Greetings from Sioux Falls, SD! We left the Black Hills this morning for the long drive across South Dakota to visit the Holdhusen clan. Yesterday was our last day in the Black Hills with my family. We started the day with family pictures. It was quite an exercise in patience to try to get 2 2-year-olds and 3 preschoolers to pose for pictures. As you can tell, it didn't always work out but in the years to come we won't care about if the picture is perfect (I hope). We bribed the kids with promises of gift shop treasures if they smiled. The problem with this bribe is it usually means the kiddos paste on a gigantic silly smile and don't remove it for the duration of the photo shoot. Milo did just that, keeping his smile pasted on. Odelia played musical parents and jumped from my arms to Mark's arms throughout. We also went to Old McDonald's farm where the cousins got to frolic among the animals. Milo's favorite part was sitting on all the old tractors and exploring the old farming equipment. He kept asking me how to work them. I'm glad he has that much confidence in me that he'd think I would know anything about farm equipment. Unfortunately I couldn't even bluff my way through some of his questions so he may have come to the realization at the ripe old age of 4 that his mom doesn't know everything (gasp). Odelia's favorite part of the petting zoo was the pony ride. She even got to go twice. She hollered out, "Yee Haw, Cowgirl!" and asked her pony's name several times (Buster was the lucky pony!) Odelia and I also got to watch a pig race. The best part of the race was knowing that all the little athletes got to go drowned themselves in cherry kool-aid when they finished the race. What a deal! Last night we had more cousin fun! Water fights, too much sugar, not enough sleep and ghost stories. The adults got to hang out and eat yummy food (all the while making sure none of the kids choked on balloons or overdosed on s'mores). Today we went to Wall Drug and ate some donuts, drank some free ice water and purchased some delightful Wall Drug paraphernalia. We also drove through the badlands. Milo loved being able to scale the rocks and despite the insane heat, didn't want to leave. We are in Sioux Falls for the weekend hanging out with Gaba & Pata and the rest of the Holdhusen clan. Tonight Milo and Odelia got to play dress-up with Gaba and Milo cuddled up with Gaba for some Wild Kratts before we headed back to the hotel.
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| Dress up. Milo pulled out the dress-up bin and Mark made a beeline for this wig. He wasn't letting anyone else wear it. |
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| Gaba checking out Milo's new bracelet from Jessie. |
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| Transitioning from dress-up to dollhouse in Gaba and Pata's livingroom. |
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| Family pics. This is an out take. Violet spotted a bear in the woods. |
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| Cousins! Violet was taking a break. |
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| The whole Black Hills group (minus Karolee and B. Day) |
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| Benjamin and Jen |
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| Mark and Milo in the Badlands |
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| Osie and I waiting for the boys to finish scaling rocks. |
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| This place is always amazing to me. It is so peaceful despite it's rugged terrain and harsh heat. |
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| Good-bye Badlands! |
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| Nickel coffee, free ice water, free bumper sticker and donuts. Mmmmmmm. |
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| Wall Drug! |
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| I don't exactly know how we chose this photo op. It might not make the Christmas card. |
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| Nana and Bill coaching the kiddos on the ultimate marshmallow roasting. |
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| Bill and Osie roasting like their lives depend on it. |
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| My brother and I had a contest. Ummm, I lost. But I still love contests. El Ojo del Tigre! |
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| All 5 grandkids contained. It doesn't happen often. |
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| Nana and Osie |
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| Milo and pony. |
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| Benjamin riding like he's been doing it forever. |
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| Annie was a bit reluctant but she plowed through thanks to her tenacious Mama. |
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| Violet holding on tight. |
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| Cowgirl Osie |
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| Ready, set, go! |
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| Seriously, this donkey fell in love with my brother. I'm not sure why. They do share similar political views. |
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| Pigs! I tell ya, these little guys held my attention for way too long. |
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| New facebook profile pics. |
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| Odelia said, "Ohhhh, it's mama and daddy". |
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| Nana and Bill |
