South Dakota Family Vacation

Ah ... the family vacation. Time spent together mingling together as family amongst the deer, the antelope, and the buffalo. The Edwards just got back after spending a week in South Dakota on their annual summer vacation. What can be done in South Dakota?

• We visited the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD.
• We were educated about the Cold War as we toured a Minute Man Missile launch site.
• We got free ice water and a homemade donut at Wall Drug after being enticed by 4,239 billboards on I-29.
  
• We stood at the Center of ALL 50 states. Our trip to north-central Kansas a few years back was only to the center of the lower 48 states. Now we've made things right.
• We hiked around Devils Tower before watching "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" that night from our KOA campground with Devils Tower looming in the background (in40° weather no less ...)
  
• We drove through scenic Spearfish Canyon which felt like we were driving back in Logan Canyon.
  
• We walked through a park with a statue devoted to each of our US Presidents. The 44th statue was yet to be displayed.
• We went horse back riding through the hills of Deadwood. Cody's assigned horse had "special needs."
• We felt patriotic watching Mt. Rushmore illuminated at night.
• We admired the unique formations of Badlands National Park and avoided any snakes.
• We swam in warmer weather at our final KOA and at the Hampton Inn in Sioux City, IA on our way home.
• Found the graves of ancestors in Magnolia, IA and Yankton, SD.
  

Being in the Black Hills, surround by the Ponderosa pines, mountain lakes, and the like was a much needed reprieve from the prairies of Kansas. There's nothing like being in the type of mountains you grow up in, but at the same time it felt good to return home to Life in the Midwest.

Click HERE for a link to our photo album or click on the slideshow below.

Delayed Camping

Last weekends torential rains (it hasn't rained since) moved our church's Father-and-Son campout to this weekend. We scampered over to Wyandotte County Lake Park in Kansas City for a quick overnighter. We roasted some dogs and had a delicious breakfast before heading home Saturday morning ... after all, we've got our family vacation to get ready for!

Reaching New Heights in Topeka

A change in weekend plans ... what to do? Head to the capital city! The city of Tonganoxie sits conveniently half way between Kansas City and Topeka, about 45 minutes away. So what does one do in Topeka?

• We hiked 296 don't-look-down steps to the top of the 3rd highest capital building in the US. What a view! If you've ever heard that it's flat in Kansas, the view from atop will testify that it truly is!
  
• We sold a book back to the Washburn University bookstore (which later paid for lunch). It was Cody's first time on campus, despite having taken classes there for a year now.
• Visited the Old Prairie Town at Historic Ward-Meade Park where we enjoyed cold treats at a working soda fountain (before lunch ... dessert came first today!)
• Adding a little history and educational value to the day, we visited the Brown vs. the Board of Education National Historic Site where we learned to truly appreciate the desegregated world that we live in today.

What a great day spent together as a family in perfect Spring weather. Perhaps it was a preview of our upcoming family vacation.

4 Yrs in the Rectangle State!

It was four years ago yesterday that we thought we were about to see our first Kansas tornado as we drove across the state line leaving Colorado. It was therefore four years ago today that we signed on our house making us official residents of the state of Kansas. Hooray! To celebrate, we always make a family dash to IHOP (where we had our first Kansas breakfast). We love living in the Midwest and enjoying all that it has to offer - tornadoes, fireflies, good bar-be-que, friendly people, and a laid-back, enjoyable way of life.

Planting by the Moon

No matter what kind of weather was flung our way, Paige was able to be faithful to her lunar planting schedule of the garden. Based on the phases of the moon, certain vegetables went in at certain times of the month. Will it work? We'll see ... but we had some neighbors in Utah that grew some of the biggest carrots we'd ever seen using this method. We had to move our garden this year due to the lesson we learned last year to not plant your garden next to a black walnut tree. That's a no-no. So we tilled up nearly 1000 square feet of new gardening space for our family, and all the critters that live in our yard. Oh ... and after years of talking about building a pond, so one day we decided to dig an "experimental" hole and we'll see what happens. It only took one Midwest storm to fill it up. So far, two frogs have moved in.