Summer road trip: the house in the woods

We rented a house in a tiny little spot on the map called Nemo. It was abut halfway between Deadwood and Custer.  It was pretty much in the middle of nowhere surrounded by the pine forest. The boys had a blast playing outside in search of treasures to bring home.  A treasure could be a rock, an interesting stick or anything else you encounter outside. Mathias was a bit disappointed there were no dinosaur bones to be found. Maybe for our next trip we'll bring a shovel. 

Summer road trip: Sylvan Lake

 When we made it up into the Black Hills one of our first stops was Sylvan Lake. The lake was ice cold so the boys got to swim by themselves.  They also enjoyed climbing on the numerous large rocks that are scattered all over as we hiked around the lake. Ericka and I spent most of our time saying things like "don't climb up on that", "don't go that way", "don't go there", "don't, don't don't".
But it still was fun even if the boys didn't get to do anything they wanted.

Summer road trip: Rapid City

After Wall Drug the next stop was the surprisingly kid friendly Rapid City. 

The boys had a wonderful time and spent several hours at Storybook Island (which isn't an island at all but a park). What makes it unique is its rather large selection of... well... things from storybooks and nursery rhymes. Not only can you spend a half a day browsing and climbing on the displays, but it is also free. 

The boys especially enjoyed the antique fire truck, which doesn't have a specific storybook connection that I'm aware of but sparked the imagination anyway.  They also had much fun in Winnie the Pooh's tree house.  If you're passing through you should stop and take a look. 

Later we also visited Dinosaur Park and the boys got to climb on a Triceratops and a Stegosaurus. The other ones weren't quite so climbing-friendly. 

There were no popularity awards handed out when it was time to climb back in the car. 

Summer road trip: Wall Drug

We are back from a 1,500 mile road trip to the Black Hills of South Dakota.

What's the key to maintaining happy backseat travelers on a long road trip? Well.. more stops and less driving. The boys don't really see the benefit of getting all the driving done and relaxing in the final destination. So we made many stops along the way.  One of the more memorable ones (or at least one where we pulled out the camera) was Wall Drug. Wall Drug is, to put it charitably, a really large well promoted, souvenir shop in the middle of nowhere. 

It's all western themed with horses, hats, stagecoaches (throw in a dinosaur for good measure) and whatnot.  Everyone was ready to get out of the car and sample the 100 degree unconditioned air. Nobody was left disappointed. 

A traveling throne...

Just in time for our upcoming road trip Johan got his seating assignment upgraded with a new car seat.  He's sticking with the tried and true Holstein pattern, just now in the big-boy model. It's the same size as big-brother's and even has cup holders!
He'll be traveling in style and comfort!

Independence Day

Independence Day 2012 was also the hottest day of the year (so far). After venturing out for our town's famously long parade we rushed home and spent most of the day enjoying air conditioning. It was seriously hot. 

In the evening the boys didn't stay awake for the fireworks. But we did burn off a few smoke bombs in the yard before bed time.