More from South Dakota

I have to admit something:  I was less than awed by the Grand Canyon.

There.  I said it.  Whew.  Glad I got that off my chest.

I know... everybody was all, WOW!  Look at that massive, incredible hole in the ground!  It's A-MA-ZING!  But I kinda thought it was exactly as its name implied: a grand canyon.  I mean, really.  You kinda get what you pay for on that one. Although it is definitely a cool sight and worth seeing, it wasn't my favorite natural wonder of all time.

The badlands, on the other hand, really wow-ed me.

The vastness of the landscape against the sky.  The way the prairie transforms suddenly at the edge of a single precipice.  The dynamic hills and valleys and intricacies of the textures and colors blew me away.  This photo is cool, but nothing like being there in person.

South Dakota is truly beautiful.  From the deep, dense Black Forrest, which conveys a sense of magic and transports one to a place where the possible lurks behind every tree, to a terrain that is altogether opposite yet somehow just as magical and alive.

We loved it.

Plus...

Cool.

The kids so enjoyed all the animals!  And they roam completely free, unafraid to cross roads or walk right up to the car, so close we could have touched them (ahem: some of us may have succeeded tried).

It's my kind of place.

And my little nature lovers were in heaven, because the close-ups continued in Bear Country, USA.

A drive through nature preserve that allowed us to see some really cool sights from the safety of our car.

The kids will tell you that, besides Rushmore, their favorite part of the trip was the bear who climbed up on the driver's side of our car and hung out there for several minutes. Yep.  Although I didn't get any photos, because I was too busy feeling both awestruck and mildly nervous!

There are also more traditional "zoo" style exhibits, which the kids loved as well.

Especially these adorable little bear cubs!

Here are a few of my little animals as well:

We had such a wonderful time!  It is a trip I highly recommend, and one we're pleased to be able to check off our family's bucket list.

Postcards from Rushmore

Official announcement: We're moving to Nemo, South Dakota!

Well, okay, so maybe not.  But we did have an absolutely fantastic time on our family trip visiting South Dakota and all it has to offer.  

Yes, I am a nerd.  A history nerd, even, but Mt. Rushmore has been on my bucket list for years.  I had absolutely no idea that it is a quick 6 hour drive from the state in which I've spent my entire life.  How did I miss that all this time? 

Before our trip, we read a book and watched a documentary about the history of the monument, created by John Gutzon Borglum and his son Lincoln from 1927-41.  What an absolutely fascinating endeavor!  To think that about 400 men scaled this mountain and blasted and chiseled it into what we see today... amazing! 

The Gutzon Borglum studio, which houses a one-twelfth scale completed rendering of the monument, was amazing to see!

The monument itself was created using measurements taken from this sculpture with a degree stick and a weighted string, as pictured above (hanging off of Lincoln's head).  AMAZING what human ingenuity and determination can do!!!

Just to give you an idea of the scale, we present: Leah!  And this is the small version. 

The entire monument was never finished according to Gutzon Borglum's specifications for three main reasons: 1) they ran out of money, 2) WWII began, and 3) John Borglum died before the project was finished.  They "settled" for just the heads.

It was pretty incredible to see in person.

And something the entire family enjoyed. 

Or, at least, as much as a person can when they're two and have missed nap time.

(Don't worry, they made up later.)  

We all took time to thoroughly appreciate the scope of history that stood before us with solemn, serious reflection.

Honest.

Rushmore was probably the highlight of our trip to South Dakota, but it was also only the beginning.  There is so much to do and see; we stayed three nights, but it was nowhere near enough.  This is definitely a trip we'll make again.

Check one off the bucket list!

(I like to do that while wearing small babies.)

On the Honeymoon that wasn't, 8 years later

Despite the fact that we were married not once, 

  

but twice,

one of the things we never quite managed to fit in was a honeymoon. 

In 2008, I was student teaching and was asked to take over as the primary classroom teacher after another teacher left.  Unfortunately, that position began on Monday following the Friday we'd planned to elope.  So we put it off, anticipating that a honeymoon would naturally follow our "real" wedding the next year. 

Of course, a year later I was already 16 weeks pregnant with Leah and our priorities had shifted rather enormously.  

And so our honeymoon got back-burnered, and has continued to sit, out of sight-out of mind, for the past 7.5 years.  

Until, that is...

recently. 

Casey was already scheduled to be working in Orlando, and he had the brilliant idea that I should fly out and join him, and we could spend a few days together - without the kids - at Disney World.

What I didn't know was that he was already plotting to turn our special weekend into the honeymoon we had never taken.

We stayed at the Port Orleans Riverside, and I arrived to find that our room had been prepared with the most wonderful surprises!

The room was alight with candles, and Casey had decorated and worked to make it a beautiful and memorable celebration, the kind we might have had if our wedding rings were freshly in place.

It was the most magical surprise - and that takes into account that we were already in the most magical place on earth!

I so love that husband of mine.  For oh so many reasons, but to walk into a room that had been specially prepared, with such love and time and effort, was just a phenomenal gift that brought me to tears.

It was almost too much to leave, but we got changed, hopped a river taxi and headed to Disney Springs.

We enjoyed a wonderful meal at Morimoto Asia where we sat and talked, ate delicious food, and marveled at what a gift it was to get to spend time together, one on one.

We got up early the next morning and went for a run, and the grounds of the Riverside are just spectacular in the early morning light. 

It was so quiet on the grounds, and so breathtakingly beautiful.  There was a large part of me that wanted to stay there all day.

But, we had a very busy schedule to get to, so we wasted no time.

Our first stop was Animal Kingdom, which is the park that I've had my eye on visiting since before we were married.  It didn't disappoint!

We had a wonderful time wandering through the park at our own pace - which usually included running from site to site - and riding all the rides we knew would have terrified our children.

We sat in the back for a thrilling, bumpy safari where we enjoyed up close and personal views of some amazing animals. 

It was every bit as awesome as I had imagined!

We were able to score some fast passes, which we used to zip through Animal Kingdom and were able to see the park before lunch time, so from there we went on to Hollywood Studios. 

We had a ball walking around, but weren't willing to commit to the hour-plus line-standing it would have taken to ride the rides.  Instead, we took in the sights in the name of our children:

Darth in honor of Logan

Elsa for Leah and Livvy (plus, a much-needed opportunity to sit out of the sun and enjoy a snack!)

and Storm Troopers for Logan.

After that, we took a quick detour back to our room for a nap and to change, and then it was on to Epcot!

Epcot is so cool.  Not exactly heavy on the rides, although we did enjoy a few,

but the park itself is impressive to take in.

The best part of the visit was sitting down to dinner at 9:30 at night in the Disneyfied version of Morroco (at the Spice Road Table - YUM!!!!).  We had a delicious meal, and so enjoyed the fireworks show.

We began walking back to the front of the park, and had it almost entirely to ourselves.  It was so much fun to stroll leisurely through the park, hand in hand with my husband, taking our time and enjoying each other's company - way past our children's bed time!  It was midnight when we got back to our hotel, and we were exhausted in the best way after our busy day.

The next day, we were on to the main event: the Magic Kingdom!