TToday is our anniversary and I tried to convince Wylie that it was the birthday of our family. She quickly came back laughing that I was silly because we all didn't have the same birthday and that her's is September 1st! We left the KOA campground at 6:43 AM with the birds chriping and a crisp chill in the air. Camping last night was a huge success overall. Cade went a big crazy for about 15 minutes. He rolled all over us, did the motions to "Tim the Tiny Turtle" but the whole family was snoozing by 9:30. Wylie kicked Jon off of the Aerobed shortly aftering laying down because the Aerobed was making her sleeping bag move and she just didn't think that was cool. This means that I got to wrestle with the kids all night while Jon slept on 1 1/2 inch foam mattress...that does't cushion much when you weigh 240 :-) Cade did give us lots of kisses and Wylie really tried to comfort her baby brother, but once asleep those kids are moving as much as they do when they are awake and I think it is physically impossible for them to not lay crosswise in the bed or keep their covers on. Despite all of that we all woke up happy and got out a little ahead of schedule. We had a decent breakfast at First Gold Rush Buffet. It was good food at a good price and a nice way to start the day. When then drove on to Sturgis and said hello for Terry, Tammy, Uncle Jay and Aunt Connie...yes, Aunt Connie I really did see your spot being saved in flashing lights :-) We stopped at Sturgis Coffee Company for a yummy mocha. Jon was a little frightened going in because it looked a little biker barish, but it all turned out GREAT! Yet another great spot for our family birthday party! As we started driving we kept seeing huge billboards for Wall Drug...anyone know why this is such a big deal? The signs say that it was even on CMT! Woha! Lunch was in Mitchell, SD at 12:57. The good news is that we used up all of the hummus, veggies, and string cheese that we've been eating for 3 days now and we found a park with a playground upon Wylie's request. The bad news is it was so hot and humid that the kids played for about 5 minutes, got red faced and we had to stop much to Cade's dismay. He kept running back and trying to get onto things to play, but then would get mad when the sand was too hot on his feet. We saw more billboards for the Corn Palace and decided to take a look at it since it was in Mitchell, it is mostly inside, and it was free. This was a an unexpected stop and a nice little surprise. It's a huge building that is decorated with corn murals all over hte outside and inside. They redo the murals each year and it's been moved a few different times. It's bee going on for years and years. Seriously, it sounds "corny" but this was one of the coolest things we have ever seen. To top it off, the inside is a basketball arena that the local community college and high school use. After lunch we were driving a while and Wylie declared that she doesn't want to be on vacation anymore :-) Well, child, sorry, it's too late! We arrived at the Jackson KOA at 5:20 and the kids went straight to the playground. Cade is a little dare devil and it scares me that we are going to find ourselves having to major first aid on this kid by the end of our 6 weeks. We had our celebratory dinner at the Pizza Ranch. The kids plates cost $.66x their age and Wylie and Cade ate more than their fair share. They each had 3 plates worth of pizza, olives, mandrin oranges, and spinach. We went back to camp knowing that a storm was coming so we got everything set up quickly. The kids played in the tent and then got really quiet when the thunder and lightening hit. Cade was mesmerized by it and Wylie laid stiff as a little board. Jon went into the car to listen to the weather on the radio. He came back in to say that it was all expriing and that we were going to be fine. All I know is there is a reason why I have been deathly scared of these kinds of storms since I was a kid. If I would have had a closet to hide in I would have taken by baby girl and made ourselves a nice cozy little space. Unfortunatley, we didn't have that little closet, so instead when the rains hit, I heard Jon yell, "Hey, where is all of this water coming from? Get the stuff away from this area." Crash, Book, Wind, Tent moving back and forth!!!! Jon and I looked at each other, exchanged a few words and then went into full action. You should ask Wylie to show you the reinactment. It's really, really, really funny and accurate :-) I grabbed Cade, opened the tent...oh, wait the zipper was stuck, got it unstuck, and ran 3 steps to the car, opened the car door, and threw him into his seat. Same story for Wylie. I went back to get a few more things and then Jon told me to stay in the car while he got the rest. We were both soaked sponges by the time it was through. Jon got in the car leaving behind the Aerobed and tent, looked at eachother, laughed and then asked, "What do we do now?" We went to a hotel, but it was sold out. Jon gave them our sob story and then called around to find one last room. I didn't have my contacts in or glasses because they were thrown in the car somewhere, so I was a squintly mama trying to run from place to place with my babies in 60 mile an hour winds and terenchal rains. We finally got into the hotel room $110 later, but we were all safe and sound. Jon went back later to get dry clothes so we could all sleep. We ended our anniversary day watching the end of the USA-Ghanna game...not great, but again everyone is safe and sound.
Lessons Learned:
-Factor in time changes when you are planning a US tour.
-A snack mix of cheerios, pretzles, marshmallows and chocolate chips is a child's dream and will keep them quite for hours.
Sweet Moment:
-Cade puckered up and gave us all smackers and then rubbed Jon's back to put him "night, night"...this was all before the horrible KOA experience.
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