From the mouths of babes

Linnaea-isms:

lellow = yellow
ogange = orange
Lamaly = Laramie (WY)
riggaly = regular (as in "I want a riggaly bun" meaning "I want a bun with nothing inside of it.")
resagna = lasagna
ba ba ba ba wool so high = up above the world so high (Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star)


Elise-isms:
Nannaea = Linnaea
hmell = smell (as in "I want to hmell your mouf" after we brush our teeth.)
fwing = swing
gull = girl
wif a come cob pi wif a butt on nose = with a corn cob pipe and a button nose (Frosty the Snowman)

The Big Announcement

We are moving...again! Kevin was offered a PERMANENT job as a botany technician at Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota. We drove up there last weekend to check it out before we accepted the position. We would like to live in the town of Hot Springs, which is the closest town to the park. It's a pretty little town with about 4200 people in it. It has 2 grocery stores, a movie theatre, a VA Hospital, a medical center, several banks, 2 libraries, a water park, 3 schools (elementary, middle, and high), and some fast food options. Wind Cave is adjacent to the Black Hills National Forest and Custer State Park, and less than an hour from Mount Rushmore. There is a Rails to Trails trail called the Mickelson Trail running all through the area which I can't wait to ride and run on. We looked all day Saturday for a place to rent but couldn't find anything that would accept a pet. We would like to move up there for Kevin to start work on May 10, but we need to find a place to live first. There are tons of homes for sale that are all reasonably priced, but we want to take our time to find a good home this time, so we'd like to rent for a few months before we commit to a purchase. The closest major town is Rapid City, which, unfortunately, is VERY expensive to fly in and out of. The next major towns are Casper or Cheyenne, Wyoming. I am really going to miss Walden. It's not a perfect town but the mountains surrounding it are absolutely gorgeous. I've met some good friends here as well. I will NOT miss the cold! The high temperatures in Hot Springs average 88 in the summer and 38 in the winter. I guess that's about all for now. We'll keep you posted about when we find a place to live!


Elise and Linnaea at the visitor center. Kevin will work right out of the park headquarters.





There are herds of buffalo roaming wild in the park.





More buffalo.





Linnaea sneezes in front of the opening of Wind Cave. The natural opening is quite small. The park runs tours into the caves everyday. There is a bigger opening for the tours.





Elise at the cave opening.

Easter 2010

We've had more snow in the past 4 days than we have had in the past 4 months. We were all prepared to go to our town's Easter Egg Hunt and wade through the snow to find eggs when we learned they had moved it to the high school gym. And I wouldn't really call it a "hunt" as much as I would call it a "scramble," as they just lay out eggs all over the gym floor and the kids run for them. Luckily the hunt was divided into age groups and it was fun to watch all the different ages race to get eggs. Elise even won a prize of a stuffed bunny and is very proud of it.





Elise with the basket Grandma and Grandpa sent.





Elise's 3 eggs. She has never really cared for hard boiled eggs until this week. I guess coloring them really makes a difference.





Linnaea watches over her 3 eggs.





Linnaea scrambles for some eggs...





...and Elise takes her time.





Elise examines her loot.





Linnaea got up the courage to sit with the Easter Bunny.





She says "Listen, Bunny, we need to talk."





Elise and her prize bunny.





The girls strain their arms hoisting up their baskets.