Crawdads and Creation

Apparently, crawdads abound in the Black Hills, so Scott and Jake went crawdad hunting one night, armed with rubber gloves and flashlights. They were successful and came back with about 50. (Maggie and I enjoyed a wonderful evening of the Monopoly card game in our cabin.)

The next morning, they boiled and boiled and boiled and then ate and ate and ate. (Maggie and I enjoyed real food like cereal and french toast.)

I think it was the highlight of Jake's trip.

We also did a bit of hiking; Maggie and I collected wildflowers along the way, enjoyed God's creation, and just sort of meandered.

Scott and Jake climbed Little Devil's Tower (Scott is thrilled to have a hiking partner who is just as enthusiastic as he is).

And they went to Hippie Hole (called it Noah's Pond, because that sounds better). It's a hole full of water, surrounded by rocks and a waterfall. Jake was very brave and jumped about 15 feet into the water below.

And this is the end. How's that for packing in as much as we could into four days?

Black Hills, Part 2

I didn't quite include all of our Black Hills escapades in the last post, so I thought I'd add a few more. We stayed at the Mount Rushmore KOA/Palmer Gulch Lodge. Most of my friends have given me very skeptical looks when I mention the KOA. A camper, I am not - I've done it, don't get me wrong, it's just not a vacation to me. To me, vacation is not cooking or making my bed. Anyway, since this trip was very last minute, there were not a lot of rental options available. We had to take what we could get, which worked out in our favor, since the only things available were the huge cabins. Ours slept 8. It was marvelous.

The campground was great; two huge pools, a splash park, waterslide, a huge bouncer and mini golf. They had hayrides, movie nights and a honkey-tonk group that sang every night - The Hill City Slickers. We never actually took part in that, but the swimming was great.

It also had a stable with 86 horses and a variety of trail rides to choose from, much to Scott's chagrin. Nevertheless, he was a good sport and the four of us saddled up (actually someone else did that for us) and headed off (behind our guide) into the vast unknown (a trail around the campground).

An hour and a half later, with very sore butts (for the adults) we were back in the corrall. We all slept great that night and had a very interesting breakfast the next morning; but that's a story for another day.

Heading for the Hills

After our 26-hour road trip to New Jersey in July, an 8-hour drive sounded like a walk in the park, so on Sunday, we packed up the good ol' minivan and headed for the hills. The Black Hills.

It took a little longer than 8 hours, actually, thanks to the wonderful sights South Dakota affords: The Corn Palace in Mitchell. A sight that can only be truly appreciated in person - it is totally made out of corn, corn husks, corn cobs, corn kernals...you get the idea.

Al's Oasis in Chamberlin (where you can climb on the buffalo).

And you can't drive by the Badlands, you have to drive through them and stop. Often. And answer questions that you don't know the answers to, like "Why are they called the Bad Lands? What's so bad about them?"

We skipped Wall Drug, since we've been there about a thousand times. (Not really, but it seems like it.) And once you've seen the hundreds and hundreds of Wall Drug signs along the interstate, you kind of lose your appetite for it. (If you've never been, do stop and get your free water, listen to the cowboy orchestra and wait for forever to hear the T-rex roar. It's an experience.)

Our trip was an absolute blast. For those of you who have never been to the Black Hills, (another question, by the way - "Why are they called the black hills? They're not even black...") it is definitely a trip worth taking. We spent time hiking, seeing the sights and just relaxing. As someone who minored in history in college, I am sad to report that my kids spent two hours at Reptile Gardens and fifteen minutes were plenty at Mount Rushmore.

Can you sense the boredom? Maybe someday they'll understand why big snakes are not as fascinating as four presidents' faces carved out of solid granite. Did you know that George Washington's mouth is sixteen feet long? See? Fascinating.

What If Butter Was Healthy...

That's the question my 6-year old asked as we were making her favorite meal - broccoli, chicken and rice casserole (or "hotdish" as us Minnesotans call it). Just think of it, vegetables made healthier by drenching them in butter. Bread - who cares about the carbs as long as you put a lot of butter on it.


My daughter's love of butter is not new. I found her on the kitchen counter as a two-year old eating off the butter dish with a fork. "Bunner is my favorite color," she proclaimed. It's still a favorite quote in our house.


Alas, butter is not healthy, but it sure is good. We made a few extra pans of broccoli, chicken and rice and popped them in the freezer, so stop by if you're hungry. We also have butter, if you want some.