Itasca State Park

We had to drop off Megan and Jason at Northern Pines Camp for their week at bible camp.  So on the way there, we stopped at Itasca State Park to fish, have a picnic lunch, and walk in the headwaters of the Mississippi River.

Happy Birthday!

We had Megan and Jason's birthday party on Friday, July 22.  They each had a friend come over to stay the night and go with them to the water park.  Jason wanted a blueberry kuchen all to himself, so Jesse made that for him.  Megan wanted a decorated cake that she wanted me to surprise her with.  So I made her a purple dragon since she loves dragons and the color purple. 

Pennington County Fair

Kora, Jason, and Megan all spent Friday afternoon going on the rides at our local fair.  Megan and Kora loved the carousel.  Jason's favorite ride was Air Max. 

Independence Day holiday and weekend

Jason and Jesse went fishing with Grandpa Jim on Devil's Lake and caught some nice walleyes.  Megan and Kora also went with Jesse and Jim earlier in the day and also caught walleyes.  This was Kora's first time fishing in the boat.  She enjoyed it.  Jesse said she was touching the leaches and carrying the fish to the live-well.

 

We also went to my parent's place near Upham.  Jason especially likes lighting off all the fireworks that Uncle Paul and Aunt Kory buy.  Megan and Kora like the fireworks too as long as they can wear ear muffs.  Kora made it through all the fireworks this year.  It helped that she got to sit on Aunt Kory's lap the entire time.  Thank goodness Kory had a lot of patience for the little wiggle worm.  Then we went to the parade on the 4th in Towner. 
 

Kora's head gear she got at the parade.

All the cousins enjoying being silly.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park

On Saturday, June 18, we drove the 36 mile scenic drive at the south unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  Along the drive in the park, we saw pronghorn antelope, bison, wild horses, and prairie dogs.  Jesse was disappointed we didn't see any elk.  We still enjoyed the drive.

Roosevelt's Maltese Cross Cabin

 

Feral Horses

bison

We went for a short hike at Wind Canyon.  All of the pictures below are from around Wind Canyon.  It was definitely windy while we were out walking.

Little Missouri River

 

Black Hills, SD/Medora, ND

On Friday, June 17, we packed up our tent and left the campground.  We drove the Needles Highway to exit Custer State Park.  The road was very narrow with lots of curves.  Jesse said he was more nervous driving this road than bear tooth pass because of the closeness to oncoming cars on the narrow road with no shoulders.   

Standing in front of a small cave/hole in the rock. 

Cathedral Spires

Needles Eye Tunnel - we had just driven through it.

Needles Eye

We then drove through Hill City up to Deadwood.  We did not stop in Deadwood, since there was construction and a lot of people.  It was getting close to lunch, so we decided to go straight through and find a picnic area to stop to eat.  Then we drove to Medora, ND to see the Badlands.  We went to the Medora Musical that night.  The kids really enjoyed it.  Kora and Megan like the dancing and singing the best.  Kora especially loved the girls with their costumes.  Jason thought the ventriloquist was the best.  The comedian talked for his dog, Irvin.  



All the kids got to go onstage for the National Park

oath during the Medora Musical.

Day 3 of Black Hills

On Thursday, June 16 we went to the Jewel Cave.  We got there at 9:30 and stood in line to wait to buy tickets.  By the time we got to the ticket window, it was 10:15.  The next available tour was at 12:40.  So we went to the visitor center to look around for awhile.  Then we drove back to Custer to have lunch at a park and play on the playground until it was time for our tour to start.  We took the scenic tour which has 723 steps and was not recommended for children under 5.   Jesse and I figured Kora had walked up and down all the steps on the trail around Mount Rushmore without a problem, so she should be able to handle this.  She had no problem walking up and down the steps.  They weren't very steep and they were mostly down.  To start the tour, we took an elevator down over 200 feet.  At the lowest level, we were over 300 feet below the surface.  Everybody thought the cave was pretty cool to see.

stalactites

flowstone

draperies

cave bacon - ribbon drapery

flowstone and nailhead spar