Summer Adventures: Part 2 June 9 - June 15

FAMILY VACATION

As a preamble to this blog, I must first explain what this vacation was supposed to be. It was supposed to be a trip to England and then perhaps a Mediterranean cruise, and then for sometime it was a trip to Hawaii--a place only my mother has been. But because my dad wouldn't make up his mind about details, this vacation turned into a trip to Minnesota with a stop in the Black Hills of South Dakota on the way. My dad's family lives in Minnesota and I haven't been there for five years. Nor have any of my dad's family met Jared, so overall it was a good time to visit. Plus, it was just really fun to be with my family, even if the locale wasn't all that exotic.

Jared and I flew to Denver on Friday night and met up with my family who drove there from New Mexico. The next day we drove to South Dakota where we stayed for two days. Here are the highlights:

Crazy Horse

This colossal rock carving has been in progress for about 50 years and still isn't even close to being finished. Here is a picture with what the monument is supposed to be eventually. As you can see.... at the rate they are going it's gonna take a couple hundred years to finish it.

In this picture you can see how far away from it we were. The thing is ridiculously huge!

I also had fun playing with my parent's new Canon.

















Next up...Mount Rushmore!
After checking into our hotel we headed over to Mount Rushmore. This wasn't my family's first trip to see the four large heads carved into the side of a mountain, but it was the first time we kids actually saw the monument. The first time we went five years ago, the mountain was covered in fog. We hung out for several hours: ate breakfast, went on a hike, perused the gift shop. But that darn fog wouldn't lift.

So this time, we were very happy to have a bright sunny day to see the monument.

Here's my first look:

And my second:

And here it is in all it's glory:

This one was taken through a crevice in a rock cave.And some of the fam:
(My dad being silly)

The next day we went on a hike. My mom and I had to laugh at the fact that the pine trees and gray rock looked very similar to the pine trees and gray rock surrounding my parents house in New Mexico. The only difference was that there is a lot of mica in the rock in the Black Hills, so the ground looks glittery. Unfortunately the glitter effect didn't show up in pictures. Oh, and the underbrush is greener thanks to high humidity.

I'm not sure why Lauren is so out of it in this picture.

Later that day we went on a trade ride through the black hills.

Minnesota

The next day we stopped in "The Cities" for the night and saw my dear friend Suzy and her husband Spencer. We had a delicious dinner at PF Changs. My sister's friend Ashley from high school met us there too.
The next morning we hit up Mall of America because my littler brother Nick really wanted to go. I was excited because I discovered they have an H&M and I got some sweet shirts!

Then it was up north to the Brainerd area to my grandparents house. Due to lack of space, Jared and I got to stay at a hotel nearby. We hung out with the extended family and got in a couple rounds of miniature golf--a Minnesota tradition and the only time we ever go miniature golfing.

After partially overhearing a conversation between me and my mom about how this shirt could lead people to think I'm pregnant, my grandma did indeed ask me if I was pregnant. No, I am not, although I admit this shirt would come in handy in the event. I got it from H&M and I love it!

Backyard at my grandparents:

Here is their lake (my dad took these photos):

Here is an inside shot (from left to right: my cousin Travis, my grandma's cousin and her husband, my grandma and my grandpa)


This one is at Serpent Lake near my Aunt Kris's house:

Sadly, I just realized I don't have the pictures we took of the whole family out by the lake. So this is it. The trip home, we drove to Nebraska the first day and then Jared and I got dropped off in Denver on Saturday. We flew back to Salt Lake and are now in Provo with the kids for the rest of the summer. Good to be caught up!