Bishop Castle- Colorado Highway 165

This castle was a fun stop recommended by friends. When we pulled up I could see a full-grown man slowly crawling across a catwalk above us. It seemed silly. Until I was up toward to top. Suddenly it made sense.


This castle has been being built for 40-some years. The builder was there working- and ranting about something. He seems to be an eccentric anti-government type. There were hand-painted signs railing about the government. It was not an OSHA-approved environment. Seriously, one could have fallen to their death at any time. There was a sign asking visitors to sign a guestbook as a release form. Kendall didn't find the guestbook until we had already cheated death and come back down.

Something some people may not know about our family is that half of it's members do not like heights.
Hint #1: This is the same half that is less prone to emotional outbursts.
Hint #2: The following photos.



Eli wanted me to include this picture and explain that he was still feeling so shaky that he was scared to sit in this chair.


I should say that while I do not consider myself to be afraid of heights, I was very shaky at the top. Safety and random openings in the walls were the big thing. Steps were welded together from metal grate, so you could see well below you. As you got higher, the castle was not built of stone walls anymore, but of metal pieces. With openings Evan could have easily slipped out of. I wanted to walk out on the catwalk far above the world, but little openings under my feet and a missing section of railing would not permit me to do it.

Eli dropped out of the climb first. Kendall shakily made his way up to where Evan and I waited. Evan would have happily scampered up to the very top, but I sent him back with Kendall. The little squirrel just wasn't bothered by the Evan-sized openings all around him! Then I kept climbing. The effect on my brain was hard to explain. Those openings really got to me...and the swaying... Anyway, you have to experience it to understand it.

I found the bathroom at the bottom and I'll just say now that I may be a bit germaphobic. The bathroom was a disgusting pit toilet and, as shaky as I was from climbing to the top, I found myself a bit panicky in that stinky bathroom. I guess one fear exaggerates another.

Thanks to Kendall's dislike of heights, Eli seems almost proud of his acrophobia. That does not seem to be a phobia that Little Brother shares. Do you think there's a name for a fear of young children that aren't afraid of things they should be afraid of?

Alberta Falls- Rocky Mountain National Park

We took a hike up to a water fall on what may have been the best day of our week of family travel. We didn't have to I think that's the only day we weren't in the car for more than an hour or two (or maybe three). We actually stayed in the same campground 2 nights in a row!

We nearly lost this one over the edge- but he stoically held on.


This seems to be a more dramatic near-fall. (Or maybe it's just a more dramatic son.)


This is the first I'm seeing this photo. Kendall must have taken it when he walked further than the rest of the family in his quest for healthy living.

Oh. Never mind what I just said about some quest for healthy living.

Mt. Rushmore- Keystone, South Dakota

Of course, being so close, we couldn't miss Mt. Rushmore! We got to Mt. Rushmore in the evening with thunderstorms threatening. We were tired. But we decided to go to a campground anyway. It didn't storm. We ate pizza from the camp store at 9pm. We slept horribly on a hill. I don't know why any decent campground would put their tent sites on a hill. I can't say that we were all the nicest we've ever been during this time.
However, we do look pretty happy the next morning! (Mt. Rushmore is behind us- not that you can tell.)

The family picture was taken after a beautiful ride up a mountain. Then we flew down the mountain on an alpine slide.


A few of the nation's finest...


Mt. Rushmore is between Eli & Evan's heads (not that you can see it). According to them, their pose is supposed to say, "We're the builders and that was so easy." Piece of cake.

Laura Ingalls Wilder Homestead- De Smet, South Dakota

Since living in Red Lake, we have read the Little House on the Prairie series. Everyone got into it, but especially Eli and Kendall. So we decided to take the opportunity to visit the place where lots of the stories took place. It was really neat. Eli and Evan do chores (!), play a pump organ, make rope, drive a team of horses, sit in a one-room schoolhouse, ride a pony, see a dugout home and beg for toys from the gift shop.




Here they practice using their new ropes. It appears to me that Kendall is attempting to lasso his son rather than the calf.


Never fear- While Kendall shows off for the camera, his son sneaks up with a plan of his own!

Camping

Because I am 30 minutes from the boys getting off the bus and having a new weekend begin, I am posting last weekend's photos before it's too late.

Thankfully, our adventures were fairly controlled. We saw a big wolf as we drove to our campsite, we chased a moose down the road, and we watched a beaver cross the road ahead of us. But no bears in our campsite. (That we know of.)

Here, the boys catch tadpoles in a big puddle. They followed us home and are our new pets.



Notice the gourmet quality of this meal. Couscous, asparagus and... bratwurst and hotdogs. Oh well, the protein was supposed to be fish, but that just didn't happen. Our back-up hotdogs and brats filled in nicely.



Yes, the boys are safely tethered to their father on shore.


We had our decking materials delivered right before we left home Friday evening. So we had to work to not think about what we could be accomplishing at home too much. But, in the end, we agreed that a weekend of camping was a much better choice for our kids. The had a blast and got more attention than they would have in the midst of building a deck.

I leave you with a mini bouquet Eli and I picked. The tiny flowers and cranberry plants were blooming.

June 10

Happy Anniversary to us! 11 years! I have thoroughly enjoyed to the fullest every blissful second of the last 11 years. Oh, wait. That may be a stretch, but what is not a stretch is that I love Kendall so much! He is my best friend and I have seen that happen even more since moving to his homeland. I have learned so much from him and I believe that even if we aren't enjoying to the fullest every blissful second of our relationship, we are growing and sharpening each other and learning lots. Even with it's ups and downs, I believe that we are on a GOOD journey. And our love is 11 years deeper and stronger than the day we made our vows.

Just unpacked one trip and packed up another. We're off to go camping for the weekend. Hopefully, the weekend will be full of (controlled) adventures that do not include bears in camp or freezing to death!

I am excited to spend a weekend with my super duper husband and our love child(ren). (Eli would make a show of gagging if he heard that he is Kendall's and my 'love child.') Too bad for him. It's true.

Grandma Beulah's Funeral

Kendall's grandma passed away last week and we made the decision to make a quick trip to Iowa for the funeral. I was so glad that the boys and I went along. It was a meaningful family time.

Here Grandpa Henry looks at the photo display in memory of Grandma.


The pallbearers- The 6 grandsons that were able to be there. Unfortunately, the other 2 are living overseas and couldn't be there, though they really wanted to.


4 of the great-grandsons.


The cousins share a solemn moment as they watch the casket being lowered into the ground.




It was good for the boys to be at the funeral and burial. When they heard that Great Grandma Beulah was very sick and would probably die soon, Eli wanted to see her again. So they wrote her an e-mail and Nana read it to her. Nana reported back that Great Grandma enjoyed their letter.

Eli and Evan have been to only one funeral and I don't think they viewed the body there. So this was a new experience for them. Hours after Beulah passed away, Eli said, "I wonder if she's partying [in heaven]. No, she's probably still getting used to it." Later, he asked me if we would be going to the funeral. I overheard Evan say, "I hope not. It's just like church except you don't praise God." But I hope they found this funeral more meaningful.

We tried to talk to them about things ahead of time, but apparently missed some details. For example, Evan was expecting the body "just be bones" and he expressed his surprise that "a dead person had clothes on."

Beulah was buried close to the grave of her 3-year old son, Myron. I mentioned to Eli how great it must have been for Great Grandma to finally see her little son after so many years apart. That seemed to make an impression. After the burial, Eli admitted that he felt like crying after his Hero Cousin, Cameron, said that he did.

I'm proud of my kids. I'm so glad they got to experience this way of saying goodbye within the safety of their beloved extended family. They had Nana and Papa there to view the body with and when they wanted to help shovel dirt over the grave, Dad was with them.

Also, I learned more about Grandma Beulah and her life. I went away from the sharing time and funeral feeling challenged and blessed. At the burial, I felt such a sense of gratitude to Beulah for raising a good son, who also raised a good son, who is in the process of raising 2 good sons. Thank you, Grandma.