Summer Vacation Fun!

  

 I absolutely love spending time with my family.  One of the best things about teaching is that I get extended time with my girls in the summer to relax and do fun activities with them.  Some days we may just go swimming, or head to Baskin & Robbins for dollar scoop night.  We absolutely treasure our evenings outside with our neighbors (the best ever - if you're looking for some new ones, let me know - there's a house for sale on our street), and occasionally we even get to go on vacation!

This summer we headed for the mountains.  It was somewhat cooler than Texas, thank goodness!  Our first stop after flying into Denver and spending the night with the grandparents was the cabin.  It's located near Eagle, Colorado, and is pretty remote.  It backs up to Bureau of Land Management land, so it feels like miles and miles of open space.  We hiked through the hay field, relaxed, and took a day trip to Redstone and Glenwood Springs.

A hike through the field

On the bridge over the pond and stream

Just across from the front door

At night it was in the 50s!  Heaven for Texans who have been suffering the majority of the summer with 100+ temps.  (Yes, I brought antlers home to show my students)

Mid-week we headed back to the airport in Denver to pick up Aaron.  We stayed another night at Grandma and Grandpa's house, then headed to Custer, South Dakota.  What's in Custer, South Dakota, you ask?  Well, a cute little town, but nearby is Mount Rushmore.  It's been a long time since I was there, and things have really changed.  I remember the monument and the cafeteria area, but the flags were new to me.  It was impressive!  Also impressive was Crazy Horse.  I had never been there either, and it was quite a gem.  We learned a lot about the development of the monument, and they have quite an extensive Native American artifact collection, as well as artisans at the monument to share in their heritage and the development of the monument.

After spending the majority of the day at the two monuments, we headed back for Custer, taking the scenic route on the Needle Highway.  This is a geologic wonder, to say the least.  Driving through the National Forest, and some of a State Park, you are surrounded by massive pillars that look like needles.  There is a lot of wildlife (we saw Antelope right by the side of the road), and you have to drive through some very narrow tunnels (only one lane).  I love to see God's creations, and am always in awe of Him when I do!  The pictures do not do it justice, you simply must see it for yourself.

Also in Custer, SD is Flinstone Bedrock City.  It's basically a park with all the homes and buildings from the Flinstones show.  The girls literally ran and played for an hour and a half, checking out all the buildings, them playing at the park.  It was a wonderful way to end the day for sure!

We ate at many great places in Custer, but the family favorite was the Purple Pie Place.  They serve lunch and dinner, but we just went for dessert.  Elissa is on a pie kick right now, so we just had to try it.  I'm not sure what we liked more, the pie or the store!

After South Dakota, we headed back to Denver by way of Nebraska, stopping at the Agate Fossil Beds National Monument.  This place was also amazing.  It is a very large discovery of fossils of extinct animals, though not as old as dinosaurs.  Because the rancher who owned the land was curious about the animal bones he happened to come across, this huge fossil bed was discovered.  It makes me wonder how many more fossil beds are around our county that haven't been discovered just because someone wasn't curious, or didn't stay curious. 

Now we're home, enjoying the Texas heat.  Seriously, even though it's hot, we're still having fun together!