Vacation Time!

1 Car +
2 Two year olds +
3 Adults +
4,000 Miles +
5 Days =
One priceless, whirlwind vacation

Last week we headed out to Sioux Falls, South Dakota for Ron's family reunion (on his mother's side).  Ron's sister, Jen, rode along with us and we were so grateful to have her! She was another driver for the 24ish hour drives each way, a helper with the kids, and just a great addition to our vacation!

Here are the kids in Wyoming, about half way there.  We traveled through the night, so the kids could sleep.  On the way out we went by way of Targee and Teton National Parks.  Well, we hit Targee at just about dark.  Jen was driving and hit a skunk.  Then, she came around another curve and there were two moose right on the side of the rode.  Around the very next curve was a buck, right on the side of the road, ready to dart into traffic.  This is when Jen pulled over and let Ron take over.  Needless to say, traveling through the parks at night allows you to see all of the wildlife that you want to see in the day time, but never manage to.  We ran into (not literally, but close enough) 4 moose, 6 deer (3 bucks), 5 elk, numerous rabbits (one of which we did literally run into), and that one stinky skunk, which we haven't fully forgotten just yet :o)

So, after 24 hours of straight drive time, we finally pulled into Sioux Falls and checked into the hotel.   This was the first time the kids stayed in a hotel, we have stayed with family or friends on our past trips.

They thought it was really cool be be staying in the hotel, especially since they had an indoor pool to play in!
After we got into town on Friday, we went to dinner with Ron's dad, brother, grandmother, uncle, and his uncle's girlfriend.  After dinner we ventured to the park, to let the kids run free after being cooped up for so long and so that the adults could visit some more.  It was so great to see all of them!

This is Ron and his younger brother, Jake.

Saturday was the day of the family reunion.  It was great to see so much of the family.  There were about 200 people at the reunion, with Ron's great-grandfather's branch having the highest number of attendees, there were 69 of us, I believe.

This is Ron's grandfather with all of his children (minus Sheryl), all of his grandchildren, and all of his great-grandchildren. 

They catered in a lunch for everyone and they held the reunion at a large park, so the kids were entertained, well, mostly....Lilian got a little bored.

Saturday evening we had a BBQ with Ron's uncle, aunt, and their kids.  Then, we left the kids to their own devices and headed down to the Harley motorcycle rally that was going on downtown.  We had just got to the stage and started drinking our first beverage when they called the show.  There was a large storm, with damaging hail on the way, so they had to pack it up.  We wound up at a bar for the rest of the evening where we waited out the storm and got to spend time with one of Ron's favorite uncle and aunt.

Here are the kids, they did very well taking care of each other while we were out :o) Addie, Harm, Ellie, Lilian, and Braison.

Jen, myself, Lilian, Ron, and Braison.

Sunday was a fairly relaxed day, after a brunch with some of the family, Ron and his brother took the kids swimming, FINALLY!

Daddy and Lilian

Uncle Jake and Braison

Sunday evening we had dinner with Ron's dad and then went out for ice cream.  We spent the rest of the day just relaxing with them.

Monday we went and visited with Ron's grandparents (on his dad's side).

The kids with grandma Buseman

With grandpa Buseman

Four generations

The Buseman clan; Jen, Jake, Grandpa Buseman, Kevin (Ron's dad), Braison, Ron, Lilian, and Grandma Buseman.

After we visited we headed to the zoo.  The Sioux Falls Zoo is about 20 times better than the Boise Zoo!
When you first enter they have a museum with stuffed (once living) animals, kids play places, and the gift shop.

Then, you go through the rest of the zoo to see all of the still living animals.  They also have a wonderful petting zoo part where you can feed different kinds of animals.

Braison and Uncle Jake feeding the ducks.

Braison feeding the goats.

This is pretty much what Lilian thought of the entire zoo, and how she remained almost the entire day.

Braison, Lilian, and Uncle Jake watching the monkeys.

Lilian and Aunt Jen looking at the alligators, which turned out to be both of the kids' favorite exhibit.  They both chose stuffed alligators from the gift shop to remember their trip by.


Then, after the zoo on Monday, it was time to head home.  Since we would be traveling through the night again, we decided to take a different route home.  We headed south through Nebraska, we stopped in Niobrara, Nebraska to have dinner with Ron's grandfather (the one in the photo above from the reunion), then headed west through Nebraska, Wyoming, and Utah.  In Utah we caught the interstate north to home.  It is much nicer traveling on the interstate through the night.  The route is still the same amount of time, so 24ish hours later we finally arrived home.

Now, we just need a little vacation to recover from our vacation!