Rushmore 2016

You may recall that last summer, we took a trip to South Dakota and Mt. Rushmore, and had an almost unexpectedly good time.

When we realized that it would also be a nice "middle ground" between the Westerners and Easterners in my family, it planted a little seed of an idea as a possible family reunion site.

I discovered that the lodge through which we booked our little cabin, also had for rent, a nice beautifully large 6 bedroom home, on 20 acres, and the seed started sprouting.

Have you planned a family reunion?  If so, you'll already know that figuring out dates that accommodate 30 people is hard, if not impossible.

I was far enough out that I just picked dates, and hoped that with enough notice, people could work with them.


The last time we did this was 6 years ago in Park City.  I was pregnant with Max.  We'd had a few fruitless attempts in the past.  But I decided that it was reunion or bust.  It means enough to me to be all together with my family that I was going to make it work.  And if Dan and I ended up alone with our 5 kids in a gigantic house in South Dakota, then so be it.  It wasn't going to be because we didn't try.

So when people started saying they could come, I was ecstatic!

Those original dates I'd picked changed three times but finally settled upon a long weekend when all but my oldest brother's family could attend.  I realized that this was as good as it was going to get.

With my nephew's wedding the weekend before and my niece leaving on her mission to Brazil the day after, it was a really busy time for everyone.

I know that it cost all of us significant time and money, and I can only speak for myself, but I declare that it was totally worth it!

Everyone but us had a two day drive (or all-nighter in my sister's case) to get there (it pays to live in the middle, I guess).  We all arrived in town within a few hours of each other.

I left 3 van loads of people in the parking lot and went to check in. When I gave my name and the clerk checked the computer, she stared at the screen for a minute, asked my name again, and then told me that I'd made a mistake and shown up a day early, the house was occupied, and that we couldn't check in until the next day.

Would you be shocked if I told you that I pooped my pants right then?

My mind raced through the possible ways that I could have screwed this up. I didn't know what date it actually was, I never do. The fact that I'd had people drive thousands of collective miles on the wrong day was, sadly, entirely plausible. I pulled out my phone, desperate to find the confirmation email with the dates.  I was shaking and in shock .  Where do 30 people just sleep on a whim?  What would they all say when I told them what I'd done?

I scrolled through my emails as fast as I could.  I finally found it.  I scanned through quickly and found the check in date was....today! Boom! It was today!


I handed her my phone, so relieved. It was their mistake, not mine!  It didn't change the fact that we were all still going to be homeless for the night, but I was just so darn relieved in that moment that it wasn't my fault, I wasn't even that mad.

They offered to put us up in a bunch of their small cabins and some cabins at a sister location that night.  It was far from ideal, but it worked out okay.  I believe there are two ways to react when the circumstances turn unfortunate, you can pout and have a bad time, or you can make the best of it.  I am SO thankful that we have a family full of people who are willing to make the best of things.

I was in charge of dinner that night and felt so lucky that I had made the taco meat at home the day before.  All I needed to do was heat it up and chop the veggies.  Luckily our little cabin had a small kitchen with an oven.  Instead of cramming ourselves inside to eat, we carried it all down to a large grassy picnic area and ate outside.  It was pretty much perfect even though, things weren't "perfect."

The next morning we met to hike around Sylvan Lake.

It was just as beautiful as we remembered.

Since we had organized this thing and convinced people that South Dakota wasn't actually as boring as it sounded, we felt a bit of pressure to make sure that people had a good time.  So as we drove to different locations we sort of crossed our fingers and hoped that what we were about to see would be as great as we remembered.

Sylvan Lake did not disappoint.

We followed up the hike with a dip in the water.

Jack even got his first taste of sand and loved it!

Following the lake, we were able to check into the house.  I wish I had gotten a few more pictures of it, but this is the view off the back balcony.  The little boys basically ran all over the enormous lawn for hours on end, pretend fighting with pool noodles.

I wasn't shocked at all that Max and Sage hit it off.

They were so cute together.

When you're buying groceries for 30, you quickly realize that your minivan isn't quite as big as you thought it was.

And can I just say that one of my favorite parts of this trip was going to the grocery store with my mom and siblings?  Seriously, it was. I wish I got to do normal everyday things with them more often.

That night we hit Mt. Rushmore, via the Iron Mountain Road.  We were all in our own cars so I have no idea what everyone else thought of it, but for the second year in a row, the Colton's thought it was really cool.

I had to play hard ball and insist parent's chase down their children for this picture, but I am so glad I did because I love it!

The only disappointing thing was that one side of the trail that runs right under the mountain was closed.

Some people opted for the other side of the loop and the rest of us took in the view from the amphitheater.

I had to take one last picture of Jack and I because the last time we were here together, less than a year ago, he was inside my belly.

Sunday was a wonderful day.  We met all together and had a little church meeting of our own since the nearest building was a couple of hours away.  We sang together and then had a little testimony meeting.

The spirit was strong and it was a privilege to hear the thoughts of those I love.  And it was a sweet send off for my niece Kieran who was headed off on her mission to Brazil the next day.

I love my family and I love the gospel of Jesus Christ. The only thing that could have made that day better was if my oldest brother Bret and his family were there.

We bought enough graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate to feed a small country so we couldn't let the firepit go to waste.

We drove through the wildlife loop in Custer State park.  There wasn't a ton of animals out and about except a bunch of prairie dogs, these "wild" donkeys,

and this buffalo by the road who snapped a tree in half right in our faces just to see us quiver with fear. 

We hit Wind Cave National Park for a tour.  Having Dan stay back with Finn and Jack was the smartest move of our trip.  Locked underground with a crying kid for over an hour would not have been fun.

And who would have known that some of the best Mexican food I've eaten since leaving Texas would have been from a truck in Custer, South Dakota? 

Who also would have known that you can actually break a toe by tripping on an ottoman? That was definitely not my best move of the trip.

We picked out souvenirs, 

And played games back at the house.

And in honor of our last night, Dan pulled out some of the sweetest pool shots, I'd never seen.

On Tuesday morning, as we drove away, I was so happy this weekend actually happened, and I was sad that it was already over.  'Til next time, People! And yes, we will not be waiting 6 years to do it again!

Father's Day (Observed)

When your daddy goes out of town on the evening of Father's Day, you have to be adaptable.

We tried to make Sunday morning special, but we saved the big guns for when Dan returned from Canada last night.

I got the great idea to film the kids answering questions about Dan from a friend. Which led to me going through our ENTIRE digital photo collection (that is a ton of pictures, people) to add a photo montage onto the end of the video.  When I realized how long it was going to take me to put it together, I suddenly felt really lucky that our celebrating would be delayed.

We really love our daddy so much.

I was doing the dishes while he was gone (his usual daily contribution) and I don't know what got into me, but I started to cry as I thought about the way my life had turned out because of him.  I cry a lot, but I surprised myself enough that as the first tear fell, I actually thought, "Oh crap, am I pregnant?!"

The answer to that question would be a gigantic, NO.

I just have a really great man in my life who makes me feel like I can do anything as long as he's with me. And, apparently, like I could cry just thinking about him.

We made the best of his time away, taking advantage of the beautiful, not too hot weather.

Jack had his first swing on his 9 month birthday, which probably breaks some sort of  Maximum Age of First Swing law.

He may have had to wait his whole life, but he was too busy loving it to be disappointed.


And we had a nacho picnic with popsicles AND pudding for dessert. Which brought many accolades, including Best Mom Ever.

But the next day, we went to work.

I stayed up too late finishing the video, we shopped for some presents, and the kids worked on the banner, balloons, and cake.

I wish I could say that one of the kids wrote the message on this cake, but it was all me.  I have no future as a cake decorator.

The kids came up with a plan.  Upon our return from picking him up from the airport, they would go in the house first.  Then Dan would come in through the front door.  They would wait on the upstairs landing and throw balloons over the edge on him as he read the banner they'd hung up.

It worked perfectly.

Then we ate his requested taco dinner and watched the video together. (I'm posting the youtube link instead of the actual video here, because I'm pretty sure blogger wouldn't put up with a file so big. Also, the first part where the kids are talking is very quiet.  I added captions, but you may want to turn the volume up for the first 6 minutes.  The photo montage has normal volume, so you'll want to turn it down a bit when that part comes.)


He loved it all.  And we love him.

Happy Father's Day to the best dude in town!

I'm coming for you, Summer!

As long as I've had school age kids, I've worried about summer.  The break from school throws our status quo for a loop and all of the sudden, the activities that take up the majority of their day are gone and I just get a little nervous.  So I make a lot of plans. And then I don't use them for the most part, because after a little while we all find our new status quo and new activities to fill up the hours.  

So this year, I didn't go overboard with my activity planning.  Instead I hopped on the Summer Bucket List bandwagon, which would provide inspiration should we need it.

And I also revamped our chore system.  It seems like I always do this as well at the beginning of each summer because it takes about that long for whatever previous system was in place to breakdown completely.

So the kids had chores. Only Ava actually did them.  We cleaned our brains out on Saturdays.  The house looked like a tornado hit it most of the time.

But I got to thinking, there must be a better way.

Thus, the Zone System was born.

Each child is in charge of a zone on the main floor, which they rotate through weekly.  (3 zones = Family Room, Mud Room and Hall Bath, and Living and Dining Room + plus their respective bedroom). I try to keep up with the kitchen.

Each morning, they do a "run through"and put away everything on the main floor that belongs to them.  Then they clean their zone (plus their room). I've been a stickler about them doing a really good job and what they've found, is that since they clean it everyday, it practically takes no time each morning.  And for a good part of the day, the majority of where we spend our time, looks decent.

They also each have additional daily chores like, getting dressed, brushing teeth, making bed, unloading dishwasher, washing kitchen counters, setting the table, school work, practicing piano, always clearing their dishes, etc., though while they're not new, there has been renewed motivation to clean. 

They each have 2 snack passes to use throughout the day (because Max can literally eat the entire 13 hours he's awake) as well as 3 (30 min each) tech tickets, which includes using the tv, ipad, and wii.

The whole thing has worked wonders.  It's amazing how much better I feel (and I think the kids too) when the house is tidy. And our Saturday morning clean up is much less intense, which is nice when you're hoping to use that day for doing fun things.

Other than that and our recent travels, we've been hanging around the house,

And backing ourselves into corners, 

enjoying the pretty backyard and beautiful evenings, 

The soft grass is an especially nice spot to practice your clapping, 

Finn's been washing a lot of dishes (and even a library book, grrr.) which is a two year old rite of passage, if you didn't know.

And we all love siting on the front porch to watch for Dad to come home.

 We've even managed to mark a few things off the bucket list.

Like the Museum of Nature and Science,

Do you know what happens when you take a picture in front of a green screen and you're wearing a green shirt?  Luke can tell you...

We swam at the pool and had fun despite realizing how rusty some of our swimming skills have gotten.

And next week we'll be off on our next adventure and marking a few more items off of our list, I'm sure.

A Little Picture Buffet

This is the smorgasbord that is our life.  Buckle up, we're going for a ride...

When Max isn't pushing people's buttons and making us crazy, he's a pretty fun brother to have around.

Finn likes yogurt.  And wearing his brother's soccer jersey.

Finn also enjoys shoes.  Especially when they're not his. Word to the wise, start looking for your shoes at least 10 minutes before you need to leave the house.

I had a horrible realization as I watched Luke walk into school on one of the last days.  The poor kid had unknowingly worn his little brothers jeans to school.  I prayed that the other little first graders would be just as oblivious as he was and not notice the skin hanging out between his pants and his sock.  When he got home, I broke the news.

"Luke, I think you accidentally wore Max's jeans to school today."  And then he walked over to me, pulled out the tag, and showed me the 8. The size jeans that he wears.  Er, wore.  

Poor Elise, had unknowingly watched her child grow right before her eyes.  

After realizing that Max had been in the bathroom for nearly 45 minutes, I called through the door asking if he was okay.  He assured me he was.  "What's the hold up then?" I said.  "Well, Mom. I just don't want to wipe my bottom because it's so gross."  I've seen a lot of procrastination in my days, just never about this.

I continue to have more laundry than seems humanly possible to produce.  I feel the upcoming purge in my bones.  This one's going to be big, folks.

The only good thing about it are the smiles it brings to Jack when we plop him in the middle of the laundry mountain.

Sometimes, Jack falls asleep touching my face and I want to freeze time.  The best I can do is take a picture.

Max's girlfriend, Anna moved away.  Yet, not two weeks later, Kamryn has stepped into her place.  And the funny thing is, that while he is worthy of the name "Ladies Man", he doesn't do the pursuing.  He's not running away though either, obviously.

I really like this kid.

 This dot to dot made Luke so happy.  All 1,476 dots.

I realized not long ago, that these two are the miniatures of two of my older brothers. 

 Luke is the brainy, analytical, rational, little Bret.  

Max is the talkative, charismatic, loveable, little Ian.  

With Bret and Ian as the pattern, I already know how this story turns out.  I hope they stay really great friends.

A poor little frog got stuck in our window well.  Ava surprised me by not batting an eye at picking him up for the rescue. 

Finally, after waiting through and endless winter and a May snowstorm, walking weather is back and we love it!