Big Trip, Hot Springs State Park

We spent the night in Thermopolis, WY and went to Hot Springs State Park. One of the guests at the (weird! old!) hotel we stayed at said it was like a mini Yellowstone & he was right - lots of cool geographic features (but tiny!) Here  is James on the boardwalk. 

And Sam in front of a cool feature: 

There was an old bridge: 

We all sat in the (somewhat smelly?) natural hotspring at the hotel. 

Sam & the big kids went to the movies in town while Leah & I stayed back & swam in the (outdoor) (cold) hotel pool, but the power went out! It was out at the hotel (which was especially creepy in the hallway) & at the movies, too, so eventually they came home without finishing the show. Here's an example of James making the weird face he tried to make in almost every photo. And you can see the realistic bat puppet. 

Here's James just sitting in the front seat of the van. He didn't actually get to ride in the front seat. Ha! 

And this one was a lookout before we got to Thermopolis: 

Jim Birthday Interview

Tween Birthday Interview

James is (probably!) now going by Jim. He turned 12! Now he can ride in the front seat of the car! It wasn't as glorious as he was expecting, though. For his birthday meals, he chose Taco Bell breakfast, Chinese takeout lunch, and to go out to eat at Love Sushi for supper. 

He and Sam and I had sushi rolls - and Sam got a flaming one. The girls had teriyaki chicken, and James tried a Ramune, which I'd never hear of & according to google is "a Japanese carbonated soft drink that comes in a distinctive Codd-neck bottle sealed with a marble instead of a cap." 

He asked for several small musical instruments (only one of which is already broken): an ocarina, a stylophone, a melodica, a good kazoo, a den den diako, a guiro, a lyre harp. He'd like to have a sleepover with a few boys from school but scheduling is vexing. He was somewhat cooperative with the annual birthday interview: 

1. How old are you? 11. No really. 11. 13. Did you just write 12? You better not have written 12. 
2. What is your favorite color? Green
3. What's your favorite possession? The stylophone 
4. What is your favorite game? Monopoly 
5. What is your favorite song? I don't know. What is one of your favorite songs? No. Do you have a favorite band? Yes. Who is it?  I like the band AJJ. Who did you go see in Concert Last night? Mother Mother. We could not see at all. Every single person over 6 feet tall was in the front row. I needed booster shoes things. 
6. Do you  have a favorite animal? An armadillo lizard. Do you agree that it is quite cute? 
   
   
   
   
   
7. What is your favorite book? Phoebe and Her Unicorn
8. What is your favorite movie? Scott Pilgrim 
9. What is your favorite TV show? The Office 
10. What is your favorite thing to eat? Spring Rolls
11. Where is your favorite place to go? My mom will never take me, but Hong Kong Market
12. Who is your best friend? I don't think I have a best friend. Who are some of your good friends? Grover, Jamarion, Donovan and Orion and stuff.
13. What is something you learned last year?  How to multiply and do lattice and be smarter than my mom because she doesn't know lattice.
    
    
    
    
    
14. What is something you'll learn now that you're 12 (or this year in 6th grade)? Trombone
15. What is your favorite subject at school? Theatrical Production 
16. Who is your favorite teacher this year? Ms. Cara That's her first name! Ms. Carter. That's my drama club teacher.
17. What is something that is hard for you to do?  Talk to mom because she's so difficult all the time. Gosh. 
18. What is your favorite thing to do? Not talk to mom. And go to Hong Kong Market. And make crab rangoons. Can we make crab rangoons for lunch? 
19. What is your favorite thing to do with friends? Go to Hong Kong Market
20. What do you like about Me (Mom)? Thank you for in the future for taking me to Hong Kong Market. 
21. What do you like about Dad? He does not sit on me, or scream. I appreciate that every day when I wake up. That he does not sit on me. 
22. What do you like about Amelie? She is very nerdy. Is that something nice? YES IT IS. It is quite nice. We share common interests but we both team up on the parents. 
23. What do you like about Leah? She stands her ground. She's always willing to do group Halloween costumes. 
24. What do you like about yourself? I can convince the parents to go to Hong Kong Market. We can find all the ingredients to make crab rangoons there, and Ramune. You haven't even had Ramune! 
25. What do you want to be when you grow up? I have different jobs that I want. Like what? So I want to work at Hong Kong Market, but I'll probably work at Jimmy Johns when I am 16. All of my friends are going to work one fast food place. All of my bandmates are going to have an apartment together and we'll quit Jimmy Johns when we get famous. What about when you are grown up? An accountant. 

Here's the link to last year: https://babybuffaloe.blogspot.com/2023/09/james-birthday-interview.html

Big Trip, Mount Rushmore

Mount Rushmore was a lot of fun. The weather was great (this was true of the whole trip!) and it wasn't too crowded (also true of basically the whole trip!)

We have a couple of future presidents: 

When we got back & were telling Grandma Doris about the trip, she mentioned that they'd kept track of everything they spent when she & Grandpa Leroy & Tara & Kerry took their RV on a big road trip, even "5 cents for ice cream." Here we are with our $8 Thomas-Jefferson-recipe ice creams. (They were quite good, and quite large, as I guess they'd better be for $8!!) Leah managed to lose a tooth eating hers. There were least chipmunks running around outside looking for crumbs. 

Proof of the not-crowded-ness: 

We watched the video about the carving of the mountain & it was quite fascinating how they planned out & translated the model to the actual cliff face - a pretty low-tech solution. It took 14 years, 400 workers (poorly paid for dangerous work) and $1 million dollars. I didn't realize that the rocks down in front were just the debris from the dynamite as they were carving, either. 

James visited the gift shop & got a VERY realistic bat finger puppet. 

 

Big Trip, the Badlands

The Badlands was our first national park & it was very, very cool. 

Leah kept asking for her photo to be taken in various locations & poses: 

Sam took a lot of nature photography: 

I wore my hat: 

Amelie wore Sam's hat. We went on a short, kid-friendly trail & also another hike that had us go from post to post. 

The kids could climb around on parts of it. 

There was another lookout that didn't seem too safe without a railing, so the kids lay down to look over! Doesn't look quite as dangerous from this angle, though: 

We randomly ran into friends from college - Kara & Dan Smith - on their family vacation. We'd gone for a drive & stopped at a picnic area (so the kids could climb around some more) and there they were! They came to the sunset lookout point where we were, too, but we failed & didn't get a selfie together. 

It was very beautiful! And a little cool! You see Leah & Amelie are in their blankets in the photo above.  

There was a sign saying the prairie dogs carried bubonic plague. But they were very cute - and there were a lot of them! They make chirping noises. 

Leah posing in Wall Drug in Wall, South Dakota. We visited the Badlands 2 days, but stayed the night at a hotel in Wall in between. There was a tour bus of Amish/Mennonite people staying at the hotel, who we also saw at Wall Drug. Several of them traipsed by to look at us swimming in the pool! The kids swam both days in the indoor & outdoor pools - I got in but it was too cold!

Mountain goats - there were some perched on nearly 90 degree cliffsides. 

This bison was RIGHT BY our van. We took the photo right out the window of the stopped vehicle. 

I had to be restrained from buying all the buffalo-related knickknacks (I did get some!) James picked up this magnet: