tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70764710697734599052024-03-05T23:22:50.882-05:00Don't * Forget * To * LaughBetsy Myershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00809008683669504117noreply@blogger.comBlogger226125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076471069773459905.post-79334600186626849162011-12-16T15:29:00.000-05:002011-12-16T15:29:48.919-05:00Artist of the Month<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">December, 2011</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Luke has been chosen as the Artist of the Month for the 1st grade at Monroe Primary school. His painted self-portrait is hanging outside of the school office.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am SO PROUD and excited to have such a gifted little boy!!!!!</span></div>Betsy Myershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00809008683669504117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076471069773459905.post-17252987980912990022011-12-16T15:27:00.003-05:002011-12-16T15:28:09.329-05:00Only the Beautiful Blankets...<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><em>Tucking my lovely little girl into bed the other night and she tells me...</em></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em><strong>MOM! Only the BEAUTIFUL blankets can touch my body.</strong></em></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em><strong>(meaning the silky and furry ones)</strong></em></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><em>My, Oh My!!!! Where DOES she come up with these things!?!?!!!!</em></span></div>Betsy Myershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00809008683669504117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076471069773459905.post-83673286631125465412011-09-29T14:25:00.001-04:002011-09-29T14:26:12.593-04:00Squooshed<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="messageBody translationEligibleUserMessage" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lydia told me today that she was worried</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="messageBody translationEligibleUserMessage" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">that God is being squooshed.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="messageBody translationEligibleUserMessage" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><em>(not squished... "squooshed")</em></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="messageBody translationEligibleUserMessage" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I asked WHY, and her answer???</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="messageBody translationEligibleUserMessage" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Because He's in her heart and her heart is not very big.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="messageBody translationEligibleUserMessage" data-ft="{"type":3}"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WOWZER- I LOVE MY LITTLE GIRL!!!!!!!</span></span></div>Betsy Myershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00809008683669504117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076471069773459905.post-70795232520089331382011-08-08T13:34:00.000-04:002011-08-08T13:34:07.849-04:00Who's There?<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: purple; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Lydia</u>: Knock, Knock</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: purple; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Me</u>: Who's There?</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: purple; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Lydia</u>: See You Later, Alligator</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><u>Me</u>: (<em>*smiling heart*)</em></span></span></div>Betsy Myershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00809008683669504117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076471069773459905.post-64444711964660999082011-08-02T16:22:00.000-04:002011-08-02T16:22:18.162-04:00Life's got me again...<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Life is super busy. Yep. I have to put a few things on the back burner. Sadly, my blog didn't make the cut (<em>again</em>). Surely though - <em>hopefully sooner than later</em> - I WILL be back. I promise.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Maybe check back in a month or two.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Betsy Myershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00809008683669504117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076471069773459905.post-33175419412699758582011-07-23T20:30:00.001-04:002011-07-23T20:33:21.920-04:00Knock, Knock... Who's there? T W E E T<div style="text-align: center;">So only a few days after I blogged about the growing birds outside our house, they flew from their nest. One of the three straggled behind the others though. It hung out all day- first in our garage, then in our driveway and finally moving to our front doorstep. It chirped all afternoon...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKBj0L6Hknae4Ip3iTXgYyfse7pqyOAjtKH3eYKlZwaFsMqeLTp-jk3_LDCj_FDBd7eUU7eQqLkobjHzWGB2VoCcgPx5AuzJinAr7k46ALqGSHqMjm7h-UnRCf4ZqAROoGTqMP6uljEfas/s1600/DSC06531.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKBj0L6Hknae4Ip3iTXgYyfse7pqyOAjtKH3eYKlZwaFsMqeLTp-jk3_LDCj_FDBd7eUU7eQqLkobjHzWGB2VoCcgPx5AuzJinAr7k46ALqGSHqMjm7h-UnRCf4ZqAROoGTqMP6uljEfas/s320/DSC06531.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOvsrW-0XLgxNxXaw-xIhseR0DTHmeBdlQXNa5fToim9MAa1GTwiU7UY34uaz8aPw2ykoF9dIws4r5gbfce1MhXcW3e-SFJKY5dgNulNHt3r_jp62fJzqCepP9wEp2BdjsGgxk8U-RMd7B/s1600/DSC06532.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOvsrW-0XLgxNxXaw-xIhseR0DTHmeBdlQXNa5fToim9MAa1GTwiU7UY34uaz8aPw2ykoF9dIws4r5gbfce1MhXcW3e-SFJKY5dgNulNHt3r_jp62fJzqCepP9wEp2BdjsGgxk8U-RMd7B/s320/DSC06532.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbcCct3wSuGLH3VbhfY2-Bw-W9QNXGpBCIHJ3SI1V9mFCJsde93uvwTlPPkK4IIhQz0YGWOyFz4VUaSjknz6wf7oLN6I0wuQzUb5LNu3G9kECRwEfItFTojoVodAq9gDDNTazVOapF9Td8/s1600/DSC06536.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbcCct3wSuGLH3VbhfY2-Bw-W9QNXGpBCIHJ3SI1V9mFCJsde93uvwTlPPkK4IIhQz0YGWOyFz4VUaSjknz6wf7oLN6I0wuQzUb5LNu3G9kECRwEfItFTojoVodAq9gDDNTazVOapF9Td8/s320/DSC06536.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Here's a video of what we heard... for h o u r s . . .</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/E5Hk6S9FRgs?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>Betsy Myershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00809008683669504117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076471069773459905.post-66811147699959671742011-07-13T12:02:00.002-04:002011-07-13T12:02:01.101-04:00Sweet Tweets<div style="text-align: center;">For someone who doesn't care for birds (that would be ME), I sure do like seeing babies safely hatching around our home!!!!! Here is Nest #2. It's it a tough spot to get a clear photo, but there are 2-3 sweet little robins tucked in there!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinC5CJ8ACPvTsIWAEHkD5ea1cCOe9BpXsyyhzi1qp1Mfp6noEeat-xFk5_PYFWkmM5EsSdLmX6d-5fsCIkckfSJUVGaUbdFS2pldZWChxbobIFaOs7rCGIPh0-zQboU9GGJsYgtsU5xV-v/s1600/DSC06437.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinC5CJ8ACPvTsIWAEHkD5ea1cCOe9BpXsyyhzi1qp1Mfp6noEeat-xFk5_PYFWkmM5EsSdLmX6d-5fsCIkckfSJUVGaUbdFS2pldZWChxbobIFaOs7rCGIPh0-zQboU9GGJsYgtsU5xV-v/s320/DSC06437.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb7MA1mHHvK1WKgTYPtjB-laFBSG99Hya3G8VzZWdki0jzWwgE4krdM6-E0rN8XSexd6n2grK6Mq9QHrELr0RGVVDPOXZZCzArCmz052moWTFidkiADsaG9DAez2ock4zt2V-Vv2Gj4ggp/s1600/DSC06443.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb7MA1mHHvK1WKgTYPtjB-laFBSG99Hya3G8VzZWdki0jzWwgE4krdM6-E0rN8XSexd6n2grK6Mq9QHrELr0RGVVDPOXZZCzArCmz052moWTFidkiADsaG9DAez2ock4zt2V-Vv2Gj4ggp/s320/DSC06443.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihHwz0acygm7OCGKJruMSl-TEQQ5VX5HLR2eV5AKR2KRI2YObWGp4VlGvyAcTf1CuJF18qoVnTHQ6hN3X3zkEKlthsGJtBuBH0lCLZGNvl5dyRlvElgktNFakB31BTJwZJkjwKdzGPThV-/s1600/DSC06445.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihHwz0acygm7OCGKJruMSl-TEQQ5VX5HLR2eV5AKR2KRI2YObWGp4VlGvyAcTf1CuJF18qoVnTHQ6hN3X3zkEKlthsGJtBuBH0lCLZGNvl5dyRlvElgktNFakB31BTJwZJkjwKdzGPThV-/s320/DSC06445.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Betsy Myershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00809008683669504117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076471069773459905.post-70640912960459166282011-07-12T12:02:00.000-04:002011-07-12T12:02:00.437-04:00One More Vacation Photo...I just realized I missed one last photo that I wanted to include. I suppose it's the perfect demonstration of a GREAT vacation ending...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8QJrcIEuPtf6ov9vsl2OD-03idsuOnTCAOjQ-NAkviStWvwIBlsglja6aRbTrHi_AuTrZQDMEULOxUES7rLVPMV8P7QuIAUtr68z1QJLMuNsf25dUILSpAKP2Hml9x3bFZfQ_Bh6Pkefq/s1600/DSC06264.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8QJrcIEuPtf6ov9vsl2OD-03idsuOnTCAOjQ-NAkviStWvwIBlsglja6aRbTrHi_AuTrZQDMEULOxUES7rLVPMV8P7QuIAUtr68z1QJLMuNsf25dUILSpAKP2Hml9x3bFZfQ_Bh6Pkefq/s320/DSC06264.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Betsy Myershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00809008683669504117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076471069773459905.post-82984020109504991672011-07-09T23:30:00.012-04:002011-07-10T00:16:28.531-04:00FUN VACATION in 2011? CHECK!<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I wondered what might be the best way to blog about our trip.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">There is SO MUCH to tell!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">SO, I'm going to do a timeline of all of our stops. I'll include photos, which you can click on to enlarge if you're interested.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Here goes...</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em>(Hang on to your britches, because this is a LONG post!)</em></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-large;">DAY 1:</span></strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">6/30/11, <u>2:30am</u> We carried our sleeping kids to our car and left home. They thankfully slept for HOURS. We made it to Sioux Falls, Iowa (14 hours away) to stay the night. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-large;">DAY 2:</span></strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The next morning we visited <strong>Sioux Falls</strong>.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">G O R G E O U S </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">It's amuses me to think of these breath-taking landscapes out in the middle of nowhere! It was a fun place for the kids to burn some energy, because they could run and climb. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDlxx2vJYNJb5kBuvfM8DtD5Ckzk_sJSIu7g7HjQ5fAq632p4nsdmYZxPdhHTNXLFrXes_3HSlkc8NRptdJIq7AlaXq1DRv_iG5O0IuhONaBovHfredkBWPHmyVORazqxBFCdunEgc3Cnq/s1600/DSC05820.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDlxx2vJYNJb5kBuvfM8DtD5Ckzk_sJSIu7g7HjQ5fAq632p4nsdmYZxPdhHTNXLFrXes_3HSlkc8NRptdJIq7AlaXq1DRv_iG5O0IuhONaBovHfredkBWPHmyVORazqxBFCdunEgc3Cnq/s320/DSC05820.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7-avkgYm3z6sCb1AxjtN9trKETj30GEjn7HEJuFMLFWMcP8mK2-GFsf9FtfB07yAEI08XoE26hqwGWxduIaE0npukkCYAXF6uCTfUlU02xyoy-gbxU_Bp098EONgD9UDMk525b-hgjSc1/s1600/DSC05822.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7-avkgYm3z6sCb1AxjtN9trKETj30GEjn7HEJuFMLFWMcP8mK2-GFsf9FtfB07yAEI08XoE26hqwGWxduIaE0npukkCYAXF6uCTfUlU02xyoy-gbxU_Bp098EONgD9UDMk525b-hgjSc1/s320/DSC05822.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq8RokdafsnuoRBH8zNhtU6OJMgyoycQ9bTtV8nFKIdPWumha4cWiDhZtX0KBZnbhvrFmyPcqtRzWfTKqAB-wlZ2mAZ6pYCB-GHOk28cXaErUXJO_IS-LcPS3vKu9un7lVg1Ylg653G8I1/s1600/DSC05825.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq8RokdafsnuoRBH8zNhtU6OJMgyoycQ9bTtV8nFKIdPWumha4cWiDhZtX0KBZnbhvrFmyPcqtRzWfTKqAB-wlZ2mAZ6pYCB-GHOk28cXaErUXJO_IS-LcPS3vKu9un7lVg1Ylg653G8I1/s320/DSC05825.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSn8JgV-6aKGkwcdivlWOypjIfRqnqrTxB4EW3gNW9Rvm4ejx96mEShj_Rl1PokXS9Bj6hDd8swvSwDSU56ZdUh0KUpV6LvRvv6SLBPaUdTUcSPj72Oi-KVodoWX95ug04EawDMfYGb8BN/s1600/DSC05838.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSn8JgV-6aKGkwcdivlWOypjIfRqnqrTxB4EW3gNW9Rvm4ejx96mEShj_Rl1PokXS9Bj6hDd8swvSwDSU56ZdUh0KUpV6LvRvv6SLBPaUdTUcSPj72Oi-KVodoWX95ug04EawDMfYGb8BN/s320/DSC05838.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLuj8MZ8HeWdONpqustR0X3I1ba4R8tJxoY-YyaILX3U-QDIMhqb3XIDaokmVy2dkVH-7Iwpx-pz2O_ItlvEt1C0RfVztMvwQlgowbShd1YzfBxkpD4uXatRLHG_4sICl8eiRUXAWAe0TP/s1600/DSC05853.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLuj8MZ8HeWdONpqustR0X3I1ba4R8tJxoY-YyaILX3U-QDIMhqb3XIDaokmVy2dkVH-7Iwpx-pz2O_ItlvEt1C0RfVztMvwQlgowbShd1YzfBxkpD4uXatRLHG_4sICl8eiRUXAWAe0TP/s320/DSC05853.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We stopped at <strong>The Corn Palace</strong>.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">This is a building that literally has it's exterior covered in corn. They change it every year to create new pictures relating to current times. Now... would I make a trip JUST to see this? Probably not, HOWEVER it was pretty cool. It has a terrific history and we really did enjoy our visit there! So, if you ever happen to be in the neighborhood of Mitchell, South Dakota... take the break.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidQ-MorleahskVWUcqE6FxeOVKVfEKupaPYC9K5yjl-Ubh-wJFigu1QtuzsIX1h9G3wnImgQv-KjC_OfY20gqd5Kxlt9tZjM8_mMkkFC3oweF319JPgTnnqlKx0W6M_or-6UKEWz9SMM0C/s1600/DSC05843.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidQ-MorleahskVWUcqE6FxeOVKVfEKupaPYC9K5yjl-Ubh-wJFigu1QtuzsIX1h9G3wnImgQv-KjC_OfY20gqd5Kxlt9tZjM8_mMkkFC3oweF319JPgTnnqlKx0W6M_or-6UKEWz9SMM0C/s320/DSC05843.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoYeAlyeq6XoTHpcVPwMb2-DyoqHMlL1K1lBFUw6jZ3mXDqTTwlyM7g0J0FuGnwYkqohpfcZtdJOongzfvRs3_UALd-cyd2Z1sysSFxWRGYJJ_mvrXOHtsgghaRrRsoHDOaCSpzRkaeY8l/s1600/DSC05849.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoYeAlyeq6XoTHpcVPwMb2-DyoqHMlL1K1lBFUw6jZ3mXDqTTwlyM7g0J0FuGnwYkqohpfcZtdJOongzfvRs3_UALd-cyd2Z1sysSFxWRGYJJ_mvrXOHtsgghaRrRsoHDOaCSpzRkaeY8l/s320/DSC05849.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We made another stop at the famous <strong>Wall Drug</strong>.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">What a strange mish-mash of "stuff". Another interesting place to stretch our legs though.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj03gOZWAApnI8Hv5-TLa0Y71_r-bAM2DaJlAGmLZ7pg-IEoCa8SVCcV67UlRn6z9_FnDGtt7RsuywfO7UF8MnTrxpKDE1TyZb24uYzIqzMxaSOwFGTeCbks4yzeWNlWF4iNHfhheQcHmOZ/s1600/DSC05851.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj03gOZWAApnI8Hv5-TLa0Y71_r-bAM2DaJlAGmLZ7pg-IEoCa8SVCcV67UlRn6z9_FnDGtt7RsuywfO7UF8MnTrxpKDE1TyZb24uYzIqzMxaSOwFGTeCbks4yzeWNlWF4iNHfhheQcHmOZ/s320/DSC05851.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO3hL5JCTkBLI6HpC3TN3LAldWV8VYLEb_cMcbnRaQG9YebYBb-r0mQwZi1IohrQprPU9vt1E4J347UOs4q3dJE1rX5bMD0BF0UcT9ODEcoBJo37ymoDiQ0MGmkdnFY5J39Ia6iulxUWN7/s1600/DSC05857.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO3hL5JCTkBLI6HpC3TN3LAldWV8VYLEb_cMcbnRaQG9YebYBb-r0mQwZi1IohrQprPU9vt1E4J347UOs4q3dJE1rX5bMD0BF0UcT9ODEcoBJo37ymoDiQ0MGmkdnFY5J39Ia6iulxUWN7/s320/DSC05857.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrfxGVkXxeMCIjp-QG_hyH4RJWnY_aBESt9H48urx4U_19hbhXyPD_5ONeUj6tWUyYRlBpDdAUXty-YEJKB9_JINcrg6f_YlMvsTgVkYReTibPbN3VwojXEygqxCCInIL0eAqdMhwfoJ-M/s1600/DSC05865.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrfxGVkXxeMCIjp-QG_hyH4RJWnY_aBESt9H48urx4U_19hbhXyPD_5ONeUj6tWUyYRlBpDdAUXty-YEJKB9_JINcrg6f_YlMvsTgVkYReTibPbN3VwojXEygqxCCInIL0eAqdMhwfoJ-M/s320/DSC05865.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrpU8XlHYNSg2LLGZqlMiSv6_7IGhf06ic855vXnzVP0SzD8bt0Jf68BYzWQq0ote1MoSQKF5qwZhyHZGbPyZK0BeujRMOvfXLcEinjby0DR6S9f3SQ0wx7mPzvNjNl-bBimtI_q6UNYNm/s1600/DSC05881.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrpU8XlHYNSg2LLGZqlMiSv6_7IGhf06ic855vXnzVP0SzD8bt0Jf68BYzWQq0ote1MoSQKF5qwZhyHZGbPyZK0BeujRMOvfXLcEinjby0DR6S9f3SQ0wx7mPzvNjNl-bBimtI_q6UNYNm/s320/DSC05881.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Then we arrived at our "final" destination:</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Rapid City, South Dakota</strong>. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><strong>DAY 3:</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Our first adventure was to drive through <strong>Bear Country USA</strong>.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">This was actually really exciting!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCJQWTdv51Z76m1vGGKbU_9NANiuM164ZYVgM4D8GMlCJkfyff5-k_h78Jfxu6rrCi1OxPtK-rfkYPGItOH5RohJYsjNbLX9PKyd41KT4sp9sWe1qF_oejI4y34813WSEQD-Zv54Nz80wR/s1600/DSC05901.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCJQWTdv51Z76m1vGGKbU_9NANiuM164ZYVgM4D8GMlCJkfyff5-k_h78Jfxu6rrCi1OxPtK-rfkYPGItOH5RohJYsjNbLX9PKyd41KT4sp9sWe1qF_oejI4y34813WSEQD-Zv54Nz80wR/s320/DSC05901.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjONwYn9epW2UVbX1RxoCnn3J8lC1dG39GqqxFIzOgEhGldqK3p49MJM7TDJX9nMGvyl0YzzkE_GfL_UGionhuvTTBXnRG6NvlW1Hyo9Vf4WSLTrdtnI4Oh1u-akmIvDLWiZViZdZOvffe9/s1600/DSC05884.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjONwYn9epW2UVbX1RxoCnn3J8lC1dG39GqqxFIzOgEhGldqK3p49MJM7TDJX9nMGvyl0YzzkE_GfL_UGionhuvTTBXnRG6NvlW1Hyo9Vf4WSLTrdtnI4Oh1u-akmIvDLWiZViZdZOvffe9/s320/DSC05884.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid6YYcqYQ8bynlluKQqe55DgC0yp_F3yuaZxb6IIxO-PZ2jO3jhMES9GybnNSOrcE_l2OoaYFmJEVkAi5s901metujV22NUj1gnTNQOX7ljtm162-EYdHrp378Nm_frwSPiI2udZez0VUd/s1600/DSC06014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid6YYcqYQ8bynlluKQqe55DgC0yp_F3yuaZxb6IIxO-PZ2jO3jhMES9GybnNSOrcE_l2OoaYFmJEVkAi5s901metujV22NUj1gnTNQOX7ljtm162-EYdHrp378Nm_frwSPiI2udZez0VUd/s320/DSC06014.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifZEc-PVanJpIDryHvlaXTmiYffotuRaMpZp80bN7ZwCehl4m_SUzhydnz9bG6g_QjYHO_1VZZeSH8vm0rb0paUmFO377h-tQHJ_gmLWbDWONz0YpybZch4AkFM2eaGpg6xJAUBIPMx6Dx/s1600/DSC05902.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifZEc-PVanJpIDryHvlaXTmiYffotuRaMpZp80bN7ZwCehl4m_SUzhydnz9bG6g_QjYHO_1VZZeSH8vm0rb0paUmFO377h-tQHJ_gmLWbDWONz0YpybZch4AkFM2eaGpg6xJAUBIPMx6Dx/s320/DSC05902.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib-LJL02PHRbRVRONK9mFgvaAqzwlWY-0KvC2Vilf2vg2QIEK8XvxWl5ONstlMZ999gxHrSlP2rf851agMbamTV1rQGLXvLjZZv-_NqY6fjozX-Cw2guOl_VZBermKx__sVcGDEEs3hjC5/s1600/DSC06010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib-LJL02PHRbRVRONK9mFgvaAqzwlWY-0KvC2Vilf2vg2QIEK8XvxWl5ONstlMZ999gxHrSlP2rf851agMbamTV1rQGLXvLjZZv-_NqY6fjozX-Cw2guOl_VZBermKx__sVcGDEEs3hjC5/s320/DSC06010.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTeC-Ofxh3Cypypa0FjFtm06j1pweQrhyphenhyphenB6-ubqSjEuJok2X5O5c2ollC_dbrb-89P5DPywLRTx0gs-Worrk6uhk_TEBGHmYEGxilCxGIWN3ZrreDdeHqE6WTuqW_evs4R3yG974ALugJ1/s1600/DSC06012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTeC-Ofxh3Cypypa0FjFtm06j1pweQrhyphenhyphenB6-ubqSjEuJok2X5O5c2ollC_dbrb-89P5DPywLRTx0gs-Worrk6uhk_TEBGHmYEGxilCxGIWN3ZrreDdeHqE6WTuqW_evs4R3yG974ALugJ1/s320/DSC06012.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We visited to view the progress of <strong>Crazy Horse</strong>.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">A statue carved in a mountain... started nearly a hundred years ago by ONE MAN... one of the Seven Wonders of the World. For perspective, Mount Rushmore's faces could all fit inside the head of Crazy Horse. The story to go along with this- of the sculptor and the project's development is WONDERFUL! It's inspiring and intriguing! A DEFINITE MUST if you ever visit there!!!! In the photos, you'll see the white scaled statue to see the three-dimensional finished project plan, with the real work-in-progress in the background.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisrTdrkUADqeAxmNXpcV94yhjHTUiDZ-UhGOubqKgeHXHILzvwtDKWysAhUzmmFJgLjB-fcUybUOj1xpnVZMr019ztxKYCwg3qF4QrFZPlwqVZE29b2OyoYKYYHtIogNYObDXMQ2Jd4ntH/s1600/DSC05963.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisrTdrkUADqeAxmNXpcV94yhjHTUiDZ-UhGOubqKgeHXHILzvwtDKWysAhUzmmFJgLjB-fcUybUOj1xpnVZMr019ztxKYCwg3qF4QrFZPlwqVZE29b2OyoYKYYHtIogNYObDXMQ2Jd4ntH/s320/DSC05963.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjurhg0mscFKzcyqK-OABHGRbr27XkuBBDwupl5Acjo83gGoWftAgnXbAN4XaTL2ykhESzECMrFaCfNaw98TK-qyk35I4ITIfdESO7qfFeA8UU8Wqfk414h-H-KFVjlZT_e1QeisPSAPBHx/s1600/DSC05926.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjurhg0mscFKzcyqK-OABHGRbr27XkuBBDwupl5Acjo83gGoWftAgnXbAN4XaTL2ykhESzECMrFaCfNaw98TK-qyk35I4ITIfdESO7qfFeA8UU8Wqfk414h-H-KFVjlZT_e1QeisPSAPBHx/s320/DSC05926.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Now, this next place was one of my favorite stops.<strong> The Cosmos!</strong> The photos will NOT do it justice, because HOLY MOLY this place is INSANE! It's illusion at its best! Not goofy stuff either; it seriously messes with your mind! It's a cabin built in the 1950's on an extremely steep wooded hillside. They designed the walls and such though to mess with visual logic. We watched tennis balls and water roll uphill. We stumbled in all different directions. We stood and hung at bizarre angles. People appeared unbelievably tall. To further my point... </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">EVEN CRAIG was impressed and baffled by some of the demonstrations! It's certainly a hidden phenomena, and DEFINITELY too difficult to describe!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI3VSXE9dfqm4tu2N01zhrfW2j-GYMMHRd3_145AOII_Jfh7ELlBVYp5-yS9MF52By1V-hqM-fCMKbLObAYvpOdNzVy8iYXW2q8av1FZz9bughOgCxd-lsX_BJxZaM5PymNfLLHfmeWqJB/s1600/DSC05949.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI3VSXE9dfqm4tu2N01zhrfW2j-GYMMHRd3_145AOII_Jfh7ELlBVYp5-yS9MF52By1V-hqM-fCMKbLObAYvpOdNzVy8iYXW2q8av1FZz9bughOgCxd-lsX_BJxZaM5PymNfLLHfmeWqJB/s320/DSC05949.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVzfzYaNN7Hh5io-hIi9KurNZTHex_z07fd0tf3eAyXCzpHgsQQhzrZbyCaePgLfuapSRe085p4R2bcWnRQ6jI16EAF5koGEZ5Z9V-YwHz3CGb_glgu_ToDbaFHmQHoDVqpZOp4Qq7ELbR/s1600/DSC05956.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVzfzYaNN7Hh5io-hIi9KurNZTHex_z07fd0tf3eAyXCzpHgsQQhzrZbyCaePgLfuapSRe085p4R2bcWnRQ6jI16EAF5koGEZ5Z9V-YwHz3CGb_glgu_ToDbaFHmQHoDVqpZOp4Qq7ELbR/s320/DSC05956.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">(these are the strangers across the room, but I seriously couldn't get my balance enough to turn and photo our own family)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpj8NdceCPPm1pIQLWUW-kyqtPkjjv4tiQAgpYqmKzS-3xHedKHcfie5cPrMiZXM7NQM7Qhgtb1dKtR0c1mWWtGjOleYTYoOHoCCgcrsqwVt4aHGa_Ed3F4bM8E5ct-nGIwyZuwkAW7qNm/s1600/DSC05944.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpj8NdceCPPm1pIQLWUW-kyqtPkjjv4tiQAgpYqmKzS-3xHedKHcfie5cPrMiZXM7NQM7Qhgtb1dKtR0c1mWWtGjOleYTYoOHoCCgcrsqwVt4aHGa_Ed3F4bM8E5ct-nGIwyZuwkAW7qNm/s320/DSC05944.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">(Notice this photo of a man standing opposite of Lydia. The man was actually around 6 feet tall. Not only did Lydia in actuality measure up to about his waist, but the teenager and woman behind her were ALSO nearly 6 feet tall!!!! How in the world does he appear to be so much taller as they stood opposite one another?!?!?!!) </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYDzZWP41MX3kfyChS74M7MDJuUTOPh8BWKfMdFXm49uVKEPkT3KnYNDzo_2A1eDrKp-YO3J6Dgvtg9cZJsILn8NXHH9o6yo12MlhMhCLFUvnW6F32kckjmHTfUwAHhgoAahoAxlvT8swx/s1600/DSC05960.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYDzZWP41MX3kfyChS74M7MDJuUTOPh8BWKfMdFXm49uVKEPkT3KnYNDzo_2A1eDrKp-YO3J6Dgvtg9cZJsILn8NXHH9o6yo12MlhMhCLFUvnW6F32kckjmHTfUwAHhgoAahoAxlvT8swx/s320/DSC05960.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We ended our first day (yep... this was just our first day!) with a dinner theater - <strong>CHUCKWAGON</strong>. Great Food and Great Music.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjbLGf9XpvKj4UxfPMvV7lHmGYcQ5UTIrKizEYFG0EUmQilNDT3A5rBvPk57BgQiz0H74eNNbdRiml99aQiT33U8yY1fqy-sXNjGjQXiWre2Zogj58b_Vs9MfbWhUSC7rKl7LpFGJ8Ol8p/s1600/DSC06001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjbLGf9XpvKj4UxfPMvV7lHmGYcQ5UTIrKizEYFG0EUmQilNDT3A5rBvPk57BgQiz0H74eNNbdRiml99aQiT33U8yY1fqy-sXNjGjQXiWre2Zogj58b_Vs9MfbWhUSC7rKl7LpFGJ8Ol8p/s320/DSC06001.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihVe4aBLEyC9rIENDEPvt70KaYsD99u_MN3G-uuRx_iDmxGlD1khqXa6K-pH7xm9zsngykULvjs_9qosRjtGSKZmtd3Q_UfzCIgunssfCO1lYQfswSoP2C_izXEqzcsV_j-Bet9ykfP2kK/s1600/DSC06002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihVe4aBLEyC9rIENDEPvt70KaYsD99u_MN3G-uuRx_iDmxGlD1khqXa6K-pH7xm9zsngykULvjs_9qosRjtGSKZmtd3Q_UfzCIgunssfCO1lYQfswSoP2C_izXEqzcsV_j-Bet9ykfP2kK/s320/DSC06002.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-large;"><strong>DAY 4:</strong></span></div><div align="center" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">In the morning we headed to Wyoming to see <strong>Devil's Tower</strong>.</span></div><div align="center" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">It's a huge rock formation sticking up all by its lonesome. We hiked around the entire base, watching daring rock climbers scale the sides. It was about a mile walk, and the kids had a good time searching for and checking off items in their "Junior Park Ranger" books- which earned them a certificate and badge when they finished.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRMHaztFtbEDn2DqZMZO-V3mV7zmnIzjQi2VizZxASVpTGAYvL9gvmAcWz-Rq_S0NqJQUkfCA4hENVfQUTpIHLBOqVITiZitjx1ApjiXOrhZ_npipXn_p4l7LoXC6uVUoP4h93gqtZHvK8/s1600/DSC06028.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRMHaztFtbEDn2DqZMZO-V3mV7zmnIzjQi2VizZxASVpTGAYvL9gvmAcWz-Rq_S0NqJQUkfCA4hENVfQUTpIHLBOqVITiZitjx1ApjiXOrhZ_npipXn_p4l7LoXC6uVUoP4h93gqtZHvK8/s320/DSC06028.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0nlTushRSQm6ANfCc0PR-NMIkh6toYufftairUvJzRnyvZem5i-LWaCeckOWbSTvS7laz_l4qo53CczREApClyNsWeJGXZuth6M8xIg4y5cK_V1oNaoH9SQqb-Ms_ye6swXGdz7R4tpyJ/s1600/DSC06025.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0nlTushRSQm6ANfCc0PR-NMIkh6toYufftairUvJzRnyvZem5i-LWaCeckOWbSTvS7laz_l4qo53CczREApClyNsWeJGXZuth6M8xIg4y5cK_V1oNaoH9SQqb-Ms_ye6swXGdz7R4tpyJ/s320/DSC06025.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5O2aYav5EadLG-ILp5Y1F6xNT-kktKVnsY35byCiKtUqbMUnMKmxIbcRTKo4eTfRQYVyzQKWHgOFrn2pXOwlEVSZQvevUc4WSinrMnhg2K50agsG8y9t8AvYY8pWHV-qsyDCxLAI5A5Gn/s1600/DSC06035.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5O2aYav5EadLG-ILp5Y1F6xNT-kktKVnsY35byCiKtUqbMUnMKmxIbcRTKo4eTfRQYVyzQKWHgOFrn2pXOwlEVSZQvevUc4WSinrMnhg2K50agsG8y9t8AvYY8pWHV-qsyDCxLAI5A5Gn/s320/DSC06035.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">(if you click to enlarge the next photo, and look closely you'll see 2 rock climbers- one in a white shirt and one in a red shirt; they are TINY, because the mountain is HUGE)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRBFz_7ci-GRDZk4jA0Y1gf5EczFFjUeiKLFYW8V3bNuLhcBe8cmdKb87T4dc7CXSdN_d-tdzX7tVDxcJrUQ_A8nI9po-1zbDEUAYT6ObN_4EaHTGV6vXjoiOncaBfhw1pWGHAbKRs9L_r/s1600/DSC06042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRBFz_7ci-GRDZk4jA0Y1gf5EczFFjUeiKLFYW8V3bNuLhcBe8cmdKb87T4dc7CXSdN_d-tdzX7tVDxcJrUQ_A8nI9po-1zbDEUAYT6ObN_4EaHTGV6vXjoiOncaBfhw1pWGHAbKRs9L_r/s320/DSC06042.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzmV7OCN3QXP13pXcdXkJTI3W0Cl60NjbH6Hy_HdcIfrVIJXcDELCne_1Og7lErv7gICwP9DasXf8V2VpTcPZaz2dTnlaWOl0VZIH-Eoc05MLcPxId7lyM3DvvDDIbfPo4-vhFt3Q9YQD4/s1600/DSC06039.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzmV7OCN3QXP13pXcdXkJTI3W0Cl60NjbH6Hy_HdcIfrVIJXcDELCne_1Og7lErv7gICwP9DasXf8V2VpTcPZaz2dTnlaWOl0VZIH-Eoc05MLcPxId7lyM3DvvDDIbfPo4-vhFt3Q9YQD4/s320/DSC06039.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Our Junior Park Rangers!</div><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrV2HGoq-HoOQMUWmO8cFgvR2To5AJ7TxvUNLKhufIre2V13Cu2UWElVnNXgeYI_tH6KpV0GcoaeANhWuMEYcCMolHRO73H0dJtbfHdgQVdmnzUm0tlbbwUbPtfklQ9sprCAEqmVrqzAr6/s1600/DSC06056.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrV2HGoq-HoOQMUWmO8cFgvR2To5AJ7TxvUNLKhufIre2V13Cu2UWElVnNXgeYI_tH6KpV0GcoaeANhWuMEYcCMolHRO73H0dJtbfHdgQVdmnzUm0tlbbwUbPtfklQ9sprCAEqmVrqzAr6/s320/DSC06056.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div align="center" style="text-align: center;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">We then drove to <strong>Deadwood</strong>.</span></div><div align="center" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Here we took a bus tour to an old cemetery to visit the grave site of Wild Bill and Calamity Jane. The stories we heard were interesting. Back in town there was an exciting real live cowboy shoot-out. (we had to stand around an extra bit of time to prove to Lydia that there truly weren't dead men laying in the road!)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs2_2qUF_U9OqI3IL0v9mM3423uNKRB1IttodUU7YoaU0AzR788B8cEnSzKkTBArA0Mn9kXo3oAYDBxoc9cyaAr_tvyu3twLHVHl0ySsylaH8kFzgN2ildG4-9XY_Xj9u90VaXBQCPhv96/s1600/DSC06083.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs2_2qUF_U9OqI3IL0v9mM3423uNKRB1IttodUU7YoaU0AzR788B8cEnSzKkTBArA0Mn9kXo3oAYDBxoc9cyaAr_tvyu3twLHVHl0ySsylaH8kFzgN2ildG4-9XY_Xj9u90VaXBQCPhv96/s320/DSC06083.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyB1HCQpF2X0KE2KKa16rdOm4VNU5egVG8PjNmSBtu8xAi0zeZM_KzTlMhTn5NGl8CODCOpCGQY10lo6Oe9E9eNjtDtPN3HermVRW8ZXlB2kA0i76yEhvse3e7d1yjcZTl3kUfOpiG_voo/s1600/DSC06065.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyB1HCQpF2X0KE2KKa16rdOm4VNU5egVG8PjNmSBtu8xAi0zeZM_KzTlMhTn5NGl8CODCOpCGQY10lo6Oe9E9eNjtDtPN3HermVRW8ZXlB2kA0i76yEhvse3e7d1yjcZTl3kUfOpiG_voo/s320/DSC06065.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisDqqcRtc6_kg0XAL6af7UeTf-lurQC8P-QLJNQx2T39PSXG8IFAIRihdzIcy2hC159SevAwwacxU4WYpSnNCmziVLTPsujKsyENRqwRMIwREF71Sii_d56_bOqM9uuQ4R4-jqBDtlWXKK/s1600/DSC06073.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisDqqcRtc6_kg0XAL6af7UeTf-lurQC8P-QLJNQx2T39PSXG8IFAIRihdzIcy2hC159SevAwwacxU4WYpSnNCmziVLTPsujKsyENRqwRMIwREF71Sii_d56_bOqM9uuQ4R4-jqBDtlWXKK/s320/DSC06073.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCubFEhEhj2EK4J4GRcDbhLT642ghU3Rp6Q34QGJgvqd4px0DeQ-ilrKsfHyojq6hPHtT6F7caCT_phhbArpiKRkEXub-qOdeS1jXTSZAquiX-uRRxXEr3rSlJ4NZP5_kXJfig1uj3gApS/s1600/DSC06074.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCubFEhEhj2EK4J4GRcDbhLT642ghU3Rp6Q34QGJgvqd4px0DeQ-ilrKsfHyojq6hPHtT6F7caCT_phhbArpiKRkEXub-qOdeS1jXTSZAquiX-uRRxXEr3rSlJ4NZP5_kXJfig1uj3gApS/s320/DSC06074.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqTUfbLY6dQfuOs9RjOYFod0IaxrGJBtyB5ap2cbYxyyOlsexW_nBLmf0xOQQgTCaGqZUmKJBoZU0wfIW5H5fq7KwUhnmX3xL0gbxekO3v02BUXt9iCxe-8Koy3MukpcnWC_J9DCbiTtdt/s1600/DSC06075.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqTUfbLY6dQfuOs9RjOYFod0IaxrGJBtyB5ap2cbYxyyOlsexW_nBLmf0xOQQgTCaGqZUmKJBoZU0wfIW5H5fq7KwUhnmX3xL0gbxekO3v02BUXt9iCxe-8Koy3MukpcnWC_J9DCbiTtdt/s320/DSC06075.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-E3NiTCnB1Lbvjc8Y-Cq2FUytKgr_D6o7nEOxhVTsvGFqOY8xFgtPms2fRUc0TWNcoPyhTU54FcRNV9UkCixXlSnOS2DvDpp3GNEmKBvWC1RL0zAFRaAIzUdcO8sbKtUZucBa_MAnEOP5/s1600/DSC06080.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-E3NiTCnB1Lbvjc8Y-Cq2FUytKgr_D6o7nEOxhVTsvGFqOY8xFgtPms2fRUc0TWNcoPyhTU54FcRNV9UkCixXlSnOS2DvDpp3GNEmKBvWC1RL0zAFRaAIzUdcO8sbKtUZucBa_MAnEOP5/s320/DSC06080.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt3z5c0nwfxqHN0kLAXphbVjHXYL2Ae_uSpa5BjNY1N7V1WK8_XKdFBZb31htgiRYpwd48nhhbVhcMr-yzjuYgTlKFfh4J-FxNL_2Y64n47sBcEQZs-eqEAbbMZEnrSe2kwQm3w2BDGiy5/s1600/DSC06150.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt3z5c0nwfxqHN0kLAXphbVjHXYL2Ae_uSpa5BjNY1N7V1WK8_XKdFBZb31htgiRYpwd48nhhbVhcMr-yzjuYgTlKFfh4J-FxNL_2Y64n47sBcEQZs-eqEAbbMZEnrSe2kwQm3w2BDGiy5/s320/DSC06150.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center" style="text-align: center;"><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-large;">DAY 5:</span></strong></div><div align="center" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Fourth of July! We started with a return to <strong>Crazy Horse</strong>.</span></div><div align="center" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">They had a scheduled dynamite blast to clear more of the mountain. I took a video of it. You'll hear a man yell, "FIRE IN THE HOLE" as we counted down. Then you see the blast of debris and dust... THEN you hear the bang. The delay of sound was startling! We actually FELT the "boom". - The kids had the best seat in the house.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRewVAcY3ub6DB-ipxgqnInvlUm3ovgl7GMUWBXyony17b333B62CDUOK_PRRXazmNaHNTvMYRAmuCPS5qZLNerg3U3jdQHTJ6b9S0tGVaDwsk93OvFHhwrjCTU0_IanwFVoyWPuNQqXWF/s1600/DSC06088.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRewVAcY3ub6DB-ipxgqnInvlUm3ovgl7GMUWBXyony17b333B62CDUOK_PRRXazmNaHNTvMYRAmuCPS5qZLNerg3U3jdQHTJ6b9S0tGVaDwsk93OvFHhwrjCTU0_IanwFVoyWPuNQqXWF/s320/DSC06088.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">(this is the VIDEO if you're interested)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://i.ytimg.com/vi/fKrQ0yjNL_Y/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/fKrQ0yjNL_Y?f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/fKrQ0yjNL_Y?f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></div><div align="center" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKrQ0yjNL_Y">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKrQ0yjNL_Y</a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">On to <strong>Big Thunder Gold Mine</strong>,</span></div><div align="center" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">where we took a tour of a mine and had a chance to pan for gold. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL_BMpSmzqgUDsPoB3mGcZVXj99DJWYFc5GZQauBPtp3LdPHe-PLy2OdaIWQnfA8AEC29xqMBHvlPMp_q72AYXqkM3kYkH1A3Q4KEK38OWwKXzVQGyaifYHromX0td8Y_l6MEvV4r_ELiu/s1600/DSC06099.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL_BMpSmzqgUDsPoB3mGcZVXj99DJWYFc5GZQauBPtp3LdPHe-PLy2OdaIWQnfA8AEC29xqMBHvlPMp_q72AYXqkM3kYkH1A3Q4KEK38OWwKXzVQGyaifYHromX0td8Y_l6MEvV4r_ELiu/s320/DSC06099.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh570Zhhzd7u9no9D7-mfsqweeSjNt0irCs_xCMVqUfTJx1gvpIzfYpq1WcWBp_yrz23AAWfcaIgeCVtQOTTq5cKCzrewO5vOH22ttO79DwQoP4QH9hi5pc8q2AbAj1uEwFYGWe8i8UYnZg/s1600/DSC06103.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh570Zhhzd7u9no9D7-mfsqweeSjNt0irCs_xCMVqUfTJx1gvpIzfYpq1WcWBp_yrz23AAWfcaIgeCVtQOTTq5cKCzrewO5vOH22ttO79DwQoP4QH9hi5pc8q2AbAj1uEwFYGWe8i8UYnZg/s320/DSC06103.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB-75FxqaoLkmLsqgvvx-jvk_oYsdCeLxUep4Gsn3-1HFI4mytJ1mtGg_u4J6Evbxg8uJjglKBXWXWvKzXaB6f4Qx3L9kDf70IPfe18-VsQC4CWnzBKubBo1YPa49PMeQsOi993zTsV4K8/s1600/DSC06104.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB-75FxqaoLkmLsqgvvx-jvk_oYsdCeLxUep4Gsn3-1HFI4mytJ1mtGg_u4J6Evbxg8uJjglKBXWXWvKzXaB6f4Qx3L9kDf70IPfe18-VsQC4CWnzBKubBo1YPa49PMeQsOi993zTsV4K8/s320/DSC06104.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqFJzGWWeYmKrDfmEToaeiSWOYTggnNmYAGNQpLQcIeF8c9tAp-VvcbZhuWNg61MG80pY-0BjEMaf0QfquF3K_dTPx07hH4RRsp-9PC1H5fyJch0f-ML_RozWLuhAv1yWx_zgFM8HP2wNg/s1600/DSC06106.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqFJzGWWeYmKrDfmEToaeiSWOYTggnNmYAGNQpLQcIeF8c9tAp-VvcbZhuWNg61MG80pY-0BjEMaf0QfquF3K_dTPx07hH4RRsp-9PC1H5fyJch0f-ML_RozWLuhAv1yWx_zgFM8HP2wNg/s320/DSC06106.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxbuWqIfaZF6euhI6i0qJ-L_W9To9Za11LNUPpuFTjzscLJHlimN3xJjTYTGywU2re4m1loR56GLK48EIAy0QuvEY3OL4XIRsj-1Q2YhmEl1l7Ls5MRvZL4hz3qM00rG9MrV2MGWpIdjWP/s1600/DSC06108.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxbuWqIfaZF6euhI6i0qJ-L_W9To9Za11LNUPpuFTjzscLJHlimN3xJjTYTGywU2re4m1loR56GLK48EIAy0QuvEY3OL4XIRsj-1Q2YhmEl1l7Ls5MRvZL4hz3qM00rG9MrV2MGWpIdjWP/s320/DSC06108.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center" style="text-align: center;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">In the afternoon we walked around in <strong>Keystone</strong>,</span></div><div align="center" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">which is where we took a chairlift ride up a mountainside in order to breeze down it on an <strong>Alpine Slide</strong>. YAHOO!!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkyvBPzCY1FhMzJ_85UcFt9ZQJMlDtxvxnk31zQfmVRJpiIiwdjY6b2UzLxcRLsJ6t9c9zFbUQH5lqYx1eYSlnfVvTZ9xMnhk1XFstfQ1kiJKha6ETDeJGcCE6zoZMIXaW6qPx5EX24Pxl/s1600/DSC06141.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkyvBPzCY1FhMzJ_85UcFt9ZQJMlDtxvxnk31zQfmVRJpiIiwdjY6b2UzLxcRLsJ6t9c9zFbUQH5lqYx1eYSlnfVvTZ9xMnhk1XFstfQ1kiJKha6ETDeJGcCE6zoZMIXaW6qPx5EX24Pxl/s320/DSC06141.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center" style="text-align: center;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Then <strong>Mount Rushmore</strong>.</span></div><div align="center" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">We hiked up close to the mountain, and that night watched their daily lighting show. It included a short patriotic program and lowering of the American flag. It was a gorgeous evening!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixEywjvO19w-YSuLF1JPXndrMvNtimgcD1F7Lsso7SerSmi2_YTldfQ3ctXHRF0HEGbBB4XqK2V32wGFd-VM-q6Ku9h49buTbImqz5l3X29PyElfo797IUIWqveL0xtEuSsbw-dBWqcxq0/s1600/DSC06157.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixEywjvO19w-YSuLF1JPXndrMvNtimgcD1F7Lsso7SerSmi2_YTldfQ3ctXHRF0HEGbBB4XqK2V32wGFd-VM-q6Ku9h49buTbImqz5l3X29PyElfo797IUIWqveL0xtEuSsbw-dBWqcxq0/s320/DSC06157.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc8wPO9OvfmQQsNpxVTGAzFSDthtRqZIxG-uy31SgEEE97NhTUZ59yDOcNx-po1Xl9o12ytjE0axfrhFScPvdFaIX4Skf4uJtNDqnphqibhiCryV2T9p_9MPEWv-inxndBjDPbktOLZKnv/s1600/DSC06116.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc8wPO9OvfmQQsNpxVTGAzFSDthtRqZIxG-uy31SgEEE97NhTUZ59yDOcNx-po1Xl9o12ytjE0axfrhFScPvdFaIX4Skf4uJtNDqnphqibhiCryV2T9p_9MPEWv-inxndBjDPbktOLZKnv/s320/DSC06116.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCfbyaTOyW3UJOKlzi_woHvNBFHGGTynPqKGRxHv1pJvAkYTmHsdMWpvsnZyrdeTPFcL_O_onB-YT0-J9jYOPClJzFi_svY4lEMkgqymbcqhXZZKzlEV_CfP35FgRORgBlrx68ovyMwYOc/s1600/DSC06119.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCfbyaTOyW3UJOKlzi_woHvNBFHGGTynPqKGRxHv1pJvAkYTmHsdMWpvsnZyrdeTPFcL_O_onB-YT0-J9jYOPClJzFi_svY4lEMkgqymbcqhXZZKzlEV_CfP35FgRORgBlrx68ovyMwYOc/s320/DSC06119.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjymbQFg1d3YCJvNoqFIgO0nKtp8_tyaFzMo47tkd14ki1IE1e6j069IACmZTiIsO6DlxxrDvJ46sEvvvJyo6O1QCtiJxkAc2iSnNlFn8twh322P8mp4AVbEvG-hsTyx9yYO7b5SwL5HFT0/s1600/DSC06127.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjymbQFg1d3YCJvNoqFIgO0nKtp8_tyaFzMo47tkd14ki1IE1e6j069IACmZTiIsO6DlxxrDvJ46sEvvvJyo6O1QCtiJxkAc2iSnNlFn8twh322P8mp4AVbEvG-hsTyx9yYO7b5SwL5HFT0/s320/DSC06127.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg01Rh9NzxXZP1TZR-mx7Idjmw7qpi5fcXQLqARDgWbeCFMQAqZ-4GZUB-WXX0zTuVsWg0L0R0QfK0u6rKQ9QSriGOX-_7_uYwHv1sH2qn9bOnFjycWwxrVwUH9fh1FxfkXNBqla-X27-t/s1600/DSC06178.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg01Rh9NzxXZP1TZR-mx7Idjmw7qpi5fcXQLqARDgWbeCFMQAqZ-4GZUB-WXX0zTuVsWg0L0R0QfK0u6rKQ9QSriGOX-_7_uYwHv1sH2qn9bOnFjycWwxrVwUH9fh1FxfkXNBqla-X27-t/s320/DSC06178.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center" style="text-align: center;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">On our way back to the hotel, we happened to drive right up close to a huge community <strong>fireworks</strong> display. We pulled over so we could watch it from our car. An outstanding ending to another great day!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja4cdaLrSgNlLDnAOLHks8tYZV0FlE0TvaCGpqz69jgaRVVHR4SDlyWYyHJSQFiJI9_EGt4jqXdDeyMfqmPdLsWu5JsWR88rbZnyIEa1QcoWOta_rVmy6F06AMv5b4-XcH40ScKwML8DMv/s1600/DSC06188.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja4cdaLrSgNlLDnAOLHks8tYZV0FlE0TvaCGpqz69jgaRVVHR4SDlyWYyHJSQFiJI9_EGt4jqXdDeyMfqmPdLsWu5JsWR88rbZnyIEa1QcoWOta_rVmy6F06AMv5b4-XcH40ScKwML8DMv/s320/DSC06188.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPdREvXsu9vI9ZHhpE2tBCHq2zYbyjOYhJ1zhf5f3KTizJepH4Nzr1GS6Olf1kkROyV92Y6m-yxfWzv5nAWirS4eISk3r5OskBENSMnt1DiglaxeoMKoMSa5968RWZPiVmaVC_iHxrrRJA/s1600/DSC06189.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPdREvXsu9vI9ZHhpE2tBCHq2zYbyjOYhJ1zhf5f3KTizJepH4Nzr1GS6Olf1kkROyV92Y6m-yxfWzv5nAWirS4eISk3r5OskBENSMnt1DiglaxeoMKoMSa5968RWZPiVmaVC_iHxrrRJA/s320/DSC06189.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-large;">DAY 6:</span></strong></div><div align="center" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">We took an adventurous tour into the depths of <strong>Rushmore Cave</strong>.</span></div><div align="center" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">A natural cave that went down, down, down. It was cold and damp, and we were truly impressed.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh71HWuARxN129pQvUy2PzfyBWx3SjPzd7DhdL-yNoRh9bEIWHqjGGOjrP5nnIyWtAi2ltd3BwxluCsWOJy3uZkihNTlSzZEsJYHXWvTQk1rrhJZieTxpUB3qboyK15xqtUzDxyykS896VD/s1600/DSC06205.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh71HWuARxN129pQvUy2PzfyBWx3SjPzd7DhdL-yNoRh9bEIWHqjGGOjrP5nnIyWtAi2ltd3BwxluCsWOJy3uZkihNTlSzZEsJYHXWvTQk1rrhJZieTxpUB3qboyK15xqtUzDxyykS896VD/s320/DSC06205.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg2uLHbibdtkGS46zqurYm9qh26BhmHp-2UuwKRqiwJbuAhgGz__fE_Yk-71B2HX5KVtVwrxFyRj5JGUmh1hQK91ceby1zKjs7LmJzKSQk6YkTDHZIy6Hb09R6ilLfNbINXLMsYvIOJF0_/s1600/DSC06211.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg2uLHbibdtkGS46zqurYm9qh26BhmHp-2UuwKRqiwJbuAhgGz__fE_Yk-71B2HX5KVtVwrxFyRj5JGUmh1hQK91ceby1zKjs7LmJzKSQk6YkTDHZIy6Hb09R6ilLfNbINXLMsYvIOJF0_/s320/DSC06211.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTE6-m0AtvnY3Va5hlqQo7TQlejI7iMgMPXQ_RhNuPE1QOxhr-OjXQKuYWoiesGdWCQIRE8WEWtiBkUyR2xuKLOISmjf_Z-WRTr9GTmshs87MTNvkSzltgGgceXDbDNijO7nM3KGNjtGCK/s1600/DSC06217.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTE6-m0AtvnY3Va5hlqQo7TQlejI7iMgMPXQ_RhNuPE1QOxhr-OjXQKuYWoiesGdWCQIRE8WEWtiBkUyR2xuKLOISmjf_Z-WRTr9GTmshs87MTNvkSzltgGgceXDbDNijO7nM3KGNjtGCK/s320/DSC06217.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtXx_viYsOXU7W1Jp6RaJFtxo5GhOVFlSSDVREAtf9uCpl2WkDDoSO7_cn8kL3LJeycqf9kunLCuJsodU6XobFyymf1a32JQn9G91sYl1UlOoyRPgOlozf74_MtrGqJdbxOmqMLbvYNxox/s1600/DSC06227.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtXx_viYsOXU7W1Jp6RaJFtxo5GhOVFlSSDVREAtf9uCpl2WkDDoSO7_cn8kL3LJeycqf9kunLCuJsodU6XobFyymf1a32JQn9G91sYl1UlOoyRPgOlozf74_MtrGqJdbxOmqMLbvYNxox/s320/DSC06227.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div align="center" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Plus, Craig and Luke flew down a zipline while were at Rushmore Cave. It was long and fast... too fast for me to snap a photo!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">The final adventure was reserved for Craig. The kids and I walked around shopping in Custer while he hiked over 6 miles on a rugged trail to the top of <strong>Harney Peak</strong>. This is the highest point east of the Rocky Mountains and west of the Pyrenees Mountains in Europe, at an elevation of 7242 feet. The tower at the top was built in 1939. A side note is that he did it in a remarkably short amount of time! And he took some awesome photos...</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlGqkn52-GLOJO-zbgs_X4Q5RXe7XobEt827gPyB4zccPV0KaTX4_wH49Km-5RfAi7rijLAzQ1hA2nZzQ49aCxhv266lg-fD_UOR68mSZsBxeLsp3yBnBth9dGKXx6gOtdJ4S9Y72an8PE/s1600/DSC06242.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlGqkn52-GLOJO-zbgs_X4Q5RXe7XobEt827gPyB4zccPV0KaTX4_wH49Km-5RfAi7rijLAzQ1hA2nZzQ49aCxhv266lg-fD_UOR68mSZsBxeLsp3yBnBth9dGKXx6gOtdJ4S9Y72an8PE/s320/DSC06242.JPG" width="320" /></a></span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span></div><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0nBC488RGMep-cBiZ85HCbnL_UjQ2odFbmimvaE_0ZT4m5WVOSy-_Hx_oLMmMEz3zHciaFZ6f8hjcPsPgi3kPCr1W11xV8sLJp_iUMVyipLENAwQYSXl3h2vIMecBG6TI2a_tSN3j70K6/s1600/DSC06243.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0nBC488RGMep-cBiZ85HCbnL_UjQ2odFbmimvaE_0ZT4m5WVOSy-_Hx_oLMmMEz3zHciaFZ6f8hjcPsPgi3kPCr1W11xV8sLJp_iUMVyipLENAwQYSXl3h2vIMecBG6TI2a_tSN3j70K6/s320/DSC06243.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghHtRto7EGFjGs4D22vz9JoIOfSdD6JXAp9d-Mx7khNptgdRecrcC7AV_q19QiOv_5NIKfNfBKoWRnQyj1QIgjYprCeXzI_Ek0shX_r5Cx6KMDqRdOxQ1PgDNkzAHP20u1FldoO3oru8Ev/s1600/DSC06248.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghHtRto7EGFjGs4D22vz9JoIOfSdD6JXAp9d-Mx7khNptgdRecrcC7AV_q19QiOv_5NIKfNfBKoWRnQyj1QIgjYprCeXzI_Ek0shX_r5Cx6KMDqRdOxQ1PgDNkzAHP20u1FldoO3oru8Ev/s320/DSC06248.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjozHMLH8JHjTCMB3AuREDGep2gSjaH5fndOZe9qECNCLUkuuNj0oB-dKr_dMG0nDai9lTJY3YKg1nxpdyUbfznqG7ZPsT_vPpNeF7jMnnLXcOsFyDTvoatdoluoczD-f6OQ1exCGsjxndA/s1600/DSC06249.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjozHMLH8JHjTCMB3AuREDGep2gSjaH5fndOZe9qECNCLUkuuNj0oB-dKr_dMG0nDai9lTJY3YKg1nxpdyUbfznqG7ZPsT_vPpNeF7jMnnLXcOsFyDTvoatdoluoczD-f6OQ1exCGsjxndA/s320/DSC06249.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU8ZMEJgMG2_sw8lymB-VgXFJC-iHV-NKlJEaPCRhrt5HjSFGhg3Rs1JD8uMIiTcGAbauZGTZWyHuMt-u7ve6BpXsUIPcERtsjRxkjSHvSY-d5Z6FGWh3WODqXAaY3CQHNMEwzX1k0PjAR/s1600/DSC06251.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU8ZMEJgMG2_sw8lymB-VgXFJC-iHV-NKlJEaPCRhrt5HjSFGhg3Rs1JD8uMIiTcGAbauZGTZWyHuMt-u7ve6BpXsUIPcERtsjRxkjSHvSY-d5Z6FGWh3WODqXAaY3CQHNMEwzX1k0PjAR/s320/DSC06251.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center" style="text-align: center;">Here is the tunnel we had to drive through to get to this trail. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Xu5NcAnI_NyyMx7rjx8X6fVB1eIc25MRTVGh_agr1t_DNjB2SEwSoOv79GFPbhy9RSyTZFD4NGBgBaJ43up2uZRtOZkwzEPcW2lS_bqm_KB44OsShBY56UkH9dLHUV_20cTp1veXw3EC/s1600/DSC06262.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Xu5NcAnI_NyyMx7rjx8X6fVB1eIc25MRTVGh_agr1t_DNjB2SEwSoOv79GFPbhy9RSyTZFD4NGBgBaJ43up2uZRtOZkwzEPcW2lS_bqm_KB44OsShBY56UkH9dLHUV_20cTp1veXw3EC/s320/DSC06262.JPG" width="320" /></a></div></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">This last photo shows the teeny tower</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">in the distance at the very tippy-top of the mountain.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6Ag9EXjcoaPc5jQly6b9p7V-HQQnVBPCIKckz_5c6E480DZG13XvyoSRJWj6CN6hy08Y379fK7oZ8LIMklB9FKFGSBHZPHF6e-XCCbGkH2nUsc979oTn8gWqW3X6gm9Mivf0FwoUXtHot/s1600/DSC06261.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6Ag9EXjcoaPc5jQly6b9p7V-HQQnVBPCIKckz_5c6E480DZG13XvyoSRJWj6CN6hy08Y379fK7oZ8LIMklB9FKFGSBHZPHF6e-XCCbGkH2nUsc979oTn8gWqW3X6gm9Mivf0FwoUXtHot/s320/DSC06261.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center" style="text-align: center;"><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-large;">DAY 7:</span></strong></div><div align="center" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">7/6/11, <u>6 am</u> We checked out of the hotel and hit the road. Our original plan was to stop halfway, then we changed it to MORE than halfway, then we decided to just drive it all. Yep... 22 hours later... I'll do the math for you- 4am on 7/7 we arrived home. YAY US! The drive was easy (straight and flat), and our kids were great! </span><span style="font-family: Georgia;">This ranks as probably the best vacation we've ever had!</span></div><div align="center" style="text-align: center;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">If you made it this far... THANKS for reading about our adventure,</span></div><div align="center" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">and I hope you enjoyed your virtual vacation!</span> </div>Betsy Myershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00809008683669504117noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076471069773459905.post-28242641550027321282011-07-05T12:06:00.001-04:002011-07-12T12:10:42.332-04:00Lazy Eye, Lydia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/QNSYROtcDs8?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/drfzKpE501k?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>Betsy Myershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00809008683669504117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076471069773459905.post-25649016144980534272011-06-23T09:36:00.001-04:002011-06-23T09:37:07.606-04:00Countdown to South Dakota<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In one week we will be on the road to see one of our nation's greatest landscapes. I'm getting very excited for our adventure!!!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYNfmXE5xJFs09HJLqVAV-N8tEO-1089sIDHhF-jQ7-72aJ5FviTFg0arP0SLcqT0CeNxfVt7cXkJ82ICENNN5uAmMRB3GJYJtyNqK65ecN6kK7LxtowdevKqlLp9kWB2S6YAi0Nktbmez/s1600/mount-rushmore.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYNfmXE5xJFs09HJLqVAV-N8tEO-1089sIDHhF-jQ7-72aJ5FviTFg0arP0SLcqT0CeNxfVt7cXkJ82ICENNN5uAmMRB3GJYJtyNqK65ecN6kK7LxtowdevKqlLp9kWB2S6YAi0Nktbmez/s400/mount-rushmore.jpeg" width="400" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then to add to the fun, I showed Luke what the back of the mountain looks like. </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(<em>this picture has been around for awhile now, but I think it's still funny and clever</em>)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyKPJbhfkZ9sF81jtqHXn00XfY9opUsKnMAeOtMJNChC8KPkXk0Ou_slQM_YQZbceSQI40YRjWdUFVuyVi66tI6_uDhbVNrooMgszhSu_BBzBbR11f3pok5Vy06wLylw4-xE3-VAsq0mZT/s1600/back-of-rushmore.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyKPJbhfkZ9sF81jtqHXn00XfY9opUsKnMAeOtMJNChC8KPkXk0Ou_slQM_YQZbceSQI40YRjWdUFVuyVi66tI6_uDhbVNrooMgszhSu_BBzBbR11f3pok5Vy06wLylw4-xE3-VAsq0mZT/s400/back-of-rushmore.png" width="400" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center"><h3 align="center">Mt. Rushmore Facts:</h3></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.mountrushmoreinfo.com/">http://www.mountrushmoreinfo.com/</a></div><ul><li> <div align="left">Sculptor Gutzon Borglum began drilling into the 5,725-foot mountain in 1927, at the age of 60.</div></li>
<li> <div align="left">Creation of the Shrine of Democracy took 14 years and cost a mere $1 million.</div></li>
<li> <div align="left">Rushmore's granite faces tower 5,500 feet above sea level.</div></li>
<li> <div align="left">The carvings on Mount Rushmore are scaled to men who would stand 465 feet tall.</div></li>
<li> <div align="left">Each head on Mt. Rushmore is as tall as a six-story building.</div></li>
<li> <div align="left">More that 800 million pounds of stone were removed from Mount Rushmore while carving the presidents.</div></li>
<li> <div align="left">Each president's face is as tall as the entire Great Sphinx of Egypt, measuring 60 feet from the chin to the top of the head.</div></li>
<li> <div align="left">The president's noses are 20 feet long, each mouth 18 feet wide and the eyes are 11 feet across.</div></li>
<li> <div align="left">The workers had to climb 506 steps daily to get to the top of Mount Rushmore. </div></li>
</ul>Betsy Myershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00809008683669504117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076471069773459905.post-83483144119376738142011-06-22T21:13:00.004-04:002011-06-23T09:43:36.883-04:00Happy Wednesday to Me<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I still have not determined who had this brilliant idea, but here's what went down this happy Wednesday morning.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My two sweet, sweet children kept coming to me in bed and asking me to hurry up and come to the kitchen to fix them breakfast. They presented themselves as starving children, and made a good case about why I should hustle.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Down the steps I walked to the welcoming committee...</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">PSHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That was the sound of a can of Silly String spraying all over me. Yep. Luke was hysterically laughing with his side-kick sister by his side.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5AE8OQ4aCVJRlPVVr8aAefwsHCvHwkQ7Vy2SZI5kqZ4QAeLBMnYlhIFbaOPXsP72Pyb5ogxH9q5so9S8En9nV28Ifwm2_3HhauS71HzvY4atkh5mW48nyBTwvN9ZfbHifwPDTA0Yf87kP/s1600/21919_large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5AE8OQ4aCVJRlPVVr8aAefwsHCvHwkQ7Vy2SZI5kqZ4QAeLBMnYlhIFbaOPXsP72Pyb5ogxH9q5so9S8En9nV28Ifwm2_3HhauS71HzvY4atkh5mW48nyBTwvN9ZfbHifwPDTA0Yf87kP/s320/21919_large.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At this point I had to really hold back, because all I could first see was the pastel colored gunk hitting my wood floor and landing on my carpet and in my hair and on my plant and on my dog. I took a breath, slowly opened my eyes and then...</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">PSHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I got a teeny wad sprayed directly into my EYEBALL! It was cold and this stuff literally stinks. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I decided to let them finish their fun.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Afterall, it was not THEIR fault that their FATHER permitted such a scene. In fact, I discovered he <strong>encouraged</strong> it and suggested they yell,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Happy Wednesday!"</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Apparently Lydia began to feel regret though as I was speckled and stringy from head to toe and started yelling,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Luke, that's enough! Luke, STOP!" </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><em>My sweet, sweet daughter.</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Luke, though, didn't hold back.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">He continued to spray two whole bottles until they couldn't squeeze out another single speck. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It WAS funny.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yet it WAS awful.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It DID take a LONG time to clean-up.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And then I DID kindly ask Craig not to give them Silly String EVER EVER again!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">PS Should I panic now or later about their super slyness?!</span></div>Betsy Myershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00809008683669504117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076471069773459905.post-20003086035096724592011-06-13T23:22:00.004-04:002011-06-13T23:24:11.334-04:00Hot Mama Pink<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lydia had the honor of being in a cousin's wedding. She and 15 other sweet little girls created an adorable daisy chain that paraded around before and after the ceremony. I doubt I need to explain how glorious Lydia thought this was!!!! She's pictured here in the back row, fourth from the right. The newlyweds are Ben & Christine (CONGRATULATIONS!)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilgMF7_iIfFpd4vjh8ed5852nF0zzoYIIbTKr35VaDcuuSVXqkz00grxHDIt910itVCIVNJqe4BPaNHiYwCFv3gL0kJTHr4i3NkOOPraq4G1atE6kxX5R0ubyWCrSlOTASo_r3ZBERzs2s/s1600/DSC05689.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilgMF7_iIfFpd4vjh8ed5852nF0zzoYIIbTKr35VaDcuuSVXqkz00grxHDIt910itVCIVNJqe4BPaNHiYwCFv3gL0kJTHr4i3NkOOPraq4G1atE6kxX5R0ubyWCrSlOTASo_r3ZBERzs2s/s400/DSC05689.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> I also captured this DYNAMITE photo of Lydia with her proud daddy.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju2NlHHlHuB5oLRU35GPnlCtwD-M8cgvo7QRYsIUKU9tXpCAwFMEmg9CEvJS6myN_ALI_WFDedKslS7HgP1gRe8GMXlSeQeQtPqeAZSOBmI3Fq-9t2SpELgJFwF0biDpgDt0-0xgGpGJYQ/s1600/DSC05684.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju2NlHHlHuB5oLRU35GPnlCtwD-M8cgvo7QRYsIUKU9tXpCAwFMEmg9CEvJS6myN_ALI_WFDedKslS7HgP1gRe8GMXlSeQeQtPqeAZSOBmI3Fq-9t2SpELgJFwF0biDpgDt0-0xgGpGJYQ/s400/DSC05684.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg43u3WQ0vRU6xqBg3x-vS11219fvQWbwjnjg4dEh0WZ-QpIXqCtC5HhFMMM1pagrg6vT8Ur7_YVp3YCzNlXF0mbr8T4vkViPqBjIgUJx7tQKaw3_5A_vkVtoQ4i3gj7wMkSRc3Rwei_9fw/s1600/DSC05688.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg43u3WQ0vRU6xqBg3x-vS11219fvQWbwjnjg4dEh0WZ-QpIXqCtC5HhFMMM1pagrg6vT8Ur7_YVp3YCzNlXF0mbr8T4vkViPqBjIgUJx7tQKaw3_5A_vkVtoQ4i3gj7wMkSRc3Rwei_9fw/s400/DSC05688.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>Betsy Myershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00809008683669504117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076471069773459905.post-13819368570994287612011-06-13T23:13:00.001-04:002011-06-13T23:13:59.651-04:00"Cut" it out<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's all fun and games going crazy in a large bundle of balloons until your wrist gets knotted up in the ribbon!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMuFceYmSz2THkUAc3AaDN3bd47fbcd3j7LmugMbldX2YuwwNidzpBeW1bihIsOb9Jr7vjZUSYZBnDJHXblRhLXNU-qS2sKMQsOrtDD-GhOuM6pKcsCOcWVosAr2rZWcENp-73vRd-SrXE/s1600/DSC05706.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMuFceYmSz2THkUAc3AaDN3bd47fbcd3j7LmugMbldX2YuwwNidzpBeW1bihIsOb9Jr7vjZUSYZBnDJHXblRhLXNU-qS2sKMQsOrtDD-GhOuM6pKcsCOcWVosAr2rZWcENp-73vRd-SrXE/s400/DSC05706.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>Betsy Myershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00809008683669504117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076471069773459905.post-38255245428605204852011-06-09T23:31:00.006-04:002011-06-09T23:37:18.042-04:00No Fun for the Fairy<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A couple weeks ago Luke's</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1st tooth was (<em>we think</em>) lost in the YMCA pool. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The 2nd came out today and went down the bathroom drain.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now- I'll give him credit for being a "thinker"...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After it was already out of his mouth-</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">he was brushing it at the time it washed away... </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">yes, BRUSHING the teeny tiny tooth to make it <strong>shinier</strong> in order to<br />
EARN MORE MONEY FROM THE TOOTH FAIRY!!!!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Craig kindly took apart the drain to retrieve it, and the Tooth Fairy did indeed make a successful stop in his bedroom tonight.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course, not before Craig helped Luke set up his room in order to have a better chance at "catching" her.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">NOT APPRECIATED!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don't think I like the Tooth Fairy's job description very much. Too stressful! Maybe her husband could/should take over her job!</span></div>Betsy Myershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00809008683669504117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076471069773459905.post-51531422946086487742011-06-08T20:43:00.000-04:002011-06-08T20:43:00.130-04:00The Summer of 2011<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgifTMVoKaHxg7SnsKGWJbNa5_F3JPBDxaVu2IQ8jmwenqvajBgmryq19GBK6KTta4YqLsUimlMQGG4al9FQrGW7chDxWHhuF-a1o8BIUf5Cj8XGthvzYj62AWpUGL58xqYe1vySQHDM8ac/s1600/DSC05615.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgifTMVoKaHxg7SnsKGWJbNa5_F3JPBDxaVu2IQ8jmwenqvajBgmryq19GBK6KTta4YqLsUimlMQGG4al9FQrGW7chDxWHhuF-a1o8BIUf5Cj8XGthvzYj62AWpUGL58xqYe1vySQHDM8ac/s400/DSC05615.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>Betsy Myershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00809008683669504117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076471069773459905.post-4657991951970550872011-06-07T19:57:00.000-04:002011-06-07T19:57:47.860-04:00Redefining "Powder Room"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lydia and her dear friend (<em>and partner in crime</em>) decided it would be fun to play beauty parlor and busted out two <u>full-size</u> containers of baby powder. As they mixed up some bizarre paste with some hair serum/gel, they emptied BOTH powder containers in mounds around Lydia's bedroom. They applied this batter-type substance to their hair and faces and to various toys and furniture around her room.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">How did I finally discover what was going on?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After periodically asking them what they were doing, and having them innocently reply, "Playing with dolls"</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">which wasn't a lie... the crud WAS on the dolls too!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I began to smell the fresh baby-bottom scent lingering down the stairwell. From a flight of stairs away, the powder was drifting through the air, and I perked up with concern.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Below shows a photo of what I had to deal with. It took lots of lathering with LOTS of shampoo to get it out of both of the girls' hair roots. YUCK. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They do smell AWESOME though!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The bedroom was in BAD shape as well, but with their dutiful help it didn't take too long to tidy.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Still there does remain a thin powdery dusting on all of the furniture on the second floor.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ugh...</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi551mD_knezM1HuLDV5YeWm0uxaq0Lg4_-LsDW7U5pAgQdEszdEadgOp59Cge-0vkhxEGNJyH-wvVBLWDk6F29hMHFm4nlfc6A7SULvA-Nzvwj6_NfxQ2f5ohitKhrF8EGE97ReizMrTRK/s1600/DSC05612.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi551mD_knezM1HuLDV5YeWm0uxaq0Lg4_-LsDW7U5pAgQdEszdEadgOp59Cge-0vkhxEGNJyH-wvVBLWDk6F29hMHFm4nlfc6A7SULvA-Nzvwj6_NfxQ2f5ohitKhrF8EGE97ReizMrTRK/s400/DSC05612.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>Betsy Myershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00809008683669504117noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076471069773459905.post-905179180867261392011-06-07T14:11:00.000-04:002011-06-07T14:11:50.402-04:00Hugs & Giggles<span style="color: purple; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Yesterday morning Lydia said something sweet to me. Vain, yet sweet. She said, "Mom, I'm so glad God made us beautiful!" </span><br />
<span style="color: purple; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">It resulted in a major giggle and hug-fest!!!!!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Then last night as I tucked her into bed, she told me, </span><br />
<span style="color: purple; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">"If you want to say nice things about me, </span><br />
<span style="color: purple; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I'll listen." </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: purple; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I swear this girl is somethin' special. </span><br />
<span style="color: purple; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">She melts my heart and </span><br />
<span style="color: purple; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">tickles my funny bone on a regular basis. </span><br />
<span style="color: purple; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">God got it right when he paired us up... </span><br />
<span style="color: purple; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">that's for sure!</span>Betsy Myershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00809008683669504117noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076471069773459905.post-44974220208531406722011-06-01T09:18:00.000-04:002011-06-01T09:18:29.097-04:00one dead plant: $15 / healthy baby birds: PRICELESS<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, my dead plant is TOTALLY worth it!!!!!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm referring to my post, "</span><a href="http://betsymyers-dontforgettolaugh.blogspot.com/2011/05/birds-business.html"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A Bird's Business</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">".</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">These little cuties (<em>Pete & Patty</em>) have been a welcomed addition to my front porch lately! We'll actually be sad to see them leave.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiosSDxYY75Jv-bym4cSbsSW7CTIPLWedTIQ5WakzN7In0lmO5fHggjE1fwbCpN2NYO47a7ZedbIV-1p1OrOyhC5ssj_dxID6FezYUhBHRp41wk9gh6xq62tUUTFJ8gCH6DbkKpiLYJynKd/s1600/DSC05579.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiosSDxYY75Jv-bym4cSbsSW7CTIPLWedTIQ5WakzN7In0lmO5fHggjE1fwbCpN2NYO47a7ZedbIV-1p1OrOyhC5ssj_dxID6FezYUhBHRp41wk9gh6xq62tUUTFJ8gCH6DbkKpiLYJynKd/s400/DSC05579.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcoi1947pPKXBFcHbhgYoUhX4mxtqMKYs5B5n3Ewpz_XB_dG2Arvc2BsrMQd2gQ16LTO52LXlYulq3HtHTgvSMTmVaEkAR15rxryDVFTOH56Fp2DfWGROpMi693FEkohPzNYjYs9uXwqAv/s1600/DSC05584.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcoi1947pPKXBFcHbhgYoUhX4mxtqMKYs5B5n3Ewpz_XB_dG2Arvc2BsrMQd2gQ16LTO52LXlYulq3HtHTgvSMTmVaEkAR15rxryDVFTOH56Fp2DfWGROpMi693FEkohPzNYjYs9uXwqAv/s400/DSC05584.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsjNAd5qEGycULIvlZMxwhiNrdNmXnI8QkusNxyU-KH9acRmiA5kLf2zxkcFJd58-8BsMW_Vvdk9ICnZvLi0rtIC-3lVcdknaBKvv0punxsi_ESkJswWkkFpUel2zIxBwpqvGkoRWRJNFf/s1600/DSC05587.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsjNAd5qEGycULIvlZMxwhiNrdNmXnI8QkusNxyU-KH9acRmiA5kLf2zxkcFJd58-8BsMW_Vvdk9ICnZvLi0rtIC-3lVcdknaBKvv0punxsi_ESkJswWkkFpUel2zIxBwpqvGkoRWRJNFf/s400/DSC05587.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>Betsy Myershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00809008683669504117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076471069773459905.post-48964151042429994012011-05-22T23:05:00.001-04:002011-05-22T23:08:02.971-04:00MY Favorite Days<div style="text-align: center;"></div><ul><li><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">My first date with Craig: March 25, 1993</span></div></li>
<li><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Day I got baptized: April 8, 1997</span></div></li>
<li><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Day I got engaged: December 18, 1997</span></div></li>
<li><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Day I got married: June 19, 1999</span></div></li>
<li><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Luke's birth date: October 6, 2004</span></div></li>
<li><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Lydia's birth date: August 24, 2007</span></div></li>
<li><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Skydiving in July, 2009- </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>This doesn't quite fit in this list, but as far as my most memorable days, it's "up there" </em></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>(ha ha Get it? I said "up there" hee hee)</em></span></div></li>
</ul><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">AND NOW...</span></strong></div><ul><li><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Luke's baptism: May 22, 2011</span></div></li>
</ul><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I feel incredibly blessed</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">that this list is still growing!</span></div>Betsy Myershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00809008683669504117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076471069773459905.post-13257012980259220522011-05-22T22:26:00.000-04:002011-05-22T22:26:28.967-04:00A Bird's Business<div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Look at my new hanging flower basket.</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pretty, right? Well look more closely...</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Gg9N9FH17wpcXzx5dAiK75HCwCRkjmWpSWOPTWf6i2WWDbtqcgec7KyifHeJCJCxlwjMTBYWaUVQq8AmMJCqKYFjb4PIlnBWfkshiHDUhpasMJG9jmuPvasMEZdrIDhZ0KuMX6ZsEHGq/s1600/DSC05420.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Gg9N9FH17wpcXzx5dAiK75HCwCRkjmWpSWOPTWf6i2WWDbtqcgec7KyifHeJCJCxlwjMTBYWaUVQq8AmMJCqKYFjb4PIlnBWfkshiHDUhpasMJG9jmuPvasMEZdrIDhZ0KuMX6ZsEHGq/s320/DSC05420.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">See it yet? Look closer...</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh69xkox1KyDMN80qBYrcryinV1Acm08JUYN7OWOtAVhHFEWwk9IQNATgwPOHIEYxCj6azeT0a4wZiWKiST8tF1W5_VfX2P-EagvJ-MkPYyHibZE_cWjokSYEuaoHRc1PpfPI1jST6suBv8/s1600/DSC05422.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh69xkox1KyDMN80qBYrcryinV1Acm08JUYN7OWOtAVhHFEWwk9IQNATgwPOHIEYxCj6azeT0a4wZiWKiST8tF1W5_VfX2P-EagvJ-MkPYyHibZE_cWjokSYEuaoHRc1PpfPI1jST6suBv8/s320/DSC05422.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now, do you see it? Yep - 2 days after hanging it, a momma dove claimed it. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRB1boDHS49xKT83El6ewF4h43NK1-_DXByMD1v_mx6DfFmQy4JAALHvmX4-PijCozD04BtMBYuykxV4bu0iw4qOhb-WabtYtbd6nrB_HAYHMb_vkN4048oa8vlhpFRuvxKW6RDGhiaWZc/s1600/DSC05428.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRB1boDHS49xKT83El6ewF4h43NK1-_DXByMD1v_mx6DfFmQy4JAALHvmX4-PijCozD04BtMBYuykxV4bu0iw4qOhb-WabtYtbd6nrB_HAYHMb_vkN4048oa8vlhpFRuvxKW6RDGhiaWZc/s320/DSC05428.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Then she left some treasures and day after day we waited.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBpYkdkE49GwUpTDMqET8IHmZv1Q9_WKCjo0-QVEGcvp2shS8flri6kXqVOg-IV_uDrh6sBSDLLBKUR4vdXOScOdAvhbKm4Ydj3oXHUd0SupqXxm1wwDYbNY3u7lWRKnKifpbKiPNOFL66/s1600/DSC05432.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBpYkdkE49GwUpTDMqET8IHmZv1Q9_WKCjo0-QVEGcvp2shS8flri6kXqVOg-IV_uDrh6sBSDLLBKUR4vdXOScOdAvhbKm4Ydj3oXHUd0SupqXxm1wwDYbNY3u7lWRKnKifpbKiPNOFL66/s320/DSC05432.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDZ6iOuZoyYkjTmIyDxhWykY3_Og4GYUR-WSDabSh6Hp8qqlcTNJiKtwCQwPXSAfnYLGIkzYGCgAVo_XHRVmBjKfHKZ8jDC7hdPTZNUrus7HZVq-IFuT9MNSDxq2KPqopyySdiRwVu3UWY/s1600/DSC05433.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDZ6iOuZoyYkjTmIyDxhWykY3_Og4GYUR-WSDabSh6Hp8qqlcTNJiKtwCQwPXSAfnYLGIkzYGCgAVo_XHRVmBjKfHKZ8jDC7hdPTZNUrus7HZVq-IFuT9MNSDxq2KPqopyySdiRwVu3UWY/s320/DSC05433.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> 15 days later... two teeny miracles appeared.</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I like them this way too, all cute and fuzzy- before they start squawking and crapping on my car.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPZj97mkgvjKAZtvSycO7ZF6rFSX1Mgk342n-JDJAsnz9Q8IHfOwSv1STRiAJj91UumCtKyEWRPqG-TDiXE3XfxC3DTgbY4T4w03q9cOlRBmjfzYDAcqOEogt8p9UJC8TtiJbEhn1raFuX/s1600/DSC05440.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPZj97mkgvjKAZtvSycO7ZF6rFSX1Mgk342n-JDJAsnz9Q8IHfOwSv1STRiAJj91UumCtKyEWRPqG-TDiXE3XfxC3DTgbY4T4w03q9cOlRBmjfzYDAcqOEogt8p9UJC8TtiJbEhn1raFuX/s320/DSC05440.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2eBmU609dNpd9APUa2t9PtNSfseLbicd7QQ_RhhCDAS36JtzzGtJ7jaeodiCqFkZnPPq5fuIyuHDi79jacdgqdt0kCPCSn3PYvmP-kR2xj98b5eGNlw2Sg1XeeargVgD9b9zvLtA16Pry/s1600/DSC05441.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2eBmU609dNpd9APUa2t9PtNSfseLbicd7QQ_RhhCDAS36JtzzGtJ7jaeodiCqFkZnPPq5fuIyuHDi79jacdgqdt0kCPCSn3PYvmP-kR2xj98b5eGNlw2Sg1XeeargVgD9b9zvLtA16Pry/s320/DSC05441.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>Betsy Myershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00809008683669504117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076471069773459905.post-34166124491020284902011-05-22T22:05:00.000-04:002011-05-22T22:05:59.191-04:00Body Rippling<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">This is the faster way my kids have discovered to go down our stairs. Lydia typically "wins".... as she's shockingly swift and surprisingly smooth with her rippling descent!</span></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/EsdtD4CCHZs?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>Betsy Myershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00809008683669504117noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076471069773459905.post-7533310703940994352011-05-10T01:06:00.000-04:002011-05-10T01:06:28.631-04:00Tooth Fairy... wherefor art thou?<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Luke lost his first tooth! And I wasn't there.... boooooo</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Craig had the kids at the YMCA for swim lessons, and he & Luke are in a disagreement as to where the tooth might be. Luke thinks he swallowed it during dinner, and Craig thinks it's in the pool.</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Both scenarios are terrible and gross.</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>When I got home this evening, Craig told me Luke had written a note to stuff into the pocket in his Tooth Fairy Pillow.</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>It read, "Dear Tooth Fairy,</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>I promise I lost my tooth. Love, Luke"</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>CUTE!</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>So I tip-toed into his room after he dozed off and sure enough...the Tooth Fairy did pay a visit. There's now a crisp dollar bill nicely rolled up and sticking out of the pocket, as well as some shiny gold glitter (aka FAIRY DUST) sprinkled about.</strong></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS82TfTi6hKTArsWXHcM9gDTTL53d1Evk1-ZMDdm7sJA7S6xdHek5beZRWD43BPMUYoTMV7tOd9dWvv0HskaTCOSM5fzlv_MP3xovZbTSM2Lu_lTrs0K7OwPclC0QdYF4MogWuNR2IdV-C/s1600/IMG00080-20110509-1928.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS82TfTi6hKTArsWXHcM9gDTTL53d1Evk1-ZMDdm7sJA7S6xdHek5beZRWD43BPMUYoTMV7tOd9dWvv0HskaTCOSM5fzlv_MP3xovZbTSM2Lu_lTrs0K7OwPclC0QdYF4MogWuNR2IdV-C/s320/IMG00080-20110509-1928.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>As far as the tooth???</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Either the <em>Pool Fairy</em> or the <em>Poop Fairy</em></strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>won dibs on it this time.</strong></span></div>Betsy Myershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00809008683669504117noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076471069773459905.post-30102790489223469122011-05-06T22:02:00.000-04:002011-05-06T22:02:55.018-04:00My Little Lydia<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today while sorting through some toys, Lydia and I had a discussion that left me chuckling.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was setting aside baby toys for us to get rid of when Lydia told me we should keep them in case we can get another baby.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I laughed and said, we're not going to get anymore babies.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She looked unsettled and asked why.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I answered that we're finished having babies in our family; God isn't going to give us any more.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Her reply??? Maybe we can BUY one.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">- Sometimes... just sometimes,</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">I don't have to have the last word.</span></div>Betsy Myershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00809008683669504117noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7076471069773459905.post-59560182282340522342011-05-06T00:00:00.000-04:002011-05-06T00:00:11.710-04:00Parkapaloosa<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's been rain... day after day for what seems likes MONTHS! So, you can imagine my excitement to wake up to what might be a "nice" day. I had a to-do list a mile long, but I decided to have an impromptu outing with the kids.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They were excited to dress when I told them we would go to a park.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So we went... to a park</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">then another park</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">then another park</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">then another</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">then another</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">and another</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">and another</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">and finally one more after that</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yep... 8 parks in under 3 hours. PLUS, we grabbed Subway in the middle there somewhere and enjoyed lunch at one of the picnic shelters.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Luke told me I should call the newspaper and they can put it in the World Record Book!)</em></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">- We're fortunate to be surrounded by so many neighborhood & community parks that it made it rather easy to visit so many, without much driving time. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For some of our more familiar parks, I gave them just 10 quick minutes to bust a move and try to do everything they wanted before it was time to leave. They cracked me up as they flew around determined to touch every single piece of equipment. Then we added in some parks that we frequently drive-by, but have never actually stopped in to play. In fact, we found a new favorite!!!!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I wish I would have taken my camera!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Maybe next time, right?</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I did tell the kids that someday we would try to break our record and do TEN in one day!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><strong>Parkapaloosa Part II</strong></span></div>Betsy Myershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00809008683669504117noreply@blogger.com1