Medora Camping Trip

We went to Medora for the weekend.  We left on Friday after Farmers Market and came home on Sunday.  It was a lot of fun!  We spent time walking around town.  John and Olue played at two playgrounds.  We drove through the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  We even went out to eat a few times.  It was a great weekend and we plan to go back to Medora every year.  We hope to go to the musical next year (when the kids are older).

Lu playing in the dirt at the camp site.  The badlands have dusty/sandy dirt (not much for topsoil).  There isn't much for green grass out there!

Christine, John, Olue, and Cedar at the campground with the Little Missouri behind us and a large bluff rising on the other side of the river.

Christine, Lu and Cedar with the Bad Lands in the background.

Josh & Lu....Olue got really into the dirt.  She landed face first and got a mouthful.  She started to cry, but the tears dried fast as Daddy picked her up and wiped her clean.

Lu loves Cedar

I think the fire looks really cool here.

Johnny swinging in the Old Town Medora Playground.

Lu liked the swings too.

John & Dad on the bridge leading to the slide or "Whee!"

Playground Fun!

"Whee!"

Mommy & Johnny...The playground was one of his favorites, the other was the Prairie Dog Town.

Bison in Theodore Roosevelt National Park

John & Mom

John & Mom in the Park

Bad Lands

Beautiful

"Careful Johnny!"

Lu & Mommy

Family Photo

Looking out at the scenery

Driving through the park

Daddy & Johnny

What a view!

Bison dusting himself

Bison herd...We had to wait while they crossed the road.  It was pretty cool seeing them that close up.  They are very big!

Lu & Mom on the Buggy Ride

Johnny watching the Drivers and Horses

Lu, Mom & John after wwe took a buggy ride around Medora.

Elk

John & the Prairie Dogs.  We had about 30 minutes to sit at the Prairie Dog town in the Park before we had to head home on Sunday.  John loved watching these cute little dogs.

We got really close to a few of the prairie dogs.

John & Mom scoping out the Prairie Dog Town.

John getting up close to a Bison

My Little Cuties

John and Olue are just so cute!  I can now give them a bath at the same time (since Lu can now sit up well in the tub).  They were both very dirty when we got inside tonight.  Lu had her first taste of dirt in the garden tonight while we were digging carrots, and I accidentally dropped some dirt on John's head while we were tossing cabbage plants into the chicken pen....So both kids needed a bath tonight.

Olue is crawling around.  She doesn't look very fast when you're watching her, but when you turn away she seems to get into the "naughty" places very quick.  Some of her "secret spots" she likes to crawl to when Mom's not watching are...My lilly plant, the garbage can in the bathroom, and a tear spot on the wallpaper in the dining room that Johnny started to tear off a while back.  We hope to remove the wallpaper and carpet in the dining room this winter, and I know she's just trying to help, but I don't want her to eat it!  She puts everything in her mouth.  I keep her busy when we're in the gardens, by giving her vegetables to suck on and play with, like carrots, beans, beets.  She loves them!  She just loves being outside.  If its past bedtime, naptime, or lunchtime, she doesn't realize it until the minute we step inside the house.  She is just so happy sitting on a blacket playing with a toy and watching Johnny, Cedar, and the kitties.

John loves to talk.  He likes it when I sing to him.  He has names for songs that I sing, like "Sky Blue", "Clifford", "Go Go", and "Happy Beetah" (birthday).  He likes to sing the happy birthday song, and we have to sing it for Lu Lu.  (Maybe because Lu Lu rhymes and sounds better than John???  I don't know, but it always has to be for Lu.:)  He likes to tell me what he's doing, what Lu's doing, what he wants to eat, how Daddy gets to work, and like a good big bother, he tells me when his little sister is doing something she's not supposed to..."Lu Lu Naughty!"  Here are some of his common phrases:

• "Lu Cryin"
• "Mommy Eat" (When he wants me to eat something.  He never wants to eat breakfast by himself.  I always have to eat with him, even if I'd already eaten with Josh.)
• "Gedar, Home?" (When we're at the church, which has been a lot lately, he wants to go home and play with Cedar.  He might also think that home means outside-not sure why.)
• "Reesins" - raisins
• "Cracker"  He always asks Mary Lou (at the church) for a cracker.
• "Johnny, we're going to the church today."  "MairLu?" (Mary Lou) "Yep, we'll see Mary Lou."  "Mac?" (Max - our friends' dog...they watch John sometimes.)  "No, John, we're not going to see Max"
• "Ball Sky?!" - He always wants us to throw the ball in the sky.
• "Kitty Owee" - He got a bad kitty scratch in his hand last week.  It's healing really well, but he still needs to tell me about it multiple times a day:)
• "Showeree" - shower
• "Shooee" - shoes
• "Car Shirt" - He's usually upset when I take off his Cars pj shirt in the morning.
• "Nigh Nigh TenT" - He really liked camping.
• "Fishin, Go Fishin, Peese" - He loves fishing and playing in the water at the lake.  He thinks that if he says please, we'll do whatever he asks.  It's so cute!
• "Bee!  Football?" - He likes watching football on tv with his Daddy.

"Car-Cow Accident"

Josh is "on call" tonight for the New Salem volunteer ambulance.  Some of the calls are, well, interesting.  We just heard his pager beep, followed by.... "Attention New Salem Fire and Ambulance; Attention New Salem Fire and Ambulance  we have a report of a car hitting a cow.  The reporting party says she is unable to get out of the car......We have a report of a Car-Cow Accident..." 

We both snickered.  Josh said, "Well, this should be interesting," and off he was in the ambulance.

Only in North Dakota, and only at the home of the "Holsteins" and "New Salem Sue".

Lake Sakakawea State Park Camping Trip

Camping

We took our first Camping trip with the kids last weekend (Thursday night-Sunday morning).  We had a lot of fun at Lake Sakakawea State Park.  Josh bought a new tent and nice air mattress for the trip.  We had so much fun, that we decided to go camping in Medora this weekend.

Campsite

Setting up the tent

 John really liked playing in the "TenT". (He emphasizes the last t when he says tent.  It's so cute!)

Lu Lu liked playing in the tent too

Garrison Dam

 We could see the Garrison Dam from our campsite.  Josh enjoyed using the word dam throughout the weekend.  For example, he liked eating the "Dam Fish".  His jokes went on and on...:)

Lu loved playing outside on her blanket.

Johnny with his hood up.

Sitting by the campfire

Making pancakes for breakfast on Friday.

 As you can see, there wasn't any campers in sight the first day (only within sound distance...).  That soon changed.  Every campsite was filled by Saturday.
Sound....Thursday night, we heard loud music til 2am, when I couldn't stand it anymore and had Josh call the county sheriff.  They contacted the Park Ranger and he made the loud/drunk camping couple go to bed.  The ranger felt bad that they had kept us up.  He told us the next day that they wouldn't bother us again, because they were getting kicked out as soon as they were up and sober.

Johnny by the lake a fishing spot that Josh caught a Drum.

Josh & his Drum.  What a weird looking fish!

Josh fishing by our campsite.  John and Mom played in the water, skipping and throwing rocks while Daddy fished.

Small Mouth Bass we ate for supper.

The playground was one of Johnny's favorites of the trip!

Smiley Lu

John & Lu

Josh starting Friday night's campfire.

 Our fire wood was damp from a rainstorm at home.  We bought a few bundles of dry wood to start the rest of our fires for the weekend.

Josh cooking up the fish

Frog Bellies

Johnny LOVES frog bellies!

What a cutie sleeping in the tent!

Mom and Lu.  Lu's having a late night snack.

Josh & Lu cooking french toast for breakfast on Saturday

Johnny enjoying the french toast.

John, Josh, and Olue swimming by our campsite.

 We tried to go swimming on Saturday, but the wind/waves were pushing all the sediments up to the beach making the water really muddy.  The lake was very flooded early this summer...So much that they had to open the spillway gates in the dam (never b/4 opened).  The water has gone down a lot (they closed the spillway gates the day before we arrived), but the water is kind of dirty from all the topsoil that washed into it.  There were a lot of campsites unavailable because they had been underwater earlier.

Josh caught a Northern at this fishing spot.

Johnny

 This was the best fishing spot, but the hardest to get to.  John enjoyed throwing scorio rock into the lake while Cedar splashed into the water after the rocks.  Johnny giggled so hard at his puppy.  It was so cute!

Back at the good fishing spot, but with 2 very tired babies!

Lu sucking on a cracker.

 I've tried to give Olue some Baby cereal, but she doesn't like it.  She does like to suck on big people food (like beans and crackers).  She gets made when we have to take the small pieces away (because she's choking/gagging on them).

Johnny & Lu going "Nigh Nigh" together in John's bed with their footballs.

Josh has started watching preseason football games and Johnny just loves them!  I can't believe how much he likes football...  "Go Go Go!"