Farewell, South Dakota!

As my parents are retiring to Idahosers next summer, we knew this would be our last big family get together at the homestead in South Dakota.  While I am a little sad we won't be able to go back to the home I grew up in, I'm looking forward to my parents living only 2 hours and 15 minutes away.  That's 15 hours closer than I have lived to them since I moved out to BYU just after my 18th birthday.  'Sgonna be awesome.

But the kids were a bit devastated.  We had a lot of fun and relived some of our favorite SD family traditions:

• hiking to the top of the Camponile (every year we do this, people, even though they stopped giving out coupons for free ice cream cones when you make it to the top)
• spending the afternoon at the SD Children's Museum (I'm pretty sure my parents are the only people in the city of Brookings that lose the Museum money on the grandparents pass)
• family reunion games--this year's choice was Kubb (otherwise known as Viking Chess)
• family dinner assignments and zone cleaning every day
• jump-in-the-pool-with-your-clothes-on night
• swimming every day
• ATV rides through the black-eyed-susan field
• the last Enchanted Forest Walk
• People sleeping everywhere
• Lake trip with a little fishing for the kiddos
• Celebrating my birthday with my family
• Trips into Brookings for supplies, food, ice cream, lunch, etc.
• The last Taco John's trip for me.  I'm not sure what was so great about Apple Grandes when I was younger, but I experienced my last one this summer.  (Taco Johns doesn't seem to exist west of Casper, WY)

Everyone had a delightful time.  Except Eli who cried the whole time, and except maybe me because I was sooooooo sick of the crying.  (In my defense, he'd been crying pretty consistently since mid-June:)  Turns out the ear infection he'd just finished an antibiotic for hadn't actually cleared up, and we started another round 2 days after we got back home.  The drought is so bad in the midwest, it made me thirsty looking out at the cornfields.  But at least the mosquitoes weren't bad.  Unless you count that West Nile one that got my mom.  Stinking mosquito.   Anyway, it was good. 

 Maddie, Lucy, Maja

Sarah, Molly, Grace

 Kye and Justin playing chicken.  (I'm still wondering why the felt the need to wear goggles):

 Children's Museum:

 Eli at the water table:

 Lucy, having a REALLY good time:

 Adam making gears:

 Eli is very good at shopping on his own.  When he is with me, he throws everything out of the cart as soon as I put it in:

 Justin, Ethan, Kye and Isaac, relaxing with some famous SDSU ice cream:

 Papooski and Moomer:  (this is actually what I call my parents.  I'm sure they love it.)

 Celebrating my 36th birthday with my family at Lake Cochran:

 Treasure hunt in the Enchanted Forest:

Isaac found the gnome they were searching for:

 Kubb, played on a very dry lawn: