The Best and Worst Place for a Toddler

So even though we have had MANY adventures this summer, I felt like we needed to have one more. We have one week left in our home as a family before we move and I am just feeling nostalgic.  So I decided to have a blast from the past and take Lucas to Chuck-E-Cheese.  I have amazing memories of the place from my childhood and thought it would be great.

WRONG.  Oh my Lord was I wrong.  Kids everywhere- trying to steal tickets, searching cups for quarters, coughing/sneezing on my son.  Tables were dirty and the garbage was overflowing.  Half of the machines for kids Lucas' age were broken.  I had a coupon for 100 tokens for $20 and we were literally throwing them in machines just to get a ticket and use them.  

We ended up with 250 tickets which in Wisconsin Dells got us two huge prizes plus a bunch of little ones.  At Chuck-E-Cheese we got a sucker, a plastic frog, and a car that shoots a foam "bullet".  LAME.  400 tickets for a plastic ducky... are you kidding me?!? 

I refused to eat there.  You know it's bad when I told Mike to sanitize Lucas before we left and he told me he already had.

So we went to Buffalo Wild Wings.... WHY have I never taken my child there before?  TVs everywhere.  It's loud so HE can be loud.  And his meal was $1.99!!!!!!

Lucas loves ranch. He attempted to drink it straight from the cup at one point!

The best and the worst experience in the same day-- that's our life :) 

Black Hills Vacation Recap

We are HOME.  And it feels so good.  And weird because my husband started his new job today. Here's to single momming it every 4 days (for 4 days) until the end of August.  BLEH.  Thank God for our amazing daycare because August coming hit me like a ton of bricks.  I have SO much to do.

But here is a recap of our vacation.

We left on Sunday.  It is SUCH a long freaking drive out to the Hills.  And BORING.  

Here are my tips for traveling with a 2 year old-
1.  Make sure nap time occurs sometime with a car.
2.  Snacks, snacks, snacks.  And juice.
3.  New toys.  New books.  New movies/shows.
4.  Prayers.
5.  Advil.
6.  Alcohol (JUST KIDDING!)

We stopped in Sioux Falls to buy Mike new shoes, Mitchell to eat, and Badlands National Park to break up the trip to Keystone.  

When we got pregnant, we talked about taking Lucas to all of the national parks in the U.S. and we were so happy to be able to check off number one.

On Monday we hiked to Harney's Peak, the highest point in South Dakota.  Mike told me it was a 6 mile round trip hike.  It was over 8.  God Bless Mike for carrying Lucas most of the way. 

I tried for awhile and I felt like such a badass but I didn't last long.  

Somehow Lucas managed to fall asleep in his backpack (LOVE this thing!) so we went to Storybook Island for our afternoon entertainment.

Tuesday we took Needles Highway to Custer State Park.  Lucas got car sick and puked all over when we stopped.  UGH- definitely a low point in the trip!  But he rallied and we got to see lots of wild animals on the way to Wind Cave National Park.  

We had to wake Lucas up for the trip so I got the treat of carrying him through the entire tour... that's 80 minutes in case anyone is wondering.  

My arm workout for the day!  Oh and when we got out, we were treated to golfball size hail that damaged my poor baby blue SUV.  Another low point.  July 25th- bad day LOL

Wednesday we decided Lucas had been a trooper long enough and we hit some sights that interested him- Reptiles Garden and Dinosaur Park.  

He LOVED both places and the great thing about Reptiles Garden is they give you admission for your entire trip so we ended up going back later in the trip. We also went back to Mount Rushmore so we could tell Lucas we had taken him there.

3 years ago- Lucas was about 3 weeks in my belly

Lots has changed!

Thursday we hit the 1880 Train from Keystone to Hill City and back.  It was raining so it was a great rainy day activity and Lucas had a blast.  I was SO glad that we went early because we had two seats to ourselves which was NOT the case on the way back.  

We hit Reptile Garden again that afternoon.  That evening Mike took Lucas swimming so I could get some miles in on the treadmill since we hadn't done much exercise that day.  The hotel fitness room looked over the pool so it was so much fun to get to watch them interact and get my workout done at the same time.

Friday was another hiking day.  We did a 3.5 mile loop around Sylvan Lake.  VERY strenuous and Mike actually went off the trail for a little bit and I ended up falling not once...but twice.  

It was beautiful however.  We got to pick and eat wild raspberries, see deer, and SO many waterfalls which I loved.  

Definitely worth the scrapes I endured.  When we got back to the hotel, we took naps and got to see another round of hail.  Thankfully no damage this time.  After supper, we did the Alpine Slide.  Lucas had a blast going down with Mommy although Mike says I was very slow.

Saturday we got up and started the trek back.  We went through Bear Country to let Lucas burn off some energy.  

Then Lucas and I went to Storybook Island while Mike got a haircut-- he loves that place and I love that it's free!  The drive home was a little rocky because Lucas didn't nap at his usual time and he took a short nap but we made it through.

The laundry got done Sunday with a family reunion in between and I spent 77 lovely minutes on the treadmill getting my long run in.  YUCK. Why do I train for fall half-marathons when I know I'm too lazy to get up in the morning to run when it's not hot and humid out?

And now it's August 1st and I need to get my ass in gear.  I need to get things done and I need to start taking care of myself again.  I have really been letting myself go as far as strength training and nutrition and it's showing in the way my clothes are fitting and what the scale is saying.  UGH.  I can't hide it much longer in athletic clothes so time to up my game!

Here's to a new month!