We're Baaaack

The Dakota O's are once again Southwestern O's. We gave the Midwest a good shot - and even though it was our desire to remain there, it was apparently not in the stars for us. So after our fabulous mini-reunion, Micah took off....and 10 days later (after I packed like a tornado was coming - eh, that means FAST) the boys and I followed (including Milo). 2 days, 1300 miles and 5 states later - we were back. An interesting fact for all of you - the boys and I arrived the exact same date that Micah and I had 9 years ago...weird, huh?

A week and a half later we are pretty much settled into our new (albeit) temporary home. Micah has been working for a few weeks and (gasp!) I will be returning to work next month. My hiatus is over :( Although I am going to miss my time with the boys TERRIBLY (that's the understatement of the year) a mom's gotta do what a mom's gotta do....and it really is in the best interest of our family. Luckily we were able to work out our schedules so the boys will only be without us two days a week - they will be in 'school' those days which will be super exciting for them and they will have all kinds of little friends. Let's be honest, I am going to be the one who has the most difficulty adjusting!

Anyhow, that's a quick update from here...I'll try to post pics soon.

Yes, it's been awhile

As most of you know there has been a lot going on in our house....so I have not stopped blogging - I have just been taking a little break. I'll be back soon though, I promise.

Oh, and we had our mini-reunion over the 4th of July and it was AWESOME! We had an action packed weekend and enjoyed every minute with eachother! Thanks to all those who traveled - love to you all:)

One Cool Cat

This is currently one of my favorite pics - just thought I'd share it.

Iron Mountain

We had big plans to go camping last weekend - but thanks to the weather that never came to fruition. So instead we headed to the hills and had ourselves a cookout. We ended up at Iron Mountain - which is a little area outside of Keystone (where Mt. Rushmore is located). We had an awesome time!

Spence after 'rock climbing'

That is one messy face!

Spencer's Green Thumb

Spencer is growing sunflowers as we speak...or rather, as I write. Adorable, right? We found the perfect little greenhouse kit for him and so far so good! Here are some of our initial photos - I'll have to post more as they continue to grow.

Day 4

Day 10

busy busy busy

Within the last week I attempted to post many times but we've been super busy! As those of you familiar with our area know, tourist hot spots are bountiful and every summer we like to visit as many as possible. As mentioned in the previous post, it's really fun to experience these places with the boys and see them experience it for the first time.

Last week we visited Mt. Rushmore.

We make it a point to go every year. We had some mountain goats walking right next to us - and an annoying little chimpmunk that tried to run into my bag. We weren't very successful getting a good family photo since Mason didn't want to cooperate.

A few days later the boys and I headed to the infamous Reptile Gardens with my bestie Beth and her two little boys (Eli and Fin). It was great. The best part is that once you visit one time you get a FREE season pass - which comes in handy with boys who want to go there everytime we drive by. Mason had some 'challenges' when it came time to leave one exhibit to go to the next, but what's new. At one point he was having a mini-meltdown because he didn't want to leave the sandbox. This is when I had to say "Mason, you have a sandbox at home, but do you have little old man tortoises at home? I didn't think so." Then we get to the tortoises and he didn't want to leave them. Oh the two's, they are a comin'.

The following day we went to visit the Air and Space Museum. Anyone been there before? It was pretty cool. The planes are ginormous - well that kinda goes without saying. But see lil Spence in this first pic? Crazy!

To wrap up the weekend we went to good ol' Custer State Park.

Me & Spence

Mase with his 'walking sticks'

Micah & Spence

Random and awesome!

We saw every animal on our list except the mountain lion that Spence was looking for - although we were prepared in the event we encountered one and Spence can act it out for you if need be. We did see buffalo, prairie dogs, big horn sheep, horses, antelope, and donkeys (which the boys gave peanuts to - I know, random. One word: Micah).

Whew! We had some action packed days and enjoyed every minute.