class party

We were so grateful that Keaton's first grade teacher invited us to join the class as a surprise at his end of the year party. It was such a fun reunion! The school has a family that lives close by host the party so it really feels like tons of fun for the kids. We had a perfect day for a backyard carnival!

dc bonks

Bonks reminiscing and visiting old childhood spots with Augie for the first time. The Smithsonian. carousel, and sculpture gardens on a beautiful sunny day.

art bonks

Enjoying the National Gallery of Art! The boys get along so well and we wish they lived close by...

college buddies

We rolled into town and got a chance to meet up with old college friends at the Air and Space Museum. Even Bonk and Augie were in town from California to join us!

road tidbits 2

Another batch of random photos from the thousands I've finally finished sorting through from our trip!

That cupcake shop called Crazy about Cupcakes was the best I've ever had right across from the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD.

Idaho Falls boasts a huge number of statues spread out all over their nice downtown area.

We found the weiner mobile!

The Heavy Metal Shop popped up on our lunch search in Salt Lake City, UT.

The view from our hotel in Idaho Falls included the Mormon temple and this really pretty river walk area.

Ogden, UT was really hopping even without the rodeo in town...

We found at least two of these delicious Orange Leaf yogurt shops along the way... I think one in Idaho and the next in Wisconsin.

on the road tidbits

We really had good luck with all our hotels and places we stopped along the way ... Hampton Inns are especially nice these days. I just love their motto: Making you happy makes us happy.

Here are a few random tidbits from the plethora of hotel pools - They get really fancy with water slides and splash pads from SD over to WI! Some kitsch in small town Utah at the Knit n' Craft and carriages at breakfast in the lobby.  Plenty of hot cocoa to get the day going for these lucky dogs ;)

Bottom right is from our jaunt through the University of Wisconsin-Madison's huuuuge campus!

games

All the cousin buddies have wide eyes at this fun gaming place!

cousin buddies

These silly goofs love playing in the water and wrestling around any chance they get. Cousin buddies know how to have fun! My sister and I shocked all the crazies with our suction masks! Check out those bed head glares from those tired guys - hey kids, ready to go work on  another junior ranger badge! But they got another one at Cuyahoga Valley. Breakfast at a place that lets you draw on the walls was a memory for these guys.

science and tape

Such a cool exhibit all about tape and stickiness in nature! The slides and tunnels created out of clear packing tape were awesome. The boys were pumped to make duct tape arm bands and other accessories. Stay Curious CLE!

science center

The Cleveland Science Center is always a hit with these guys! It's fun with Austin completely in the mix now 

indiana dunes

Before we rolled into Ohio, our last official stop on our road trip, we stayed close to the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. The boys earned their junior ranger badges by exploring the old working farm property. The beach there really does make it seem like you're on America's North Coast ;)

taliesin

A highlight stop for me was Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin. J and I enjoyed a visit to Taliesin West the day we got engaged back in Arizona over 15 years ago. It was fun to see the original property along with the school and theater that are still in commission. There were student there working in the drafting studio. They still hold dinners and concerts in the main theater hall.

the dells

Wizard Quest and Ripley's Believe It or Not are just two parts of the kitsch in the Wisconsin Dells. That area has over 20 water parks and countless attractions open for the tourist season. The boys really enjoyed the challenge of finding clues and the wizards. I was amazed at all the tunnels, hidden doors, and slides. Ripley's is what you'd expect, although maybe a bit more gross at parts with two headed cows and strange artifacts.

green giant

A few miles from the actual Green Giant plants and farms in Blue Earth, Minnesota is this truly huge Jolly Green Giant statue! Quite a site to see along with the tiny guy at the gas station ;)

corn palace

This spot in Mitchell, SD has been around for longer than you'd expect! The installation of different murals made from different corn material is now on a large stadium type building. The Corn Cam shows off the view of the front balcony if you want to wave to your family and friends in real time ;) We had fun acting corny there ;)

happy grand dads!

Happy Father’s Day to our dads and granddads! Happy we had a chance to share so many smiles this year! Love you!

badlands

The Badlands were on the top of some lists of favorite National Parks I saw before we made our way there. It's pretty amazing how they seemingly pop out of the flat land around them. There is a definite impact when you are able to walk around in the fields of rock. It feels like you are in a different world. The mountain goats really are able to do some amazing climbing to perch on the rocks. The painted rock area was just beautiful especially as the sun peaked out. We were grateful for the mild cloudy weather when we took the hike out of those rocks though. The boys earned their 25th junior ranger badge that day, and the ranger said that is more than he has ;)

prairie dogs

The Ranch Store had it's very own prairie dog community where you were allowed to feed them unsalted peanuts.  These boys were so excited! The little guys almost talk when you're interacting with them (and have quite a specific set of noises according to researchers). It was adorable to see them break open a peanut up close.

wall drug

Wall Drug is essentially a marketing dream created by a couple that sold people heading to Mt Rushmore on a stop over by offering them free ice water in 1932! They still offer it today along with a full menu of good looking food, including really excellent chocolate iced cake donuts. It is a whole complex of things to see and buy. There are plenty of things to see in the big backyard area full of jackalopes and singing gorillas. The 15 foot high dinosaur that "eats" every 15 minutes is memorable.

mount rushmore

Mount Rushmore was made even better by Thomas Jefferson's vanilla ice cream - which is touted as the very first ice cream recipe written in the US ;) The monument and area around the actual carvings is really elaborate. The descriptions of how it was built are pretty amazing.