The Before & The After

After 4 years the kitchen update is finally complete. The kitchen has worked just fine, when the cook decides to cook, but the missing piece was the backsplash. We always intended to add that piece, I have just procrastinated choosing something. Well, this was the summer to finally do something.

The BEFORE photos:

The AFTER photos:

(the color is bone, not white)

We also added it above the table height counter, below the window. We LOVE it!

The Hits & The Duds

Final post of the adventures in the Black Hills with the G'Kids.

The four summers (1982-1984) we spent time in the Black Hills with our kids are fond memories for them. We, Hubby and I, remember it as a time when we would PAY for one tourist attraction each visit and all other times were spent at FREE attractions. Sometimes we were there for a long weekend and once for a week or more. Our son was quite young, age 2 on his first visit, so he saw many things from the seat of a stroller. One of the free places we visited often was Storybook Island. It was about a block from our campsite, so it was an easy walk.

Storybook Island was on our Must See list for the G'Kids. The park has probably grown in size since the '80s. It is a great place to run and play, safely.

We thought the G'Kids would really enjoy the Mother Goose themed stations. That was not the case. After being at Story Book Land in Aberdeen this themed park was an inferior attraction. Dud #1


Another freebie our kids enjoyed was Dinosaur Park, on the skyline of Rapid City. Dinosaurs. What kid doesn't like dinosaurs? Large creatures for climbing and crawling. It was also on the Must See list.

 "But Grandma, you said there were lots of dinosaurs!" I think there are 4. "M" was NOT impressed.

Dud #2

Now that I think about it, our kids would probably say they liked the gift shop at Dinosaur Park, not necessarily the dinosaurs. The Grands never got to the gift shop.

The freebies that were a Hit were the activities at Hart Ranch Camping Resort. They enjoyed the pool, miniature golf,

the various playgrounds

and the evening train ride followed by s'mores & ice cream.

I am sure there will be a next time for the Grands to visit the Black Hills. Hubby and I know what we will do differently, if there is; more time at the camping resort and less time at the "spendy" attractions. Lesson learned.

Pool Time

The weather was not typical August weather the week we spent in the Black Hills. Tuesday was cool and rainy, Wednesday cool, and finally warmer temps on Thursday and Friday. Neither Hubby nor I are big pool fans, but we know the G'Kids are. We spent Thursday afternoon at the pool, when it finally opened after lightning strikes and thunder and closed about an hour later when once again, lightning was seen in the sky. To the grands, a little pool time was better than NO pool time. We made up for it on Friday afternoon, spending about 2.5 hours in the pool.

The camping resort has LOTS of water toys available for check out. "M" tried everything from water guns to balls, to flotation devices.

Also awesome for us, he was content to be in the wading pool the entire time. 

Miss W played in the 3 foot pool. She could touch bottom and keep her head above water. She found 'friends' to play with and was content to stay in the 3' area, which delighted us. 

The HR has 'pool police', but no life guards, per se. We spent our time under the canopy watching the two of them. The pool was very busy on Friday afternoon and every time some kid hollered, "Grandma. Watch this!" many heads turned to check out if it was 'their' kid who called. Far more grandparents there than parents.

And this was the culmination of 2.5 hours in the pool. Two very tired kids, crashing on our cabin bed.

G'Kids Visit Bear Country

One of the highlights of our week with the G'Kids in the Black Hills was our trip to Bear Country.

If you have not been to Bear Country, it starts with a drive through area viewing 12 species of animals. Here are photos of some of them. The good part was having a map and letting Miss W announce what we would be seeing in each section. Both kiddos enjoyed trying to spot the animals who were resting in the tall grass and reminding me to keep the windows up when I wanted to take photos.

Rocky Mountain Elk

Arctic Wolf

Big Horn Sheep

Black Bear causing a traffic jam

Mountain Lions

bear pool

a water park is being built for the bears 

and will be open next summer

carrots for bears' lunch

they had to cross the road to get their food

Black Bears

LOTS of adult Black Bears

these two crossed the road in front of the van to the 

delight of the grands

Bison

Interesting side note: the man, Veterinarian Dennis Casey,  responsible for starting Bear Country in 1972 was a brother to the husband of Hubby's first teaching partner at Grant School. 

a Woodchuck enjoying lunch during our walk-about

Beavers enjoying lunch

the Beaver family: 3 wet members and 2 dry ones

Bobcat

Red Fox taking a snooze

Arctic Fox in their log

On our other visits to Bear Country the baby bears were the most entertaining and the highlight of the trip. That was not the case this day. For whatever reason, there were very few cubs in the viewing area. In fact, the kids didn't stop at all. They did enjoy seeing the animals in the walk-about part, but really enjoyed the drive through the large animal section. The adult bears were very entertaining; frolicking in the pool, running after the truck dropping the carrots, and crossing the road between the cars. Well worth the money.

Visiting the Reptiles

Reptile Gardens was another of our 'must do' with the G'Kids last week. I had not been there since the 80s when we took our kids to the attraction. (Hubby and OFD visited about 15 years ago. I chose not to go because it was hot and I remember the smells.) Well, I can honestly say Reptile Gardens has changed.

Again we were given a map upon paying our entrance fee, giving Miss W the role of guide. She led us to the playground (not on purpose) where they were content to run, jump, and play. We did not pay the entrance fee we paid to play in a playground! So we took charge of the map and began exploring.

The rain forest building was well received because of all the snake varieties, birds, and small reptiles. I was fascinated by the flowering plants. That post will come later.

opportunity to pet a python

Miss W did; "M" did not

turtles of all sizes

We had heard from others that riding the turtles was no longer allowed. DUH! But we finally found the large 100+ year old turtles and told the kids their daddy and aunt had ridden one that size. Unfortunately, Methuselah has died as I am certain that was the old guy they sat upon 35 years ago. They were able to touch/pet the large turtles and watch them get up and amble along the fence line.

We attended the alligator show. There is also a bird show and a snake show throughout the day. They have two or three kinds of alligators and some varieties of crocodiles.

wrestling the alligator

sharing how you can sit on one without getting bit

and a baby alligator who had to have its mouth taped

before it was presented 'up close and personal' to anyone 

wanting to touch it

there was a LONG line for the baby 'gator

And to my surprise and delight, there were no smells associated with Reptile Gardens. The place was clean and large enough to handle all the people who visit on any given summer day.

Tired. Hungry. Thirsty. Crabby. No photo of the Grands with anything that says 'Reptile Gardens.' There were several options to get food and drink, we just chose not to do so. AND you would be surprised at how fast I walked through that gift shop when we were done that day. No souvenirs from RG! I know why they place the exits of these places where they do, but GEEZ!  A family of 4 could easily drop $100 at that place on entrance, drinks, snacks & souvenirs. Now I remember why we only went once when our kids were young.

Saga of the Cucumbers and Garden Critters

Around Memorial Day weekend, I planted 3 cucumber seedlings I had purchased locally. I placed them around the trellis, two in front and one in back, hoping they would grow up rather than out. We were going out of town for a week and I wanted them to have a good start before we left.

June 6

When we got back, I noticed two of the plants had been chewed off and a hole in the dirt along the timber. I stuffed the hole with a rock and bought two more plants to replace the two chewed ones. Within a few days, a new hole was dug, and the new plants were also destroyed. 5 cucumber plants so far.

I went back to the garden center and bought 3 new plants and had a discussion about the critter eating my plants. I purchased rabbit repellant, rodent repellant and placed the tin cans around the new plants. 8 cucumber plants

June 21

The rodent repellant (and the cans) must have done the trick because the one plant from the first planting and one from the second planting not in the cans were still there, but not growing. 

August: I have been picking cucumbers and in fact took 6 slicers along to the Black Hills last week.

August 20

OK. So critters are still there as evidenced by the chewing on the cucumber hanging closest to the ground. The big one on the right was in the can touching the ground, but they did not bother it. I will definitely have to do something a little more permanent once the growing season is over.

I had also purchased 3 different tomato plants: one salad tomato that I thought was grape tomatoes, one bigger tomato for sliced tomatoes, and a lemon tomato plant because it is lower in acid. By July 6th the lemon tomato plant was dead. It was near the cucumbers and critter holes, but wasn't chewed or eaten. It just died. 

We have eaten some of the salad-I thought grape-tomatoes but the plant did not produce the amount of fruit I expected. 

There will be at least one ripe tomato very soon. But I have to laugh because I have seen photos of friends' tomato plants and pickings, and my plant looks quite puny. Oh well...it is what it is.

something has enjoyed this flower all summer

it never bloomed

Even with all the rabbit repellant and Hubby's successful 'hunting' skills, rabbits are still feasting on my flowers! They've eaten so much I don't know if this was a daisy or a marigold!

 I know this was a marigold

the rabbit did a lot of damage this past week

and I thought marigolds were supposed to repel critters!

found this plant hiding under the milkweed

insects have gotten it, too

the milkweed plant

no evidence of Monarch butterflies

this plant is HUGE!