It was pouring rain in Keystone, SD. We killed a few hours at Mt. Rushmore to avoid setting up the tent in the rain. We took shelter under a tree when we got caught in a downpour:
And then headed for the bathroom to dry the girls' hair and dresses. They thought this was a blast. I was not impressed with this part of the trip.
We did make it to Mt. Rushmore between bursts of rain. 
We went for a walk around Sylvan Lake near Keystone. 
After spending 2 nights in Keystone, SD we headed further west for Yellowstone. We camped at Grant Park and spent a lot of time at Yellowstone Lake.
I didn't bring my cooking stove to save space (did I mention we all 4 traveled in my tiny Civic?).
We spent a lot of time walking around Grant Park the first day in Yellowstone. We wanted to avoid getting in the car after spending 9 hours driving from Mt. Rushmore that morning.
Lily desperately wanted a camp fire. Check out that fire!
The girls spent over 2 hours collecting sticks, pinecones, branches (and rocks and sand from Willow) for the fire while grammy and I got to sit back and relax.
The second day in Yellowstone we spent about 6 hours near Old Faithful and surrounding geysers. Lily was finally impressed! The entire drive anytime I'd say "Lily! Look at the mountains!" or "Lily! Look at the elk!" she'd get annoyed that she had to look away from her movie long enough to appease me. She did love Old Faithful, though. And she had a blast naming the unnamed geysers and hot springs with us. 
Willow, on the other hand, hated Old Faithful. She has fine-tuned her scolding of all things hated to include bent knees, arm outstretched, pointed finger, shrill SCREAM, body leaning forward, "NOOOOO!". She didn't enjoy Old Faithful because of the fine mist it spewed in our direction.
I didn't bring my cooking stove to save space (did I mention we all 4 traveled in my tiny Civic?).
We spent a lot of time walking around Grant Park the first day in Yellowstone. We wanted to avoid getting in the car after spending 9 hours driving from Mt. Rushmore that morning.
Lily desperately wanted a camp fire. Check out that fire!
The girls spent over 2 hours collecting sticks, pinecones, branches (and rocks and sand from Willow) for the fire while grammy and I got to sit back and relax.
The second day in Yellowstone we spent about 6 hours near Old Faithful and surrounding geysers. Lily was finally impressed! The entire drive anytime I'd say "Lily! Look at the mountains!" or "Lily! Look at the elk!" she'd get annoyed that she had to look away from her movie long enough to appease me. She did love Old Faithful, though. And she had a blast naming the unnamed geysers and hot springs with us. Willow, on the other hand, hated Old Faithful. She has fine-tuned her scolding of all things hated to include bent knees, arm outstretched, pointed finger, shrill SCREAM, body leaning forward, "NOOOOO!". She didn't enjoy Old Faithful because of the fine mist it spewed in our direction.This photo is significant because I have mastered a trick to get Willow to cooperate with pictures. Right before this was taken it occurred to me to only invite Lily into the picture. I said "Mom? Will you take a picture of Lily and I? Willow, you can stand over there." and pointed off in the distance. She ran to get in the shot! Why didn't I think of this a couple months ago? For the rest of the trip she ran to get in pictures and say "cheese". 
Willow refused to ride in the stroller at Old Faithful. She hiked 1/2 mile up a "mountain" with us and then back down. She walked for about 4 hours around the geysers. She REFUSED to ride and I REFUSED to carry. The next day she couldn't walk! Every time I set her down she lifted one leg, cried, and waited for me to pick her back up. I kept saying "I broke my baby".
After 2 nights in Yellowstone we were back in the car on the way to Ontario, Oregon where my cousin Heather and her family live:
We spent a few hours in Heather's ADORABLE and homey quilt shop in Ontario. Lily was watching her cousin Hutton sew:
And then we drove just 2 hours from Ontario to Sumpter, Oregon where Heather and Julanne/Carl own land.
Lily spent a bunch of time picking huckleberries with her cousins in Sumpter. Ignore the "KEEP OUT" sign I guess.
The kids also loved digging in the rocks/sand:
We went on a steam-engine train ride while in Sumpter:
It was attacked by robbers! Thankfully the robbers only gave out candy when they made their way onto the train.
Here are most of the little cousins in Sumpter. Hunter stayed back and Harper was asleep when this was taken:
Lily loved this dog! She drug Patches around constantly either carrying him or on the leash. Jen suggested I get us a dog and Lily will focus on that instead of climbing all over me, but all I could imagine was the dog AND Lily (and Willow half the time) barnacled to me.
Here are all the little counsins on our last night together in Sumpter. Heidi and Phil hosted a movie night:
And then we were back on the road on our way to the Oregon Coast:
With one stop on the way at this incredible mountain waterfall:
We tented 2 blocks from the ocean in Cannon Beach. It was incredible and I was instantly glad we made the trek.
Willow's first look at the Pacific Ocean:
I think it felt good to be out of the car again:
Grammy and her highly protective sun hat. WHAT is a sun hat?
I just hate the showers at camp grounds. I had to include this one to show how much the girls didn't hate camp ground showers. Why is that? I'm standing there thinking about all the other feet and.... well, I won't go on. I'm just glad to be home!
Lily got home sick in Cannon Beach. She cried and said she wanted to go home. I asked what she wanted to do first at home and she said "take a shower"! I guess I must have rubbed off on her. She said she missed her room (with the door shut) and her bed. Me too!
Willow was upset here because, once again, she wanted me to carry her. I wish I could have taken a picture of all I had in my arms: a stroller folded up, a giant beach bag, towels, my own back pack, and snacks for the day. She didn't seem to care:
And here's my view from the other direction. Thank God for grammy on this trip!
Lily and Gram went exploring and Lily found 2 perfect sand dollars. Notice grammy's cute, cute hair cut:
We spent almost 5 hours at the beach the first day and 8 hours the second day! It was heaven.
We went on a steam-engine train ride while in Sumpter:It was attacked by robbers! Thankfully the robbers only gave out candy when they made their way onto the train.
Here are most of the little cousins in Sumpter. Hunter stayed back and Harper was asleep when this was taken:
Lily loved this dog! She drug Patches around constantly either carrying him or on the leash. Jen suggested I get us a dog and Lily will focus on that instead of climbing all over me, but all I could imagine was the dog AND Lily (and Willow half the time) barnacled to me.
Here are all the little counsins on our last night together in Sumpter. Heidi and Phil hosted a movie night:
And then we were back on the road on our way to the Oregon Coast:With one stop on the way at this incredible mountain waterfall:
We tented 2 blocks from the ocean in Cannon Beach. It was incredible and I was instantly glad we made the trek.
Willow's first look at the Pacific Ocean:
I think it felt good to be out of the car again:
Grammy and her highly protective sun hat. WHAT is a sun hat?
I just hate the showers at camp grounds. I had to include this one to show how much the girls didn't hate camp ground showers. Why is that? I'm standing there thinking about all the other feet and.... well, I won't go on. I'm just glad to be home!
Lily got home sick in Cannon Beach. She cried and said she wanted to go home. I asked what she wanted to do first at home and she said "take a shower"! I guess I must have rubbed off on her. She said she missed her room (with the door shut) and her bed. Me too!
Willow was upset here because, once again, she wanted me to carry her. I wish I could have taken a picture of all I had in my arms: a stroller folded up, a giant beach bag, towels, my own back pack, and snacks for the day. She didn't seem to care:
And here's my view from the other direction. Thank God for grammy on this trip!
Lily and Gram went exploring and Lily found 2 perfect sand dollars. Notice grammy's cute, cute hair cut:
We spent almost 5 hours at the beach the first day and 8 hours the second day! It was heaven.
Ahhh, the life. An Oreo cookie, the sand, sun, surrounded by your favorite people and nothing to do but play in the sand and water.
We drove 14 hours 2 days in a row to make it home in 2 days. At our very last stop for gas in Fargo I told the girls they could pick out any candy/chips they wanted. Without hesitating, Willow pointed up high at this pink snowball thing. I can't wait to email Sandra and find out if she ate these things in Guatemala. I have never eaten one, much less given one to her. She knew EXACTLY what she wanted.
We drove 14 hours 2 days in a row to make it home in 2 days. At our very last stop for gas in Fargo I told the girls they could pick out any candy/chips they wanted. Without hesitating, Willow pointed up high at this pink snowball thing. I can't wait to email Sandra and find out if she ate these things in Guatemala. I have never eaten one, much less given one to her. She knew EXACTLY what she wanted.
