There's been a little void

Here I am in Brookings, SD on my way back to Canada and this is the first time I have had access to the internet! I have been missing people and being able to correspond with them but I have also been having too much fun to miss it completely! We love it here; here being KC. Our friends here are fabulous and the family we have here is spectacular (and not limited to only LilB and Nat).

The wedding was fantastic and I will post some pictures once I get home and get caught up with a few things I will need to do there, unpack, work, homework, get my chem test done...all that fun stuff!

I do miss my friends and family back home though and am I ever looking forward to seeing and communicating with you (with whatever means we are used to) and I am looking forward to being able to finish that scrabble game with Cheryl!

Some pictures from our camping trip this weekend and at LilB's request

Rush's first catch...that's right; she caught a hook with her hook and replaced the hook she had lost with a better one.
Jellybean with sunkissed cheeks. In this picture it looks like she is only missing 2 teeth but the numbers are up to 4 with 2 more wiggly ones in there.

BabyK getting ready to go out in the canoe.

Bug figures camping trips are 2 thumbs way, way up.

Tuff with his shadow. There wasn't too many times he was without his Bug.

A couple pictures from our trip

The 2 Bill's at an Italian Fast Food restaurant we ate at, home of the non-stop bread stick and the "thatsa lotta chocolate" brownie.

BigB showing his comedic side, enjoying the "artwork" at the museum. Kind of a dork heh?

BDs Mongolian Barbeque aka the place where my lost 10 pounds found me

A smidge apprehensive BigB & I agreed to go to this place with the kids for lunch and boy, are we glad we did! It has now been added to the list of must-do's on a trip here.

At first glance I was reminded of the Bonanza restaurants as there are 2 buffet tables complete with sneeze guards. There is, however, a HUGE difference!

You grab a bowl from one end of the buffet, pick through your choice(s) of raw meats and seafoods, a variety of fresh vegetables, noodles, about 10 different sauces and 6 different spices. After you've piled your bowl with as muc as the above as it will hold you make your way to a corner in the back of the room. Here you will find 4-6 young men with swords who cook your meal on a circular grill in front of you. While these boys were cooking our food, stirring it up with swords, we were completely entertained as we listened to them singing some oldies tunes or while they were exchanging banter about what to get their girlfriends for Valentine's Day & completely enjoying their job.

Due to my seafood allergies I didn't get to see them cook mine but as I waited I watched them cooking and listened to and laughed at these boys as they carried on.

For $10.50 each we got unlimited trips to the create your own meal bar, salads, soups, rice and tortillas. The grill they cooked our food on was about 8 feet across.

This is what I created and what resulted in those rascally 10 pounds finding their way back to my midsection:

beef, red cabbage, noodles, garlic, baby corn, bean sprouts, sweet and sour sauce, yellow squash and zucchini.

BigB's creation (his first but his favorite):

mongolian ginger sauce, 1 tsp cayenne pepper, 1 tsp crushed red chilis, 1 tsp cajun spice, beef, pork, lamb, shrimp, crab, yellow squash, zucchini, green pepper and bean sprouts.


To be honest and to be fair, I highly doubt this place was the reason my lost poundage found me again; I was only able to eat one helping and 1 small bowl of salad. I think it was also the visit to Red Robin with its unlimited fries and Freckle Juice, the trip to Chilis, Bob Evans, Jack Stack Barbeque, Krolls or the many truck stops we took advantage of on the way there

A Cookie and A Massage

An after shopping cookie and drink at Altanta Bread Company & sitting on an incredibly comfortable leather couch by their fireplace found Nat and I wishing they would staff some people to massage our weary feet and our shoulders. What a treat that would make!

Speaking of treats, ours tasted very delicious. I had a double chocolate and toffee cookie with a strawberry, blueberry and banana smoothie and Nat had a shortbread cookie with 2 ends dipped in chocolate (with just the middle plain) and an iced coffee drink. Yum!

It was a great way to spend the day, just me and Nat. Beforehand though, Mrs.Doc treated us to a wonderful brunch. Oh it was delicious! She made us an omlette with ham, red peppers, onions, spinach, cheese and garlic. A great feast to energize our shopping excursion. Thanks, Mrs. Doc!!!

This was the trip home

Oh yeah, great Canadian weather greeted us on our way home from K.C. The second picture was in South Dakota. The first was taken in Manitoba and that semi was pretty much right on top of us before we could clearly see it. Believe it or not, Nat, it wasn't even snowing; this was just from the blowing snow from the fields to the side of the highway.

This was the great accident we narrowly missed in Winnipeg. The car you see in the middle was the initial cause of the crash as she lost control on the bridge and darn near found herself free falling over the side. For a route that was supposed to be 2 hours quicker, we took a pretty long time getting home. I think the long way was quicker than the shortcut this time.

At least we made it home without having any damage from this. I felt pretty darn safe once the semi pulled up behind us, knowing that it was going to take a lot to move him so I was pretty secure in the van. BigB was out in the midst of traffic.