South Dakota, Wyoming, and GOONIES!

For the third consecutive year, we've attended a floating multi-family vacation with the folks we met on an online birth board when we were pregnant with Ernie. We love these folks. We call them our Goonies. There are really more like 60 families we keep in touch with, but movingaround the midwest, some of the cast is different year-to-year. They are all equally awesome and irreplaceable.


Here's the kids watching Cinderella for the first time in the car ride up. Eleven hours is a long time to keep kids happy just sitting still.


And we had a lay-over in Murdo, South Dakota with two more Goonie families (the Wiants from Minnesota and the Harlesses from Wisconsin). The kiddos slept in a double bed together. They really loved it, and Lenora took it very seriously. Until she woke up around 3 a.m. disoriented and got a black eye trying to crawl over the nightstand to find mommy.

Possibly Ernie's favorite part of the whole trip was the Badlands. The legends and lore of the Badlands are nothing compared to his concern about available bathrooms. "Did only the bad guys not have toilets here? I think the good cowboys DID have toilets. And sinks." And if you're wondering why he's snarling in every picture, it's because he's the Demon, on the top of Night on Bald Mountain. Naturally.

I love this picture. Love love.

And this one makes me LOL. Three March 2007 babies! Ernie, Evie, and Teddy! And that's Super Goonie in Evie's hands. He likes to travel around and do fun stuff with Goonie families around the country.

Lenora and I tried to keep up.

Here's one for the holiday card!

Lenora's favorite part of the whole trip is summed up in this picture. "Mommy! I pay! I pay giwls! I pay wid big giwls!"

We were so close, we had to take a day trip from our vacation base at the Hein family ranch in Newcastle, WY to see Mt. Rushmore. Jeremy taught the kids about all the presidents in the car ride up.

But we somehow had left Snuggle Puppy in the parked car. So Daddy ran down three flights of stairs, through the parking garage, back up again, and just LOOK at the intensity on SP's face as he's gazing at Borglum's most famous sculpture:

Biscuit is kinda like "Meh."

More fun back at the ranch. The fire warnings were low enough we could roast some mallows.

Lenora loooved little Abrie. She's very openly affectionate.

And Jeremy was falling hard for the Mauro sisters. Makena and Zoe were pretty darn good at Tic-Tac-Toe!

Lennie loves Zoe, too.

Here's the whole gang! Six families, ten adults, and thirteen kids all under five years old!

And we got to take home Super Goonie next!

Allen and Patty Eckman, the Artists-in-Residence at Mommy's museum wouldn't hear of us being anywhere near South Dakota and not seeing them. We made a stop-over for a delicious lunch at their home, and a tour of their studio. These people love kids like nobody's business. Allen showed Ernie the c-mixer for their home improvement projects.

And seriously, kids love Allen and Patty back.

We had an awesome trip! We can't wait to see the gang again!