Black Hills Vacation

Summer has gone by in a flash!!  We did so many things, and I haven't kept up with the blog at all.  So I am going to try to catch up!

We went to the Black Hills for a week at the very beginning of June.  We won a silent auction item which included different places to stay and different things to do.  It was a different kind of Black Hills vacation than we usually do, but still lots of fun!

Downtown Deadwood and the chainsaw sculptures:

Hike to the Devil's Bathtub:

Dinner afterwards, which we got for half price because our waiter forgot about us for 45 minutes.  

(Z: "Ryan is my spirit animal.")

Custer State Park:

Jeep ride in Custer:

Mt. Rushmore:

Reptile Gardens.  The snake show was fantastic!  (The rest, not so much.)

Girl + Ducks

 

My Mother's Day Loot

 Well, the family definitely came through for Mother's Day.  I got the day to myself, dessert with everyone at a local restaurant, and presents!

From Lisa

From Nathan

From Z

From Eden

They all know exactly what I like!

Brio and Jazz Ensemble

 This year Z has been part of two musical groups, both of which can be joined by audition only.  Brio is an orchestra group (Z plays the cello) and Jazz Ensemble is for brass instruments (Z plays the euphonium).  Both these groups practice weekly before school, and Z has been very faithful in attending and participating.  Unfortunately, because of covid they have not been able to have their usual round of concerts.  However, last week they were finally allowed to have one public performance with a limited audience.  So I got to go and see Z perform and it was so fun!  Z has turned into a fun and happy musician who clearly loves playing with a group.  Brio was lovely, but it was clear that Z really loves Jazz Ensemble.  What a good time we all had!  It made me so sorry that there hadn't been other concerts, but also really thankful that I got to see at least one.

Here are a few videos.  They are terrible, but they're all I've got.

Easter

 We took a little trip to Redwood Falls to celebrate Easter.  We all agreed it was kind of a strange little trip, but fun nonetheless.  The hotel was very smoky.  Redwood Falls itself is kind of a ghost town, but the Falls are beautiful.  And New Ulm is as quirky as ever . . . with really good food!

The Glockenspiel

The Minnesota River

The map

The falls

Easter itself was lovely -- gorgeous day, tons of candy and food, and wonderful people!

Rosen Shingle Creek

 We spent our last night in Florida at Rosen Shingle Creek Hotel.  We've stayed here a couple of other times and thoroughly enjoyed it, and we weren't disappointed this time, either.  We started out with a swim in the completely empty pools and then a dip in the hot tub.  Then we went for a walk around the property, which is over 200 acres and includes a small refuge for birds.  After that we had supper at NYPD Pizza, which is across the street and just about he best pizza we've ever had.  A little tv, and then bed, because we had to be at the airport super early the next morning.  We miss you, Florida!

This is a re-creation of a picture I took of Z last time we were at this hotel.  You can see it here.

We found this super cool cocoon that seemed to be made of little tiny sticks -- just like a little log cabin!

Z pretending to be on the verge of collapse.  At least I got a hug out of it!

There were a bunch of birds behind Eden, which I was trying to get in the picture.  But they're hard to see.

There are dozens of big birds in this tree, but again, hard to see.