Summer Vacation 2012 continued.....

Well, we left Byron on Monday morning and headed to Gillette, Wyoming on the other side of the state.  Mark's sister Joan lives there with her family.  They have two daughters similar in age to Emma and Sam and they always have a great time playing with each other.  The girls played games and looked after their animals while the grown ups visited.  We had a lovely dinner with them and then it was time to head to our hotel for the night.  Unfortunately, I spaced getting any pictures with them which was really disappointing.  I wish I had some to show.  On Tuesday morning we headed to South Dakota.  We have great friends, the Siebert family, who live in Minnesota.  Mark and Tami have been friends since high school and we always try to meet up with them when we head to their neck of the woods.  This time around they were doing their own family vacation through South Dakota.  So we met up with each other in a very small town called New Underwood.  We went to a park and visited for a little while.  It was very hot and windy but it didn't stop Clara from enjoying a ride in the swing.

Here is Mark and the girls along with Tami, Dave, Hawkeye, and Orion.  We had a fun visit and it was great to catch up!

Then we got back on the road and headed to our destination of Sioux Falls.  We had never spent much time there but it really is a pretty city.  Our hotel was nice and of course we had to take advantage of the swimming pool.  This was Clara's first time in the pool and boy was she happy!  She jumped up and down in the water and would squeal with delight.

Of course Emma and Sam had a great time in the water, too.  They love to swim!!!

After a comfortable night's rest and a good breakfast, it was time to leave town but before we did we wanted to make a stop at the falls.  They were really very pretty and there was a nice park surrounding them.  We took lots of pictures and the girls enjoyed climbing on the rocks and doing some exploring.

We would definitely like to come back to Sioux Falls and spend more time. 

Shortly after we left Sioux Falls on Wednesday morning we entered Minnesota and one the first little towns we came to was Clara City.  Of course I had to stop and take a quick picture.  It was meant to be!

More pictures to come!