Road Trip Adventure Part 2

We had a wonderful, super busy first day, but the next day was even better!  First we started off the day by going to the Wind Cave in South Dakota.  It is that 5th largest cave in the world.  The tour was an hour and ten minutes and about 1/2 mile walk through the cave.  

The tiny hole that is largest known outside entrance into the cave.  It is just big enough for me to squeeze though pre-pregnancy.  Now, I'm not so sure.  Just around the corner is where we entered the cave through a revolving door, going down maybe 50 steps to the inside of the cave.

We are "listening" to the tour guide.  He repeated himself over and over again.  It didn't help that everyone was asking the same questions.  What was an hour tour could have been a 20 minute activity.

Here is the path that we went on.  There weren't many huge open areas where we could gather as a group.  Most of the time we were walking single file through the cave.

Olivia hated being the backpack because the tour guide would ramble on for 15 minutes at a time and she would get so bored she would just scream.  So we took her out and would walk up and down the path.  

Then Olivia started screaming for about 10 minutes.  We stuffed an empty bottle in her mouth because we couldn't have any food in the cave and within minutes, she was out.

One thing that the cave is famous for is their Boxwork.  This picture doesn't show it very well, but google it. The pictures are neat.

And this is finally the end of the cave.  It was really cool to go through and see the natural formations, but it would have been better if Olivia was asleep the entire time and the tour guide wasn't so boring.  I highly recommend anyone going to South Dakota to check it out.

After the cave, we went to climb the highest peak in South Dakota: Harney Peak.  

The elevation is a little over 7200 feet and the hike is less than 7 miles round trip.  It was so easy, I would even like my 5-year-old do it.  I could have probably taken my jogging stroller up most of the way.  

Before we started, we had lunch at Sylvan Lake.  Since it was so windy, we ate lunch by the toilets instead of the picnic benches overlooking the lake.

And for those unbelievers out there, here is the close up picture of me eating in front of the toilets.

                                      

The hike started out ridiculously simple.  The sign at the beginning of the trail said that it was 6-miles round trip and that we should allow 4-5 hours for the hike.  Well, it was 1:30 and we needed to get to Mt Rushmore, 25 minutes away, before 5:00 so that we could get our passport stamped before the visitors center closed.  That gave us less than 3 hours to hike.

This is about 1/2 mile in.  Over the rocks that we are standing on is a huge valley.  Our goal was to get to the other side where you see the peak in the background.  It looks a lot father away that it was.

At the very top, there is a mini-castle.  There is Olivia on Papa's back!

And here is the view from the top.

Proof that we were all there together

What should have been a 5-hour hike turned out to be 2 1/2 hours.  If we all went Chris' pace, we would have been done in an hour.  We had a little less than an hour to get to Mt Rushmore before the visitor center closed.

These guys were just chillin' on the side of the road.

We didn't make it before 5.  In fact, we went to Mt Rushmore 3 times on our trip.  We saw it Thursday just after 5, then we wanted to see it when the lights were turned on, so we ate dinner and came back that night, then we went back the next day to get our passport stamped.

Olivia loved it!

Her favorite part was crawling around everywhere!

Even at night, Olivia just wanted to walk around everywhere.  She didn't even want to pose for the picture.

That was day 2!

This picture is for part 3, but I  loaded it to this post by accident. 

That's all!  Stay tuned.

939 Miles and One Pampers Part 1

It all began at 7:30 PM on April 10.  Ending at 7:00 PM April 15.  Total mileage: 2835.8 miles.  Number of states visited 6. 

It was an awesome road trip.

We did so much, I can't even write everything in one night or even one post!    Here's day one with pictures.

First of all, John has been planning this road trips for months!  Every hour was planned.  We invited John's parents to come with us because neither of them have been to North Dakota and, to be honest, we wanted to split the cost.  We left on Tuesday night after John got off work and started our journey by driving through the night.

First stop:  Panorama Point: the highest point in Nebraska.  Arrival time 4:00 AM.

John's goal is to climb the 50 highest peaks of the 50 states.  In this trip, we knocked out 3 of them.  He also collects a  rock from the top of each peak and plans on displaying them in a custom made coffee table some day.  I was asleep until the car pulled up to the top, but to get there, we took several dirt roads that went on for miles until we drove to the top of Nebraska.  We had to wake Olivia up and get out of the car for the experience:

Next, only 3 miles away and down several other dirt roads, we went to the spot where Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska all come to a point!  There John is on the top of all three states.  Jessica, Olivia, and I are in Nebraska, or Colorado in this picture.  There, Olivia was in 3 different states in a matter of 10 seconds!

Next, we went to Devil's Tower in Wyoming located in North East Wyoming.  Right as we entered the park, there were hundreds of Prairie Dogs just chillin on the side of the road.  Of course we had to take pictures:

Here's one dog.  Cooler looking in person than in picture.  While the grandparents were looking at these Prairie dogs, John and I went to change Olivia's diaper after 15 hours and 939 miles of NO CHANGING.  It weighed about 4 pounds, no leaks, and definitely Pampers commercial worthy.

 We pulled up to Devil's Tower and "hiked" around it.  It's not really a hike since it was a 1.3 mile paved walk.

 Olivia at a Gingersnap and posed for a hiking picture.

And here I am rock climbing Devil's Tower free handed.  Who needs ropes.

Next, we got into the car and drove toward Rapid City, South Dakota.  Our first stop was the Badlands.  It was amazing!  Pictures don't do it justice.

Olivia has a National Parks passport.  It's a little book that lists all the National Parks and whenever she visits one, she gets a stamp in her passport.  This park, the visitors center that has the stamp closed at 4.  We decided to walk a small path before going to the visitors center.  However, Olivia insisted on walking 1/4 mile of the path and she walks slower than my grandma, so we didn't make it to the visitors center.  But here she is walking!  John illegally climbed up the top of a hill and took this picture.

 Here we are overlooking the Badlands.

Olivia taking her precious time down the path.

After we missed the visitors center, we went to a disarmed Missile Silo.  It's a real missile in the middle of nowhere.

 That was the last thing that we did on day one! 4 states!  We checked into a hotel and ate dinner.  It was a long day, but awesome!

Olivia's First Birthday!

We had a lot of fun during Olivia's first birthday!  But, instead of boring you with talk, here's the pictures of what we did:

I don't know if this video is going to work, but it is Olivia's new favorite thing to do!

We went to the dino museum!

Jacob is trying to demonstrate how Dino's die with their heads flipped back.

This was Olivia's favorite part!  Sitting on a wood horse.

Here's Olivia's birthday cupcakes and cake!  It's a lady bug in case you can't tell.

Olivia planning a tossing game.

Give Olivia an Apple...

Everything is going well in the McAdam household.  John is waking up everyday at 5 to study for his GMAT test, scripture study, and running on our treadmill.  I just wake up whenever Olivia does, usually after 8, and play around after that!

Our family is doing a new healthy living thing.  John's parents, Ryan, and I are watching our weight by eating healthy foods and doing a weekly weigh in every Saturday.  John and I started getting a Bountiful Basket which is 15 bucks for all this fruit and veggies!  We get one every other Saturday.

Other than that, we've just been doing our every day routine!  I started going to Zumba classes on Mondays and Thursdays and running the other days.  Olivia loves to come with me on the runs, but when she doesn't, this is what she likes to do:

Listen to her Baby Einstein music up to her ear and dance:

At a friend's house, she was playing Baby Einstein on Pandora.  This box would float around the screen and Olivia would always try to hit it.

Today at church, I gave her this apple to play with at the beginning of primary.  I had to play the piano so someone else played with her for the first 20 minutes.  When I got her back, Olivia ate half of the apple all by herself!

That's all!

Happy New Year!

We've been having a lot of fun this month.  Our house is finally livable, but we still have a few things that we have left.  When our house is all done, we will take pictures of everything.

Meanwhile, John's mom came this month to help with the organizing.  For those of you who know me, I am super unorganized.  John's mom helped me with that and the decorating.  I am no longer ashamed to have people over at my house.

While she was here, John had a 4 day weekend and tried to hike and summit Table Mountain.  He didn't, but he found the right trail this time!  Since it is the middle of January, they took snow shoes.  The road up to the trail was covered in snow, so they hiked 4 miles in, 1/2 mile up, then back to their car.  Word on the street is that it was super cold up there.  I don't know.  I didn't go, but I plan on going next time!

Here's John at the trail head, and the Daily's (our BFFs) that went with John.

 And this is the trail that they made:

 Happy Chinese New Year!  Every year for Chinese New Year, we eat Chinese food.  We've only been married for two years, but here is our 2nd one.  The first time I was 8 months pregnant and we were on our way home from one of John's business meetings in Utah when my sister called me and told me I had to start the tradition.  We pulled over at the nearest Panda Express and ate dinner.  This year, we found a new restaurant in Idaho Falls called The Great HuNan.  Best Chinese food in Idaho Falls, but that doesn't say too much.  I think we will go back though.

And just for those of you who like to make your own baby food: this is Olivia's favorite/  Strawberries, cranberries, banana, spinach, and oatmeal puree.  Too many good things all together, but she doesn't like them all separated.

Alcatraz

 Over Christmas break and New Years, we flew to California to spend some time with the family.  Unfortunately, I didn't take very many pictures.  I do have pictures of our trip to Alcatraz!  I've always wanted to go there, but I think when I was growing up, every time we wanted to go there it was closed.

Before our Alcatraz trip, we went prepared.  The night before, we watched the movie Escape From Alcatraz.  That's all the preparation that we did.

We took the "Alcatraz Cruise" boat out to the island and went on an audio tour that allowed us to go at our own pace instead of a huge tour group.

We arrived early, so we walked around and took a picture in front of Alcatraz, but you can't see it in the background.

This picture is taken from inside the prisoner's rec area.  Sitting on the top steps are John, Chris, and Olivia.

Olivia really enjoyed the tour.

 At the end of the tour, we tried to walk all the way around the island, but it was closed off.  Here we are standing in the courtyard where the guard's children played?  I'm not sure.  But there is the Alcatraz tower, the prison behind it, and the Warden's 14-room mansion to the right.

In California, we also went to family Christmas gatherings, the Science Museum, and "camping" in the Redwoods with both my family and John's family.  It was a lot of fun and I look forward to it again!

Olivia Update

Nothing is really new with Olivia.  She had her first Thanksgiving and I forgot to take pictures.  Of, course.  She is still crawling around everywhere and can now open drawers.  That's all.  Just enjoy the pictures.

Now Olivia splashes around in her bath and plays with her toys!

 She loves Cheerios!

 Olivia is now completely content playing alone.  Her favorite thing to do is pull out all the toys from her toy basket and knocking all the books off her baby book shelf.

 Surprisingly it is the end of November and there is still no snow.  We went for an off-roading experience today in her stroller.

 Olivia in her marshmallow.