South Dakota: Mammoth Dig Site

On the second big day of the vacation we all loaded up in our respective vehicles and made the trek over to Hot Springs, SD to see the Mammoth Dig site. I'd heard about it and thought the kids might want to see it too. It was very interesting! A pit developed from shifting plates causing a hot spring hole to develop. This was warm water even in the dead of winter, which allowed grasses to grow along it's edge (can you imagine the lure of fresh green grass in winter?). It brought in adolescent male mammoths who would fall in due to the slippery mud along the edges and they couldn't get out. This "pit" was discovered when a housing development was getting ready to be built and the bulldozer clearing the land unearthed a skull. They have found 62 mammoths so far but the pit just keeps going down.

A building was built over the dig site and it's still an active dig site. Eight weeks out of the year people are digging and unearthing bones. They leave them where they find them. It was truly fascinating for adults and kids alike.

For a small additional fee you can sign your kids up for an extended tour that includes their own dig site and instructions on how the professionals dig up bones. Real (giant) mammoth bones were cast and the replicas were buried for the kids to unearth. They had to identify the bones they unearthed from a poster. They had a great time!

The kids loved this!

It was fun figuring out which bone was which.

The entire group!

On the way out you are able to buy a bag of sand and use the flowing water out front to pan for gold, or in this case fossils and rocks. Each kid bought a bag of sand and we weren't expecting much but they each got a big back of fossils like shark teeth and interesting rocks. It was fun!

South Dakota: Mount Rushmore

We recently returned from a lovely trip to South Dakota. Sean's brother lives in the Black Hills and we decided a family reunion was over due. So we all met at a cabin we rented near Custer. Custer is a nice location because it's right in the middle of all the fun things to do in the Black Hills. We used Homeaway this year instead of Airbnb or vrbo and were pleasantly surprised by the house we found (it wasn't listed on any other site). It was big enough for three families (with Sean's parents and brother staying in their campers in the driveway). There were paths around the house for the kids to run around on and many things to do in the house.

The first day we ventured out to see Mount Rushmore since it was only 20 minutes away. Many things had changed since my first visit there 17 years ago. They added a large parking garage and getting in and out of the location was quite smooth. There was no admission to see Mount Rushmore but parking was $10. Unfortunately they started some demolition projects just two days before we arrived and were met with the sound of jackhammers. Not sure what they were improving but it didn't stop us from getting a good view of Mount Rushmore. It's quite a sight to see!

Cousins!

Sean and his brothers and parents.

Betsy and Emery

My sister and I.

There was a hiking path around the side of the mountain that led you to another observation deck and the artist studio. The studio was neat to see because it had the scaled down sculpture of the completed mountain as it was supposed to look. We had a great time!

Notice the clothing that was supposed to be there.

It was a HOT day!

Birthday Boy!

Wesley got to celebrate his birthday on vacation again. Last years cake by the ocean is hard to top but this year surrounded by cousins and family is pretty close! Happy 12th birthday Wesley!

We got home and Aunt Jessica was kind enough to make Wesley a birthday cake so we could celebrate with them too. Plus he needed his annual birthday hat picture....12 years and counting with the hat!

Yellow Stripe

Wesley has been in karate for nearly two years and he'd been doing a good job of putting off testing for a new belt. Finally sensei said it's time so Wesley studied and studied and tested for his first belt (yellow stripe). He passed! Go Wesley!

Old Time Field Trip

Greta's third grade class took a field trip to a museum about life in the 1870's. It's an entire town set up to reenact that time period. They have everything from the main street with a bar, stores, a hotel and a working farm. They hire people to dress up in era clothing and work the stores and such. The kids love it and we get to wander around seeing things at our own pace.

This is the scale for weighing harvested crops. The tour guide has the kids jump all at once to register a weight.

Tummy Troubles

My sushi girl. We love a girls day out with sushi.

Back in January Greta started getting stomach aches. These were almost daily and went on for months. We visited the pediatrician a few times and she prescribed an acid blocker that she was on for 2 weeks. It didn't do anything. So after three months and nearly 2 weeks out of school we went back to the doctor to see if we needed to do or try something else.

The doctor wanted to take some blood and run some labs to rule out an ulcer, IBS and food allergies. Greta wanted nothing to do with blood work and broke down crying in the doctors office. We left and went to lunch down the road where I talked to her about what a blood draw was like. I explained what the nurse would do and what it would feel like, trying to calm her nerves. I knew this was the only way we were going to get answers to her constant tummy aches.

She was warming to the idea and I decided to bribe her with a toy she'd been wanting. She was immediately on board once she heard about the toy. So back we went down the road to the doctors office where she was quite the trooper and let the nurse pull three vials of blood out of her arm.

They sent off the blood and the results came back with a sensitivity to wheat, eggs and dairy. I was so happy to finally have an answer! I knew eliminating these foods wasn't going to be easy but Greta and I were both willing to try. We immediately took these three foods out of her diet and overnight her stomach aches disappeared. It was amazing!

I wanted to see if all three foods were the culprit of if she only had a sensitivity to one so we introduced dairy back in with no problems. Then a week later we tried egg and she got a stomach ache. Same with wheat. So we've eliminated eggs and wheat now for several months and she's been tummy ache free.

There has been a learning curve on baking gluten free and egg free. Most commercially prepared gluten free breads at the grocery store have egg in them so I joined a gluten free vegan group on facebook and learned a whole lot about where to buy the right breads and rolls along with cookies and crackers. She can basically eat the same foods as she did before which is wonderful.

We are hopeful that she will outgrow this sensitivity at some point but in the mean time she is doing great.

VBS

This is the third year that I've participated in Vacation Bible School at our church. It's the third year I've been in charge of the arts and crafts....you'd think I'd know what I'm doing by now. Nope! It's pretty chaotic and we kind of learn as we go. We sure have fun though and the kids seem to enjoy it, and that's all that really matters. Here are a few pictures from the week.

Bubble art: bubble juice + food dye + straw. Just blow.

Wesley aged out of VBS this year so they put him work as the puppeteer. He did great!

Abby hard at work decorating a sun catcher.

Prayer boxes & night lights.