Dickinson, North Dakota

While Daddy got up and went to work at 5 a.m., we tried to sleep a little later and explore Dickinson. Our hotel had the best complimentary breakfast so we ate there every morning. Some mornings provided other diners with a little extra noise, but for the most part everyone behaved.

After breakfast we would go back up to our room and get ready for the day. Our first explorations led us to a Catholic cemetery about 20 miles away. The first burial I found in this cemetery was 1898, so it was an older cemetery. Plus, many of the people buried there were born in Hungary or Germany. Several headstones were in German, so with the help of the Internet I was able to interpret some of those; I thought that was pretty cool. We took the wagon and I just pulled the kids right along behind me as I took photographs.

The first day we headed out to this cemetery I noticed advertisements for "Enchanted Highway." It touted the World's Largest Metal Sculptures. I am so glad we decided to check "Enchanted Highway" out! There were about 8 giant metal sculptures and they were so neat! Riley loved this part.

'Birds in Flight'

This is the first sculpture we saw and it's located right on the Interstate. It was probably the biggest. You can barely see Riley and Ella at the bottom. Nolan was asleep. 

Deer Crossing

Grasshoppers in the Field

Fisherman's Dream

Pheasants on the Prairie

Teddy Rides Again

The Tin Family

Whirly Gigs

Dickinson is also home to a dinosaur museum. Riley was really excited about seeing the dinosaur bones. There was a real triceratops skull. It was pretty good!

Sunday was Henry's only day off the whole time we were in Dickinson. Twenty miles west is the town of Medora and the Theodore Roosevelt National Park (the 'badlands').



We got to see a huge buffalo herd, as well as the beautiful badlands.













The national park took an hour and a half to drive through, but was totally worth it. Nolan and Ella slept through most of it and Riley took pictures with her LeaPad. It was great. We looked around Medora, had some ice cream and then headed back to the hotel.



Of course, being away from home means going out to eat for most meals. One night we ate at Sanford's, where Henry's co-worker took a good family picture of us.







Coincidentally, we have friends who live in this same town in North Dakota. I went to school with Lauren, and Joe is my best friend's brother-in-law. She graciously invited us over, let me do laundry, let the kids play, entertained me, and just let us relax at her house. It was so very nice to have a place to do laundry. Riley really liked Lauren's daughter, BreeAnna, who is eleven. They played in Bree's room with the door shut, which is apparently a big deal. I am forever grateful to the Scotts of North Dakota.





Henry's hotel had an indoor pool and hot tub which all the kids liked.



Riley, it seems like you've grown up so much. You're so dependable when it comes to the babies and taking care of them. You continually help me out. While we were at the hotel you always held the door open for me when I was pulling the wagon, and you never let Ella out of your sight.



You and Ella have such a great sister bond. You are truly best friends!

Nolan had a fall out of our wagon. I got into the habit of not strapping him in; usually that's fine even when he stands up. On this particular day, Nolan stood up just as the wagon went over a bump, and out he went. He bounced off the concrete and came up wailing! His face looked pretty bad for a couple days, but got better pretty quickly. 

Nolan turned 1 in North Dakota! I went to Walmart and got him several new toys, which the girls enjoyed more than he did. When Henry got off work we walked across the street to Dairy Queen (which is nothing like a Texas DQ) and had ice cream. Nolan couldn't wait to get his hands on his very own cone! 

We had a great time in Dickinson! It's a cute little town and had enough attractions to keep us interested. If Henry's hotel room would have been a regular room and not a king suite, things may have been a lot different. I could close the door to the bedroom and let Nolan or Ella sleep in the play pen while the rest of us played in the living room. There were days when we had to get out of the hotel and times where I wanted to pull my hair out. Being cooped up in a hotel room for a week and a half can be hard on everyone. (We totally ruined Henry's routine!) The hotel also served a continental breakfast, which we ate at every single morning. They always had good food and things the kids would eat.

We pulled out of Dickinson a week and a half after we arrived, headed for Parma, Michigan; on to other adventures!

To Michigan

*note - I was involved in my second verbal altercation this trip. One night the girls and I were swimming in the pool. There was also a twenty-something man in the hot tub who had broke the posted rules and brought his glass Corona bottle into the pool area. As he got up to leave it was clear he was drunk. He barely made his way to the trash with his bottle and attempted to throw it away. He was able to throw the bottle away, but it fell out and shattered all over the tile in the pool area. He then collected his things and was on his way out the door when I got into school teacher-mode and got his attention. At first, I politely told him his bottle shattered all over the floor and it needed to be cleaned up so someone wouldn't cut their foot. He brushed me off/acted like he didn't hear me, so I raised my voice. Other parents were already watching all of this unfold. Unluckily for the drunk young man, I was the closest parent to him, and thus, felt it my responsibility to alert him to the danger of his mess. So when I repeated myself to him, I was louder and ruder. I told him he needed to alert management and he said ok. It wasn't long before management came and cleaned his shattered bottle up off the floor.

To North Dakota

It's no secret Daddy works away from home for long periods of time. Since April he has been working in North Dakota. When school let out, he's been saying the job he is working on will be over soon. One month and a half later, he was still saying the job would be over soon. I couldn't help but feel like our summer would be over by the time the job was really over. So, we decided to go visit Daddy.

With route advice from my truck-driving grandparents, we left Chandler at 4 a.m. on Monday, July 14. I woke you all up and loaded you into the car and we were off! Our first stop was breakfast at an IHOP in Denton. It was about 6 a.m. and you were all pretty hyper. No one had went back to sleep as I had hoped.

After leaving IHOP we made it to Oklahoma. It was about this time that I started to smell something from the back seat. I asked Riley if anyone had a dirty diaper, but due to the iPad she was a little too distracted to notice if anyone was dirty. So I kept on driving for about 30 minutes after I noticed the smell. My philosophy is, if they're not crying we're not stopping. All of a sudden from the back seat Riley starts yelling that Nolan was playing in his poo poo and that it was all over the place. Nice. In addition to using nearly every diaper wipe I had brought, Nolan didn't have any clean clothes that were easy to get to. The scenic overlook I happened to pull over at ended up being beautiful and a great photo opportunity.

Just in case I forgot I was about to drive straight through Tornado Alley...

After our road-side incident, Oklahoma was pretty easy. We stopped again for lunch just before we got to Kansas.

I hate to say it, but this picture was the best thing about Kansas. Kansas was boring!

When we finally made it to Nebraska, there was no welcome center to welcome us. Not too far in I noticed a historical marker would be up ahead, so we made for that. It turned out to be interesting and the picture turned out cute!

*note - Nolan is naked from the Oklahoma incident.

When we pulled into Grand Island, Nebraska, my planned stop for the night, we were worn smooth out. We had supper at Olive Garden because I knew the kids would eat pasta. Ha! I guess Nolan and Ella were too tired to eat anything. All Ella did was make a huge mess of her spaghetti and Nolan had his jaws clenched and wouldn't eat a bite. Again, Grand Island is about 30 miles into Nebraska. All it took was for me to order three sprites and a milk for the waitress to ask where we were from. Not to mention, it was cold and windy.

We bedded up for the night, which I knew would be a challenge alone with all three kids. Ella and Nolan are both very used to their own cribs, and it's hard to even get them to nap anywhere else. Forget rocking either of them to sleep. They just won't.

I was hopeful when I snapped this picture, but it didn't last. Ella finally fell asleep with me and Nolan and I was able to move her later in the night. But, that didn't last either. The little hotel refrigerator kicked on about 1:30 a.m. and she was up crying and back in bed with me. 

And Nolan... I thought it was strange that he didn't want to take one single bite at supper, but remembered that we had just driven 14 hours straight from Texas. Maybe he was tired? While I was trying to bathe everyone he was extremely clingy, unusually so. At some point I picked him up and immediately knew he had fever. I don't know how high and I hadn't even packed Tylenol (everything but!). He passed out really quickly and slept most of the night. I didn't sleep for worrying about him, plus, he and Ella are very wild sleepers. It was a long night for me!

The next morning we woke at 6 a.m. and headed for the complimentary breakfast. If there's one thing my Daddy taught me, it's to stay at a hotel with complimentary breakfast! I was still nervous about Nolan, but he ate just fine and the girls did too. We were off again. 

I think Nebraska is one giant corn field. It would be hard to convince me otherwise. These corn fields were different from the ones I'm used to in NE Louisiana. Nebraskan corn fields are located on rolling hills and aren't always ruler-straight in line. It's beautiful. 

I wasn't far from the Nebraska-South Dakota state line, when a little trouble happened. 

It's very hard to run the speed limit in Nebraska. The roads are board straight and seem to stretch on forever. The speed limit is only 65 MPH.  I'm not one to go way over the speed limit, but I didn't see any reason why the speed limit couldn't be 70 MPH. So, I decided to drive 73 MPH. This Nebraskan state trooper (the only one I ever saw), caught me and I knew it; I was pulled over and waiting for him when he pulled up behind me. He was really nice and after seeing my Texas license plates and all three kids in the back he asked where I was headed. He commented I was a long way from home and hoped I would have a safe trip. He let me off with a warning which was more than he had to do. We stopped for lunch in the next little town, Riley's favorite, Valentine, Nebraska.

South Dakota was next. I think everyone should try and drive through South Dakota. It was beautiful.

I rely on the 'range' function in my car to tell me when I should stop and get gas. I pushed things too close in South Dakota and could only think of my Grandad.  My range was getting pretty low and after passing two signs that said "No Services" for many miles (50+) I finally found a spot to get gas and use the restroom. The pump in Howes, South Dakota was an older model, I don't think I've seen one of these since the 90s. Anyway, I ventured in to the general store/post office to use the facilities. The proprietor told me they didn't have running water and that I was welcome to one of the two outhouses in the back. This caught me off guard and all I could do was stutter. I forgot all about the gas and the bathroom and hoped to make it to the next town about 15 miles away.

We did in fact make it to Faith, South Dakota in time for the restroom and gas. Supper on the second night was Lemmon, South Dakota, just nearly in North Dakota. This last stop took much longer than any of our other stops due to baby diarrhea. Ella AND Nolan. I started to realize that maybe an upset stomach was Nolan's problem the day before. I had to unload my big suitcase and find the diaper wipes buried deep within. We entered North Dakota with one clean diaper left. (I tried finding a Walmart in Nebraska and South Dakota with no luck.)

We left Lemmon, South Dakota and entered North Dakota on a high. Our long trip was just about over and we would again be reunited with Daddy. For the first time the whole trip I resorted to singing nursery rhymes to distract fussy babies. Riley is such a good sport in these situations.

Our time in Dickinson, North Dakota

June 2014 Newsletter

Nolan: You have a new love this month: pony tails. You don't care whose pony tail it is, as long as you can grab it. You don't let go very easily, either. I'm sure you can imagine, this pony tail-grabbing infuriates your sisters.

I guess you have two new loves, pony tails and balls. I think you can say 'ball.' You really like to throw balls and chase after them. I hope you get a bunch for your birthday. It's hard to believe you are almost 1!

You haven't decided to start walking yet. You seem to be taking your time, analyzing the process of walking, and then when you finally start, I think you will be off. That's just you and your personality. You are a quiet thinker and very smart. 

You love for me to sit and hold you. You are a Mama's boy, at least until Daddy gets home.

Riley: I think you are having a great summer being Big Sister to Ella. Y'all play together all day long. It's not often that you and Ella fuss, and you both seem to want Nolan nowhere near where y'all are playing. You are pretty bad about slamming the door in his face. He's still pretty little and gets in the way sometimes. He will toughen up. 

Since it's summer I've let you stay up late. This is apparently a big deal. You think it's important to note that Ella and Nolan don't get to stay up as late as you. We go through this ordeal every night. You simply can't believe you get to stay up late every night and almost act surprised when you find out it's 9 or 9:30. 

You've had a couple play-dates so far this summer and really, really enjoy those. You are still talking about your fun with Mollie, and are eagerly awaiting a sleepover with her. Everyday you ask what day it is and then walk off mumbling that on Monday you are spending the night with Mollie. 

Every once in a while you get a little out of hand. You seem to act out in spurts. When it's bad, it's almost too much for me to handle. It's not just you, but add in your brother and sister and I've got too much on my hands. I don't expect you to sit like a soldier and barely breathe, but I do expect you to do what I ask and be respectful and calm (if the situation calls for it). I know you don't act like this at school. When I mentioned this to you during an episode the other day, it really made you stop and think. I could see the wheels spinning in your head. You agreed! 

But Riley, when it's good, it's great. The majority of the time you are the sweetest, best behaved five year old in the world. For instance, when you get a sucker in Sunday School, you always get an extra sucker for Ella. You are usually very gentle around Nolan and it breaks your heart if you accidentally step on his finger or something like that. (It probably doesn't help your feelings that Nolan has the loudest, most monotonous cry on the planet. Even the slightest bump causes him to wait.)

Ella: Screams, screaming, screamer. That's pretty much you! Especially when we are in the car driving somewhere. You just scream, a lot, all the time. If something doesn't go your way, if someone else is playing with a toy you want, if I don't do just exactly what you had in mind, you lose it. And scream. This behavior is pretty effective at getting you what you want; I guess I wouldn't stop either. 

When you aren't screaming for some unknown reason, you are probably talking. Your most used phrase is, "I want it." And let me tell you, you want everything. "I want it." You say it real fast. If you want something really bad, I'll prompt you to say please and you tilt your little head and say, "Pwweeeeessee." Don't break my heart! It's the sweetest thing. 

We've had several occasions for you to be around Riley and her friends for just a few minutes. You act just like one of them! You follow them around everywhere. You have no idea you are just two and they are four or five. 

Yep, two years old. Your birthday was a few days ago and I teared up looking at pictures from two years ago. You were the sweetest little baby! You're also the sweetest little girl. We had quite a bit going on and didn't have a big party, just you, me, Nolan, Riley, Paw-Paw and Grandmom and Grandad. The only thing that would have made your birthday party any better was if Daddy was here to enjoy with us. 

You are pretty crazy about Minnie Mouse right now, so a Minnie Mouse doll was perfect. After the traumatic birthday song Minnie Mouse brightened things up. 

Two other little girls have celebrated birthdays in this kitchen, at this same bar. 

I'm pretty sure the big sister was opening all the presents back then, too. I love the smile on my Daddy's face. 

We also had a great trip to Louisiana. I love our trips to Louisiana and wish we could visit more often. Let's just say, you three kids are indulged over there. What ever it is that you want, that is what you get. Ella, you loved swinging in the front yard and Aunt Margie. Riley, I thought you were going to become Siamese twins with Stephanie; you were in her lap the whole time. Nolan, you went from being a 'Mama's Boy' to a 'Mamaw's Boy' and that was fine with her. You were both happy to just sit together on the couch. 

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This is my new favorite picture. Let me tell y'all about this picture and the day we had... Y'all are generally fussy in between the end of afternoon naps and supper, unless I take you outside to play in the water. However, you all expect supper waiting on the table when we get back inside. This day was no different. So out we went for fun in the sun. It didn't take Nolan long to crawl out of the water. I let you crawl around in the grass for a long time. You chased your ball back and forth through the grass. Girls, you just played and played together in the water. You both love to splash each other. Ella, you really like to fill the buckets up with water and then dump them out. Riley, your face in this picture says it all! You were having a great time. We played for about an hour and then rushed in to have hot dogs. Sweet summertime! What makes this picture most special is that there is a Daddy in North Dakota making it possible.

We love you, Riley, Ella, and Nolan.

Love, Mama