road trip!

the car is emptied and washed, the laundry is done, and everyone is sunkissed and exhausted. but we did it! we drove and drove until we found adventure, new sights, and people we love. we had fun, we laughed, and there was very little in the way of trouble. i'm gonna say it: it was perfect. sure, i had bad allergies, and sometimes the kids said nasty things to one another in the back seat of the car, but none of that is new or surprising.

and there are hundreds of photos, which are going to get unloaded right here onto this bloggy blog pretty soon. but we can start with day one, which involved a looong drive across wisconsin, minnesota, and into south dakota. we reached our intended destination--the laura ingalls wilder homestead--in the mid-afternoon, and had enough time to really experience the place.

we checked out a dug out house

and took a turn driving the mules from the covered wagon just like pa did.

 


james and ramona (and, oddly, david) all had an ingalls-kids-type school house experience.

we ran around and around this crazy beautiful homestead, in the sun, in the rain, and in and out of this barn.

 we roped fake cattle,



and we held all the little kitties we could.




we slept in this sweet covered wagon,

 

 and took the ponies out for one last spin before bed.