I was lucky enough to have three out of four nieces for three days. It was not a lot of time, but it was jam packed.
Photos in the sunflowers, a stop at Wall Drug, and an afternoon hike to observe bugs and plants.
We did our traditional picnic at Spearfish Park, fed the fish at the hatchery, and the girls played in the water for hours. We had the top and doors off of the Jeep.
The next day was Aunt Bonnie's annual "Hike for Hell." It wasn't supposed to be miserable. The girls had never been to Wyoming, so I thought I would cross that off of their list and we could hike Devil's Tower. There were a lot of people due to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, so we opted for the quieter, 2.8 mile trail. We ran 3 miles in May and figured this would be a breeze.
Little did we know we wished for a breeze. It was over 100 and there had been a fire a few years ago, thus there were not many trees. To top it off, do you see Devil's Tower? If you look closely the very top can be seen way in the distance.
Luckily, I had brought lots of water. Not quite the chipper group as the photo when we began. The girls weren't impressed and I really wasn't either.
We survived another of Aunt Bonnie's hikes. The girls want a shirt with that claim. We barely made Bear Butte last year and Devil's Tower was hot as heck. In the end, we were laughing as we picniced in the air conditioned Jeep eating Sierra's awesome Jello.
We made two pies, jello, pizza, lemonade, and chokecherry jelly. These girls are great hands in the kitchen. We painted pinecones and rocks, took photos for 4-H, and played lots of Giant Jenga. The girls practiced their pitching skills with Uncle Kelly and they watched the Olympics. 
We ended the trip fishing. All of the girls caught fish and again with the picnic. My picnic baskets were well used. In the end, I left them with their dad in the middle of nowhere. I mean literally nowhere, no houses, barns, towns, not even an electric pole, nothing but pasture... It was amazing.
I love my nieces and look forward to our time together. They are great young ladies and I was proud of how well they did. We had a lot of fun and I can't wait for our adventures next years.
You put a lot of effort keeping them busy. I had a couple over the weekend and have bruises to show it.I had Baby Bootcamp t-shirts printed one year for the visits to my home.I generally let them do anything they want at my house.We are showing sheep at the state fair toward the end of the week.Nice to have AC , I was camping most of the last two weeks.I do have a fan in the tent.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure they had fun with you! They're beautiful girls! I'm just thinking of how different our "entertainment" is around here...lots of tourist attractions, Amish buggies, etc, and how different (and refreshing) it would be to have gigantic fields of sunflowers, Devils Tower (minus the hike) and lots of other natural wonders to take in. Someday I'll get to see those things...I hope!
ReplyDeleteBonnie,
ReplyDeleteSounds like you are the Auntie everyone wants to visit. Fun adventures build great memories! Glad you got some fun times in with your nieces.
What a fun time! Lucky girls! :)
ReplyDeleteHow nice that they can come to visit and have such adventures with you. They will remember it all their lives.
ReplyDeleteThey look like three wonderful girls. You really pack a lot into three days. They must have great memories of their times with you. I'm not sure I would have been up for a 100 degree hike either. They must have been good sports. -Jenn
ReplyDeleteWhat fun you are Aunt Bonnie! Even though you take those girls on long, 100 degree hikes. They'll never forget it! Sounds like all of you had a fun week.
ReplyDeleteThey loved every minute!
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