Chicago Part 1: South Dakota

This whole trip is a beast and kinda blowing my mind. I just can not believe that this is actually happening to us and that we really are where we say we are and have been. I didn't know how much I loved my comfort bubble until now. It needs to be popped!  I still feel like I need to get permission to do grownup things, so it just seems weird that I have already gone to so many new places and states. That being said lets get to some pictures right!

 

 

 

We left for Chicago on May 20th from Bountiful Utah. Obviously we felt in too much of a hurry and had to turn around and get a bag of clothes, food, and books, but after that... we were on our way. this trip we finally decided that our CD's were especially lame and finally got an IPOD dock for the car. I mean, to be honest, our IPOD is pretty lame too, but the songs are at least from 2005 and sooner.

 We packed as light as we could, but things were still pretty tight. We only had to bring clothes, but we also have a kid so things just automatically multiply. With minimal toys, a pack-n-play, a booster, food, car games, some blankets,  and other random stuff, we were pretty packed to the brim.

 We left with plenty of time to get to our first destination, South Dakota, but about an hour into the ride, Kelsey started to realize what was going on and decided that she did not want to be there. We tried everything we could to keep her happy, but she wasn't having it. Luckily Little America gas station is not that far into the trip and has a playground so we decided to stop for about 30 minutes. With some wiggles out (and fruit snacks, cookies, and "Let it Go" playing 5 times in a row) we got her back into the car.

Don't be fooled, the headphones didn't work. We had to listen to everything she watched. I can confidentially say I strongly dislike Frozen right now

She fell asleep quickly and the rest is history. We had a great trip with no hiccups. When we hit mid Wyoming we hit rain and it rained pretty much the rest of the way, but something had to happen in Wyoming because the normal Wyoming is pretty boring. Oh and I was awake this time to see Martins Cove. I totally regret not stopping.

NOT Martin's Cove, but pretty

We arrived in Rapid City around dinner time and Alex made us a delicious orange chicken dinner with edamame (first time having them and I LOVE them). The night was spent playing with cousins. Kelsey couldn't stop following her "cosains" around. She was in heaven!! And the best part was, they WANTED her around. It was so much fun. Alex would read her stories and dance with her, Syndey played bears, Camryn talked to her and got her to say new words, Ainsley showed her things to do all day, and Zack let her do well anything. She loved Zack a little too much, but he's a trooper.

Ainsley did my hair while I was sleeping and LOVED how it turned out

The best part about Rapid City was that there was no plan. On Wednesday I think we just napped, did yard work, cleaned, and whatever we felt like. It was awesome. On Wednesday night while Alex was at Scouts and Sydney and Carolyn were at Achievement Days, we went on a bike ride with everyone else. Let me remind you, everyone less includes 6 people, 3 of which are 3 and under. It was pretty spectacular. The best part about the trip was when Kelsey got sick of holding Zacky and tried to push him out of the trailer. I wish I was kidding. I looked back only when Ainsley casually said, "Um Cami..." and saw Zakc's feet come out the front and Kelsey squatting to get more force behind her pushes. Thanks for the heads up Ainser.

Also, thanks to Alex, I learned Twinkle Twinkly Little Star on the cello. It was a bucket list thing to play a cello. I mean I'm no Yo Yo Ma, but he better watch out.

On Thursday we got a tour of the base and the coolest playground I have ever seen! We also got to see the Tigers area. The coolest part though, was while we were there, two B1's took off. I have never EVER heard anything so loud in my whole life. It was truly amazing. The air literally shook. SHOOK! It was awesome.

Zack can't get away so he was a pretty easy target 

After the base we went to Sonic for 50 cent hot dog day followed by more time with the cousins.  It was as nice as it sounds.

Everyone doing the cheese roll. Maybe Kelsey's favorite part of playing

 

 

Ainsley got hurt in the fun and showed me all about it. She was pretty upset. 

Kelsey got a fun birthday gift for the car from Grandma and Poppa Nelson. She obviously loved it

 

Thursday night we all got to go to Alex's soccer game followed by dinner at Beau Jues (I think) which is an amazing pizza/salad buffet. It was really delicious but the coolest part was that there was a band practicing some blue grass music. It just made the whole experience more authentic. 

Trying Sprite for the first time... 

It was so hard to leave Rapid City. Like so hard!  I love Rapid City and Carolyn and her family so much. It was so helpful to be able to talk to Carolyn too about my Chicago fears. We went on several runs and just talked about how great this was going to be regardless of my nerves. I am so grateful that I have older siblings. They are not only great examples to me and what I can become, but actually believe in me that I CAN become someone just as great.

South Dakota trip thoughts: Wyoming is super boring and flat. Not a whole lot to look at. Honestly it is more exciting when there is a rain storm because the clouds kinda add to beauty of the plains. As soon as you hit Rapid city and the Black Hills, it get GORGEOUS!! I love Rapid City. It feels super homey and I love being there. There is so much to do there especially if you like being outside. 

Kelsey's Birthday Party

 Sunday May 18th, the Wing family had a little going away/birthday party for us before we left for Chicago. It was just a fun chance to say bye to everyone for the summer before we headed out. It was super low key but still very fun. I think my favorite part was the way Kelsey, Harper, and Holden played together. They are all finally old enough that they enjoy one anothers company.

It is Kelsey's golden birthday this year (2 on the 2nd) so the extent of the theme/decorations party aspect were gold plates and cups. Pretty clever for me

Kelsey was shown a lot of love and got lots of fun toys especially for the car. People were very generous. It was fun how much she loved to open her presents. She would say "birfday?" "presents?" "Harper?' I don't know why Harper gets thrown into that trio but she still says those three things in a row.

 

 Frozen was a big hit even for the spectators. (Mom was annoyed with Frozen before we bought it, but I guess I'm a sucker because now we own the cd AND movie. It has made the road trip nice.)

 We gave her these little play shoes and she LOVED them.

 And of course we had cupcakes. She was a little confused about the candles, but as soon as we got those out of the way, she went to town...

 and was VERY pleased with what she found

To jog memories, this is what we dealt with last year on her birthday. I'd say we have come to appreciate cupcakes.

 

 

I'm really glad we did the party even though it was a few weeks early. It was just a fun way to spend time with the Wing family before we had to leave for the summer. 

The morning after....still wearing her shoes
(and yes... she fell asleep in them)

Random May Happenings

 May stayed chilly but we were still able to do lots of fun things. One of the highlights of our Bountiful stay would probably include Holden's tee-ball game. I love watching little kids play baseball. No one wants to play defense because its boring and so the outfield is really entertaining to watch.

There was some coaching going on,

 

 but mostly a whole lot of this from all the players.

 There was also a whole lot of this from the spectators.

 Before we left for our road trip, we had a few hot days and decided to take advantage by washing our car. Naturally it turned into spraying Kelsey with the hose so all in all a great Saturday activity.

 

The Friday before we left, we went to the Bountiful main street chalk festival. It was AWESOME!!! There are some talented people in this world. I just don't understand how they can make these pictures with chalk. Definitely a skill I do not posses. While we were there we ran into Michelle (quite literally actually) so that made it even more fun. Always great to see family. 

Kelsey has jumped onto the Frozen train whit both feet. I'm fine with it, its just getting really really REALLY annoying! She loved this picture obviously so we took a picture here.

 And this is what happens when you fall asleep mid Coconut Bliss