4th of July Road Trip

Over the long 4th weekend we loaded up the camper and headed 3 1/2 hours north to Niobrara State Park, located near the Nebraska/South Dakota border. The park is situated between the Niobrara and Missouri rivers. The kids were pumped for our first camping trip of the summer. They love snuggling in their sleeping bags with a good book at night. Tony read his first chapter book and was VERY proud...he came running out of the camper to announce he had read a chapter "all by himself!"
The park was just beautiful and the river was incredible. The Missouri River runs through Blair and is pretty mucky and ugly. What a difference! Hard to believe it's the same river.

On our first hike we found a nice little pond. Our kids never miss a chance to catch frogs. This day they only caught polywogs, but sure had fun doing it!

Oh, the wonders of nature. We are always excited by the little bits of magic we find along the way!

The kids had a blast playing on the sand bars of the Niobrara River. The water was warm and shallow. Tony declared that he couldn't wait to "see it at high tide." :) Chris said if you didn't look TOO closely it was almost like being on the beach...almost!

What's better than playing all afternoon in a GIANT sandbox???? Not many rocks, but we came home with some cool sticks.

See....almost like the beach. Best we can do in Nebraska!

The highlight of our trip for sure was our Horseback Trail Ride. What fun!!!! Chris and I were just as excited, if not more, than the kids. We rode 4 beautiful horses that suited each of us. Olivia's was very sweet and gentle, Tony's was small and tooted a LOT! Chris' was huge and liked to eat along the way. Mine had a father that was a race horse (um, no reflection on my own father) and responded very nicely to my vocal commands. :) Such a good boy. The kids did absolutely great on the horses. I wasn't so sure about Tony since he's pretty young, but we didn't hear a peep out of him the whole ride. He was right behind the Wrangler and was able to at least give me a thumbs up so I knew he was ok. What a thrill...we can't wait to do it again!

Olivia and Tony had fun decorating the camper for the 4th of July. They were also pretty excited that we had electricity this trip so we could hang up our pink flamingo lights! After our trail ride we took a ride to nearby Yankton, SD. We visited a few museums and learned a lot about the Dakota Territories. Tony eats up any information he can get on Lewis and Clark. We saw the Gavins Point Dam along the beautiful Lewis and Clark Recreation Area. That night we watched fireworks from a hill in the campground.

Saturday we spent the afternoon in the river again. Chris found the kids a swimming hole and they had a blast. You can see Liv and Chris standing up and Tony in the shallow part...wierd hey? The water was warm and the "hole" was perfect for cannon balls!

We really enjoyed the rolling green hills and the "amber waves of grain." We are surrounded by corn down here and it was a pleasant change of pace.

Aren't they sweet??? Actually they were both very tired and hungry. :) I snapped this along the way to a Buffalo Cookout we were participating in at the park.

Every Saturday night the park hosts a Buffalo Cookout and some sort of interpretive program. And yes, it's really buffalo. Tony and I were less than thrilled, but after a day in the sun we were starving! So, we sucked it up and took a big bite. I'm happy to report that it was actually very tasty. The buffalo was corn raised and young, which makes better tasting burgers I guess? Tony being the animal lover that he is, took a bit of convincing. Chris gave him some story about people needing to eat buffalo other wise ranchers wouldn't raise them and they wouldn't be around any more.....truth or not, it worked. Livie is a great eater and had no qualms about it at all, and Chris..well Chris will eat just about anything put in front of him and downed 2.

After dinner a story teller in period 1800's costume entertained us with various historically correct instruments and stories about the Nebraska Territory during that time period. The Park Ranger "volunteered" Chris to join them in playing the spoons! It was quite funny and Chris was a good sport about it.

After dinner and the program we enjoyed the beautiful view of the Missouri River from up high.

We usually come home with buckets of rocks from our trips, but they were scarce. Our best finds were numerous turkey feathers and a turtle shell that Livie a.k.a. Eagle Eyes found on a hike. Once she got over the fate of the turtle, she was pretty excited to bring the shell home.

On our way home Sunday we made a stop at the Ashfall Fossil Beds. It is considered a National Natural Landmark and we all enjoyed the park. The kids are posing in front of the Rhino Barn where you can see behind them all the skeletons and fossils that were uncovered. This area was a watering hole many millions of years ago that was covered in ash from a volcanic eruption in Idaho. A farmer stumbled upon a rhino skull in the 70's and the "rest is history" as they say. They are in the process of excavating for a much larger barn in which to unearth more bones. The new area will be big enough to keep them busy for 2-3 decades. Tony made sure to wear his "Junior Paleontologist" shirt.

Liv and Tony both had fun "digging for bones" in this exhibit. A thunderstorm rolled in and we had to leave, otherwise they'd have sat there all day. This place was right up their alley and worth a visit for sure.

So that's what we've been up to. We resume swimming lessons this week and will get ready for our next adventure camping in Northern Minnesota in two weeks! Once we get back we will literally just have days before school starts on August 14th. It's been a fun and busy summer...I wish it wouldn't go by so quickly!