Where the buffalo roam (and the lions?)

Joe, Danny, and I packed up the van and hit the road for ND with my folks, my sister Ginny and her 2 kids (Samantha and Alex). There is nothing quite like driving for 2 1/2 days with 2 little kids in each car! You should try it sometime! As our cousin Tricia said, "It helps to have low expectations." *grin

Actually, the kids did great (and the adults did too.) We stayed in some great hotels and went swimming every night! (I planned out our stays before we left and hotels with pools were a must!) Our hotel in Dickinson, ND was fabulous! It had waterslides: one for adults and one for the kids, a big pool and a wading pool. Joe hated to leave it! He even went down the big waterslide by himself.

Here's a few highlights of our trip:

Grandma was a definite favorite with Danny and Alex. Here they are playing peek a boo at the hotel. You should have heard the giggles!

Swimming! Here's Keelin and Samantha at the pool.

the waterslide!

Spending time with cousins: we had a great dinner out at the farm where Tricia, Keelin, and Eli are living. A big bonus was Anthony, (Tricia's husband) was on leave from Iraq and we got to spend some time with him! Our Cousin Andreana also came out with her folks. They stayed at the same hotel as us. She graduates next year!

Waiting for a table at Applebees. Keelin loved Danny and Danny of course just loved her. She wanted to hold him all of the time. It was totally cute. Holding both of them is Anthony.


Katharine's graduation party (of course!...this was why we were there!)

*note that I have no pictures of either the farm or the graduation party because we only used my mom's camera and guess who hasn't sent me any pictures? The party was very relaxing and enjoyable and the food was delish! We really had a good time. Joe loved chasing after their cat which turned into a joke between him and Grandpa W. I guess Joe repeatedly would go around asking "where's the cat." In fact, he is still asking "Where's the cat?" and then when you repeat the question he will say "Uncle John's house" and then laugh uproariously. Grandpa W. asks him ALL the time "where's the cat." Grandpa W's and Joe's humor is definitely something else.
Anyway.... Congratulations Katharine!

Visiting the cowboy museum in Medora and Joe riding on a horse with a cowboy!


Here is Danny with his daddy right before the Cowboy museum movie starts. What a happy little boy!

Here's us looking out over the badlands!



Seeing all the animals as we drove around Medora area. We saw: buffalo, buffalo calves, A big ol snake, a herd of wild horses, a wild colt, prairie dogs etc.
I can't believe how many buffalo we saw. We had to wait for them to cross the street etc. They just lumber along. It's neat to watch them. The little calves are cute.
So of course the pic I upload doesn't have the colt in it. Oh well...just know he was cute. It was awesome to watch the stallion prance around. He definitely kept everyone in line. It was neat to watch them finally gallop off with him nipping at them and then taking the lead.

There were tons of signs saying, "do not approach the buffalo" etc. I commented that people were stupid cause thinking about approaching a buffalo was as dumb as trying to pet a lion and Joe perked up and started looking everywhere for lions! It was hilarious.

We also visited my dad's Aunt Hilda and also His Uncle Linus and Aunt Mary. Aunt Mary fixed us Krautnip for dinner! YUM!!!!!

Troy and I and the boys also spent some time with the workers in that area: Martin and Thane. We had met them in Colorado at Christmas time. Martin cooks a mean breakfast. It was fun to see them again.

All in all we had a FANTASTIC Trip! (minus getting sick on the way back...lucky for you I'm not including any of those pictures! *grin