Welcome to the Museum of National Stuffed Animals by McKenna

Hi friends -

This is McKenna and I want to tell you about my experience in New York City.

My favorite things about the city were:

• FAO Schwartz (3rd place) - They had tons of Harry Potter stuff and Indiana Jones built out of legos which was super cool.  I was looking so froward to dancing on the big piano but it wasn't that great because there were so many people on the piano and I couldn't hear myself play. 

Griffindorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

• The American Girl store (2nd place) - They had lots of fun and cool books to read that I got to look at.  We went up to the salon where you could have your doll's hair done and people were actually paying for it and my dad said it was ridiculous.  I thought it was neat.
• Double decker bus (1st place) - I liked this because there were lots of things to see and I learned that Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1492 and that New York City was once our nation's capital.  It was so hot when we were there - they were having a heat wave and whenever the bus stopped, people would jump on the bus and sell water bottles for $1.  One time, they put the water bottle in a light bulb pole so we could reach it from where we were sitting.  Sometimes, the tree branches hung really low so we all had to duck at certain spots so we wouldn't get hit. 

Times Square

"Anyone want water for $1 ?"

My least favorite things were:

• Dylan's Candy Bar (3rd place) - I thought that Dylans Candy Bar was going otbe as big as Bellevue Square...I thought the first floor would be hard candies, 2nd floor would be sweet tarts, and on and on.  It was not like that at all.  It was not that big.  It was 3 stories high but there were more barbie and ken things than candy.  The music that was playing in the background was all about candy.
• Carrying bags (2nd place) - we had to carry our bags from the bus station at Port Authority to the subway to the first hotel.  And then we had to carry them again from our first hotel to our second hotel.  It was so heavy and Sydney would not carry any bags because they " were so heavy for me" and it was 104 degrees oiutside.  Not fun.

"I'm hot!!!!!"

• Museum of Natural History (1st place) - I had seen the movie "Night at the Museum" and I had lots of expectations about what it would look like and things they would have.  When you go in, all you see is a dinosaur, not Rexy, just a plain old dinosaur.  Then we go in and I am so excited - and then I realize that in order to see the dinosaur, frog, or space exhibit, you have to pay extra - BOO HOO!  We didn't see any of those things - we went into the main museum and it is just a bunch of stuffed dead animals that I had seen in real life at other places.  BOO HOO HOO!

Overall, I decided that I need  to be older to really like the city and have lots of money.  I would definitely go back when it was cooler outside and when I could get the whole city to myself!

Shout outs to Emmy, Riley, My new soccer team, all of the people who are famous that live in NYC, Dawber, Uncle Rick & Aunt Donna, Emma, Jessi, Anika, Katie A, Clyde & Nancy, and all of you who are reading the blog.

Peace out - McKenna

sydney's new york city

HI - its Sydney and I want to tell you about New York City.  First off, we went to drop off the car because we needed a new repair for the air conditining.  Next, we went and got our bags and we headed to the bus stop and then we hopped on the bus and rode to New York.  We then hopped onto a subway and we rode that to our first hotel.  It was very hot outside - we were all sweating a lot.   In the hotel room, there was 2 beds for all of us to sleep in.  In the morning, we walked to the subway again and we rode to our next hotel but the room was not ready for us.  But once we got to our room, there was a bed for my mom and dad and then a fold couch for McKenna and me.

My favorite things in NYC were:

• EVERYTHING! 
• Dylan's Candy Bar - so much candy and I got to buy one thing - a sweet stick.  They even had a bathtub full of gumballs!
• FAO Schwartz - I got a stuffed yellow lab there named Dawber and I love him so much.
• American Girl Store - so many dolls.  I got a dog book there.
• Times Square - so many big signs and people.
• We went to a park with our friends, Luna and Rachel, and played in the sand and slid down this long slide that went really fast when you put water on it.

My least favorite things:

• The Heat - I got so hot that my mom was worried that I was going to faint or something.
• The Museum of Natural History...the animals there were real but dead.  Not my favorite.

Shout outs to Hadassah, Dawber, Macy, Kait, Anya, Maggie, Emmie, Jess, Rachel, Amanda, Bella B, Auntie Donna, Lucy, Ava, Gracie, Blake and Tatum.

Bye for now - Sydney.

P.S.  From Karie:  Sydney really did like NYC and the thing that stood out to me the most is that she never seemed scared or overwhelmed by all that is NYC.  She was a trooper!

Kennebunkport and the red apple campground

So, we are having such a hard time keeping up with our blog posts because we don't want to overdo the posts but we don't want to forget everything we have done so we are doing our best to keep up.

After leaving Acadia, we headed south to Kennebunkport, Maine which is a darling little town that we liked a lot.  The history of the area, the beautiful old homes, the cute shops, the beach...we loved it.  Taking a step back though, we had not made campground reservations for Kennebunkport so on our way there, we jumped on-line and looked at our options.  We knew we wanted a place that was close to downtown and the first campground we came across looked pretty good and they had availability so we booked two nights there and RED APPLE CAMPGROUND, here we come!  We checked in and got ourselves settled and noticed a couple of old guys setting up some speakers.  We found out they have music every Tuesday night by the hammocks and we were not far at all from them so we thought that it might be fun to hear some music during dinner.  They started warming up about 45 minutes before their scheduled concert and we were busy BBQ'ing our dinner and I hear over the mike, "BABABABABABA" and "Diarreah, Diarreah" and the girls start giggling.  Now, I am known to get the giggles from time to time that I have a hard time stopping and they started in.  All Aaron remembers is "old bitty's in muu-muu's, Wilfred Brimley on the mike and the song "Mountain of Love."  They then launched into a medley of oldies that ranged from Elvis Presley to Credence Clearwater Revival.  It pretty much was Karaoke for 70 year olds...hilarious!  Bruce & Al were awesome and the girls loved listening to them and making friends with Omer, Nelson, Patsy, and Lucille.  From our new friends, we learned that Wednesday night is BINGO night and the girls were determined to make that get together.  We played BINGO and none of us won anything.  But we now know that Betty's surgery went well and we answered a trivia question and won a lottery ticket for $73 million which we did not win but from that, we got to explain to the girls what the lottery is and they daydreamed what $73 million could get them...lots of legos and american girls and donkeys.  :)

Wednesday was filled with the Trolley Museum, downtown Kennebunkport, and a trip to Mother's beach for some body surfing and frisbee tossing. 

The girls at the trolley museum

I mean, come on, look at this place!  Gorg!

This was a vintage ad in one of the trolley's and this lady reminded me of my grandma.

Mother's Beach...

We left Kennebunkport and headed into Jersey City and Manhattan for 3 very FULL days and I think we all want to blog seperately on our experience there.  So, that is coming up next.  We head out tomorrow to Savannah, Georgia for a few days and then on to Atlanta.  

Love to you all - the Cato Tornado 

Maine - Acadia National Park and Baw Hawbah

Hi everyone!

We are currently in Galax, Virginia at Aaron's aunt & uncles house  - we are here until tomorrow morning and if everything goes the way we hope, we will have a car with a/c today at 2:30.  More on that later. 

We spent a couple of days in Bar Harbor, Maine which included Acadia National Park and then a few days in Kennebunkport, Maine.  We had been told by so many people that you couldn't leave Maine without seeing a moose which we were really hoping to see but what we didn't know is that where we stayed and where Acadia National Park is, is actually an island, Mount Desert Island, and there are NO moose there unless they decide to swim thru the channel to get to the park.  The park ranger said that they have not seen a moose in the park in 5 years.  Bummer! 

Acadia is beautiful...right on the water, everything was so manicured and easy to get around.  (Kristin, you were so right!)  We started at the Visitor Center where the girls made a mad dash to two places:  1) to the first Park Ranger they found to get information about the junior ranger program and 2) the desk where they could have their national park passport books stamped.  I would highly recommend both of these things because they are totally educational for the kids and it is a piece of memorabilia they won't forget. 

Sand Beach was our first stop and it felt like a regular beach with sun bathers, swimmers, picnickers, etc.  We were not prepared for that but we enjoyed ourselves none the less.  McKenna and Aaron totally slipped on a rock and fell into the water which is kinda starting to be a pattern.  :)   Much to McKenna's surprise, she was standing in the water with the Weasley brothers from Harry Potter - we even got a picture.  :) 

Do you see them?  Ron Weasley's brothers?  hahahaha!

Our next stop was Jordan's Pond which was a really nice walk that lead to a wonderful restaurant on the water that is known for their lemonade and popovers with fresh strawberry jam.  Secretly, Aaron had made reservations for us on the lawn which was so nice to rest after walking for quite sometime in the hot sun.  The popovers were so yummy!  After eating, we walked down to the water where we got to pick wild Maine blueberries.  So fun!!  I was wondering what my blueberries look like at home. 

After walking a lot more both in the park and thru Bar Harbor, we came back to the campground where the girls were itching to get into the pool at the campground which had a diving board.   McKenna, not to our surprise, was determined to learn how to dive and that girl dove and dove and belly flopped her way to a really good dive.   It has confirmed for both Aaron and myself that she is a quick learner and determined to improve in whatever she is doing.    She is like a dog on a bone.  :)

The next day was filled with more Acadia - Thunder Hole, hiking around Cadillac Mountain, hiking along old carriage roads, and watching the Womens World Cup in a bar with our kids.  Memories!  We had our first (and hopefully our last because I am still sad about it) road kill in Maine...Aaron will talk about that in a future blog. 

Maine was beautiful...please go there in your lifetime!  The one thing that we did not do was eat lobster - I know, I know...you can't believe it.  But we didn't due to cost, the girls wouldn't eat it, we are not huge fans, etc.  etc. 

From Acadia, we drove south to Kennebunkport, Maine for two days.  It was such a cute town - we loved it there.  I will post on the "Bunk" next.  And then after Kennebunkport, we changed scenery and headed into Jersey City and Manhattan which was an experience for sure - we will NEVER forget our time there and I learned a lot about the city that I love that I had not experienced before.  

We hope that you are all having a wonderful summer.  We have 3 weeks left and are still excited about what is to come but we are looking forward to pulling into our driveway, seeing our Dawber, and seeing all of you.  Your notes and messages make us smile and we hope that this blog is making you smile if not laugh out loud at our sometimes pitiful stories!  :) 

Love and hugs - Karie

P.S.  Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!  Love you guys!

Vermont, here we are!!!

Hi  - this is McKenna and I will give you the "scoop" on our trip to Vermont.

~DAY 1 ~
1)  We went to a Cider Mill where we got to follow apples on the floor until we got to the place where we saw the cider mill, watched a video about how they make cider, and then got to taste apple cider and it was SO GOOD!  They had all kinds of apple products and we got to taste test a bunch of yummy things.

2)  We went to into Stowe, Vermont and walked around a little bit.  Stowe is known for skiing.  Quite a few people who were in the olympics train here or so my mom says.  We had lunch at a restaurant called "The Rusty Nail" and I ordered chicken fingers and we sat outside and it rained on us a little.  DELICIOUS!

3)  After lunch, we headed to Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Factory which is where their ice cream making started.  We went on a very fun tour  - we saw a movie about Ben and Jerry - they were friends in college.  We went into the factory and saw where they make the ice cream, put the yummy chunks in it and give it flavors.  They wouldn't let us take any pictures because they said they were worried that we may be spies from Hagen Daas!  HAHAHAHA!  We also saw it put into containers with lids on top.  They were making "Americone Dream" that day and we got try it at the end of the tour.  It was good but it was your basic vanilla ice cream with caramel sauce and chocolate covered waffle cone chunks...I don't like chocolate so it wasn't my favorite.  We went to actually get ice cream after that and I had the hardest time picking out of ice cream because most of them had chunks in them which I am not a big fan of and they had chocolate in them.  So I ordered rainbow sherbert..wah wah!  (Karie:  this tour was awesome and I would highly recommend it if you are ever in the area (thanks to K.Cherry for recommending it) and since I think Jimmy Fallon is the coolest, I ordered the ice cream made for him which has potato chips in it and Aaron ordered "Bonaroo Buzz" which also very yummy.)

4)  On our way back it started to rain pretty hard.  We kept noticing all of these police cars going by - at least 20 cars.  We never figured out where they were going.  We went back to the trailer and had dinner and played farkle...which is a really fun dice game.  I am really good at beating my dad!



~ DAY 2 ~

We discovered at our campground that there was a river right behind where our trailer was parked.  It was warm so we decided to go and explore it.  We decided to walk out to this rock and there was a little current so I grabbed onto a rock and my dad said it was ok to get wet and I was already a little wet so I got up on the rock and jumped in.  The water wasn't cold at all - it was actually warmer than the pool.  My mom was taking pictures because she was afraid of the water.  Just kidding Mom!    Then, dad went and got us blow up intertubes and we all floated down the river  - it was awesome...so fun! 

We then went up to Mt. Mansfield and went for a hike to the top.  It was stressful because I am a little scared of heights.  A lot of the hike was over rocks and the view was beautiful.  We met this man & woman from Brooklyn who were backpacking for a week and they told us about a couple things we should do in NYC.  They were really nice -- she was a teacher and told me about a really cool sounding playground that I will write about after I visit NYC.  We kept hiking and my mom and I decided to stop while my dad and sister kept going.  My mom and I heard an animal of some kind behind where we were sitting - I think it was a moose or something.  We also met a yellow lab named Piper and it made me miss Dawber.  When we got to the top, we could see a Lake, lots of trees & rocks, and a couple of little towns. 

~ DAY 3 ~

We were on a mission to find a swimming hole.  Not too far from our campground, we found one but to get there, we had to walk down this path that felt like you were walking thru the jungle.  We found a spot, had lunch on a rock, and found a little water slide where the water went in between two rocks that we named "Bad Man's Butt".  We jumped in our inner-tubes and floated down our new ride.  Again, my mom was very scared, crying, and she thought she would pop the inner-tube.  (Karie:  sad but true...I am humilated) While she as crossing the deep part, she was remembering what happened when she was 11 and she was white water rafting and the raft tipped over on top of her and she had to ride the rapids and almost died.  My aunt was also in the raft and she was screaming and my mom reached over to grab her and she grabbed my mom around the neck.  But she conquered her fear and rode the water with me.    We stayed there for a while and then went back to the campground and played in the pool.

~DAY 4~

We left on this day but on our way to Maine, we stopped at two places.  The first place was a sugarhouse where they make Maple Syrup.  We watched a video about how they make it and there are 4 kinds of syrup.  They can only get syrup out of trees in March and a little bit of April.  We got to taste test all of the kinds and it was so good.  TIP:  Always buy 100% Vermont Maple Syrup in the stores, it is the best.  They also had animals there and I went up to a really cute donkey and it decided to pee right in front of me.  They also had 3 little ponies that really like me.

We also went to a Cheese factory called Cabot and it smelled bad.  We saw how they made cheese and got to taste lots of different kinds and my favorite was horse radish.  We saw the curds and this guy was putting salt into the curds in this huge tray thing.  I learned that cheese is naturally white because milk is white.  Cheese that is orange is dyed orange.  TIP:  Buy white cheese becauce who wants to eat orange dye.  It still tastes good.

That is all from me!

Shout outs to Emmy & John, Jessi, Emma, Eden, Popo, Gummy, Anika, Mason & Kate, Katie A., Rachel, & Jess.

Love, McKenna

P.S.  From Vermont, we headed to Bar Harbor, Maine and Acadia National Park.

Niagara Falls & Montreal

Hi friends & family ~
So, if you aren't caught up on what went down in Niagara, you should read the Whiz Dells post to get yourself informed.  Our time in Niagara was about 17 minutes...the falls were pretty impressive but the stuff around it was nothing to write home about.  It seemed to me that at one time, maybe in the 1950's, it was a favorite vacation spot but it is now very run down, lots of old buildings with boards over the windows, graffiti... and we were not wanting to spend too much time there.  

After the falls, the highlight for the girls was...wait for it...getting donuts at 7-11.  I know, I know, my stomach did a little loopty loo when Aaron brought them out but to say the girls were thrilled was an under statement.  Other than a few ice cream cones here or there, sugar has not been seen too much around here so they were stoked!!

We decided to bypass getting out to experience the falls and just take pictures from the car on our way to Montreal.  We had to drive about 10 hours to get to Montreal and with no air conditioning the sooner we got there, the better.  I think the worst part about no ac is that we have to keep the windows rolled down to stay cool and as a result, we can't really talk because it is so loud.  Needless to say, my right arm is very tan!

The things I loved about Montreal:

• The french language - it is truly a beautiful language that I wish I spoke.  I am sure that I overheard someone telling their family member that they were out of toilet paper but it sounded so sophisticated and elegant.
• The beautiful archictecture - small streets, old buildings with window boxes full of flowers
• Going to mass at the Notre Dame de Basilica - the ornate and timeless carvings and wood detail, the service in french, and oh, the stained glass...exquisite.

(Sorry, my connection is struggling a bit so I will post this picture later)

• The diversity of the people...that felt very much like Paris to me. 
• Riding on the subway with the girls who had never done that before... it is making me very excited about NYC...the subway there is so much more...more smells, more people, more alive...
• Going to a farmers market that made me miss my yard and my dog...there were a lot of both ...I could not stop taking pictures of fruit, vegies, and plants.  The rest of my fam thought I was crazy.   The "Pioneer Woman" in me was coming out in food staging and photo taking!

We spent just 1 day in Montreal before we were back in the states  - Morrisville, Vermont...which is a new post coming...and we loved Vermont.  Lots of fun things...a few descriptive teasers are bugs, ice cream, river, puppy, Dotty, nails, views, rain, and the curse of the whiz dells strikes again.  Tune in next time on...the BFT 2011.

A couple of miscellaneous items:

• I am on my third book - I have read "The Art of Racing in the Rain"  - (very good read - also made me miss Dawbs - the book is told from the point of view of a dog named Enzo) and "Water for Elephants"  - (I now want to see the movie but the book was also a page turner and a history lesson on the circus..who knew?) and I am currently riveted by "State of Wonder" by Ann Patchett.  Thanks Steve & Marlyse for the book - I have been telling Aaron and McKenna about it and they are enjoying the book too through my story telling.  :)  If you know me, reading books just doesn't happen so this feels like a treat...my next book is "Dogs of Babel". 
• I feel dirty...kinda always.  Even after I take a shower, I still don't feel 100% clean but the sad part is that I am sorta getting used to it.
• I haven't worn makeup for 25 days and I have found myself thinking "these people won't ever see me again so who cares!"  But I think the real reason is that it is so warm that my makeup would end up running off or down my face with all of my sweat!  UGH!  So gross...

That is all from me for now! 

Love & Hugs!  ~  Karie

P.S  Happy belated birthday to one of my favorite Jack's -Ashley!    And to Emmy Rose Jack...Happy belated birthday to you too!  We would be camping together right now at the Bar  - we are missing you and your family!

P.S.S.  I am so bummed about the Women's World Cup...they definitely made it exciting!  I was on the edge of my seat...

This is Michigan

Hi its Sydney.  My family got to spend 5 days with our friends in Grand Haven, Michigan. 

We got to do lots of fun things - In two days, we went to 2 different beaches.  The first beach had lots of waves and there was lots of sand to play in, it was warm, and I got to play with my friend Hadassah.  We played this game where we jumped over waves we saw and then we got washed up to shore in the water.  My freckles came out and I got a little sunburned there but it was fine, nothing like all the mosquito bites that I got in Yellowstone.

At the 2nd beach, me and Hadassah made a sand castle and there were two boys there for her brothers, Eli & Wyeth, to play with.  That night we all played together and it was fun - we even got to have a dance party in their living room.

I lost my first tooth at their house!  Here is a picture of me with a missing tooth!

I also got to be a part of Hadassah's birthday party.  She had a flower birthday and I got to meet some of her friends.  We made bracelets, ate ice cream cake, and listened to Justin Bieber while playing musical chairs.  We then went upstairs and played with her new toys.

They have a duck that lives on their street - every house has a name for him but our friends call him Peabody...PB for short. 

That is all from me!

Shout out's to Hadassah, Kaitee, Ms. C, Dawber, Anya, Auntie Heather, Blake, Jessi, Jess, Rachel, and Amanda!  And thanks Maggie for sending me a note!

P.S.  This is Karie - we had a wonderful time in MI and although we miss our friends so much, they live in a darling town on the shores of Lake Michigan and they are doing well. Couldn't be happier for them.  We then headed from Michigan to Niagara Falls on our way to Montreal. 

Castaway Club - Awesome!

Hi friends - this is McKenna.  We are currently in Vermont and have lots to catch you up on since we last posted.  I get to tell you about Detroit Lakes, Minnesota and specifically, Young Life's Castaway Club Camp.

When we first got there, we went to Walmart to look for some things and try to figure what was going on with the car.  We then went back to camp,  set up our trailer, ate dinner, and went to bed.

The next morning, me, my dad, and my sister got up and went to the "Windjammer" otherwise known as the cafeteria to eat breakfast.  Meanwhile, my mom was back in the tent sleeping and snoring loudly.  We went in and very quickly realized that my dad's watch was wrong and we had missed camp breakfast.  But, luckily, there was food still left ...cinammon rolls and cereal...two of my favorite things.  Fruit Loops and 4 cinnamon rolls - 4 to be exact and it took me awhile to decide which one to choose because I wanted to make sure I got the one with the most cinnamon and frosting.  Unfortunately, one had good frosting, one had cinnamon, and one was the biggest so I just closed my eyes and picked one. 

This is a picture of "Windjammer".

After digesting my roll, we went to chapel in "Anchor" where they do there evening stuff.  They have big carpeted riser thingies and we sang songs and we prayed and prepped for the next group of kids to come to camp.    They also let us know that we were going to put together a surprise for the campers...a video/slideshow of all the things you can do at camp...otherwise known as a lipdub.  All of the summer staff got to participate and we got to join in.  They gave us a job to do...me and my sister got to go with some girls and we went outside and got piggyback rides ...other jobs were going on a HUGE swing, rock climbing, zip lining, canoeing, wakeboarding, laying in hammocks on the beach, and back flips!  The lip dub was to the song "Dynomite" and they had huge speakers that made it really loud and so fun to rock out to.

We then waited and got ready for the campers to come to camp in big buses.  We then met the video intern who got to make movies everyday of what went on at camp.  He was recording kids getting off buses. 

Later that evening, we went to club where we sang songs that I know like "Hey Soul Sister" and "Baby" by Justin Bieber, and"Firework" by Katy Perry.  It was awesome!  A guy got up and spoke and he talked about how to jump out of an airplane when your parachute won't work that was really funny.  One point he made was that when you are falling , you have to hook arms with your partner and your arms might break ...that was very funny. 

I also got to go to the gift shop where I almost bought two things  - a collection of  at least 6 fake teeth and some mustaches but instead I got a young life notebook with a Castaway sticker and a harmonica so I can play with my papa.    We also got to make cool bracelets with some staff girls that I am going to make at my birthday party.  And of course, we got to swim in the lake!

Overall, it was very fun there and I was very sad to leave.  Onto Michigan...

 Shout outs to Jess, Rachel, & Amanda, Emma, Jessi, Gummy, Uncle Seth, Grammy Lynn (the state bird of Minnesota is the Loon), Dawber, Emmy, and that's it for now!

Love, McKenna

Emergency Post (AKA the Curse of Wis Dells)

Hi there.. it's Aaron from the passenger seat. Didn't intend to post but when times are tough sometimes you just need to vent. We are on day seventeen, so if you have been following the twitter updates you know three important things by now:

1. Our AC went out as we were coming through Wis Dells Wisconsin (the subject of many jokes in twitter) and heading into Chicago. Chicago was hellfire hot by the way (not that I know firsthand how hot this is).

2. We got the pleasure of 3 days on the beach in Grand Haven Michigan (beautiful city) with our good friends Ed, Heather, Eli, Hadassah, Eden, and Wyeth (beautiful people). We miss them already.

3. We left Grand Haven having dropped a "cool" G on the AC (pun intended),  but we were refreshed and ready for the next part of our adventure in upper New England. Next stop Niagara Falls...


With these fact in hand you are prepared for what we will be known as the "Curse of the Wis Dells" (pronounced Wiz Dells) - be very careful all who would mock Wis Dells... it will have the final laugh, which usually involves water/liquids of some kind (it is the Water Park Capital of the World after all).

So let me recount the last 24 hours.

1. Leave Grand Haven enjoying the cool ride with the AC working fantastically in both the front and rear of our vehicle.

2. Cross the border into Canada, (the curse begins) and we discover just how painful a gallon of gas can be... 4.80/gal. Canada is not all that great (sorry for the dig Meghan),  so we start changing the next days travel plans to get to Montreal via a US route instead

3. After 10 hours on the the road, we arrive  into the "water" heavy area of Niagara - picture the gods of Wis Dells smiling as you trot unsuspectingly like prey into their den.

4. Camp is struck and we are just sitting down with a tall glass of "BFT cooler", when I step into the camper to see a very large puddle of water easing its way across the floor. Using my immense deductive powers, I follow the flow back upstream to its mighty source.... the toilet/shower area - which we have converted into a closet for all our clothes. Opening the door to our "closet", I discover that 6 inches of water has becomes the new habitat for our undies, towels, bras, and all sorts of necessary "unmentionables". "Wis Dells"!!! I cry, shaking my fist at the gods. Karie, looking for a positive spin on this, suggests putting all of our Canadian quarters to use in the campground's coin-op laundry. I suggest natural drying and so we leave our clothes out for the night on the picnic table. It starts to rain about 530 in the morning. Now, I don't sleep in much, but I can honestly say I have never put a load of "unmentionables" in the dryer quite that early!!

5. Off to Niagara we say... car is loaded, family fed, campground in the rear view mirror, I leisurely reach over to blast our family with a cool breeze from our fully functioning air conditioning, when to my great surprise, I am smited by the hot breath of Satan himself. "Wis Dells!!!" I cry again. Goodbye for now air conditioning.

6. Okay, stuff happens. "Move on", I say.  "The BFT is an adventure and all adventures have their hiccups." As we drive into the  GREAT Niagara Falls (as all the signs say), I am greeted by the hail of multi story casinos, major resort hotel chains, power lines, souvenir shops, boat tours dotting the base of the falls, and parking lots with weeds growing out of them - from the glory days gone by of Niagara as a major destination. To say we were all disappointed is an understatement. We didn't bother getting out and paying the 20 bucks for parking. We just snapped some picture from the car and kept on trucking towards the US border. "Wis Dells," I whimpered.

7. Wet backs, moist creases, sweaty fore heads, and pooling navel regions (yeah - more than you wanted to know), we are now 4 hours into our drive.  With the windows down we  pull over to the side of road. Karie.... not so happy. Aaron ... a little bit better than Karie. Kids... well, they're kids. Things like  "I need food, need water, need to check if that sticky stretchy toy the tooth fairy gave Sydney is still in her bag, need to potty, Sydney's not sharing, McKenna hurt my feelings. And ... how much longer?" are all making their way out (although I will say they have been awesome travelers so far).

8. Last but not least... its Sunday. The warranty we have on our AC parts doesn't do much good when there are no working mechanics. To commemorate our woes, we have taken to cracking ourselves up by putting "Wis Dells" (don't forget the fist in the air) to the tune of "Roxanne". Try it, you might crack up too!


Well - if you have made it this far into the post, then you probably have time enough to pray for us. Pastor Ed anointed us all (Thank you!) with oil before we left Grand Haven...I am not sure if the anointing just takes a few days to kick in or if it simply isn't supposed to ward off curses. Either way, we would be thankful for any additional blessing you would like to throw our way.

We are having fun and learning to laugh at a lot of really odd things. (The subject of a later blog).

Take care
Aaron

Custer State Park - South Dakota

Hi its Karie.  My girls now want a pet donkey after our two days in South Dakota.  Let me explain.  We pulled into Custer State Park and headed to Blue Bell Campground which was great.  Very Rustic and campy but also very fun and somewhat relaxing after running away from West Yellowstone as the swarm of mosquitos were crying as we left because we were good blood I guess.  Final tally - Sydney's face had 25 bites and McKenna's had 21. 

Here is our set up - so fun!  I can't believe that I am saying that...ME!!!  (Tour of the camper coming soon too).  The scenery in Custer State Park was amazing...rolling hills, lush green foliage, rivers, streams, animals...my camera was hot from all of the pictures I was taking as we drove!

There I am ! 

One night after dinner, we took a drive just before dusk hoping to see some animals and animals we SAW!  This is where the donkeys come in...We came across a pack of burros that were so sweet and obviously used to people and cars.  We were one of three cars that were enamored with them...

 
A giant donkey even wanted to give a little kiss to P-Dawby  :)  Head is in the car...he even let Aaron pet him...  We also saw prairie dogs, a group of elk with at least 6-points on each animal...ginormous!  Lots of dear, and oh the buffalo, actually they are bison...buffalo live in Africa and Bison are in South Dakota according to our park ranger.  We now know where they roam...

After Custer State Park, we headed to Minnesota...Detroit Lakes, Minnesota to be exact where we experienced the following:
1)  Car stuff - I wouldn't call it issues but more to come on this one...
2) Our longest drive to date...14 hours...the girls did GREAT!  Total troopers.
3) Saw more lakes in a small area then I have in my lifetime...so many...
4) Castaway Young Life camp which was beautiful and so fun...another post about that coming...
5)  Sydney is about to lose her first tooth..we will keep you posted on the progress..

We are in Grand Haven, Michigan now with our dear, dear friends, the T's...spent the day at the beach and the farmers market...

Love and hugs - Karie

Fun Cody

Hi it is McKenna .  When we were in Cody, Wyoming (June 29th) we did many fun things. We first found a campground  which surprisingly, had a playset.  They had one toy that had a saddle that you could sit on and it felt like you were riding a horse.  We played a game of tag with the other kids at the playground and that was fun.  Then, when we went to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center...there were 5 parts to this museum - Yellowstone, Buffalo Bill, Indian Plains, Firearms, and one other that I can not remember.  We first headed to the Yellowstone wing - there are 3 levels and when I walked in, I was on the top level.  There were a lot of figures of animals that looked real and a sign that said "Look, Explore, but please do not touch!"  I thought to myself, "How am I supposed to explore when you can't touch it?"  So, I kept walking through and saw a man figurine on skis.  We then walked to an area where there were viewing boxes under the floor where you could see what a chipmunks home under the ground looked like.  Another one was a hornets nest and the third one had the bones of a black bear.  Very cool!  We saw all kinds of bears and watched a video of bears at Yellowstone -- we learned that we have to keep our food in a safe place where they can't smell it or they will do anything to get at it, even toothpaste.  One lady put her garbage in a bear safe container and when the bear found it, he played with it and jumped on it to try and get it open but could not do it and walked away.  Here is me and my sister in front of the museum and me with animal puppets from the Yellowstone area.

My mom and dad said they had a surprise for us - they took us to the Irma Hotel and we watched a gun fight based on Buffalo Bill.  They taught us that if you find a gun, you should "Leave it alone, call 911, and do not touch it" because if you touch it, you will leave fingerprints.  Ms. Mood, one of the characters, found a wedding ring in one of the guys pockets and wanted to get married but no one wanted to marry her.

That was Cody...we left Cody and drive to Custer State Park which is where we are right now.

Shout outs to my furry friend, Dawber, Eden, Jessi, Anika, my cousin Anya, Grammie Lynn (P.S.  The state bird of Idaho is the moutain bluebird), Mason, and Kate!

Peace out - McKenna

Today is Mt. Rushmore day

Hi -  its Sydney again.  Hello friends!  Today I went to Mt. Rushmore and I saw 4 carved presidents and we walked along the Presidents trails and we got little things that looked like phones and you pressed numbers and listened and learned things about the building of Mt. Rushmore.  I also became a Jr. Ranger at Mt. Rushmore by filling out a president book where we had to answer questions about what we learned.  I learned the following things:
1)  It took 14 years to build - the workers worked very hard
2)  THere were 400 workers that worked together to build the statue.
3)  President Roosevelt's mother and wife died on the same day, on Valentines Day.
4)  The road we drove to get there was very twisty and made my stomach hurt a little.

I loved looking at the presidents.  Me and my sister had a great time there.

At the campground we are staying at, there is a barn where they have horses...you can go horse back riding there but we didn't do it because it was too much money.

That is all from me - shout out to Gracie, Cameron (who loves the presidents), Kaitee, Tatum, Sara M, Blake, Melanie, Leah, Maggie, Jessi, Jess, Rachel, Amanda and Ms. C!

Talk to you soon!

Syd