Cedar Rapids, SD

Day 2:

After a great night's sleep in Cedar Rapids, we decided to explore the local area. We started with a chuck wagon breakfast at Fort Hayes, which is just outside of Cedar Rapids. It's also the site where they filmed parts of Dances With Wolves. Part of the set is there. While we ate our breakfast, since it was Sunday, they had some country gospel artist at the restaurant to entertain us. She was only 15 years old and quite talented. After breakfast we walked around Fort Hayes.

This is Braxton standing in the room where Kevin Costner got his orders. Braxton is standing on an "X" on the floor which was a mark for Kevin Costner to stand on.

Braxton learning how to make a rope. The man who taught him how to make it was very entertaining and had a lot of stories to tell.

Finishing the rope. Doesn't Braxton look excited. :)

Braxton with his finished product.

After Fort Hayes, we drove down the street the Reptile Gardens, which was the highlight of the day. We went to the Gator Show, the Snake Show and played with Giant Tortoises.

Gator wrestling

Snake in a tree

Braxton petting the baby gator

Emma not petting the gator. She enjoyed the snakes show a lot more than the gators

Braxton and one of the giant tortoises. They love to be scratched on their necks.

Braxton and the prairie dogs. They were everywhere.

Prairie dogs

After Reptile Gardens, we went to Cosmos. I can't really explain what Cosmos is, the gravity there is all messed up. The pictures do not do it justice. It's a strange place that needs to be experienced. We had a blast. I don't know if you can tell in the pictures, since I wasn't able to stand up straight, but everyone is slanted. Very weird, but very fun to watch your kids try to walk. ( www.cosmosmysteryarea.com)

We drove down to Hot Springs, SD and spent the night. The kids were excited that they had their own room with bunk beds.

But of course, they fell asleep in our bed while watching a movie, so Ryan slept on the bottom bed and I squeezed in with the kids.

Mammoth and Rushmore

Day 3:

We started the day in Hot Springs, SD at the Mammoth Site (http://www.mammothsite.com). It is the world largest mammoth dig site and research center. It was pretty impressive. They have uncovered mammoth bones and fossils. We had a great time there and learned a lot. The mammoths always make me think of The Flintstones.

Ryan and Braxton with some mammoth bones

Braxton and Emma in front of the mammoth bone tent

Mammoth Bones

After the Mammoth Site, we went to Evan's Plunge which is an indoor swimming pool where the water comes from a natural hot spring. The water is always 87 degrees. I forgot to bring my camera in, so I have no pictures. They did have a water slide there that Braxton said was the best water slide he has ever been on. It was pretty fun. www.evansplunge.com

We left Hot Springs, SD and made our way to Keystone, SD, home of Mount Rushmore. We checked into our hotel and then had dinner at a local restaurant that served Buffalo roast. It was Memorial Day and we had heard that they do a small program there in the evening. So, we decided to wait until later in the day to go.

Us in front of the Avenue of Flags

Emma enjoying a stroll

I still don't really understand why President Roosevelt is on there

At dusk

They had a flag ceremony and had all the veterans and current service men and women come down to the stage. It was very touching. Made my husband proud to be an American and me proud to be married to one. Actually made me proud to call America my adopted home.

Service men and women,

Crazy Horse and Trip Home

The last day of our vacation was the icing on the cake. It was a great trip, but Tuesday was by far our favorite day. We spent the morning at the Crazy Horse Memorial. It is a work in progress, it will probably not be completed in my lifetime, but there is hope that maybe Braxton and Emma will see it completed with their children and grandchildren. It took 50 years for the face to be completed. The whole memorial is funded by donations and it is amazing. Dyno Nobel (where Ryan works) is helping with the blasting of the monument, so we were able to get a special tour. They only let the general public on the monument once a year which is usually Father's Day weekend, but we were able to walk out on Crazy Horse's arm and see his face up close. When we first walked out in the arm. All I can say is beginning that close to the face was almost overwhelming, I can't really describe it, but it was incredible.

View from the van

Us in front the model

Those little people are Ryan and the kids

Us

If you ever take a trip to South Dakota, be sure and see Mount Rushmore before you Crazy Horse. Mount Rushmore is impressive, but just to give you an idea of how huge Crazy Horse is, all four faces of Mount Rushmore can fit in Crazy Horse's head. If was another successful Brophy Family Road Trip. We still haven't planned where we will be going next year. Since it's an odd year, we may be heading to the beach.

Lego Beat It

I had this posted on my blog a while back and then it was taken off of YouTube for copyrights reasons. It's on there again, so hopefully we can enjoy it for a little while longer.

Fare Thee Well Third Grade

Today at 11:30 am, my Braxton was no longer a 3rd grader. I cannot believe how fast the year flew by, I remember the first day of 3rd grade like it was yesterday. I am so proud of him. Moving to Colorado was probably a bigger adjustment for him than any one else in our family, but he has done really well. He made some great friends and I think he now feels like Rice Elementary is his school. He even said to me while we were walking home that he wishes we were still going to be here for 5th grade.

I love summer vacation. I am a selfish mom and like the fact that I don't have to share my son with the school. We have a lot of great things planned for the summer. Swimming lessons start next week, we leave for South Dakota tomorrow for a fun trip, we have a couple of trips planned to Utah and then we go to Nova Scotia in July for almost three weeks.

Braxton and his teacher, Mrs. Foster. She is wonderful!!!

Braxton and Miss Phillips. Miss Phillips was the student teacher in Braxton's class. She graduated this month and will be teaching kindergarten in Littleton in the fall. We love Miss Phillips and know she will be an awesome kindergarten teacher. This is Braxton's principal, Mrs. Koehn. While we were taking this pictures, she was trying to track down some students who took the bus but their dad had come to pick them up. A principal's work is never done, I suppose.

If April Showers Bring May Flowers, What Does May Hail Bring?

In the past week, we have been under two tornado watches and actually had a tornado warning this afternoon. Storms roll in really quickly around here and it's kind of fun to watch the clouds roll in. This evening, Mother Nature treated us to a really cool hail storm.

Dear Mother Nature,

Thank you very much for such a beautiful day!!!

Momsense

I am sure you have all seen this before, but I love it. Don't forget about your moms this weekend. Don't forget about all those wonderful women who have a Mother Heart.

Tundra Biome

A few weeks ago, we received an email from Braxton's teacher letting us know that the kids had an at-home-project to do. They had to do a shoebox biome. They had to include a body of water, 3 plants and a food chain and any extras they could think of. Braxton chose the Arctic Tundra, which didn't surprise me because he did a project in 2nd grade on Polar Bears and was really interested in them. So, off to the Hobby Lobby we went to pick up some supplies. He chose the Arctic Willow, Cotton Grass and Arctic Moss as his plants, the Arctic Ocean for his body of water, and Arctic Cod, Ring Seal and Polar Bear as his food chain. He also made Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) out of clay and he glued them to the sky. I was in charge of the hot glue gun, I burned my fingers a few times, but it was so worth it. I think it turned out great. He got a 4/4, which is also known as a "WOW".