Soccer and School Playdays

We also went to KaCe's last day of school and a playday.  Glad to see they are still doing the sack race, the one legged race, the walk like spider and all those other wonderful never get old games.  Technology can't be everything.

Tug o'war is the last one.  Now it's time to PAAARRRTTTYYY!!

Oops, he's all partied out!  

I do enjoy watching the kids grow and mature.  The 2 older ones are changing daily.  Thanks Whit for making sure we are part of their lives through technology while we are in NM in the winter.  Hearing and seeing them grow makes the pain in the neck Droid worth the grief!

Chinese finger cuffs!

Ethan bowling with his Tuesday play group.  Good job Eth!

A Well Kept Secret: Oil Boom in North Dakota

Gail took us to Watford City (county seat).  We oooed and ahhhed the entire time.  There were RV's/trailers EVERYWHERE.

They went to the factory and said give me 1000 of those - same color, same size, same floor model......

In Watford City the traffic was unreal.

One of the new buildings the county has had to build.  The social services are bulging at the seams.

One of many, many portables "restaurants" that have sprung up here.

Need a job?

It just goes on and on. We heard Dickinson is even worse.

Here is the visitor center..........................and the ice cream store..................oh and the liquor store.  We weren't there very long but boy is it a busy place!

ummmm....I don't think Roger is having much fun any more as a commissioner.  Lots of headaches from the growth.

Yes, I can honestly say glad it's their problem and not ours.

Road Trip Part 3: North Dakota

Friday we hugged the Z's and head east to visit Gail and Roger in Grassy Butte.  He is a County Commissioner in that county and is dealing with the huge oilfield boom.  They are down off the Hwy 85 and the traffic just scoots past their driveway.  When we got there and went inside we smelled wonderful yeasty and "stew" smells.  Ahhh!  We do love her cooking.  She is another "rock" lady but we see now she is also a bird lady.  Luc went nuts outside reading the messages on the ground.

Birds, birds everywhere.

YUM!  See those rolls just waiting for the oven??

We loaded up in her truck and she took us exploring.  Here is Grassy Butte.  The building in the bottom left is their museum.  This area will also be the scene of the 50th Wedding Anniversary party.  We celebrated on the actual day down in EB.  But, congratulations again!

Remember those "balls" at the Lemmon Petrified Forest Park?  Well - here is that same formation - they weren't fake after all.

I love these trees.  

On the way back we stopped at their son's place and were shown the current crops of kitties.......oooooo want one?

Luc was NOT impressed.

Gail - I'm afraid you may have to cut a hole in your roof to let the cactus out.

It was great to shoot the breeze.  I, on the other hand, sat down on the couch and slept through Golf!!

Their son stopped by the next morning......it was raining and there seemed to be a hole in the fence.

Luc had a buddy to play with before we got in the van and bid ND goodbye.

Luc, get out of the plant - it's a cacus and will bite!

Anyone ever heard of a candy corn plant?  Here is one.  Cute, but different.

And finally what in the world is this?  Gail  doesn't know and I think she said she found it in NM.

We headed back to SD.  When we got to Spearfish we saw that is was 999 miles from Gillette to ND to Spearfish.  Add 90 to that and that is the mileage we traveled.  A good mini vacation.  Now it'll take a week to recover.

But wait - where are the oilfield photos?  Another day.  :)