almost 3000 miles!

Over Easter break, we took a little road trip.  Okay, a big road trip.  Mike, the two big kids, and myself ventured across the country.  We visited South Dakota and then on to Colorado.

We left late on a Tuesday night and drove straight through to South Dakota (with a couple potty stops along the way!)

We made it to to Badlands JUST in time to see the sunrise!

There were "BEWARE! Rattlesnakes!" signs everywhere!  The kids were convinced we'd see one (we didn't).

climbing around

Then it was on to Mt. Rushmore!

Then we went "panning" for gold.

We took a ride through Custer State Park along the Wildlife Loop.  It took hours and it was a very frightening ride (for me!)  Lots of loops, drop-offs, switchbacks while driving...I do NOT do well with those heights!  But we did see buffalo.

On Thursday morning we headed to Colorado.  Our first stop was Red Rocks Amphitheater. It is SO beautiful there!

Friday morning we went on a dinosaur hike near Red Rocks.

Here's a view of Red Rocks amphitheater from a distance.

Then we were off to Colorado Springs.  We stopped at Seven Falls. It was beautiful, but we were disappointed the trails were still closed for the season.  There were FOUR hundred steps to climb.  Mike and Kaycey did them all.  I did the top half, but shouldn't have!  SCARY.  Cal didn't do them, he doesn't do well with heights either!

Then we took the drive up to the summit of Pikes Peak.

Unfortunately, I got really sick on the way down (my friend is figuring it was altitude sickness.  It was like I was drunk.  It was awful!  I went to bed at 7:45pm.

Saturday morning we dropped Mike off at the airport.  He had to be back for work.  We decided on a whim to go to the Denver Zoo.  We are glad we did!  The zoo was awesome!

Cal got chased by a duck.  It was rather amusing.

Yes, that's snow : (  While it was 80 in Wisconsin, it snowed in Colorado Saturday night!

We went to a Colorado Rockies game on Sunday.  It was SO cold.  

It ended up pouring rain during the game.  Good thing we were under cover!

Here are the kids saying good bye to "Coco", my friend's dog.

There's Helene with the kiddos!

Helene and I

We then met Sarah and her Mom for lunch and to say good bye before heading home.  We only made it to North Platte, Nebraska that first day.  But the next day, Tuesday, I drove all the rest of the way home.  I was worried about the drive, doing it alone, but it went pretty well.  The kids are asking when we are going back : )

have a looksie

Here are the layouts I made last weekend when I was away scrapbooking.  I can't wait to go again!

Where have you been?!

March and April so far has been much of a whirlwind.  I'm here to let you know, I am here.  And I've been busy!!

I saw the Broadway production of "Mary Poppins" with the two big girls, my sister, my Mom, and Grandma.  Then I saw "To Kill A Mockingbird" at the Rep Theater with my Mom (one of my very favorite books).

In March and early April I kicked off my Thirty-One business with multiple parties.  I was pleasantly surprised when two packages from the company came for ME by surprise for meeting sales incentive promotions (that I didn't even know about! : )

Also in March, the dreaded deadline loomed...the school yearbook.  Make no mistake, I really do enjoy putting it together.  It becomes a headache though trying to obtain the necessary pictures to fill the pages.  I ultimately end up taking a good chunk of the pictures (which I don't mind either, really) but deal with parents who send me pictures after the yearbook has been submitted, or ask me to retrieve their photos off of facebook pages (the pics never have high resolution!), one who gave me a CD with 600+ photos to go through, and also parents who send cell phone pics that just can't be used.  I am glad to say the process is over, and I am so excited for it to arrive.  It's so time consuming; I estimate I spent about 15+ hours on it.  Much like a Shutterfly book I suppose.

In March we also had a surprise 50th birthday party for my Stepmom.  I enjoy doing things like this, too, but again, it kept me busy.  I also made a Shutterfly book for her of her 50 years (like I also did for both my Mom and my Dad for their 50th's.)

Kaycey celebrating St. Patty's Day & Oma Ria's birthday!

There were school projects.

Cal's Civil War battle project

There were trips to the zoo and first pony rides (we had beautiful record temperatures in March!)

first pony ride for Sadie.  Sadie, what does a horse say?  Sadie says, "Yee-haw!"

I taught classes at the Scrapbook Store, I worked a ton of hours in March, soccer season started, & baseball practices for Cal have been going on for months already.

Maddie, wearing Kaycey's uniform : )

I photographed my pregnant friend on two different occasions and coordinated a scrapbooking event at her baby shower by her request.  I put "kits" together, and everyone created a page or two at her shower.  I was up late working it all out, and worried about how exactly it would work, but it turned out great and everyone had fun with it.

little treat bags for guests filled with snickerdoodle flavored popcorn

the cake (professionally made)

our scrapping area at the shower

Jess (the creative party planner!), Nikki (mom to be), and that's me on the end!

I've been emailing with a couple newly diagnosed Neuroblastoma families.

Then over Easter Break, Mike, the two older kids, and I drove to South Dakota & Colorado.  Mike flew home by himself to get back in time for work (he could only miss a couple days of work).  I drove cal and Kaycey home.  From Denver.  All by myself.  And it really wasn't so bad.  In fact, I'd do it again.  Look for a post this week in more detail about our trip!

at Mt. Rushmore

Lots of squinkie playing going on.

Finally, this past weekend, I went on a much needed scrapbooking weekend.  It had been way too long since I had gone (and it was planned before we went to Colorado.  Trust me.  I was freaking out about getting home in time from Colorado for my scrapbook weekend, unpacking and repacking, doing laundry, and missing the two little girls since they didn't come to Colorado.  But all went just fine!)  I will post my finished pages this week : )

So I can't say "here's my past month or so in a nutshell", because it's more like a small novel ; )  but as you can see, I've been busy.

The next several months probably won't wind down much, either.  We have plans to possibly go to Mackinac Island (with kids), take a vacation in early fall (just Mike and I), maybe go back to Colorado, go to an insane amount of baseball games, putting a deck and patio in back, finishing the front porch and the swingset, and more....and SHHHHHH....getting a dog (kids don't know that yet, though ; )