black hills vacation

we left on wednesday to for rapid city, sd and the blackhills. we lived there when the kids were born and my in-laws still live there; so, the kids do not think that when we go there it is a vacation.....so, we tried to be better tourists this time....we went to Rushmore Cave with its' hour tour inside the cave and the girls did the zipline on thursday.

 

thursday evening found us eating at Sanford's for supper....the ambience in the place is excellent as walls and ceiling are almost completely covered in vintage, or at least interesting, junk. loved all the stuff.

friday, we ventured down to hot springs.....the town itself is so interesting and old- the buildings and architecture there are so cool. it is too bad that there isn't more interest there. this little town needs a "rich uncle" to come in and whip it into the coolest place it should be....but, until then, the town is cool but in need of a face lift. we did visit the Mammoth Site- which is totally cool! they have found 61 mammoths now in this sink hole. the excavation is slow and tedious, but, worth the efforts and very interesting. the other stop we made while in hot springs was Evans Plunge. it is a natural hot springs. the kids and i enjoyed swimming there.

saturday found us at the lake....with the tube and a jetski- which of course the kids thought were awesome! overall, we had a great little vacation and are now glad to be home and ready for the school year to start (or at least i am...the kids- maybe not....)

kisses

first day back from vacation...dread. however, on my walk into work from the parking lot....a faint hint of chapstick...cherry, from my sweetheart husband, and all of the dread of the first day back was gone...poof.

i can hardly think of anything better than the lingers of kisses

back to reality

back from vacation in australia...what an amazing place! the people were so nice, friendly- and their accent was so cool. the beaches were amazing- we had gone at the perfect time...end of winter and we were there on the first day of spring; temp was 85. strange combination of trees- palms, pine and regular trees. very loud birds everywhere, open air shopping, foo-foo coffee galore- you almost can't find just a black cup of coffee, and if you ask for one- i am sure they think you are crazy. driving on the left side of the road- never knew which way i was supposed to be looking to cross a street...inlet water ways everywhere, homes are on stilts, and always with a border or a fence

vacation....

sleepless excitement,
creative packing,
10 days on vacation with my husband,
anxiety about leaving the kids (and dogs)with gramma,
sorry and thank you gramma!!
camera, batteries, memory sticks,
notebook, sketch book, reading book,
favorite scarves, tees,
passport

australia
pictures, stories, details
upon return.....