WOW! A whirlwind stay in South Dakota that was absolutely wonderful was my reward for flying stand-by once again. My time with my daughter and the grands was so fun and we were on the go so much that I cannot believe how quickly the days went. We started out with a picnic on the base for Labor Day that was delicious and the kids had a grand time on the inflatable slides as you can see by the shot of Jacob midair, lol. It was a great way to start the time together. From there we had a little bit of time and so we went and picked up the bikes that Mister had ordered for gifts for the young grandchildren, with Josh being the recipient of one of them. Bekah then had soccer practice and so we hung out there for awhile (please check out the picture of Jon running ---- you can see the grasshoppers for they were EVERYWHERE) and then dropped off three at Tae Kwon Do class and headed to a Cub Scout Pack Meeting for Jon and a few minutes for Josh to play with the new Stryder Bike.
The next day, we were off to the Badlands and oh my, they were so beautiful, as Jen said, "desolate, but gorgeous." I was amazed with the vastness and yet the colors and formations were incredible. The kids had a great time running around and climbing amongst the rocks and we even had the opportunity to listen to a park ranger sharing information about the fossils found in that area. We also made a stop along the way back at a Minuteman missle silo and that was so fascinating -- hearing Jen describe the difference between those missles and the bombs that Daddy drops was pretty interesting as well. Then, a stop at Wall Drug (its famous you know, lol) for fresh homemade ice cream and a romp on the fountain pad where even I managed to get sprayed and Bekah found it very funny. Good times for all.
Saturday day was a trip to Spearfish and the fish hatchery where the kids had a great time with fish food that was both bought and found on the ground. From there we went through the beautiful Black Hills -- so peaceful and delightful eye candy. We stopped in Lead and checked out a pit gold mine and then headed to Deadwood for some fun and games. The kids were able to participate in both a card game and a band playing "fruit" instruments as well as witnessing a reenactment in the streets of a famous gunfight. We had a great time and headed home sooooo tired. However, Super Gammy (or was it Stupid Gammy??) to the rescue and we went to dinner at a Mexican Restaurant where we sat on the patio (oh my gosh thank goodness for that) and for some reason the silliness in all that accompanies tiredness from 3 days on the go hit -- and it hit ALL -- I actually looked over and caught Jen trying to blow a corn dog stick out of a straw -- she was gone. Such a good time and I can't wait to go back again as I had to pick up my car the next day and head to Montana to work.
After picking up my car and driving straight from SD to MT in 5 hours (with a few issues: I missed the turn off for the cut-off and wound up taking the interstate the whole way leading to a little fuel scare as I noticed the gas gauge when I had 40 miles to go and not a single gas station in between, ugh) I arrived at Matt's house in time to give Hyrum his bike before the party started that evening. He was so cute -- but no way in heck he was getting on that bike -- push it was okay. The house was full for several hours and I took advantage to play with Hyrum and Elena as much as I could. I spent the next few days working in the office and spending time with Kyle and Rhiana and Matt and Becca ---- so enjoyable for me and it will be hard to wait a month to see all again.
A few weeks ago as I was boarding the airplane in Montana, someone walked up to me and said hi. It was an old friend that I hadn't seen in quite awhile and so we started talking. Strange as it may seem, our lives were so similar and she was now living in Texas as well. We were both shocked, but determined that we wanted to renew the friendship and go forward together. We got together for the Oktoberfest celebration and had a great time together. She had lived in Belgium when she was younger and hadn't been to an Oktoberfest since then so really enjoyed it. The bands were great as well as seeing the beautiful German dirndls and lederhosen. Children were racing barrels and getting their faces painted and the whole place was truly a festival atmosphere. Mister even danced a bit with me - so fun.
The Old Monk had a cool event for the opening of Oktoberfest and so we went to watch. Even though I grew up in bars and attended several Oktoberfest events as a child, this was all new to me. Franconia Brewery brought a cask that was 200 years old from Germany and filled it with their beer. The brewmaster is 4th generation German and the owner of the pub is from Dublin, so Ireland and Germany combined to tap the keg the old fashioned way with a spigot and hammer. It was all very fascinating and the smell of the old keg was pretty amazing -- nice oak smell, not at all like stale beer. Mister was able to talk with the brewer for awhile and it seemed that we became the official photographers for the evening and some of Mister's shots will be posted on the website at the next update. I enjoyed learning all about the process that is from my heritage --- oh to go to Germany sometime, what a thrill that would be.
