227 posts tagged “travel”

What's the worst vacation you've ever taken?

Growing up, we took a vacation every Labor Day weekend to the Black Hills in South Dakota.  On one of those trips, I got the stomach flu plus an asthma episode.  My friend, Michelle, came with who also has asthma and she ended up with the same thing.  We spent the weekend together on the floor in the bathroom thinking we were going to die!

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We had such a wonderful weekend.  We spent Saturday morning shopping for house stuff while my brother took the kids out to breakfast, swimming, and to the Farmer's Market.  The tile for the main and master bathrooms is now purchased!  We're getting close to the end of picking stuff out for the new house, thank goodness!

Next, we headed to the Indoor Football Championship with the Billings Outlaws vs. River City Rage (think they're from Missouri).  We had awesome seats about 10 rows up.

Jace got a tshirt, Cody a hat, and Lily a megaphone.  The mascot is a horse named Gunsmoke.  Instead of cheerleaders, they have a dance team who entered on the back of Harley motorcycles.  They also have 3 "outlaws" that fire their guns whenever there's a score.  This is the quarterback making his entrance.  It was super neat that several of the players came out with their children. 

The game got off to an amazing start.  The Outlaws were kicking off and did an onside kick right off the bat and got it!  The next play was a flea flicker for a TD!!  The crowd went wild.  Arena football is done on a smaller field and there are no sidelines.  The coach actually stands out on the field and fans could reach over the barrier and break up plays which happened once.  Another time, a catch was made but the player ended up going head first over the barrier into someone's seat!  I was blown away by the fantastic catches that were made.  There's very little running game.  Because of the smaller field, there's a lot more scoring which makes it very exciting.  The Outlaws led the entire game but the Rage came within one TD a few times during the 2nd half which made it scary.  The mascot, Gunsmoke, came around and Cody got his autograph and Lily gave him a hug.

The final score was Outlaws 71 and Rage 62!  The Outlaws quarterback was awarded the Best Offensive Player and MVP for the Indoor Football League. 

We topped it off with a superb supper at the Samurai where they cook the food in front of you.  My very favorite!

Not only are the kids now clothed for school but I just might be, too!  My mom totally spoiled me with a great sale at Dillard's.  I got 2 new dresses, 5 shirts, 2 jackets, and a pair of jeans!  Nothing like some new clothes to make you feel like a million bucks. 

 

 

As you know, the kids and I went to Jamestown for a few days to visit before school starts.  We spent 3 nights there and Lily spent all 3 nights with friends and the boys spent 2 of the nights with friends.  Good thing Rascal went with or I would've been completely alone!  We got to see just about everyone that we wanted to see but, of course, it wasn't long enough.  We even went to church on Sunday.  I was hoping AWE would be singing so I could join them but it was their Sunday off.  Directors haven't been found to replace me with AWE or the kids' choirs which really concerns me since time is running short.  Our Pastor tends to procrastinate a bit much and I'd hate to see the programs fail.

A few photos from our trip. 

Bluebird's daughters with Jace & Lily.

Our house didn't sell from any of the 2nd showings last week.  I'm afraid we're going to have to drop the price again because we really need to unload it.

The last night was the best for me.  I had supper with Deb & Cory and then we sat on their deck and visited in the gorgeous weather.  Afterward, Kristi came over and we had a cup of Chai tea and visited before bed.

 

 

Thumbs Down:

1. Two funerals in one week.
2. Having a hard time picking out our granite.  Everytime I find one I like, there either isn't enough or its too soft.

Thumbs Up:

1. We had 3 showings on our house this week.  Two were really positive and we haven't heard back on the third.  Sure hoping something comes of it.
2. We've made plans to go visit our friends in ND in 2 weeks.  Can't wait!
3. The pancakes my husband made for breakfast.
4. The stucco process has started on our house.  We're in the process of ordering flooring and cabinets.

Friday night we went to the opening ceremony.  There were activity and food booths.  The kids all got autographs from the Billings Outlaw arena football players.  They also had fun with the dunking booth.  There was continuous entertainment and the the kids got to walk the track.  They are in the maroon shirts and you can see Jace.

The most exciting part was when 5 skydivers jumped out of a plane over the field and then all landed right in the center.  I was amazed by the accuracy of their landings!  The USA women's fencer who won the gold lit the torch at the conclusion of the ceremony.

The first game was early on Saturday.  The team was really tough and we lost 0-10.

The next game was against another Billings team.  We were the only out of town team so knew it was going to be tough.  Ray's dad and family arrived in time for the 2nd game.  They picked a good game to watch because we won 10-0 and Cody scored 4 goals. 

After watching a 15 yr old team last spring, Cody's been practicing a flip throw-in.  I didn't think he was confident enough yet to try it in a game but he did it in the first two games really well.  Unfortunately, the 3rd game is the one I tried to get on camera and it didn't go as well.

The 3rd game was against an all girl team.  They were big, rough, and tough!  It was also about 95 degrees and miserable.  The game ended in a 3-3 tie even though they outplayed us a lot.  I think we were saved by our goalie and a penalty kick that scored a goal for us.  Because both teams had won and lost 1 game each, it came down to total goals to see who would play in the championship game.  We beat them by 1 point!!

After the game, the kids spent time at the pool while we played pinochle with Ray's dad and Amy.

I was a little shocked that we were the only adults present at the pool and most of Cody's team was there.  We were extra glad with our decision when the fire alarm went off.  We hearded the 20+ kids out onto the patio.  Apparently, some teens pulled all the fire alarms so it went off 5 different times.  The kids swam some more Sunday morning before we went to the championship game.  Unfortunately, we were playing the same team that we'd lost to Saturday morning.  I thought Jace did a great job keeping up with all those older boys since most of them were 11 and 12.

We lost 0-12 but still won the silver medal.

 

 

 

We are off to Billings this morning for the Big Sky State Games.  It's kind of like the Olympics for Montana and there's even an opening ceremony tonight.  The boys are playing on the soccer team.  It's mainly 11 and 12 yr olds but Jace made the team as a 9 yr old and is actually one of the starters!  He and Cody are 2 of the 3 forwards.  Ray's dad and family will be meeting us there to see the boys play for the first time and my cousin from AZ is there whom I haven't seen in several years.

We're also going to some places to see granite countertops today which I'm very excited about!

P.S.  (Am I the only one who can't insert another bloggers name anymore)?

What vacations would you most like to take in the next five years?
Presented by Intel, Sponsors of Tomorrow.

1. Take the entire family to Pittsburgh for a Steelers game.
2. Take the family on a road trip through Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah to see family and ending up at the Grand Canyon where we can see more friends and family.
3. Another trip to Jamaica.

Stinky:

1. I'm signed up to do the women's golf league for the first time tonight and the wind is blowing about 50mph and it's raining off and on.  Sure hoping it quits in the next 2 hours!
2. I miss my friends back in ND.
3. Our house still hasn't sold.  Supposedly there was a really positive showing last week but we haven't had an offer.  It really needs to sell SOON!
4. Coming home Sunday night to a terrible mess left by the babysitter and kids including a pint of chocolate milk sitting on the counter, everything from supper left out, and the kids still awake when it was 1 1/2 hrs past when they were supposed to be in bed!

Perfume:

1. Ray & I went on the 2nd annual Cattle Crawl Sunday night.  It's a progressive beef dinner.  We started out at the Cattle-ac for appetizers, then we went to my parents' restaurant for their big salad bar, next we hopped on 2 large busses and went 10 miles to Fairview for a roast beef dinner, and then we went another 30 miles for a steak dinner before returning.  There was a free drink at each stop plus free beer on the bus.  Of course, I felt like my normal, boring self because I wasn't drinking.
2. The deck being built on our new house.
3. Meeting more people.
4. Going to Billings this weekend for the soccer tournament.  The coach is very impressed with the boys' skills.  It'll be nice to bond with the other families, too.
5. Seeing my cousin from AZ in Billings this weekend.  I think it's been about 5 years!

 

Our neighbors from Jamestown go to a family camp called Trail Ride at the Little Missouri River State Park every year. 

 

Its located just an hour from our lake cabin so they met us there for a day.  The kids weren't ready to be apart so Lily & Cody went with them and we kept their boy whose Jace's age.  We took the boys out fishing for a bit in the morning but didn't have any luck.  Then, we drove to the Trail Ride to trade kids and spend a little time.

I didn't expect my kids to be afraid of horses but they were pretty nervous.  Lily was practically crying here until I got the camera out and then she smiled. 

Jace was pretty tentative, too.

One of their favorite activities at Trail Ride is going to the mud pit on the Little Missouri River.

On the way back to the cabin, we saw a turtle sauntering down the road.  He got shy when we stopped for his picture.