Between Bennett and me on our way home from church today:
Bennett -- “Mom, when we get home from church can I watch “Prince Caspian.”
Me -- “Sure Bennett, that should be fine.”
Bennett -- “Mom, I think Heavenly Father really wants me to watch it in the basement.”
Sure, Bennett wants to break the Sabbath by watching a non-church movie. But I am grateful he is considering Heavenly Father’s desires while doing so.
Mt. Rushmore post coming tomorrow. I know you’re on the edge of your seat.
Sam planned a jam-packed road trip for our family over 4th of July weekend. Sam read that one of the top 10 places to watch fireworks for the 4th is Mt. Rushmore. People around here say that Denver is only 6 hours away from Mt. Rushmore. So, we invited my parents and Sam’s brother Derek and his family to join us, and decided this was the year to spend our 4th in South Dakota.
Although Mt Rushmore is 6 hours away, the drive took 12 hours, and it was only the beginning. According to Sam, if you go to Mt. Rushmore, you might as well see more of South Dakota. And if you go to South Dakota, you might as well visit North Dakota while you are that close. And if possible, you can’t drive the same roads to and from Mt. Rushmore. So we put over 2000 miles on our car in 5 days; with four kids 6 and under. Few thought we could do it, or just me. But we did, and even enjoyed our weekend. Here’s a taste of what we saw.
We drove to Mt. Rushmore the long way, through Nebraska. Bennett has always wanted to go to Nebraska. He once called Nebraska the parking lot for the Denver Airport. Locals might agree. So we had to take his picture as we entered the state.
Nebraska is beautiful, open. Life seemed simple there, in a very good way.
Our first official stop was Scotts Bluff National Monument. It is a natural landmark that was significant to many pioneers, including those on the Oregon Trail and the Mormon Pioneers. We stopped at the visitor center, then drove to the top of the bluff and hiked around, getting some impressive views.
views of the bluff
views from the bluff
These two particularly like these kind of stops.
After a quick lunch, we were off to our next destination, Chimney Rock, another significant natural feature for the pioneers.
our first glimpse of it
Then we were on our way to the Black Hills of South Dakota. We stopped at the Wind Cave National Park Visitor Center, but didn’t take the time (or spend the money) to go into the cave.
The roads through the park are filled with wildlife, including a lot of bison. Bennett informed us that buffalo are his favorite animal. Because we saw so many bison, Bennett proclaimed that day the best day of his life. Our trip was off to a great first day.
We passed this one on the road, and then drove up ahead and took some pictures when we felt we were a safe distance from it.
Around the corner we were able to drive right next to a herd of bison. They are a pretty mangy animal, but it was neat to be so close to so many.
We left Wind Cave National Park, drove through Custer State Park, and ended up in Rapid City where we spent that night.
July 3rd was spent at Mt. Rushmore. Our time at Mt. Rushmore deserves a post all on its own, which will follow shortly.
July 4th was spent seeing more of the Black Hills. We said goodbye to my parents in the morning, and went our separate ways. We drove through more of Custer Stake Park along the famous Needles Highway. The needles rock formations were amazing.
We then left the Black Hills region and headed further into South Dakota.
We stopped for lunch in Wall, South Dakota at the Wall Drug, a drugstore famous because it gave out free water to travelers during the Great Depression. 80 years later and free water (and cheap ice cream) is again reason to stop.
Then we drove on to Badlands National Park. We listened to Bruce Springsteen’s Badlands on the way, and throughout the park. Wow, what a beautiful and desolate park.
Sam and the older kids and Derek and his family went on a hike while I waited in the car with Campbell.
Apparently the hike involved a scary, steep ladder. Glad I didn’t know this was going on while I was waiting in the car.
We then left Badlands, and drove on to Pierre so we could get our South Dakota state capitol picture. Since Sam and I have been married, we have been taking pictures at as many state capitols as possible. I’ve been scrapbooking them in a little book for Sam, and we’ve got 23 so far. On this trip we got #24 and #25.
From Pierre we drove North to . . . North Dakota. We stopped at the disputed burial site of Sitting Bull and a disputed burial site of Sacagawea, but we’ve been to the other Sacagawea burial site in the Wind Rivers in Wyoming so either way . . . . It was a great setting overlooking the Missouri River. Here we did a few sparklers to celebrate the 4th of July, and Laura’s birthday. It was very sweet of Laura to spend her birthday with us driving around the Dakotas.
Reagan only burnt her hand once.
Then we continued on to Bismarck, North Dakota, where we spent that night. The drive that evening was fun, and we drove past lots of little communities and farm houses letting off fireworks. Even as we drove into Mandan, North Dakota around midnight, there were still a lot of fireworks going off. It was a patriotic experience to see small, small communities in forgotten cities in North Dakota celebrate the 4th.
We woke up on the 5th and headed over to the North Dakota state capitol building to get a picture.
Then we drove across the Missouri River to some Lewis and Clark sites.
The primary reason we went into North Dakota was to visit the original site of Fort Mandan where Lewis and Clark stopped for the Winter on their westward trek and solicited the help of Toussaint Charbonneau, the French fur trapper who was married to Sacagawea (Sam insists her name has been anglicized into Sacajawea, an argument that only he would participate in). Sam loves the Lewis and Clark story. We almost attended Lewis and Clark Law School because, well, it’s named Lewis and Clark. Our honeymoon, as Sam describes it, was a self-guided tour of Lewis and Clark sites in Montana.
Camp Fortunate
Sam straddling the headwaters of the Missouri
Fort Clatsop – Elle’s first road trip to Astoria, Oregon
Imagine Sam’s disappointment then when he discovered that not only is the Great River Energy Stanton Power Plant built on the original Fort Mandan site, but that he played a significant role in negotiating a contract to retrofit that very power plant. He couldn’t bring himself to take a picture of the site.
Still, nearby is the Knife River Indian Villages National Historic site located near Stanton at the confluence of the Knife and Missouri Rivers. The village and setting was a pleasant site with a neat replica of an Indian home.
Then it was back in the car to drive to the western end of North Dakota. You’d think after all of this time in the car, spirits would be low. You would be wrong. Reagan used her thumb to pacify herself, and the kids loved taking turns riding in each other’s cars.
One of the highlights of the trip was definitely our time in the little town of Medora outside of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We ate lunch, and then the kids went up to watch a bit of the rodeo that was taking place that afternoon.
We also happened to be in town for their Independence Day Parade. We were able to get front row seats right by the announcers, and the parade consisted of 8-10 entries. Since we were some of a just a handful of people attending the parade, our kids cleaned up in the candy department.
Even Campbell appreciated the charm of a small-town parade.
We left Medora and headed into Teddy Roosevelt National Park. Our quick stop at the visitor center turned into a longer stop because we were unexpectedly hit with quite the Dakota thunder storm. Sam took a picture of Campbell in front of Roosevelt’s original homestead right before the storm hit.
Once the storm passed, we drove around the park for a bit. It is smaller, and just some pretty landscape, with a lot of prairie dogs.
Then we got back in our cars, and drove south into South Dakota again. We spent that night in a little town called Belle Fourche, the center of the United States in an awkward sense, and the kids were able to swim that night, which they loved.
We woke up early the next morning and drove an hour or so into Wyoming to visit Devil’s Tower.
My eyes are closed, but we had to prove that Campbell was there too.
We said goodbye to the Millers there, and headed home through Wyoming. We saw a lot of beautiful things on our trip, and I didn’t even talk about Mt. Rushmore. That interesting story to come.
I officially have half of my children in school now. It was a year ago that we were entering the wonderful world of public education with Ellery. Now we are doing it with Bennett.
Yesterday Bennett had his meet n’ greet with Ms. Debbie and a couple of his classmates. He was thrilled that he and Addi were assigned the same time.
He is a sweet boy – I don’t think he could have been more excited and happy about the whole thing.
Then this morning the whole family went up to the school to see Bennett off for his first real day of school.
A couple of pictures before we left, including Bennett with his “Buddy” he made last night, successfully completing his first homework assignment. It was Bennett’s idea to use macaroni for the hair, and he did the eyes and mouth all by himself. Elle made the flip flops, and I put together that snazzy outfit. Bennett told me this morning that he wished his Buddy had Devil’s Tower on his shirt. Sorry Bennett.
Dropping Elle off at her spot.
Waiting in the Kindergarten line.
Happily going in – no tears were shed by Bennett or me.
And he’s gone, without even looking back. I can’t wait to pick him up and hear all about his first day.
In other momentous school news, Ellery was the first person in her line two days in a row. Here is proof:
Yesterday Today
This is big news, for it will surely rarely be the case this year. I was happy I happened to have my camera both days so I could document it!
We have already come to the end of our three-week Summer break. We tried to spend as much time as possible outside, doing things like:
Hopscotch
The Slip N’ Slide
And eating lots of popsicles.
We also just got back from a fun trip, which I will post about in the next day or two. But Summer vacation is officially over. Today was Ellery’s first day of 1st Grade. I can’t believe she will be gone all day. She was definitely both nervous and excited this morning.
Pictures on the porch before we left in her new outfit, new haircut, and new backpack.
Lining Up!
With all of her school supplies, ready to go in.
The babies were good during drop-off, although it is a bit of a hassle to park and load them in the stroller for drop-off and pick-up. Should be interesting.
And this little boy has a meet n’ greet with his teacher tomorrow, and then has his first day on Thursday. Exciting times for the Miller Family.
Last night for FHE, we tried to decide on a family symbol. Elle acted as scribe. Here is her worksheet from the evening:
I will explain. We decided we would each contribute an idea, and then have a family vote. Before we started, I suggested that our symbol needed to be something that was easy to draw, which is what led to each of us drawing our symbol next to our idea. Elle went first – Pinecone. Then me – Pine Tree. Then Sam – Atlas. The kids thought his picture was a hot air balloon, but it is in fact a man holding the world on his shoulders. Then Bennett went. He drew a house. Because he is a home body. Then he added some more details. That is Santa and his sleigh and reindeer, since he loves Christmas. Then Ellery decided to contribute for Reagan, and drew the bottle of bubbles. Then it was time to vote. I asked Elle how many times we could vote, and she said as many as we wanted. Then she went down the list. Pinecone received three votes – Elle, Sam, me. Atlas received three votes – Sam, Elle, and me (I voted for it because I knew how proud Sam was of his picture). House received three votes – Bennett, Sam, and me. Bennett only voted once all evening, and it was for his own. Pine Tree received three votes – Me, Elle, and then Sam very reluctantly raised his hand. Not sure what the motivation was, but I was grateful to receive his vote since every other symbol so far had three people supporting it. Then it was Bubbles. Elle raised her hand, Sam raised his hand, Reagan raised her hand, and so did I. Four votes. Elle did the math, and announced that the winner, and our new family symbol, was Bubbles. I never expected our family symbol to be bubbles, but should have seen it coming when we decided we could vote as many times as we wanted.
We may need to have a re-vote next Monday night.
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