The state capital, fires, and some rivers

Pierre (pronounced Peer) is not really our favorite place to go. It's the oposite direction from where our dentists, doctors, and other things are, and it's not that pretty of a town, at least not compared to Spearfish. But for various reasons, we had to go there a few times this summer, and it wasn't too bad. Early in the summer we went there for our District Conference. After the meeting, we walked around the state capital building where they had some war memorials and a pretty pond with ducks and fish.

Another time, after our summer vacation, we went there to get our windshield repaired.




you can see most of the crack in this picture.



While the car was being fixed, we took the kids all to a riverside park, along the Missouri River. We hadn't planned on the heat that day though...108F! So after we ate our lunch, we relocated down by the water in hopes of keeping everyone cool. We didn't bring swimming suits, and I told the kids they could wade in up to their knees, but no farther. Yeah, that didn't last long.

we won't get wet, Mom!



Is it okay for me to sit in here? (This is when Eli had a broken collar bone, from Elora and Josh falling on him)




bridge between Fort Pierre and Pierre SD




How do I get out of here?


Everyone had a lot of fun, but Eli was getting tired and definitely ready to leave by the time we could go pick up our car. It was a long day for sure.
On the way home, we saw the smoke from a big crop fire not too far away! So that was exciting.

There were a lot of fires this summer with the heat and dryness, so we were lucky none were too close to us.  Well, a few were, but they were resolved quickly. These two photos were taken the same day, in different directions, both from our home.




Laborday weekend, we decided to go visit another river that isn't too far from us: the Cheyenne. This isn't nearly as big as the Missouri, at least not where we went to view it. The water was dirty and the ground was too rocky to make wading very comfortable.

there were old bird nests all over under the bridge

We probably would have left sooner than we did, except for all the cool rocks littering the ground around the river.



we found this baby there too.



Right away Elora found a really neat fossil, (what do you think it is?)



and we found several more rocks with embedded seashells and the like. It was pretty fun! But I still haven't found my own trilobite, one of my life's dreams. Ah well, maybe someday.

cheating a little: one year photos

   So I've been meaning to get out and take some cute one-year-old pictures of Eli. But the time of day never seems right, or he doesn't feel good, or I can't think of a really unique place to go (because really,. I think we've about exhausted our scenery possibilites here).

   So I thought about using one of the handful of outside photos I took on his birthday. He didn't have a super huge smile in either of them, and there wasn't any beautiful lighting or breathtaking scenery. But the colors were nice, he was looking at the camera, and dang was it hard to get him to sit stll just for that few seconds! Plus, it was actually taken on his birthday so it was a true snapshot of him at age one.
   I remembered this cool idea I saw on pinterest that would work perfectly for this photo too. Basically, you pose the kid against a wall or another blank space, then you write a bunch of facts about their personality or things they've done that year. I don't want to do this idea every year, but I think I might do it at least once for each of my kids. I figure I'll take some more, nicer pictures of Eli for his smaller wall photos in a few months, when he can stand better and I have a better idea of where to take them. Meanwhile, this will be his lovely 8x10. I've already thought of a few more words I might want to include (I might need to mention that he gives big hugs) but this is basically how it will look.
I did like his facial expression a little better in the other picture I took, but the way he was sitting in the frame just didn't work for this idea.
In these three versions, I've only changed the texture of the background. Which one do you like best: lighter, darker, or more vivid blue? Is it hard to read the orange?













Milestone

(note: for some reason my spell check hasn't been coming on recently, so sorry if there is any atrocious spelling in this post.)

There are a few birthdays that are usually recorded as milestones in our culture: 16 in America is a coming of age party; in Hispanic countries it's your Qinceanera at age 15. When you turn 21 you are finally an adult in everyone's eyes, even though you graduate from high school and can vote several years before that.
 Of course one of the most celebrated birthdays is the very first one. This probably goes back to times when a great many children didn't live to see their first year; taking a stroll in any older cemetery will attest to this sad tale. Today there are still many children in the world who don't make it this far, and I am very grateful that all of mine have.

For Elora, this historic day happened in 2006,



For me?



for Josh it was 2008. (look, his picture in the side bar is doing the same thing!)



Jonah reached this big day in 2010, shortly before we moved here.



 And now little Elijah has joined the ranks, reaching his big day at the very end of August, despite having no teeth yet! (But hey, at least he's walked a few times!)




And he had a great day! Well, okay, most of the day was pretty regular. Mommy tried to take a few pictures,


just sit here you say?





yeah right!



which he would have none of.



I'm outa here



But in the morning he got a muffin that wasn't broken into small pieces first, so that was cool.



What the heck is on that muffin?




Oh, I get to eat this whole thing?




Cool.



Then he got to pick at a big cake before everyone else,

and even got his own big piece...on a plate which he'd never had before.

The plate was almost more exciting than the cake! Almost, but not quite.

You don't need teeth for this cake!

And not quite as cool as the cake, but he got some of his very own presents as well, from Grandma and mom and dad.



woah, I could put this to good use!





Oh my gosh do I get to keep this! It giggles by itself, that's so freaking funny!





Wait, Jonah, what do you mean you want me to give this kitty to you?



All in all, it was a pretty good day.