September 2010

September was a fun month that did not involve a lot of traveling. Just hangin' around our stomping grounds here and enjoying a lot of what the Black Hills have to offer. We were happy to make it to a football game at Sam's school. NO, they are not very good. No, sports are not a HUGE part of this school, but they still HAVE a football team. And what is fall without a little football. They even have a cool stadium where one side is lined with tiered parking for tailgate viewing of the game. We were even lucky enough to get in free (they usually charge like $15/car to park there). LucyMae had a great time. At first she was a little concerned about all the falling down, but she got over it and started cheering like a rock-star. It was great practice for our future Utah vs. Iowa game.

We also got to enjoy some quality time at all the local parks. We are lucky enough to have some great parks, as well as a place called "Storybook Island", very near our house. I can run with the jogging stroller to this awesome and free park, let LucyMae have a ball getting all her energy out, and run back home all within a 1-2 hour time-frame. I must say, I truly do love and enjoy Rapid City in the summer, spring and fall. It's the darn winters that make me slightly disenchanted with this place. That and the fact that anywhere else is a 5+ hour drive away. Oh well...we have enjoyed it.

There were some great end-of-summer/start-of-school events around here. Storybook Island had a big, fun event. The YMCA had a street festival that we went to enjoy. LucyMae sure got her fill of the jumping-castles and other kids' activities. Samantha seemed to have fun too....most of the time. And there was even live music for Sam and LucyMae to dance to.

The playgroup that I am a part of thoroughly enjoyed, and milked all we could out of, the nice weather this fall. We enjoyed many an outing to the park, as well as a tour of and visit to the local fish hatchery. Sadly there was a poor showing that day, but it made it more interactive and fun for the kids that were there. I have to admit, it was pretty cool. It's just too bad Sam wasn't there with his enthusiasm...he would have loved it.

We also enjoyed some lazy days around the house....not really lazy...we stay pretty busy around here. But who wouldn't want to snuggle up with these two if they're giving you the chance? Their snuggly moments are limited.

Samantha is always discovering something new these days. This has been one of her favorites for a while. I love it when she thinks she is funny.

And we LOVED our last camping trip of the season. The weather was perfect! I was prepared for the worst, but it didn't even get that cold at night. Our kids were roasty-toasty! We reserved a campsite in advance, right next to the lodge area where the Buffalo Arts Festival takes place every year to kick-off the buffalo round-up. We went to the festival last year and had such a great time, so we wanted some more of the action this year. They offer a FREE pancake breakfast on Sat. morning, so we figured it would be awesome to camp up there. And it was! We didn't even have to cook our own breakfast. This campsite was beautiful! And having the noise of the river right by really helped the kids to sleep I think:) Gotta love that! Sam had fun falling in the river...he was  trying to cross it (with LucyMae) and slipped. It wasn't deep, so not a big deal, other than that he only had one pair of shoes....but no fear, there was a laundromat at our luxury campground. He was good to go in a couple hours. Sadly we didn't really get any pictures of the festival....but we have the memories.

Spearfish Canyon is apparently famous for it's fall colors, so we took a little Sunday drive to check it out. It's actually about a 45 min. drive from our house to the canyon, but it was worth it. Check out those leaves! We had a fun little nature-walk at the top of the canyon, during which Samantha somehow peed all over me, even with a diaper on. It wasn't like she leaked out of her diaper b/c it was too full. I must have been holding her just right, so that he diaper was pulled to one side or something, b/c it was like a cup of water being poured on me. GROSS eh? Oh well....and then we thought we might as well take the scenic way home....yes, it was beautiful and worth it....until we discovered that LucyMae inherited Sam's weak stomach. I have never been car-sick in my life, or even motion-sick for that matter (unless you count the time I let Sam spin me as fast as he could on a tire swing when I was about 5 months pregnant with Samantha....that was not fun). Sam, however, can't even swing on the swings without getting sick. LucyMae kept saying her tummy hurt. But, we kind of thought she was just trying to get attention, b/c she'd recently learned that eating too much candy makes her tummy hurt, and had been saying it frequently since then. So, we weren't totally prepared for the amazing amount of throw-up that came out of that girl. As soon as she was done, she said "I feel better now"! We just stripped her down and took the pads off her car-seat and drove the rest of the way home. We have since mastered the art of removing and replacing the padding to her car-seat b/c of a few potty accidents as well.

And that pretty much sums up the picture/fun part of our month. Other than that it's the usual around here. I'm still teaching my students and all that jazz. Sam is still working like crazy to get his thesis experiments done. And we're just trying to love the life we're living! We really have thoroughly enjoyed this fall in the Black Hills. In start contrast with last year, we've actually HAD a fall. Last year seemed to go straight from summer to winter....literally. It got cold QUICK and never warmed up. But this year was spectacular! The Black Hills offer a wonderful fall season.