Emptying My Nest

 We got back from Sioux Falls on Monday. By Tuesday, Megan put everything she ever owned into the back of the Suburban for the Big Move To BYU-I. Since we planned to leave early Wednesday morning for the Big Burg, we sensibly stayed up until midnight on Tuesday to finish one last project. 

 

 It's a cute picture board, which I'm sure will be filled with  pictures of Megan's favorite parentals.

I've got to say, after moving 5 kids out, I was surprised to see that Megan really didn't have a lot of stuff.  Some of my girls, like Ashley or Jessica, who will remain nameless, had at least twice this amount.  We could have fit all of Megan's things and still have invited ten hitchhikers into the back of the 'Burb. Megan, I'm impressed!

Megan is living in Tuscany apartments, about 2 blocks from campus. Here is the living room:

TV and DVD player, because all college students have lots of time on their hands to watch TV, right?

Dining room and kitchen.

Walk-in pantry. Megan gets the bottom shelf. You better forage for more food, Megan, or you're going to be hungry!

The hallway storage closet. Megan gets the second from bottom shelf this time.

There are two showers/toilets like this,

  

and two sinks, mirrors, and cabinets like this.

There are six girls per apartment, and each girl gets her own room.
Stop that Megan! Your face is going to get stuck that way!

Megan's desk. BYU I now requires all students to have a laptop. Having a lamp is optional.

The closet. I'm impressed all of Megan's clothes fit easily into the closet. As you can see, BYU I apartments are almost as roomy and luxurious as those BYU Deseret Towers dorm rooms Stan and I lived in.

Megan is already feeling at home. I think she'll love college. It only took her 24 hours to go on her first double date. That's double date as in she and two previously unknown young men went to the movies. Don't worry. Megan has assured me she isn't getting married for dozens of years.  If she studies half as hard as she socializes, Megan should have no problem at all getting a 4.0 gpa.

On Saturday, we took a guided where's-my-class tour of campus with our personal tour guide.

You can't help but notice how much BYU-I looks like BYU. They have the same endless construction projects,

and the same beautifully kept grounds with the same brick and glass style buildings.

 As I watched Megan walking around campus, it suddenly occurred to me: MEGAN'S NOT COMING HOME WITH ME!!! At the same time, my allergies kicked in and my eyes began to water.

 This realization caused me to self-medicate at the nearest Kiwi Loco

 and distract myself by focusing on cute grandkids-Brinlee-age 2 1/2 months,

 and Krew, 2 years old. Then it hit me: these two sweethearts will be grown and gone before their parents can catch their breath.

 That sad realization sent me back to Kiwi Loco for more therapy.

 Finally, it was time for the Last Supper before I drive home. Bajios, our old Traditional Last Supper Spot is gone, so we started a new tradition at Red Robin.

Then it struck me--there is no New Last Supper Tradition. I'm not going to be launching anymore kids off to college!

That new realization made me so sad, I felt compelled to take the girls and go to the mall.  Here's Aunt Jessica and Brinlee. Brinlee is proving you're never too young to love shopping.

 Ha! I bet you thought I was going to say I went for more self help and got ice cream. Okay, I wasn't going to tell you, but we did.  This time we tried Twizzleberry.

 It was a lonely drive home. When I got to the house, I found everything was just as I left it...

 other than a few small changes Stan and I have made to Megan's room. I'm sure Megan won't mind that we've re-purposed her space.

 You're probably wondering what in the world I'll have to blog about now that I can't pick on Megan. 

As soon as I get my darn eyes to stop watering, I'll show you!

Makayla Turns The Big Three

 Today I asked Makayla how old she is. She held up three fingers and said "TWO!". Makayla, remember what I told you. You don't have to fudge on your age until you add a zero after that three.

 We took a birthday trip to Chuck-E-Cheese with Amy and girls.  Amy is sporting a new accessory. She went to the doctor on Tuesday to deal with the swallowing problem she's having and mentioned in passing her sore wrist from a fall last week. The doctor was concerned enough to order an x-ray, which revealed a serious break.  Now Amy gets to wear a splint for a few weeks AND have that fun expanding surgery Uncle David just had. Amy has always been our medical child....

Our birthday visit to Chuck-E proved it is still a center of quality challenged pizza and overpriced fun. 

 But it was fun!

Not to mention that it's always good to provide your posterity with educational experiences.

After an hour and a half of concentrated efforts and the cost of a month's worth of groceries, Hailey and Makayla earned enough tickets to each purchase a quality slinky worth at least 10 cents.

We came home for some cake. I bought a dog-themed cake from Walmart, even though Makayla is terrified of dogs. I'm such a thoughtful Grandma.

Makayla pretended not to notice my insensitive choice.

After all, when you've blown out the candles, people let you open presents.

We bought her some big girl panties. Yup, that's a hint, Makayla.

We love you, Makayla! Hope you had a happy third birthday!

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".
a

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*