Author Archives: angie

We’ve been back for a week. The kids loved South Dakota. I’m pretty sure that their overall favorite part of the trip was the swimming pools at the hotel.

Here are some of the highlights:

• Our GPS logging our trip — top speeds, elevation, miles to the next destination. We always had an answer for the kids when they asked how much longer we would be driving.
• Driving through Bear Country following a car with a banana on its roof. Apparently, the bears have no interest in food.
• Total darkness in Crystal Cave in Rapid City. We never knew that you would lose your site if you had no source of light for 3 weeks.
• Petting farm is always a favorite of the kids. The pig race was nutty — the pigs went a lot faster than I expected. There was kool-aid at the end for them.
• The GPS has no fear of narrow, windy, very high roads.
• The Buffalo (or Beefalo as my family calls them) in Custer State Park was amazing. We were lucky to get to see a group of them in and around the road we were on. Bummed that our video camera was in the trunk (we ended up there after we overthought the GPS directions).
• Crazy Horse is huge and the fact that they don’t accept government funding is very cool and definitely worth supporting.
• The drives were gorgeous.
• Wall drug was bigger then we thought and not super cheesy but we are partial to nickel coffee.
• The oddest question is when we were in Sturgis looking for a place for lunch, one salesperson in a store said “that’s tough since you don’t want your kids around liquor” – omg, these kids have WI blood in them, this is not an issue for our family.
• It was shocking our conservative South Dakota is. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that many Anti-Abortion billboards in one place. It was the picture of W in the workout room in a hotel in Sioux Falls that creeped me out. Thank God for the lesbian couple sighting at Mt. Rushmore – it grounded me.
• The walk around Rushmore was gorgeous although a big challenging for the kids.
• Adam discovered the car door was not all the way locked when the keys were inside. Sadly, he discovered this after he call the Volvo Roadside Assistance people.
• There seems to be no veggies in South Dakota.
• Indian Tacos at Cheyenne Crossing were by far the best food on the trip.
• By far the nicest people we’ve encountered on our travels.

Family Highlights/Observations:

• The kids did perfect in the car. We used our friends suggestion of activity bags and we added headphones for music. There was absolutely no need for DVD players for them.
• The pools in the hotel were critical for them. Gave them a chance to exercise after long days driving.
• We packed lunchboxes with snacks for them. Since Owen is a snacker, this was the only way that we could make sure that he ate something on the trip. Eating is not a skill for him, snacking is.
• We had rooms with a separate bedroom – this was perfect for the post-kid cocktails.
• Internet in Sioux Falls was not the greatest but since I’ve switched over to RSS feeds instead of going to the sites, it was manageable.
• We did not take enough pictures. It?s challenging with 2 kids though.
• Owen used this trip as an opportunity to work on his potty training. It went well except that sheer amount of time spent in the various restrooms.
• Alex went days living on chicken nuggets and fries. That was a lot more than Owen ate.
• Breakfast at the hotels were crowded but served the need very well.
• We bought Owen’s t-shirt at Empire Mall in Sioux Falls. The kid never asks for anything.

It was a great trip!

Here are some pictures : 2008 South Dakota Pictures

We were in Go Home a few nights ago One of our favorite stores. Every time we are in Uptown without kids we spend quite a bit of time there. Last night?s acquisition was a weeble bottle opener. Now we need to have screen porch time this Friday or at least sometime soon.

Uptown lost Campiello recently. That was news to us. Too many cool places have bit the dust since the cloud of what will happen with Calhoun Square. I miss Borders, I miss Beezwax. And I actually miss The Smiling Moose. Even the Gap was the loss despite being a chain.

We went to Barbette on the same night. Done with that place for awhile – atmosphere much better than drinks. We finished the night at Zeno. Either they just added liquor or we missed it before. Great drinks — Adam had a Not So Classic Cosmo — we both loved it. I had the Coast to Coast — it was good but not like Adam?s. The waiter talked us into a drink that wasn?t on the menu. How could you not order it? It was gin, orange juice, pom and sugar. I might be missing something in there but it was amazing. I?m wanting to get back soon to have that one again.

We still contend that if Lucias or the Uptown Bar vacate, we will need to seriously consider our decision to live here. We are not here because of the stellar schools. But with Zeno?s new drinks and Go Home — it?s not a bad place to live.

It?s June 21st and I still haven?t planted anything in the yard. May was cold. June started out with a nasty stomach bug and storms. Now I need to just get down to getting this one task done this weekend. Alex has swimming and a birthday party today. We are also getting a roof estimate. Somewhere in all that I need to go to the garden place and see what is left. Beggars cannot be choosers. Meanwhile all Owen wants to do is play in the basement. Eventually we need to be outside. Tomorrow, Craiger and the rents are coming over to help with the monster A/C for the living room. I?m liking no A/C. I hate the fake air. I say that in June. Let?s see what the story is in August.

Owen is on the sit and spin now. That is a classic toy only today?s version has music and lights. Lord forbid that kids play with only one stimulation. Let?s try to develop all senses at the same time. Feeling bad for Autistic kids with today?s toys….

Owen started visiting preschool this week and loves it. He?s in the same class as Alex. And now we found out that Alex has been accepted into half day kindergarten in Edina just to complicate matters. I had no idea that kindergarten could create this much stress. Makes work stress seem minor in comparison.

We?ve been in our house 7 years now. Last night we were looking at old pictures and it?s amazing how much we have done with the house over the years. Probably not a lot compared to most people but considering we have 2 small kids, not bad. Of course, now we have entered the phase of the kids breaking the house. And when I say kids, I really mean Owen. Boys are very, very different than girls.

I feel like I have at most 3 hours a week of downtime (taking out kid time, house time, laundry time, and work). Maybe I should start capturing metrics so I can see where my time is going. Probably pointless but might be telling. Hmmm… must ponder if I can do actually do that. I should also do the same activity with $$$.

After 2 Windows systems have turned on me, I meandered into the Apple store and switched teams, for home anyway. So far pretty darn happy. I?m looking forward to actually doing something with the video that we have in boxes. That?s my goal and now I have the tools to actually deliver.