Madoff Gets 150 Years

I normally don't blog about things happening in the media, but I couldn't resist expressing how happy I am with the fact that Bernard Madoff has been sentenced to 150 years in jail for scamming people out of millions of dollars. I was appalled that Mr. Madoff had the audacity to ask for only 12 years in jail. I am glad that the judge who was able to use some common sense and do what was right.

New License Plates

My Alma mater, Wartburg College, came out with their own license plates about a year or so ago. Ever since I have been aware that there were now Wartburg license plates, I have wanted them for my van. So, for Mother's Day, that was my gift; sort of. My husband gave me the form to fill out to request different license plates; I got to fill the form out. This was OK though, since I wanted personalized plates.

Yesterday, I was able to pick up my new, personalized, Wartburg license plates. I am so excited!

Vacation

We traveled to the Black Hills in South Dakota last week. In addition to the five of us going, Jeff's parents and brother also came with us; making this an "extended family" vacation. On Monday, our first stop was in Omaha to see a couple of trains. My brother-in-law is into trains and had specifically requested this stop. We then traveled to Sioux Falls and spent the night there.

The next day we stopped in Mitchell, SD to see the Corn Palace. The Corn Palace was an interesting place and the best thing of all was that admission was free. We then continued on to the Badlands National Park. This place is truly amazing and beautiful! Words can not truly describe this area. We really enjoyed hiking within the Badlands and we even saw some wildlife. We then traveled onto Wall, South Dakota and went to Wall Drug. Wall Drug is essentially an over sized Walgreen's.

On Wednesday we headed to Rapid City. We were supposed to camp; however, do to the all day rain, we opted to stay in a hotel. During the day we visited the Museum of Geology which is located within the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. This was an interesting museum, however I think that the staff was overwhelmed with the number of visitors on this day. We also saw the movie "Up" since there wasn't much that we could do. I would recommend this movie to anyone who hasn't seen it yet. The kids really enjoyed it as well as us adults.

On Thursday we went to Mt. Rushmore. Although it was a cool, rainy day, we still enjoyed everything that Mt. Rushmore has to offer. The kids were in awe over the size of the faces of the presidents. We also rode an 1800 train through the Black Hills. The train ride was fun and the scenery was awesome.

Friday was one of the better weather days in that area and we were finally able to set up camp near Sylvan Lake in Custer State Park. We spent the day setting up our tents and just relaxing. That evening, I took Isabel for hike around Sylvan Lake and then we had smores.

On Saturday, we broke camp due to weather forecasts of more rain. We then drove through Custer State Park. This was a fun day. We were able to see lots of wildlife (bison, wild turkeys, elk, mule deer, white-tailed deer, and prairie dogs). The kids really enjoyed this, especially when the bison were walking on the road in front of us. We then started heading for home.

We arrived home Sunday evening, tired and weary. We really enjoyed our vacation and the kids had lots of fun with grandpa, grandma, and uncle along.

Schools Out for the Summer

Well, I am officially done with my school year and am now on summer vacation. I'll have to say that this has been one of my better school years in quite some time. I think that this has a lot to do with my new position and being a classroom teacher.

I will be busy this summer. I will have a few "school work" duties that I will need to do throughout the summer; but they be few and far between. We also have swimming lessons, a vacation, summer camps, summer dance, and a few other things scattered throughout the summer to keep us hopping.