours:

All three kids did the big water slide multiple times. It seemed that Evan liked it the best, even though Kendra was the one that let herself come down it the fastest. She came down faster than she planned one time when she curled up in a ball and consequently flipped upside down on a corner. She came shooting out the end head first, on her back, with her feet in the air, like a rocket-powered turtle stuck on its back.

There was also a little water slide in a shallow pool that was a hit with all three kids. Laura's goal appeared to be to make as big of a splash at the end as she possibly could.

 My goal became catching pictures of our kids at the end of the water slides. This picture of Kendra is by far my favorite of all the water slide pictures!

After a great start to our vacation, we sent everyone to bed a few hours late and rested up for another big day of driving.

Vacation by the numbers

We recently returned from our first "real vacation", meaning a vacation that wasn't based around attending a wedding or a family function. I'll try to do a few posts showing pictures from what we did each day. To start with, here's a look at our vacation to the Badlands and Black Hills of South Dakota ... by the numbers.

Days gone: 6

Children who had no idea we were going on vacation prior to us waking them up to leave: 2

Little girls who can keep a huge secret from her brother and sister for several days: 1

Beds we slept in: 10

Mochas/lattes consumed: 8

“Baristas” who didn’t know what a mocha was, nor how to make one: 1

Nickel cups of coffee consumed: 3

47 cents-with-free-refills cups of coffee consumed: 4

Miles driven: 1700+

Animals hit on the highway: 1

States inadvertently toured: 1

Days it rained: 3

Time zones crossed: 1

National and/or state parks/memorials/historic sites visited: 4

Tantrums thrown: 0

Bathroom breaks: A lot

Construction zones on the way there: 8

Trains we saw moving during the entire trip: 2

Bottles of shampoo, mouthwash, and other hotel goodies we came home with: 18

Days that lunch was skipped: 4

Pictures and videos uploaded to computer from camera: 700

Dollars spent: Less than we expected but still a lot

Kids who were volunteered to help at Mt. Rushmore presentation: 1

Times the South Dakota sales tax increased while we were there: 1

Kids who were volunteered to help at Cosmos Mystery Area: 3

Number of hours that any of us felt tippy after leaving the Cosmos Mystery Area: 20

Shoes that got muddy: 10

Notable landmarks we photographed without realizing we’d even seen them: 1

Days I fell behind in my Bible reading: 5

Days we stood in awe at and talked about God’s amazing creation: 6

T-shirts that were purchased: 4

Gracious Dairy Queen employees who accepted our one-day-expired Blizzard coupons: 1

Kids who grumbled about being in the van for so many hours: 0

People in our van who thought the black bears looked snuggly: 5

Honey roasted peanuts that were fed to the chipmunks: Way too many, yet not nearly enough

Stuffed animals we left with: 6

Stuffed animals we came home with: 12

Times the kids were told to let Daddy check out a rock/trail before they scampered up it: the same as the number of rocks/trails we approached

Times someone asked for a bucket in the van: 0

Shirts/pants that got dirty from food spills: 2

Times I watched cute little bottoms and strong little legs as they climbed: the same as the number of times those little bodies climbed

Degrees on the coldest day (spent outside): 42

Degrees on the warmest day (spent in the van): 75

People in our family who were burnt out by the end: Surprisingly, zero

People in our family who thought this was an awesome vacation: 5