Our South Dakota Trip

Our first stop was Medora, ND. It has a national park that is gorgeous. You pay to go into the park and then can go in as much as you want for a week.

There are lots of prairie dogs. I thought this picture was cute.
There are also wild horses. We love to look/find them.
And Bison too! This one is right out of our truck window.
Emma loved picking the wildflowers!
When we got into Medora, we found out that there was a parade because it was Flag Day. We were exciting. It was an all horse parade. All. Horse. Parade. Boring! We were just ready to give up when the horse team and wagon for the musical in Medora went by. They were running and shouting. I thought it was all part of the show. Nope, the wagon team ran into a brand new SUV down at the end of the street. Oops. That was exciting.
We went into the park again right before evening. We got to see lots of wildlife as it cooled off. This deer was very close.
We also saw more horses. Vance walked out there to get better pictures.

That evening we stayed in a very classy hotel. It came with it's own fly swatter!

And a HUGE water heater!!

This is a picture of it from outside. Home Sweet Home.

This is a picture of a hotel that my Uncle Rich helped build. We didn't feel the need to splurge to spend the night there, but we did eat supper there. I forgot my camera, but it sure was an undertaking. There was 2 wineglasses a piece, 4 forks, cloth napkins, etc. The kids did great!

The next morning we ate at the Chuck Wagon...all because of this!

We then headed to Deadwood, SD. It is a really neat historic town. While Vance tried out a few of the slot machines, the kids and I road the trolley.

And took a few pictures. I loved all the chandeliers and old town feel.
This is a casino we got to go in. Gorgeous!
We then made it to Bear Country, U.S.A. An expensive place to go, but the kids love it!

We could have watched the baby cups at Babyland all day! So cute!

We then went to the Presidential Slide. You ride a chair lift to the top. We ate supper at the grill up there. You can see Mt. Rushmore behind us.
After our fun ride down the 2000ft slide, we got a close up view of Mt. Rushmore.
One of our favorite things to do is drive the pigtail bridges at Custer Park. Gorgeous!
I love this sign!

The next morning we went to Reptile Gardens. Emma loved it up!

She got to pet snakes:)
We went to the Alligator/Crocodile show and then got to pet a baby. This guy was great with the kids!
What the dome looks like inside. Very similar to the rainforest at the Omaha Zoo...only smaller.
We also checked out Rushmore Cave. Something I have never done on all my times in Keystone. It was really neat.
We met up with mom and dad and went to Crazy Horse. The have been working on this monument since 1948....and still have lots of work to do!
I don't know why I didn't add a picture of the actual monument. This is just a sculpture to show you what it will look like.
We went up the presidential slide again. And got a few pictures...
Colby
Me
Mom and Dad catching up with her!

This next picture is totally for Mrs. Kenney. Colby thought we needed this.
Then Emma wanted her picture taken:)
Historic Keystone
Getting goofy by the end of the night.

One more trip up to Mt. Rushmore to see the lighting. There was a gorgeous lightning storm to watch too....
Whew! Lots of pictures....great time!

Ternes Family Reunion 2010

Our time in North Dakota was awesome. Here is a quick, out of order recap of our fun filled time!

There was much cooking and eating. One night Lauren and I were put on onion blossom detail. We rocked it!!

There was always the option to rope. Colby whooped up on everyone:)
There was some shooting. This is Vance and my cousin Briana's husband, Chad. They were partners in the prairie dog hunt.
This tree was a HUGE source of entertainment for the kids.


We took lots and lots of pictures. This is a picture of my Grandma and her 6 surviving kids.
Relationships were enhanced.
There was lots of time around a bonfire!
Some moonshine drinkin'...even by Grandma!
Lots of cousin time enjoyed!!
There was lots of time where we just sat around and talked and talked. I got to know many cousins as adults. That was exciting. We all have careers, significant others, children, etc. What a great time.
That Emma...she will steal your heart...
Awww:)

I loved driving up with my cousin Briana. We vow to stay in touch! It's so much fun to get to know each other in "real life." What we like to drink, how we feel in the morning, etc. Most of us stayed in 2 houses, which we very close to each other. My Aunt Renae planned meals for 30+ people all weekend. She was awesome! I feel so blessed to have been a part of that weekend!

Our Way There

Our trip to North Dakota actually started on June 9th. My cousin from North Carolina, Bri...and her husband, Chad made the long drive from their house to ours. The arrived early in the morning on Wed. and took a short nap. We just hung out at my house...eating, seeing the farm animals, driving around, etc. Colby had a game that night so we all loaded up and headed to the great town of Edina. The next morning we started out. There was a girl's car: me, Bri, Lauren, and Emma...and a boy's car: Colby, Vance, and Chad. Bri and I talked the WHOLE way there!

We saw a wind farm...

Pulled over for torrential downpours....

Met up with mom, dad, Jenn, Mike, and Natalee and hung out at a gas station b/c we're cool like that!
Natalee thought it was great!
Snazzy, red-neck packing:)
Lauren got some hair fixin'
Took pictures of lots of pretty scenery....LOTS!
Worried over a bridge that wasn't so bad...right Bri?

We finally made it late Thursday evening.

Stay tuned....