This week we did one of my favorite things ever. We climbed on rocks! Ryan has Tuesdays off, and we spend them exploring the local fun things to do. Our Tuesday destination last week was Toadstool Park. It is cool enough that it’s even found in our big atlas. I perhaps should have been emotionally prepared for 20 miles of gravel road, as the line reaching the park was a faint grey color on the map. Luckily, no popped tires. Helen and Ryan got a good look at a sod house, the kind the homesteaders of 100 years ago made to start their life on these desert plains.

Then we went for a little hike around the rock formations. Helen is a great hiker, inspired by the trailmarkers and rocks that she could climb up “all by herself.”
This week we also went out to the Hudson-Meng Bison bone-bed. Helen tried to abscond with the bison tail that they had on display. Kids are really fun to take in public.
Afterwards we went to a recreated settlers town which was reported to have the best homemade pies around. It was delicious!

How do you say 125 year celebration?

Quasquincentenial. That is what we celebrated this week in Chadron. Please do not be tempted to think that because the star on the map is big, that this is actually larger than any of the other cities on the map.
This weekend Helen, Jane and I got to go to a parade while Ryan stitched everyone up who came into the ER. We sat next to a young set of grandparents who taught Helen all about waving to get candy. They also encouraged her to dart out in the street to get all the candy she could. Everyone had a great time. Helen’s favorite parts of the parade were the necklaces and the little plastic basketball that she kicks like a soccer ball. I have about 4 pounds of tootsie rolls to work through.
Here is a picture of the best tractor/farmer combination we saw. The adopted grandparents were really impressed that Helen knew all about tractors.
I am also including a picture of the representatives of United States Forest Service and Nebraska National Forests and Grasslands. I had never seen a mule wagon in a parade before and thought I would include it for a good time.
Here is Helen with our 1978 Candy Land Bingo game that I picked up at a garage sale. Clearly she loves it.
Jane just seems to be getting chubbier and chubbier. She was at the 90th percentile for weight at her 2 month visit and appears to be continuing just fine along that curve. I am surprised to have such a chunky baby since Helen clings to the 3rd percentile.

Chadron State Park

This week we decided to take a sampling of the ticks found in Chadron State Park. Our methodology was fairly simple - we just went for a hike. We came up with 10 ticks between the four of us in a couple of hours. Ryan discovered a simple way to keep Helen moving on the trail, the ol’ carrot in front of the donkey technique. She would do anything for chocolate animal crackers.
I learned from this hike why Mom was always had reservations about the exciting hikes that Dad liked to take us on. I don’t think that the pictures adequately capture the steep drop off on one or both sides of our trail. Ryan acted as the buffer and we had no incidents.
Helen was oblivious and I was slightly terrified. I knew that Ryan and I could stay on the trail; I have no such assurances about a two year old.

It's tough to get a picture of Jane on these hikes because she is burrowed in next to me and usually asleep. So here is a picture of Ryan and the girls in our little apartment.

Greetings from Chadron

Greetings from the vacation destination of Chadron, Nebraska! What are we doing here you might ask. Was it the proximity to the first State Park in Nebraska? Perhaps it was the restored Fort Robinson where “The World’s Greatest Horsemen Have Passed”? Did we win the lottery and decide to hide in a small corner of the world? Is Michelle comparing the diet of pronghorn antelope with bison? Although all of those are completely reasonable guesses, the truth is Ryan is working at the local hospital for two months, and the girls and I decided to come along to keep him company. It will prevent Ryan from overdosing on sloppy joes and Oreos.

The hospital provided a two bedroom apartment for us and we have the best back yard ever in the front of our house. It is a large city park with lots of lovely trees and more slides and swings than one girl could test with just one visit, although Helen gave it a valiant effort. The girls and I already scoped out the library which is about the size of a postage stamp, but it has a great children’s section and storytime will be a semi-weekly event for us. This weekend we went out to Fort Robinson State Park to relive some of my childhood memories. I have to be totally honest, I don’t remember very much about the last time I was here. I know that Brice and Hannah didn’t exist the last time we came based on my 100% accurate childhood journal. In that particular entry, I wrote about the first backpacks Emily and I used and the “dinky” bags that Amber and Craig used on our first family backpacking trip. I think that was the time that Dad got us ready for backpacking by hiking us down the street with flour or sugar bags in our backpacks.

Pardon the trip down memory lane. Ryan and I learned a lot about experiencing nature with a toddler on this trip. I realized that if grass comes up to my knees, it will hit Helen right in the face, making hiking a possible blinding event. Regardless, she had a great time hiking. We found a little creek off the beaten path and had a great time throwing rocks in and building rock towers.

Jane is getting to be more fun as she grows. Now she will smile and coo for a couple of minutes after nursing and before she tumbles into sleep again. Here she is working on her pushups.