Memories

So, it has been a crazy long time since you’ve heard from me; Malcolm has been wonderful and updated you all on the past year and I thought I’d try my hand at blogging again. After talking with Malcolm and others, I have been thinking maybe it’s more important for myself to blog and write down memories than for the enjoyment that others might receive from it. We’ll see how it goes, but I am willing to give it another shot at this point! This past week and a half has been spent with the girls and Malcolm going home for Memorial day and myself taking the train back 4 days later and spending one week with family including a special time with Aubrey, Abi and Zach. I do have to apologize off the bat as my photography zeal has waned and photos are not as plentiful as they once were. That being said Malcolm started off Memorial day weekend fishing with the guys as Michaela and Danielle got to spend some quality time with Grandma Cindy, Grandma Betty, Aunt Chris and Grandma and Grandpa Kallevig. The weekend was cold and most of the time was spent in sweatshirts, but it sounded as if everyone had a good time. I spent the weekend reading, watching tv until late into the night (a treat for me!), painting the bedroom and visiting some friends. It was a blessing to have some quiet time in my own home. Thank you to everyone who helped take care of my girls as it is so much easier to know that they are having a wonderful time away from me. Malcolm and the girls were kind enough to take the Jeep (no A.C.) and the bikes home so that we could ride bike more often. Danielle was my biking partner and we had a lot of fun together. I also did my p.r. of miles biked in a day of over 28 miles! A trip to the Dairy Queen was in order as well. The first day and half we spent at my parents and it was a wonderful time as Lisa, Hannah and Elizabeth made the trip up to spend the time with us and everyone had a great, relaxing time. I even got a chance to paint a little at my parents’ cabin. After that we went back to Staples and got to see Abi and Zach after not seeing them for quite awhile…Zach is getting so big and will be getting into all sorts of trouble soon as he is almost completely mobile by crawling around and almost standing up. The girls all got along great and had tons of fun playing together, we got some biking in by going to Brainerd and trying out their awesome trail system. It definitely made me eager to go back and try it again for a longer distance. Love how Abi rests her head on Zach...isn't it supposed to be the other way around?! Friday and Saturday were family get-togethers with both extended families and it was nice being to have everyone in once place and being able to catch up. One of the highlights of the trip for me was getting to take the girls to Itasca with all of Malcolm’s family. It was so special to go back to the place of my childhood and getting to ride some of the trails and walking the girls across and down the Mississippi. I have so many fond memories of doing the same thing so many years ago. Sunday was spent relaxing at grandma and grandpa’s and having a nice outing in the pond which included swimming and paddle boats as well as a trip up the big dirt pile! Grandma and the girls were also surprised to find a chickadee family taking up residence in one of the bird houses the girls put up the last time they were home.

Headed West

Summer Trip 2015

So, it has probably been a year (or more) since I have posted anything to the blog but Malcolm has thankfully taken up the slack.  As I sit down tonight in non-air conditioned room that barely has room to walk around, let alone sleep 4, I am trying to relax and let go of the small mistakes I have made on the trip.  We have been gone from home for 2 ½ weeks and it has been thoroughly busy but enjoyable.  As I look back, I see laughter, smiles and lots of love for my family.  We are lucky and blessed to have the opportunity to go on a trip like this and see our family.  No little ‘hiccups’ should get in the way of seeing this wonderful opportunity to make memories for both myself and my family.  So, though I am not the blogger that Malcolm is, I will try to fill in for him and chronicle some of our trip so far as well as provide some fun photos that we can look back on to remember our summer trip of 2015!

HEADING WEST

Though the days have been long and we are not even halfway to Oregon, we have already had some good memories.  We started off by taking back roads in MN and SD to get to the campground we had reserved in the heart of the Black Hills National Forest.  We made sure to stop at the huge Raven statue at the Belgrade Centennial Memorial in MN and the girls had a chance to run off some of their sillies and pose for the first of many ‘classic vacation photos’ to chronicle our journey.  It was beautiful memorial for such a small town in the middle rural MN and I had never been there that I recall. 

Our goal for the trip is to have a picture to for each state that we drive through so the girls can look back and have proof of which ones they have visited (maybe one day we’ll make an album!)  Here are the one we have so far,  notice that we were on the dirt backroads of SD/WY when we hit the state line…not such a fancy sign in middle of free range cow pastures!

BADLANDS NATIONAL PARK/Black Hills

This was the one thing so far that I wish I had planned differently.  We only got a chance to drive through the badland with a QUICK walk/climb in the park.  We were already so late that we had to race through it in order to reach our campground in the middle of the Black Hills.  I wish we had planned for time to hike and climb this beautiful landscape.  It was absolutely beautiful!  Danielle was an absolute daredevil making me squirm as she shot to the top of the rocks barefoot no less!  No fear for climbing, I guess, though deep, dark caves….not so much.  (more to come!)

Rushing on we made the journey to our campground but we arrived after dark and with a thunderstorm on our tails.  It was a very stressful 30 minutes trying to set up the tent in the dark with thunder/lighting sounding ominously in the background.  (Not my proudest of parenting times and I am sure not the most exciting of setups for camping the girls will have).  However, we got it up and we were in the tent not 10 minutes before first pea-sized hail then downpour rain hit.  We were so thankful to have it up in time but realized that it was the first hail storm we had ever camped in!  The girls were scared and Danielle spent most of the night at the bottom of the sleeping bag and I spent the next while worried that the tent would blow down and we would end up sopping wet.  The reality was that the tent stayed up but the waterproofing I had sprayed after our Texas trip did not hold up to the raging thunderstorm.  But we mostly stayed dry…just a couple of damp pillows/clothes but almost everything was still dry…thankfully!

Mount Rushmore

I don’t believe I have ever been to Mount Rushmore before this trip, I was surprised at how commercialized/built up.  Multi-level parking garages and the expected hordes of tourists.  It reminded me of an amusement park, that is until you see the beauty and wonder of the monument.  It is hard to fathom how they could construct it without modern technology with just the vision of a man and dynamite and jackhammers!  Super cool.  This was the one place that Michaela wanted to see on our trip though I am sure it had a large part to do with recognizing it from school.  Though it was not quite as she expected either as she was more under the misconception as I that is was more of a natural area and less of a ‘business/touristy’ feel.  Though both girls did think that the monument itself was “awesome!”

 

Black Hills Cave Tour

I decided buy a ‘groupon’ for a cave tour and we went there after Rushmore.  The cave itself was nothing spectacular but provided the girls with enough ‘fear’ that it was exhilarating for them and they enjoyed it.  The cave itself was mostly dead due to human pollution of touching and so forth, but it was cool to walk through the caverns and enjoy how nervous the girls were about exploring such a dark space 100s of feet below ground.  It seemed such a milestone for them to conquer their fear and continue the tour, though I am sure they will not be volunteering to go down one by themselves anytime soon! 

 

Taking pictures in dark caves are challenging.

On to Yellowstone

Today, we spent most of the day driving from the Black Hills to Cody, WY but we still had a good day and got to see Devil’s Tower as well, but it was a quick drive by/potty break before heading on.  After looking at our picture from here I had to edit it to sepia/black & white because it reminded me so much of the old time portraits where no one smiles!  My only defense is that it was REALLY bright!!!

Though one of the funniest parts of the day for me was at the beginning when we used the van’s “Shortest Route” navigation to Cody.  Being in the heart of the black hills and 1 hour from the freeway I asked the campground manager about the back way/shortest way to the free heading to Yellowstone.  He recommended that we should take it but made us aware that it had quite a bit gravel. After 20 miles our route turned to dirt and we had 6 cows laying in the road....luckily another option existed and we didn't have to backtrack.  Malcolm liked it as we were able to stop quickly for birds, including a Townsend's Solitaire just over the WY border.  More to come in a few days, we're hoping to find a camping spot in Yellowstone tomorrow....fingers crossed.

Thanksgiving Weekend - Clubs/Friends

My Thanksgiving week blogs have focused on personal items of gratitude, memories, and have focused on areas of personal joy. This final Thanksgiving week post incorporates all three of these topics in one topic beyond family...which are clubs and friends. The most recent of which is described below.

I've immensely enjoyed the Burroughs Audubon Society since moving to KC 15 months ago. In attending a handful of their meetings and tagging along a few field-trips I am privileged to know other area birders and have been exploring the surroundings.

I am amazed at the generous kind nature of people when they are doing what they enjoy, and had a blast last weekend on a Burroughs field-trip. Seeing various species, enjoying the outdoors, debating specific field-marks, and helping others find new species is a different style of enjoyment than quite reflective times outside.

   

Binoculars, scopes, field-guides, friendly conversation, snacks and watchful eyes/attentive ears are common items on field-trips.

Many good memories come from other clubs and friends, too many to detail here....but as this week of Thanksgiving draws to an end my mind drifts to the Nine Springs Golf Course, Mead Wildlife Area, Hiawatha Valley Audubon Society, and friends/colleagues from previous locations/positions.  I'm grateful for all of them, and hope everyone had a wonderful week of thanksgiving. 

Thanksgiving Week - Wednesday: St Louis

The three day conference in Saint Louis provided many activities and memories. I separate the pictures and videos into two blog posts, the first set can be seen here.  Below are memories from the second and third day.

City Museum 
  
The three girls visited the City Museum Friday while I was in conference, and they had so much fun they brought Dad back after visiting the Arch. The museum has many outdoor features to climb, with an airplane cockpit at the top of one staircase.  

There are many tunnels, slides, and large ball pit.

The highlight of the first visit was running into a KC classmate visiting the same St Louis museum!!

The rope swings required a bit of help to get on, but the girls hung once lifted on. 

          

A very steep slide; the phone's camera flash had no chance of capturing their movement!

Grant's Farm

The conference ended early on the third day.We went to Grant's Farm, owned and offered by Anheuser-Busch. The property was at one time owned by Ulysses S. Grant and currently has a tram ride through the wildlife park, houses some Anheuser-Busch Clydesdales, and provides samples to adult beverages!

 

More goats; What is it with St Louis and goats

The Clydsedale!!

 
 

Wildlife Park and Animal Show Pictures.

The Butterfly House


With afternoon hours almost gone, we had only ten minutes to spend inside the The Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House at the Missouri Botanical Gardens before heading home. Luckily our Overland Park Arboretum membership got us in for free, love the perks!

 



 

A few Lepidoptera from the house.

 

Childhood Memories

So this seems to be the summer for re-creating my childhood memories, a few weekends ago it was Itasca State Park and this past weekend it was going to the horse races! Saturday we headed north to the cities to stay at a hotel and the girls had a blast swimming and we were fortunate enough to have all of my family there as well. I even had a chance to snuggle with Randy & Ashley's little baby, Claire! Fun was had by all as we swam, had pizza and cookies and just had a generally great time.

Sunday morning we woke to have a somewhat hectic breakfast, then headed to a park to blow some energy before we headed off to the races. When I was a kid, we used to always have the choice between Valleyfair and the horse races, for many summers we all chose to go to the races. I remember watching the horses in the saddling paddock and trying to decide which horse looked like he was going to win. I even had specific things that the winning horse could or couldn't have in order to bet on them. Back in those days, my parents would give us so much money (maybe $20-$30) and we had that money to spend on meals, souveniers, candy and betting. It was the only money we had and we couldn't get more so we had to make sure not to spend too much and always watch what we were spending. My girls are obviously too young for the betting and money handling but they did have fun picking out the prettiest horses or rather their favorite number (in Danielle's case) and waiting to see whether their horse won or not.

However much fun that was for me and the girls, the highlight of the races were the pony rides, face painting and the playground. Both girls picked out the pony with the pretty ribbons in its hair and got to ride together. I had such a fun time seeing their faces as they got to ride. Both girls also picked out matching unicorns to have on their faces. Michaela was terribly worried Sunday night that her unicorn might rub off in the night, but it did happen to stay on enough that it was acceptable.

Danielle is in the videos below and was enjoying her two favorite things at the playground...the tire swing (notice her singing in the background) and the tire horse swing. I think she spend at least half of her time on it :)