Planking is so yesterday.

My daughter, owling.

Don't you wish you had cool kids like mine?

Weekend Activities

Yesteday, the girls had a tea party. Outside. In their princess dresses. This is one of the few tea parties in which they actually got to have cake. Can you tell?

Today, after picking up the backyard, we rewarded ourselves

with a trick...

And a treat.

(On a sidenote: After side by side comparisons, organic cherries are something I would recommend over the non-organic. It was like eating a whole different type of fruit.)

Have a fantastic weekend!

Bear Butte

There are two things I've been wanting to do every summer for the last few years.

The first is camping. Hasn't happened yet.

The second is hiking up Bear Butte. We did that today.

A little history on Bear Butte, as told by Wikipedia.

(I could have summarized for you, but I'm not in the mood. So skim when you have time.)

Geographic History:

Bear Butte is not strictly a butte (created primarily by erosion of sedimentary strata), but a laccolith: an intrusive body of igneous rock, uplifting the earlier sedimentary layers, which have since largely eroded away. This is the result of the forcible entry (or intrusion) of magma into cooler crustal rock in the Black Hills area during the Eocene period.

Modern History:

The Cheyenne and Lakota people have maintained a spiritual interest in Bear Butte from their earliest recorded history.

Notable visitors like Red Cloud, Crazy Horse, and Sitting Bull made pilgrimages to the site. In 1857, a council of many Indian nations gathered at Bear Butte to discuss the growing presence of white settlers in the Black Hills.

Violating a treaty of 1868, George Armstrong Custer led an expedition to the Black Hills region in 1874, and according to custom he camped near Bear Butte. Custer verified the rumors of gold in the Black Hills, and Bear Butte then served as an easily identifiable landmark for the rush of invading prospectors and settlers into the region. Indian reaction to the illegal movements of whites into the area was intense and hostile. Ultimately the government reneged on its treaty obligations regarding the Black Hills and instead embarked on a program to confine all northern Plains tribes to reservations.

Ezra Bovee homesteaded on the southern slopes of the mountain, and by the time of World War II, he and his family were the legal owners of the site. In the spring of 1945, the Northern Cheyenne received permission from Bovee to hold a ceremony at Bear Butte to pray for the end of World War II. The Cheyenne found that the Bovee family welcomed their interest in the mountain, and over the years the Bovees continued to encourage native religious ceremonies.

By the mid-1950s Ezra Bovee was attempting to stir up interest in making Bear Butte a national park. After his death, his family continued the effort. When federal interest in the project waned, the state government in Pierre took action, and Bear Butte became a state park in 1961 and was registered as a National Historic Landmark in 1965.

Frank Fools Crow, the Lakota ceremonial chief (d. 1989), made pilgrimages to Bear Butte throughout his lifetime. Fools Crow taught racial harmony not just between whites and Indians, but among all the peoples of the world. He believed the Lakota should never sell the Black Hills. A bust and plaque in front of the education center at Bear Butte State Park honor Fools Crow’s efforts.

In 2011, the National Trust for Historic Preservation included Bear Butte on its list of the 11 Most Endangered Places.

So it's not just some random hill we decided to climb. OK. History lesson is over.

Now for the pictures.

The Crew

A Picture of the White Rocks at the Base of our Trail.

The Crew Looking at Some Prayer Cloths Left by Others.

There are also prayer ties left by worshippers. They are filled with tobacco.

Just Showing You How Steep the Grade was on our Trail.

I want you to be impressed.

Here is a view of the White Rocks from about half way up.

My Indian Princess, Giving Me Heart Palpitations.

The view of the White Rocks from our Ending Point.

We didn't make it to the top. Can you imagine what these would look like from there?

A tree with many Prayer Cloths.

The View from Here.

Another View from Here.

My Littlest Girl.

It looks like she could fall off the edge of the cliff at any moment.

But she was really very safe.

My Indian Princess Found a Heart Rock.

The rock that makes up the Butte is very fractured.

There were signs posted of all the animals we might see.

Snakes, birds, marmots, raccoon, etc.

This is what we actually saw. As we left the park.

Along with a sign that said something like,

"The Buffalo are wild. Please do not get out of the car."

Which I snorted at.

Until My Littlest Girl asked if we could get out and pet them.

Thank you to Debbie and Lowell for sharing your time and knowledge with us today. We could have done it without you, but it wouldn't have been near as fun.

Therapy

One of our favorite travelling quotes.

Me to my husband, "I'm going crazy!"

My Littlest Girl, "Mom, I want to go with you!"

Me to my Littlest Girl, "Don't worry, honey, you're driving."

"And if I Leave Quietly, I'll Get my Summer Bonus"

My daughter's beloved baby needed washing.

It was filthy.

I put it in the washing machine some time in the afternoon, but forgot about the laundry until after dinner.

I realized my mistake at bedtime.

My Littlest Girl asked for baby.

I told her it was in the washing machine.

It wasn't dry yet.

She didn't care.

She wanted her baby.

I went down and got it for her.

It was damp, but acceptable in the eyes of my daughter.

She looked at me with appreciation.

And then I knew.

Nobody puts Baby in the dryer.

At least not at bedtime.

Suggestions

I just checked Netflix to see if they have The Adjustment Bureau. They do. On DVD. I don't have the DVD plan. Just the streaming plan. Don't get me started.

Anyway, The Adjustment Bureau is NOT available for streaming. Here is a list of suggested alternatives:

All the Pretty Horses-

With dreams of steady ranch work and a better life, John (Matt Damon) and Lacey (Henry Thomas) travel on horseback across the Rio Grande into Mexico, where they stumble upon a loose-cannon youngster named Jimmy (Lucas Black) and a hacienda needing cowboys. Everything seems perfect until John meets a beautiful woman (Penélope Cruz), and Jimmy makes a terrible choice. Billy Bob Thornton directs this drama based on Cormac McCarthy's novel.

The Bourne Identity-

Wounded to the brink of death and suffering from amnesia, Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) is rescued at sea by a fisherman. With nothing to go on but a Swiss bank account number, he starts to reconstruct his life, but finds that many people he encounters want him dead. Bourne realizes, though, that he has the combat and mental skills of a world-class spy, but who does he work for? Doug Liman directs this blockbuster reboot of Robert Ludlum's novel.

I see the logic of these. They are all Matt Damon movies. And really. Who doesn't like a little Matt Damon to brighten their day?

But I'm a little confused about the next selections:

The Breakup Artist-

When she discovers that her own boyfriend (Peter Benson) has been using her and stealing her business, professional break-up specialist Britney Brooks (Amanda Crew) -- she'll dump your lover for you, for a fee -- turns the tables and becomes a professional matchmaker instead. But can a jaded, jilted woman really play cupid? This romantic comedy from director Steve Woo also features Ali Liebert and Serinda Swan.

Them-

The inhabitants of a small Southwestern town feel the fallout when radiation from bomb tests creates giant, mutant ants that descend on their community. Facing human extermination, a team of scientists scrambles to figure out how to stop "them." Filled with creepy creatures large and small, this 1954 sci-fi spectacular is one of the most influential horror films of all time -- and also captures America's mood at the dawn of the Atomic Age.

Now, I've read the storyline to The Adjustment Bureau, and I think I understand the basics. I'm trying to figure out how a professional matchmaker and a bunch of mutant ants are in any way related to men trying to control our fate...Oh wait. There it is. My lightbulb has JUST turned on. Of course. A professional matchmaker is trying to control your love life. And some bad decisions by government men created mutant ants, albeit accidentally. These affect people's lives negatively. OF COURSE. Now I understand.

Wowsers. That was a reach.

I think I'd prefer if Netflix minded their own business, and just let me watch The Adjustment Bureau on my computer. Their marketing people/mind readers suck.

Sunday

Oh. My. Goodness!

Does anyone else find the irony in being impatient and short-tempered with their children on Sunday morning?

"Hurry up or we'll never get to church on time!"

"What do you mean you can't find your shoes! I put them by the door for you!"

"Be kind to your sister!"

"Why aren't you obeying Mommy?!"

The Enemy loves to play on Sunday mornings.