Dakotas

We went on our first road trip as a family this summer.  All things considered, it went really well and the kids did great.  Our first stop, other than a hotel in Sterling, Co was the Broberg farm in Tilden, Ne.  Bella was in heaven because Karlee has so much princess stuff, a trampoline and cows.  What more could you want?

Bo and Miley gettin nakey wakey!

Karlee's Grandma Kay made her a lot of princess dresses!

It's always great to see our god-daughter, Karlee!  Bella got to wear a fairy dress.

 Quenching thirst after checking out the cows.

Our next stop was Grand Forks, ND where my brother and his family live.  We met Grandma and Grandpa Bredow there and the Liebich family.  So all in all there were 6 kids under the age of 6 and 8 adults.  It was a crazy, fun time!

Our first incident occurred when Bella took a tumble down brick basement steps and got a fat lip.

The next day we headed to Shepherd of the Hill at the Crossroads Lutheran Camp near St. John, ND right on the Canadian border.  We stayed in a lodge on the lake.  Everyday seemed to be marked by a different creature.
Day 1: Bees--Bella and Ryan got attacked by a swarm of bees.  Both got 5 bee stings.  We now know Bella is not allergic to bee stings (thank God!)
Day 2: Horse Bite--James got his finger bitten by a horse!
Day 3:  Mice--We had the unpleasant experience of mice running over us while we were sleeping.  Yikes!  We then moved rooms.
Day 4:  Leeches--got  a few attached to some of us at the lake
Day 5:  Ticks--Jonathan dug one out of his knee

It really was a great time, despite the plagues and was neat to see all the cousins together! (Thank you to the Liebich and Buescher blogs for most of these pics as I didn't take a lot of pictures while we were there!)

Bo and Baby Mike.  Already planning on being buddies when older.

Coming back into the U.S. after visiting the International Peace Gardens.

Family photo

We had s'mores a few nights.

Playin in the sandbox.

Bo liked it when Grandma played the piano.

The lake at the camp (yes, the one with the leeches).

Played a family game of kickball---or at least attempted to.

James and Bella like to jump on the bed and then get cozy under the covers.

The playground never got old for the kids.

Bedtime stories

Playin some "corn hole" or using them as a slide like Bella did

Yummy s'mores!

ATTACK!  We ambushed Jonathan and Benjamin with water guns.

Parachute fun!

Family talent show

Peering over the loft

Grandkids


 After leaving the camp, we started our drive home and stayed the night in Deadwood, SD so we could see Mt. Rushmore and Custer State Park in the Black Hills.

Bella was tired after a long day in the car.  We really enjoyed checking out Deadwood.

Buffalo, if you look closely, at Custer State Park.

We finally made it home, the next day after being in the car for 11 hours.  What great memories!