Having A Ball In Sioux Falls!

We spent our Labor Day weekend making a quick trip to visit our favorite South Dakota people.

Kailyn was baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday. Isn't she a beautiful, grown-up girl?

Caden, age 4

Ava, age 5 months. Shelly and Ken claim Ava is a cranky night owl. I find that hard to believe-she's such a sweetheart during the day.

Jordan, age 6

Chase, age 2.

Here we are with Kailyn, right before her baptism.

Kailyn and her grandparents. It was fun to all be together.

Megan was wildly popular with the Bassett kids. She even watched Word Girl with them. Megan can now read all kinds of new words.

We spent Saturday afternoon exploring the falls of Sioux Falls.

There was a gorgeous, large park you could wander around,

play in the slime,

and (oops!) fall in.

Jordan and Kailyn had fun climbing down the cliffs.

We eventually ended up at the cafe/ice cream shop, where Ava found us this steal of a deal: if you buy one meal for the price of two meals, you get a second meal totally free! Wow! These South Dakotans know how to reel you in!

The kids, surprisingly enough,  chose a rainbow ice cream

which will hopefully fade before Jordan's first prom.

Next we went to a science park. Can I just say that South Dakota knows how to make communities attractive for families? Here Megan shows her entourage how to make a human sundial. 

 There were swings and

things to climb on.

Ava may look like she's having fun with Dad, but ignore that happy face.

I know she was terrified to be flying so high, despite her joyous giggle.

We also drove by Ken's hospital. Okay, technically it's not Ken's hospital, he just works here.

This is the children's wing of Ken's hospital. Okay, once again, I know it's not exactly Ken's hospital, but if Ken were going to own a hospital, I vote for this one.

After church on Sunday and lunch together, we headed homeward.  Along the way we stopped at the Dakota Badlands.

We also made a quick stop at the famous Wall Drug Store.

We spent the night in Rapid City, and got up this morning to visit the Presidents.

Megan is suppose to look like she's holding up the mountain, but once again my technical skills were AWOL and I just made Megan look like a Price is Right model.

I found this warning in the Rushmore bathroom. Darn. Now I have to take my rocks home dirty.

 We also stopped to visit this monument to Crazy Horse, which has been in the works for 63 years. It was a big disappointment.  Not only was it expensive to get in, but only about 10 percent is done (eventually he will be riding a horse) and the viewing spot was about a mile away unless you wanted to pay even more money to take a bus and get a little closer.

Of course, no visit to Rapid City is complete without a stop at the eerie and weird "Cosmos House".
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Megan demonstrated the mysterious force.

We stopped by Reptile Gardens so that Megan could pet the turtle she rode on 17 years ago.  She thought it had shrunk a bit. We also saw the bird show, snake show, and alligator wrestling.

We knew it was time to go home when we found Megan inappropriately flirting with the locals...

We will spend tomorrow packing up, then on to Idaho. *Sniff*

Shelly Gets Really, Seriously Old

Shelly was my toughest baby. She frequently walked around covered with bruises, like you see on her head in this picture of Shelly at 14 months. Shelly was always very physically active, and climbing was her specialty. Shelly was walking well at 8 months 3 weeks old, and no fall or injury ever slowed her down.

Shelly was a sweet little girl. She didn't talk in sentences until well past four years old. Just between you and me, I worried that she wasn't that bright. She pretty much spent the rest of her life proving that theory wrong.

 Shelly age 3

I think one of the reasons she was so slow to talk was because she always had her thumb in her mouth. She was also our only "blankie" baby. She became firmly attached to this blanket Aunt Angie made for Scott, with cowboys and Indians on the reverse side.  Finally, after 4 years of Shelly's nonstop thumb-sucking, I promised her a care bear if she gave up her blankie and thumb and she caved.

Shelly, age 4.

Shelly loved dressing up when she was little. I made all of her dresses, and she always asked me to make sure they were "twirl dresses".

Shelly, age 4

 Because Shelly was so slow to talk, and because she has such a late birthday, we made the decision to hold her out of Kindergarten for a year.  I'm not sure she always appreciated being older, but it made things nice for dating, driving, and being tall for basketball.

Shelly, age 5

Shelly is the perfect oldest sister.  No one was more patient with her siblings or more helpful to her busy mom.

Shelly, age 9, Amy, age 5, Jessica, age 2

Shelly was 10 when Ashley was born. Ashley usually preferred Shelly to me. Ashley would call for mom, and when I would respond, she'd say "No, my Other Mommy!' I was okay with letting Shelly be her other mom.

Shelly, 10 and Ashley 6 months 

Shelly came of age during the big bang era of fashion.  Let me apologize now, Shelly, for all of those years of huge bangs on the top of your head.

Shelly, age 10

Shelly often had long, long hair until around high school graduation, when she let someone chop it off at the graduation party. When she went off to college, it wasn't unusual for me to get email updates from Shelly at 1:30 am saying "I got tried of my hair and cut it myself.". I was pretty sure she'd be bald before college was over.

 Shelly, age 11

Shelly loved to play sports. She did sports year round in high school.  She was particularly good at basketball. She was the starting center on Skyview basketball team.

 Shelly, age 13

What can I say? Shelly is a perfect daughter--cute,  high school valedictorian, good at sports, kind to her siblings and friends, never got into trouble, and always very motivated. She really has been a joy to have in our family.

Shelly, age 15

 Shelly, you are easy to love.

Shelly, age 17, Megan age 2 

Have a wonderful 31st birthday!

Shelly, age 18