It's Beginning To Feel Like Home

June 29, 2015

Our household goods have FINALLY arrived. We spent the weekend opening up boxes and discovering things we haven't seen since 2 moves ago.  I'm on my tenth load of laundry and that's just my clothes. Darren has his man cave nearly perfect and B just likes playing in the boxes and using curtain rods as weapons.  It's been three days, but there's definitely progress! At least there are more empty boxes than full. I am most proud of my kitchen and the fact that everything fits!

Master Bedroom

My closet

Kitchen/Entry way you can barely see

Living Room

Darren's Man Cave/Utility Room

Sylvan Lake

June 20, 2015

Who knew this hot spot existed in South Dakota? And only 20 miles from our doorstep in Custer State Park. We went on a whim and didn't bring hiking shoes or swimming gear, but enjoyed sitting, watching people (there was even a bride and her bridesmaids) and just took it all in. We did the short hike around the lake and then B wanted to dive into the water, so of course we let him.  We are definitely going to make the most of that SD National Park pass this summer. View my full slide show here: Sylvan Lake

We Spotted A New Park

June 18, 2015

Can't get to that park fast enough!

  B and I spotted a group of play areas one day last week while driving around town and I've been promising to take him to see them up close ever since. We just needed the perfect day and that day just happened to be today.  After a quick stop through Starbucks and McDonalds for a hamburger happy meal, we drove to the Rapid City Civic Center, parked the truck and high tailed it to the park.  But not before we stopped to take a couple pictures by a beautiful water display.

There was something for all age levels and of course Bradyn wanted to go to the most difficult set of playground equipment there was. I helped hoist him up the fake climbing rock so he could go down the slide and after about 20 minutes, he gasped, "I'm hot. Let's go home!" No problem, kiddo.

Mailbox Walk

June 17, 2015

Walking to the mailbox is hard work. It took us roughly 20 minutes. 15 of which was spent nudging Bradyn along as we walked back up the hill towards home. He wanted water so badly, but once we were back, he just wanted to go play. We are exactly .65 of a mile away- round trip- from the mailboxes and we're the closest to them! Gotta love those wide open spaces.

 I also spotted this lovely spiked flowering plant on the hill near our house and dug it up then transplanted it near the front of the house. I think it looks pretty good there and probably won't get much bigger. I just hope it survives. 

We had to walk down to check on the garden and also turned on the sprinkler. Turns out Bradyn does like water when no one is trying to convince him getting wet is fun. PS-He had to run in immediately afterwards to change his clothes because he strongly dislikes being in wet clothes.

Garden Update- Week 2

June 12, 2015

We have signs of growth!  The peas, sweet corn and zucchini squash have all sprouted. With all the rain we are having, we should have all plants up very soon. Our neighbor Kenny said the dead grass helps keep the critters and bugs out. To me it looks horrible, but whatever it takes I guess. He knows best. His garden is beautiful. The soil here is very rocky and clay like, so we'll see what happens.

Wine and Water

June 13, 2015

Last weekend we spent the day in Rapid City at the Main St. Square for an art and wine festival. Local artists displayed their artwork and visitors could walk around and sample wines from the wineries nearby.  It was a hot day and Bradyn wasn't having it, so luckily there was water.  It took some convincing, but he finally reached in and got wet.  Unfortunately all the water in the world wouldn't have mattered because he doesn't like to be wet with his clothes on. So Darren decided to walk him to the model train and gun shops. Win, win because I was perfectly happy sipping wine in the sun all by myself!

Big House on the Prairie

June 10, 2015

  When we began house hunting 6 months ago, we never imagined we would find a house  in South Dakota that had everything Darren and I BOTH wanted and in our price range. We worked with a great realtor, Mike Frybarger, and when he told us this property was ready to go on the market, we had him put in an offer. Thanks to the videos he sent and his expertise of the area, we were sold. It was a brave decision, but it was the right one. Plenty of space inside AND OUT and we absolutely LOVE it.




This is our new address:
24122 Dewey Lane
Hermosa, SD 57744 

Click to view larger-our house is the one on the right side of the road.

Mt. Rushmore in the Rio

June 8, 2015

Well, it didn't take Darren long to find a cheap car he can drive around and resell. All three of us are suckers for a Jeep we can take the top and doors off. So the first nice day after we bought it, we drove to Mt. Rushmore. Sunday Funday for the Pages! We had a blast and Bradyn thought "The Rocks" were pretty cool. 

Jeep Rio and my crazy hair!

What a view!

Flags of 50 states