SoDak

Day 1:
- Wake up 4 am - leave Oakdale 5:15 am
- Drove threw pouring rain
- Stopped in Mitchell Sd to see the oh so a-maize-ing Corn Palace
- Also in Mitchell we drove on a road that wasn't a road - GPS's do lie sometimes
- Stopped at Al's Oasis - guys got Buffalo burgers, I ordered Potato Soup and half turkey sandwich which became half turkey sandwich and turkey soup and then came the offer of hot dish - then pudding which I accepted but then later was told they were out of and then was finally given hot dish and chow mein noodles
- Wall Drug
- Dinosaur Park
- Pizza with Jeremiah's brother and then camping in the Black Hills in 24 degree weather


Day 2:
- Mt. Rushmore
- A drive by of Crazy Horse
- Arby's with Sonic Limeades!
- Reptile gardens (they have more reptiles than any where else)
- Custer State Park
- Camping in the Badlands




Day 3:
- I woke everyone up at 5:00 am, with a pre-wake up 7 minutes to 5
- We then packed up all our gear and headed out to watch the sun rise
- Drove back to Sioux Falls and ate at Granite City for Tom's Birthday
- Arrived home around 8 pm

Dave's 40th!

I neglected to blog about my brother's 40th birthday party!

It was a great time, the food was great and the crowd was even better! We had a great time and I am always impressed by how Ella can managed to send us all home feeling stuffed to the gills!

It seemed like it had been a while since I took a picture with me and my dad so here is the latest from the party:


You would think getting a few girls to smile for a camera would be easy...well, it's not. Here's the best picture I got and it makes me absolutely smile:

TC is kind of a show off

I woke up Wednesday morning absolutely freezing, so I decided it might be time to admit it is going to be winter soon and to prepare the thermostat for 'winter' weather instead of summer. While doing so at 5 am TC decided he'd find a new place to play. Seriously, this cat will always amaze me.

Then later on Wednesday I came home to find TC winking at me constantly. So today him and I took a trip to the vet to find out he does not have a scratched eye - but he does need some ointment put in his eye 3 times a day for 5-7 days. Needless to say - he does NOT like it.

On the St. Croix with the Qualleys

A little over a month ago I found out that Britt has never been canoeing - NEVER. So we planned a date towards the end of September to take a trip down the St. Croix.

Saturday was the day - the day started out quite gloomy and I was really worried we were going to get rained out of our fun day. But when the time came to put the canoes in the water there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It turned out to be a beautiful day full of laughter and turtles.

We did not do the long trip from Taylors Falls to William O'brien this time - instead we took out at Osceola which is 'just' 7 miles instead of 17. Needless to say the boys (and everyone else) were over joyed when we saw the Osceola bridge come into view.

Mason holding a baby snapping turtle:
The picture Gabe took of the cliffs along the journey:
Owen and Brian competing to see who has cuter eye brows - Owen wins, hands down:
A picture from the Captains chair of everyone (except of course the Captain - Me):
Britt, Owen, Gabe and Matt paddling away:

Can this be considered crafting?

So it has been a while since I've done any 'crafting' and a couple weeks ago I saw some cool glasses at MOA made out of beer bottles. I decided I needed to see if we could do it ourselves. So today we produced what Brian refers to as our 'Proof of Concept'. As is, it looks like we may actually be able to make some more of these things. Now I just need to find some Glass Etching Cream, some cool beer bottles and we'll be able to monogram some of these for fun.

Wine Weekend

5 wineries, 45 different wines all in 2 days.

Wineries:
-St. Croix Vineyards
-Alexis Bailly Vineyard
-Cannon River Winery
-Falconer Vineyards and Nursery
-Northern Vineyards

Best part about the whole weekend - spending some much needed time with Mary Schuh!

Mary and Me at St. Croix Vineyards:


Mary and me at Falconer Vineyards:

Mary and me pretending to stomp grapes at St. Croix vineyard:


...I think my grapes are all stomped.


Evidently visiting wineries and tasting wine give you some abilities...
such as the ability to hold water fountains...


Or to squish bird houses with just your fingers...

Family BBQ

On Saturday we hosted our first family barbecue at our house. We had three grills going, tons of food and tons of fun. Our garage door broke the night before and thanks to three of my brothers we were able to get it back into operation.

Unexpectedly Rock Band was a hit with the kids and "Eye of the Tiger" was played over and over again with many singing, Jacob on the guitar and everyone else rotating through on the drums. ...it is a good thing Rock Band 2 has a no fail option.

The kids enjoying lunch:
Natalie rocking out like a rock star:
James loading up on food:
Brian keeping an eye on all the grills:
Ben, Rudy, Lisa - Ben does NOT like having his picture taken: