spent sunday on the sunday gulch trail in custer state park

sunday, with barely any rest from camping and hiking in spearfish, we headed to custer state park with the neighbors to hike the sunday gulch trail. i haven't ever hiked a trail that crossed over and through streams so this was super exciting for me and of course the kids loved jumping through the creek and hoping on all the boulders littering the creek bed. we saw squirrels galore, a buffalo, and a family of big horn sheep. i just love custer for all the amazing wildlife roaming freely though out the park. after the hike we splashed around in sylvan lake before headed to DQ for some much needed ice cream. a perfect ending to a perfect day!

1st ever black hills camp trip!!

we loaded the car with gear and headed to spearfish canyon to camp for a night at the rod and gun campground. perfect site right by the creek, if only the bugs would have left us alone. we were lucky enough to discover the path for the lower rimrock trail passed right behind our tent! it was almost like hiking in a rainforest, there was so much green with the richest black soil i have ever seen. i am totally looking forward to a return trip and another hike. pure bliss!

the view from our tent

my new addiction...

i stumbled upon this web site from one of the blogs i read. i can not stop checking it out every day. you could say it's like a giant collaborative pin board that users can post pictures of inspiring rooms, delicious recipes, cool crafts, and beautiful photographs. the more people you follow the more interesting things you will discover. a kind of internet utopia.

crazy horse volksmarch 2011!

it's really hard to believe it has been a year since i hiked the volksmarch solo! this year i finally got to do it with my wonderful husband and a good friend. the day was a real scorcher but as always the view from the top was amazing. on the way home we stopped by the prairie berry, tasted some wine, and grabbed a bottle to celebrate our victory. can't say the last time i had such an incredible sunday.

early birthday bike!

lantern craft.

the last remaining lantern from my wedding over 5 years ago has really started to show it's age but i loathed the thought of tossing it, what with all the fantastic memories. so instead i decided to revamp said lantern and i think it turned out even better than the original!

before...

1st row of book page circles glued on.

half way there!

after!

sioux falls trip...