Family Time

 

I don't know if I say this enough--but the hardest part of living where we do is being so far away from family. We were lucky enough that Westin's cousins and Aunts were able to come visit us while we were at Noni's. It was so good to see everybody! Westin LOVES playing with Madison and Jade, his two cousins. They are so sweet and always bring him some new toy-that used to be one of their favorites. One day these two lovely ladies might come visit us in South Dakota-wouldn't that be fun!

Blowing bubbles-Westin learns from his cousins why this magical!

Westin goes to the Birmingham Zoo!

 So on the first day at Noni's, we knew that we had to get our little Monkey out and moving-so we decided to go to the zoo. When we bought our Year Pass to the Great Plains Zoo in Sioux Falls, we knew we could get into the Birmingham Zoo for free. In my opinion, this was good, because there wasn't much to see at the Birmingham Zoo-at least when I was little. My how times have changed!! They have done an absolutely amazing job with the renovations.
We found some of our zoo favorites:

And we found new favorites:

Bongo drums in the safari section

Play that funky music white boy

Exiting the 'mine' in the kangeroo interactive section.

Incidentally, these yellow hats were far more entertaining than the mini-kangaroos in the pin just across the way.

We took Westin into the parakeet habitat, thinking he would be over the moon. He LOVES birds! But in this instance, he kept giving us the 'my parents are crazy' look. Poor little one, he really has NO idea!

Holiday Road

 Hi everyone! I know it has been a while. At the end of July, we embarked on an epic road trip.....

Mostly accurate Route. OK, so the jaunt into Kansas wasn't that extreme, but the detour to cross I-29 into Missouri took much much longer than anticipated. There are entire stretches of interstate that are completely under water-and our family truckster is not a Duck.

We didn't get back until the second week of August. It was a great time, and a success-despite the massive detours caused by the closure of parts of I-29 due to Missouri River flooding. I mean, whenever you spend 2.5 wks on the road and you don't have to tie a dead relative to the roof of a car-that's success, people (see National Lampoon's Family Vacation). Over the next 9 blog posts**, we will recount our journey. To put it all in perspective, we were happy to be leaving Vermillion for a bit. We had been in a serious funk since the 4th of July-the heat, humidity and heat-seeking bugs were just bumming us out. We needed a break. 

Going through my pictures, I realized that I didn't take nearly enough of Westin with family--which was the point of the trip!! West is an amazing traveler, granted we Dalen did download some Curious George and Seasame Street to the ole iPad-very helpful, although Dalen kinda wished that we didn't use it. I am thankful for the advances in modern technology. Dalen drove most of the trip, because I am no longer used to driving and kind of totally freak out when I drive next to giant trucks! Not helpful.

To get ready for the trip, Westin got a haircut...by a professional this time..

Before...

Stylin'!! Ginny is great and is so good with Westin!

First stop: Springfield, MO en route to Noni's house in Birmingham, AL.

Despite 2 extra hours to get across the Missouri River, Dalen is still all smiles. Afterall, we are on VACATION!! :)

**For those of you wondering where these 9 blog posts are--I'm writing them right now and they will be published bit by bit over the next couple of days. Seriously, I'm not leaving my computer until they are done. Promise! Also, to help y'all keep track of where we are, I added the location feature, so you can find us on the map! :)

Westin's New Hobby

 In case you were wondering if Westin would pick up golf, the answer is YES!

 

We picked these up at Wal-Mart, and he held on to them for the rest of the shopping trip. I did, initially, question the wisdom of breaking these open indoors, but quickly got over it (see previous post).

 

I will keep you posted when this changes as Westin figures out that he can whack more than just balls with his clubs...

Of course right now, he is truly interested in taking the clubs in and out of his bag. Simple things. Simple times. Happy. Happy.

Golf of July!

 

We spent our 4th on the  The Bluffs Golf Course, Vermillion's public golf course-which is actually quite lovely. With flyfishing on the back burner, Dalen has a new hobby: golf. He loves it! And I have to say, it was a pretty cool way to spend the afternoon, and to understand firsthand why Dalen enjoys himself so much.

 

Westin had a blast watching Dada hit balls and running around on the green, and trying to drive the cart......and shortly after this picture was taken: the gnat-apocalypse happened.

 

I got bitten twice; my left ear and eye started to swell almost immediately. We quickly got me some benedryl (which I took liberally) and managed to avoid the ER (unlike last time). The rest of the evening was, well, dampened. I thought I could hang-but the bites took me out. I felt sick. Dalen made this beautiful meal-Firecracker rolls served on hoagie rolls (a decidedly American spin on a sushi classic)-and I ate it, but couldn't ooh and ahh like I normally would have. We skipped out on fireworks (I know, ridiculous!). I had to take a day off of work to recover (I know, ridiculous!). And, frankly, have been in a funk ever since. I am getting a hat with bug netting, and am coming to terms with the fact that I can't venture outside without bug spray (at a minimum). We are not adjusting to the heat and humidity that is a South Dakotan summer. Yes, Dalen and I remember that we grew up in the South-oh and I lived in Charleston for 7 and a half years...so what happened to us? We lived in Montana. That's right. Unless you can live in Montana for the rest of your life-don't move there. Everywhere you live afterward will never be good enough. Vermillion is not a  horrible place--but it will never be Hamilton. But don't worry, we will persevere and find happiness and things to do outside! After all, that's the Midwestern-way. Besides, how can you really hate a place where you can get 9-holes of golf and a cart for $26??

Favorite Things

One of mine and Dalen's favorite things at the end of a long day is to hang out in our lovely living room and just watch and listen to Westin. Westin "reads" himself books, sings beautiful songs and runs around like a crazy little man. He doesn't really walk from place to place anymore; he travels in a run.

 

On this night, Westin grabbed Dada's hat (which he says '(h)at', with a half-silent 'h'; he also says hot, like '(h)ot') and starts running around with it.

 

We can't figure it out, but the boy loves to put things over his head and walk around.

 

Yes, he bumps into things (not all as soft as the chair)-yet he still does it.

 

I guess it's just his unique way of exploring.

Westin goes to the Zoo!

This has been a lovely weekend! Friday, Westin had to go to the doctor for a check-up. He is healthy, but thoroughly traumatized. For those interested: he weighs 24 lbs and is 34 1/4" long. Long and lean! I got to spend the afternoon with him, while Dalen took some time to golf. I had worked many late nights this week-so this afternoon was as much for me as it was for Westin (and Dada). Westin and I went to hear a Native American story teller play the drum and tell stories at the Music Museum (sorry no pictures). And yesterday, we went to the Great Plains Zoo! We got a 'family pass' so that we can go back whenever we want. It was a lovely day. The zoo was packed! Westin got meet a lot of new friends.....

Westin looking at.....

......the Peacock!

Westin saw this giraffe, pointed and said "Dogga", which is what he calls CopperDog.

 

Westin was having so much fun that he refused to sit still to eat lunch, even a hot dog! His favorite part was the carousel. He rode it twice with Dada. And acted like the saddest little boy of all time when we left it.

 

 

 

Westin almost caused an international incident with the Canadian Geese, but we are working on our diplomacy tactics. I mean what bird would not be thrilled to meet an energetic toddler (with pup-pup, of course) charging towards it??

 

We even picked up a new friend in the gift store.

 

Westin saw it and was hissing like a snake for the first part of the ride home.