Storybook Island

On our way home from camping, we stopped at Storybook Island in Rapid City. It is pretty much a huge park filled with statues of their favorite storybook characters to climb and ride on.

The girls had a blast!

Riding the train was probably their favorite:

Daddy & His Princesses:

Maya was bouncing up and down saying, "Giddy UP!":

We will definitely make this stop if we go through Rapid City again!

Camping Trip to Devils Tower & the Black Hills

We took a quick weekend trip to Devils Tower and then did some camping near Deadwood in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Joe and I both have fond memories of spending lots of time there with our parents when we were younger. We had such a fun weekend with Gabi & Maya that I think we'll be spending a lot of time there as they grow up, especially since it is only 2-3 hours away.

Gabi was sleeping as we were driving up to Devils Tower. When we got out of the car, I had her look up and she said, "WHOA....How are we going to get to the top of THAT?" I guess she is used to us saying, "Let's climb to the top!" when we are out hiking. This time, however, we just hiked AROUND the tower (about 1.5 miles).

We were able to see a lot of climbers coming down off the tower. Gabi kept saying she was going to climb it when she was older. I said that was fine as long as she didn't tell me before she did it. (Climbing terrifies me.) This is as high as she got that day:


This was the only picture that I took at our camping spot. There were daisies in bloom everywhere and lots of fun places to explore. The girls loved making s'mores and sleeping out under the stars.
We were also able to take Joe's Grandma Fern out to dinner as we went through Spearfish. :)

Love, Joe, Tara, Gabi & Maya

More Summer Fun

We've been having lots of fun around here! Most of the days have been in the low 80s, so we've been spending lots of time outside in the water and sunshine! The girls are getting tan and look like little Coppertone babies! :) Here are some of our recent adventures:

Heading out to run through a REALLY BIG sprinkler:


Camping out in the backyard:
On a hike near Mosier Gulch:

Enjoying popsicles by the pool:

Having fun on the Slip N Slide and Kate & Ella's house:

Peek-A-Boo Maya:

Hope you are all having a fun summer too!

Love, Joe, Tara, Gabi & Maya

Our Wildflowers...

We spent some time in the mountains today hiking, having a picnic, and enjoying the wildflowers. It was kinda cloudy, but we enjoyed a change from the last couple days of heat.

I love the above picture of Gabi, but leave it to Maya to put a silly spin on it. Maya also managed to get into some poison ivy while we were hiking. I washed her as soon as I could and I'm hoping she has my immunity to it. Time will tell I guess.

Happy Independence Day!

Lots of Love,

Joe, Tara, Gabi & Maya

Summer!

We've been busy enjoying summer around here. It seemed like it took forever to get here, but now it is in full swing. I shot these pictures of Maya last night in the freshly cut hay field by our house. There aren't many of Gabi because she was being uncooperative (imagine that)!


Sliding & Swimming:

Coloring in the Shade:

Funny Lunchtime:

Smoothie Mustache:

Thanks for checking in on us!

Joe, Tara, Gabi & Maya