Family Vacation - South Dakota

I am not sure how I forgot how my life was so impacted by K for those three months.  My life revolved around K and his needs and appointments while in the midst of baseball season for T.  Balancing was becoming a juggling act and I know that T and my needs were smoldering from the heat of the back burner.

So I was looking forward to the time when K was going to move to his new family.  June.  Summer would then be filled with going back to our routine lifestyle of baseball, baseball and more baseball.  T needed to get in driver's training and then of course planning some much needed vacations!

With T with his dad for two weeks, that allowed me to go to Aruba with MS.  It also allowed for me to plan a cross country vacation with T to South Dakota to visit my brother and family.  Initially the trip was my mom's idea; however, due to her husband's ailing health and acceptance to the list for a liver transplant, she needed to be home with my step dad.  Always wanting to see Mount Rushmore, I still planned the trip with just T.

T finished up driver's training just before his time with his dad and then our vacation.  He would be able to log in some serious driving hours from Michigan to South Dakota.  We took our time driving out to South Dakota, staying in Minnesota the first evening.  We arrived at my brother's house mid-day on a Tuesday.  I was excited to spend time with my brother and his family.  We see each other for holidays or during the summer, but have never spent significant amounts of time together.  I was eager to spend time with my two nephews (8 and 6) and my niece (almost 2). 

On Thursday, we drove across South Dakota en route to Mount Rushmore.  T and I drove separately as we didn't have a vehicle large enough for seven of us, which allowed us some much needed quiet time!  We stopped at Corn Palace, Wall Drug and the Badlands.  We visited Mount Rushmore and Sylvan Lake.  We were able to spend a day hiking the '76 trail and several trails nearby.  We also spent a day at a water park, went to a cowboy show, saw my oldest nephew's first football game and bonded with the kids! 

T and I had a great time.  There were many stories that could be told which I will keep them off the blog.  We loved Sylvan Lake and the picturesque views.  T loved that he could swim and climb rock formations.  Mount Rushmore was a bucket list success!  The entire trip was a success of bucket list adventures!  T and I shared many laughs which turned into tears strolling down my face!  So many wonderful memories to cherish!  By the drive home, T and I were both overly exhausted from driving.  He chose not to drive when given the option.  In less than a month, T has completed more than the required 30 hours of driving!  And fortunately, we didn't have any car issues!