Way Behind

I thought I was going to be able to post every few days while we were gone on our trip but that obviously didn't happen. We either stayed at a spot with no internet access or if we did have access I was too pooped to log on. So, I have a lot of catching up to do.

I packed these for D to keep him busy in the car. There were times we drove 7 hours in a day. I got the idea from Chasing Cheerios http://chasingcheerios.blogspot.com/2009/06/activity-bags_27.html

D definitely liked the stickers the best. I purchased a bound composition book from the dollar store, so I wouldn't have to worry about pages falling out and he just stuck away. When we were with my parents in CA I actually had to go get more. The other things he played with a lot was the travel Magna Doodle and the Preschool sticker activity book.

I brought an old cookie sheet with us that he used as a work tray and it was good because I put magnets on the tanagrams so they would stick to the tray.

Target had some great flash cards and a white board in the $ spot. I picked up a bunch of stickers there too.

CA Trip

Well, finally I am writing about how our trip is going We actually haven't had all that many days where we have had Internet access and on the days we have had it I have been so pooped from the day I couldn't even think about blogging.

Anyway, we ran into an issue even before we left the house. Not a big one, but big enough to make us upset. We planned on watching the fireworks over Mt. Rushmore on the 4th. Well, Mt. Rushmore has it's fireworks display on the 3rd. What the heck? We couldn't leave until the 4th and who has their 4th of July display on the 3rd. At a national monument even. Whatever.

With our plans altered a little we ended up going into Custer State Park and went up the needles highway. We decided to watch the city of Custer's fireworks from up on the highway. It was really neat. I think we were slightly too far away but the kids still thought it was really cool to sit out on a cliff and watch the fireworks.

That night we camped at a place called Crooked Creek and froze our tooshies off. We weren't expecting it to be 45 degrees in July. Brrr. But, after we woke up we had pancakes right at the campground. All you could eat for $2.99. They tasted so yummy.

Onward to Yellowstone.

SCORE

I was at the a thrift store a few days ago looking for some little things to take on our road trip and I found this.
A Leap Frog Phonics Radio for $1.99. It works great. I checked online and it retails for between $40 and $50 bucks. Score. I an hoping it will keep D busy for awhile anyway. I haven't showed it to him yet that way when we leave on Sat. it will be new to him.

Other thrift finds were these: The painting was $2.50 and it will look great in our bathroom. I am such a sucker for tulips. I love, love, love 'em.

And the flag things came to $4.00. I'd like to decorate our deck with a flag theme. It never goes out of style to have pride in your country.

Tooth Fixed

Well we got N into our dentist today. They fixed his tooth again but they said that he will eventually have to get a cap. The stuff that they used to fix it is also a little darker than his other teeth and the dentist said he'd work on that at our next appt. I am just happy we were able to fix it before our road trip out west.

The One Armed, Toothless Wonder

My N. Gotta love him. Two years ago he was participating in a snowball fight, an illegal one because it was on school grounds, and somehow he managed to knee himself in the mouth and break his tooth in half. This was a permanent tooth. ARG. Anyway, I picked him up and he was able to see our dentist right away. They filled in his chip, you can't really call it a chip, and he was as good as new. The dentist said he wasn't sure how longed the replacement would last. Well, now we know. Today, while swimming, N was blowing up a tube and his friend bumped him and his tooth broke, again. I called every dentist in our phone book and seriously, the last one I called was the only one who could see him this week. He can't get in until Thursday but it will have to do. We couldn't wait for an appt with our dentist since we are leaving for CA on Sat.


So now N is one armed and toothless. I am scared to ask, "What's next?"

4th of July Traditions

New thing I found on the web that I decided to do.

What are you doing this July 4th?

This 4th of July we are going to Mt. Rushmore. We plan on tenting at a campsite close to the monument of course we haven't booked anything yet. We need to get our butts in gear.

What is your favorite dish to pass when attending a 4th of July party or summer barbecue?

I usually make a grape salad. All it is is 1 box of cream cheese, a little vanilla, about a tbsp of sour cream and powdered sugar (as sweet as you want) I just dump it in. Blend well and add in grapes, mix well and sprinkle top with brown sugar.


Do you have any July 4th traditions?


Actually we try to watch the town's fireworks but some years we are at our lake. We ALWAYS, however, buy fireworks on the 5th (half price) and have our own little display.

Boo Hoo

I can't believe how hard it was to see my brother go. I so hate good-byes and I hate (and I rarely use that word) that we live so far apart. I feel torn. If we were to move closer to him then we would move away from our family here and that

would be horrible too. UGH.