Joys in July

July was filled with meeting up with friends, off-roading, pickleball, watering the garden, and painting.  Fun times!

Sweet friends and sweet treats!

Great views at an ATV park in southern Indiana

Check out that sky!

These girls have become quite the artists!

Scott tended to his garden every day. 

The girls practiced pickleball in hopes of someday beating Grandpa & Grandma!:)

Scout discovered a random balloon on a walk and was very curious!

Devil's Tower & Angelic Friends:)

We were excited to visit with Lucas & Melinda in Wyoming.  They are such an amazing family, and it's always easy to pick up where we left off with them.  The girls even got to help bottle feed a calf and cuddle with new kittens.  (Sadly- I didn't take ANY pictures at their ranch.  What was I thinking?!)

We did get a picture at Devil's Tower before the rain started. 

We would all agree that overall, the trip was a success, and we had a fun week together.  

On the way home, the kids pulled out a list of trip predictions that they had made.  They awarded themselves with points for different things depending on whether or not their predictions came true.  Jon & I didn't know that they had done this, so it was comical to hear their predictions and actual results.  They bet on things like if we would actually leave the house on time the morning of the trip, which day of the trip Jon would need to honk the horn, how long we would drive before stopping for a rest area, which was the average floor number that we would stay on, etc.   Oh the memories!

Beside the Buffalo

At Custer State Park, we saw so many buffalo.  Thanks to a tip from a park ranger, we were able to head to where they were that day and were so impressed by their size and proximity to us!

Smile quickly boys and then get back in the vehicle!

We also hiked to the historic entrance of Jewel Cave.

Such pretty vistas and countryside!

Mt. Rushmore Then & Now

We had a great time visiting Mt. Rushmore and are always impressed with how this was made. 

The kids humored me again and wore matching shirts to recreate a photo from 7 years ago. 

2016:

2023:

 Our babies are growing up!:)

Bear Country USA & Black Elk Peak

Bear Country USA was VERY cool.  I would highly recommend visiting.  It's an exciting drive through wildlife park with so many amazing animals.  

Throughout the park, there were signs to keep your windows rolled up.  However, to get a better picture sometimes the rebels in our van would lower the windows for a bit.  This made the rule followers in the van very uncomfortable.  :) 

The animals seemed very active as it was a cooler day.  It wasn't overly crowded and the workers even let us drive the entire loop again. 

At the end of the loop, they have baby bear cubs in a zoo-like setting.  They were adorable and incredibly playful. 

I would definitely go back again!

In the afternoon, we split up for a bit.  The girls hit the pool and the boys hiked Black Elk Peak (the highest point in South Dakota). 

They made it to the top and have pictures to prove it!