Black Hills Vacation

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Over Memorial Day weekend, Ryan's folks rented a gorgeous cabin up by Terry Peak in the Black Hills. It was beautiful weather and we had a fun weekend there with Ryan's whole family. The cabin was big enough for all of us and had a hot tub (which the kids LOVED), a pool table, foosball, darts, and lots of hiking spots around it. We spent a lot of time relaxing, playing Catan and Phase 10, and being with family. On Saturday we spent the day seeing Homestake Mine (a gold mine that was in operation until 2000 and is now used for cutting edge medical research), Mt. Rushmore, Custer state park, and Crazy Horse. It was fun to get some hikes in and spend time in the beautiful mountains. We did decide that we live on the wrong side of the state. There is so much to do over there! We will definitely have to go back for more sightseeing (if only the part from here to there wasn't so boring).  On our way home we took the Badlands loop and enjoyed some more hiking and enjoying the incredible scenery. It was a relaxing weekend and thank Dad & Mom Link for giving us a gorgeous place to stay! Enjoy these pics from our weekend...there were just too many to post one by one!

No more training wheels!!!!

Let me begin by saying I never thought it would be this easy. I think my mom said it best when she stated, "It's about time something went your way!"  About a month ago we purchased the boys new bikes. They were getting too tall for the little 12" bikes and needed bigger ones. Because they were so excited to get new bikes, we left the training wheels on them so they could enjoy them awhile. (We were also waiting for the weather to improve). They had a ton of fun riding up and down the street. Finally the weather got consistently warm and I decided it was time to bite the bullet and get those training wheels off. We packed up the little 12" bike minus the training wheels and headed to a BIG parking lot. Joel hopped on the bike and took off. I about fell over. I couldn't believe he did it just like that. I thought to myself, "what are the odds Caleb will do the same?", and so Caleb hopped on and promptly took off. After roughly 3 minutes of being at the park, both boys knew how to ride a two wheeler without tipping over. They were pretty proud of themselves.

The next hurdle was to try their bigger bikes. A few days later we took them back to the parking lot to try their big bikes. They were a little more nervous. Because they had done so well on the little bike, I figured that once they got going they would be fine. So the plan was for the boys to ride their bikes in the parking lot while I ran (and got my workout done too). Ha ha ha. Not so. I would get one started then go help the other start and the other one would have stopped already. I could never get both going at once. Finally I got everyone going and I started running between them. Let's just say the utopian bliss I had imagined quickly fell apart. Caleb started veering toward Joel with me in the middle. Eventually I was hurdling boys and bikes while trying to rescue whomever and whatever without falling on a child. To anyone who happened to witness this catastrophe: I hope you laughed! I then decided that we would just practice one at a time. Whew. For all the mom's of twins out there: TAKE ANOTHER ADULT WITH!!!

After this little jaunt, we tried again a few days later. I was a little nervous that they wouldn't be very excited. But the 3rd time was a charm! They learned very quickly how to start, stop, and make turns. After 5 days of practicing, they are now riding up and down our street confidently and with as much gusto and excitement as when they first got the bikes. YEAH!!!! What a joy it is to see their excitement and pride at knowing how to ride. Hopefully this will mean lots of family bike rides in the future! Allow me a moment of pure pride at reaching another dreaded milestone with twins! Whew!

Joel and his Shark bike

Caleb and his Rocket bike

Mother's Day Program

This past Wednesday, Kiera's class had a special Mother's Day program for us. When we arrived, each mother received a corsage to wear. When the kids came in, they gave us a gift bag saying it was for all the presents we would receive. For the program, they would do a poem or a song and after each one would bring us something that had to do with that poem. We received flowers, bubble bath, a ceramic tile with their hand print, special projects made specifically for mom, Hershey Kisses, and a hug box. After the program they had refreshments for us...cupcakes, ice cream, mints, and punch. When we were all finished we went outside to release balloons signifying the release of 1st grade! It was such a special time to share with Kiera and we had fun together!

All the gifts we received

Releasing Balloons

The treats table

"Here's your hug box mom!"

One proud mama!

Silly Boys

The boys are at a wonderful age right now. They are mostly independent and love playing together. Just today I heard Caleb tell Joel "wait for your best buddy!" They get along great (most of the time) and are loving being outside (FINALLY). We graduated them to bigger bikes which they are SO proud of and are hoping to get training wheels off soon. One of their favorite things to do is hang out at the neighbors when they are outside. As soon as they see them come out, they are over there helping with various yard work. They love helping pick up sticks and mainly chatter to "Grandpa and Grandma Neighbor". I think the neighbors love it and it keeps up a good relationship with them.

The boys singing at their Story Hour program

Joel fixing his lawn mower

Caleb fixing his lawn mower

Helping daddy with some leverage issues...

Helping the neighbors pick up sticks

Fine Arts Night

A few weeks ago Kiera had her fine arts night at school. Grandma Link happened to be in town helping us with our garage sale so she was able to join us! We got to see lots of projects Kiera had worked on all year, walk through the classrooms, and ended with a music program. It was a fun night and we enjoyed watching Kiera run around with her friends and enjoying showing off all her hard work!

Some of the various projects she worked on this year.

The kite she made with her kite poem.

Kiera and her good friend Brinley

Their Lego city they made...Kiera made the big car front and center.

Waiting for everyone to get situated...

Easter

Here are some pictures from Easter. We went to Ryan's folks for the weekend and had a very relaxing time. Now we are starting to enjoy the warmer spring weather we are FINALLY getting! So long winter!

Decorating Easter Eggs

Joel

Caleb

The dyed eggs and plastic eggs the kids decorated

Checking out their loot

Happy Birthday Kiera!

At the end of February, Kiera was able to celebrate her 7th birthday. Back in the Fall, we had purchased a Groupon for 2 nights at the local Ramkota hotel that has a water park with it. We decided to save this and use it for Kiera's birthday. Since we were swimming for her birthday, she wanted a swimming pool cake. It was actually a very easy cake and I was happy with how it turned out. Kiera invited some friends to swim one of the evenings and then the second day she had her cousin Eli come and spend the day swimming with her. All the kids had a blast swimming and there were always tears when it was time to quit. We had an enjoyable weekend as a family and all had a great time swimming! Enjoy the pictures!

All 3 kids LOVED the slide!

Taking a break to refuel (with cousin Eli)

Cool dude Joel

Crazy Caleb

Kiera's school party

Opening gifts at the family party with Grandpa and Grandma.