Dog

They say when a dog sleeps on his back, he is secure and comfortable in his surroundings.  Rushmore is very comfortable sleeping on our bed between Don and me right now.

kayaking adventure

On Saturday, Megan and I went kayaking for the first time with Missy and her family.  We met the outfitter at Garrison Dam, then paddled down the Missouri River to Stanton.  14 miles.
It was a beautiful day.  We stopped at 2 different sandbars to rest, snack, and let the kids play in the sand.  We ended up having a head wind the last 2/3 of the journey, but we are strong.
Megan was tethered to my kayak  for most of the trip.  We did un-tie her for a bit and she did awesome!  But once the wind picked up, it was hard for her to control the kayak, so we hooked her back up.  We had 13 people in our group-5 of them 9 and under!  It took us 7 hours, which is a little longer than normal (4-6 hours)
My arms were lead Saturday night!!!  Lots of fun, and we plan to do it again.

 Megan is free at last!

 Missy is hiding in the background.  3 of Brian's sisters and one their nieces were also with us

 Jack and Sam.  They have their own kayaks-a Christmas gift from Mark's Mom.

Roosevelt Zoo

Megs and I made a day trip to Minot last week.  We went to the Roosevelt Zoo for the first time in 5 years.  The last time we were there was the year of the flood.  We were there late morning/early afternoon.  By the end of the day, the Zoo had closed because of the threat of flooding, and remained closed for the rest of the season.

Medora 2016

We took our somewhat kind of annual trip to Medora on Wednesday.  We did tourist shopping.  We ate ice cream.  We played at the playground.  We went through the park.  We ate at the buffet.  This year, we also went to the Musical.

 Painted Canyon

 Ice cream

 Proof that I was present

 pre-musical selfies

the new deck

Our deck was aging.  It was wobbly.  It was scary.  Tyler was willing to replace it for us, because he is cool and handy that way.  First, he helped take down the old deck.  This was hard work.  Don was in Minot, so Tyler, Jess, and I did this work.  I got to use a sledge hammer, and I enjoyed it.

 There is our old deck.  The posts were only in the ground ~3-4".  No wonder it was wobbly!  They were not cemented, either.  Just tucked in the ground.

 The following weekend we started the new deck.  Tyler and Jess came over Friday afternoon and we worked until 7:30.  They were back by 8 Saturday morning and we worked until 4.

 Saturday am Bearscat run to keep the help well fed.

 My first Bacardi on the new deck!

 Rushmore was a little reluctant to use the steps at first.

We'll eventually add a railing to the steps.  I love having the deck ground level without the railing blocking my view of the yard and the kids.