Solo Road Trip to South Dakota

Recently the boys and I traveled on our own back to see my family in South Dakota. I had a very good friend who was going to be in town so I needed to get back and see her.

All was well on the ride there if you don't include the one stop we made in which Sutton decided to stick his hand in Macalan's stream of pee. I had no choice but to bring us all in the same stall and I could just see this happening even before it happened. Oh well! Nothing a little soap and water couldn't cure.

When we finally made it there we were all ready to get out of the car, but all in all the boys were troopers and didn't give me too much trouble on the way.

I had a great time catching up with my friend. It's so great to have friends that you can go four years without seeing and pick up right where you left off. :)

We also had lots of fun out at my brother's place. He has several horses and, much to my dad's delight, Macalan has developed a new found love for them. My dad surprised him with his own rope and my brother's wife gave him an old cowboy hat. He was all set to be a cowboy! He had a blast "trying" to rope the fake cow. He and Sutton went on a few 4-wheeler rides. Sutton perfected his horse noises. He now makes the cutest noises when you ask what a horse says.

I was able to "attempt" to ride one of the horses. It has been way too long since I was on a horse and this horse knew it! She refused to listen to me and enjoyed ramming my leg into one of the gates several times. After a few choice words she started listening a little better.

We had an excellent car ride home and we were happy to see daddy again. It was only a couple of days after this trip that we packed up to head to Texas. More on that later. :)

Iowa/Illinois Vacation

This is a little late considering we traveled to Iowa and Illinois for a little family fun at the end of July, but oh well! We started off the 9 days or so that we were gone with a trip to Des Moines. The first night consisted of going out to eat and then to Prairie Meadows (a horse racing track). The boys loved watching the horses race. Sutton really enjoyed running around saying "hi" to everyone. Macalan loved it when his cousin Allison pretended to be the gate and he was the horse who would come charging out of it!

The next day we headed to Adventureland. It was a great morning to be at the water park. This proved to be another example of how Sutton is the gas and Macalan is the break. Sutton was happy to stick his head in everything that would spray him and he really wanted to swim by himself. He refused to be in a floaty and got very upset when he was held in the water. Macalan on the other hand wanted nothing to do with anything that would spray him and was content to sit in the floaty and get pushed around the lazy river.

Later in the day (after the boys had 3 hour naps) we headed back to check out the rides. Now here is where Macalan shocked us. He was asking to go on rides that I would have never dreamed he would want to go on, including the log flume. One ride that we went on he put his hands up like it was a roller coaster and afterwards said, "That wore me out!"

The next day my dad and niece joined us and we headed to Illinois where Kyle's family has campers at a campground. The boys had so much fun with their grandpa, grandma, cousins, aunts, and uncles. Kyle and I took advantage of the extra help and went to the Mississippi Valley Fair in Davenport several nights in a row where we saw some great performances.

One of the days we traveled to Bourbonais, Illinois to see the Bears at training camp. It was a very annoying/long car ride with lots of construction, but eventually we got there. Despite the extreme heat and two little boys that hadn't napped and were too young for the play area, we made the best of it and got some good autographs and pictures. Sutton got to meet Staley Bear and get a picture with him. Macalan reverted to his introvert ways and said he was "too scary." I've never been totally die-hard when it comes to football, but it was pretty neat to see those guys in action and I know it meant a lot to Kyle. He kept stealing the camera away from me for fear that I wouldn't get the right shots. :)

I'm so grateful we had that time to make so many terrific memories with our boys!