South Dakota Part 1

Hi from South Dakota! Val and I have been here for a couple of days now and have seen a lot of cool things. For starters we meet Sonja's sister Silvia. She was really nice to us and wanted to make sure we saw everything!

This is Silvia who took us on a lot of great tours through the Black Hills.

One of the first places we stopped was the Purple Pie and Ice Cream Palace in Custer, SD. Were we ever surprised to find a big purple pig in front of the store! Neither of us had ever seen anything like it.

We didn't know pigs came in purple...

On our way into Custer State Park we stopped to get our picture taken with Smokey the Bear.

Shortly after meeting Smokey, we saw a group of bighorn sheep. They would have been a lot easier to spot if they had been white like us...

A couple of miles down the road, we meet their girlfriends. They were hanging out in the camp ground dodging the sprinklers. Silvia told us afterwards that it was hard to find sheep in the park because they usually live higher in the hills.

There were buffalo everywhere! We wanted to get out and see them closer, but Sonja and Silvia said it wasn't safe because they could run faster than us and were very big.

Sonja and Silvia found a great place for us to sit in the front of Silvia's car. Right between them...

After we drove around some more and saw antelope, prairie dogs, mules, and a lot more buffalo, we drove through the Black Hills to see Mount Rushmore. It was a little late, but we got to stay for the lighting ceremony. The presidents looked really pretty lit up at night.

The next day we drove a lot. We went all over the Black Hills and through some beautiful gulches. It got a little bit bumpy on some of the gravel roads, but the scenery was totally worth it. In the afternoon we stopped at a waterfall for a picnic lunch.

What did they pack for us?

A few miles down the road we found a really nice spot to sit by the river. We really wanted to go wading with Silvia, but Sonja said we should stay on the shore because the water was cold and we might get wet.

Our first 2 days were really busy. Tomorrow, we get to go to a parade. It might rain so Sonja said we might have to stay in the car, but we'll see!

Hey!! I Thought the Sleepy Sheepy Resort was a Sheep Vacation

Well as you all know, Justin sufficiently tortured us on our way to the Sleepy Sheep Resort. I'd complain, but I know better, plus he's a little crazy so maybe it was some sort of plan. So after being released from the luggage (Thanks Jesse!!) we curled up in bed with relaxing thoughts of mud baths, deep tissue massages and alfalfa. The next morning we found we were sadly mistaken.

Ugg, What do you mean I have to sit next to DJ

It seems we were off to see the Japanese Gardens in Seattle. Hmm, that seems relaxing and serene. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad. Little did I know that Erin and Justin were on a mission to identify plants, which meant I got the duties of watching DJ. Let me tell you, this is no vacation.

Get down here, NOW!!!

No matter what we did, the little rascal was off to the races. The gardens were indeed quite nice, although a few more edible flowers would have been much appreciated. We tried to get some group photos, but no such luck.

Don't make me count, 1...2...

It was just endless. Running from one end to the other. DJ even nearly took out a sweet old woman. That was when I just about had it.

No those coins are not for you, but that candle may be

So just as it seemed as if my wool would turn grey and fall out, we decided to sit down on the bridge for a little rest. No way DJ would go into the water right, he knows better. Silly silly me.

Don't fall DJ...wait there's an idea

Yeah he pushed that button and it was on. Hey DJ, if you like playing in that pine tree I bet you'd have even more fun on this lily pad.

It'll hold you DJ, I promise

So he didn't buy my lily pad gambit, worth a try anyways. Well where you fail once, just have to try again. Hey DJ, why don't you pet the ducks

Just don't mind the duck food I put under you

Man even the ducks didn't want anything to do with DJ. I wasn't going to be thwarted though. Has to be something in that pond that likes mutton.

Ohh, that one looks hungry

Well it was a successful trip to the Japanese Garden by all accounts. It was also a restful weekend at the resort for those of us that made it back.

Iowa State Fair

We found out that Jenni was going to the Iowa State Fair, so we hitched a ride. It was fun, but it was soooo hot!

We found a sheep right away!

Jenni was pretty impressed at our sheep seeking capabilities. As you can see, we found real sheep and fake sheep!

Awe! Can we take the lamb home?

We were so awesome, we found a baby sheep! Val looks a little afraid of the lamb, but I assure you that Val was very brave.

What a strange looking sheep!

Yes, we know, that's not a sheep. Duh, it's a donkey. We liked this little donkey, baby donkey was so cute and friendly. We wanted to take donkey home, but Jenni said no. What a party pooper!

Can we take this cow home?

Since Jenni wouldn't let us take the donkey home, we decided to keep looking around. It didn't take long to spot this little cow. Yeap, it's a full grown cow. The littlest cow in the world! Maybe we can take this little one home? This cutie is so small, Jenni would never notice!

Val decided that it wouldn't be a good idea to bring the little cow home, too much poop. Val thinks that being the biggest sheep in the house means that Val knows everything. Hmmm, Andi and I aren't so sure about that.

We decided that Val might (I mean miiiiiight) just be right, and that having a living cow might not be the best thing for a house.... but what about a butter cow? They don't poop!

Mmmmm, butter!

Yeah, butter cows smell much better, but do you see Andi? Andi looks a little freaked out. Okay, maybe we won't bring this cow home.

It was too hot to even consider trying the fried Snickers on a stick, so we thought maybe we'd try some green eggs and ham:

Try them, try them, you will like them!

Well, we wanted to try the green eggs and ham, but we couldn't figure out how to break through the glass... maybe next year!

Wisconsin Dells

Jenni took her family and in-laws to Wisconsin Dells last week, and didn't even mention taking us sheep, so we decided to hitch a ride in Jenni's suitcase. Jenni didn't discover us until we got to the Kalahari Resort, we got to stay and do fun stuff!

What big ears you have!

Our first trip out of the room we ran into these guys... I sure hope that Mr. Lion is a vegetarian! After we managed to escape from the Kalahari mascots, Jenni said that we were going for a ride on the Ducks. Ducks you say? Ride on the ducks? What the heck? Ducks are smaller than sheep! Has Jenni gone crazy?

Can this thing quack?

Ohhhh, that kind of Duck! Ha ha Jenni, very funny. Anyway, it was a fun ride, though it was pretty windy, so we spend most of the time chilling in Jenni's comfy bag, which had plenty of breathing space. It also had a few diapers in in, but luckily the diapers were clean.

Since we didn't want to hang out in the diaper bag much after our duck excursion, we thought we'd spend the rest of the time hanging out at the water park at the Kalahari, and also work on our tans.

Look! We've found Dumbo! Are we in Disneyworld?

This little elephant was so friendly! We had quite a nice conversation. We loved the safe feeling we had hanging out with the fake Dumbo. Then, Val had the great suggestion that we get in the pool. Sure, get in the pool - there aren't any alligators.....

Ummm, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore...

What the heck? Sure, we all believe Val, and jump in with 100% trust that the pool is free of scary things - well scary things other than poopy diapers - and what do we land on? An alligator head! AAAAGH!!!!

Luckily, Jenni was nearby, and helped us all to safety. Needless to say, we hopped right back in Jenni's suitcase, and didn't come out until we arrived back home in Iowa.

Meeting Franklin

A few months ago, Erin went to Dave's place and let us come along. We found out that Dave didn't live alone, he had a roommate. His roommate was a cat named Franklin. You know, like the Franklin the dog that is supposed to be watching us sheep but we scared off so us sheep can really do whatever we want. And in fact we do.

Anyway, Franklin the cat is rather interesting. At first I don't think he liked us. But then ew

Hey, that tickles.

He licked my back. And then he licked my eye ball!

Hey, those are not contacts!

And then it just got worse...

Ew..

EWWW!

EEEWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!

Ok, that was too much. I don't like baths. Not in a tub, not in a washer, and defiantly not from the tongue of a cat. So we had to rethink this meeting Franklin approach.

Bring it.

And a good time was had by all.

Stuffed

Erin has been busy lately hanging out with her "friends." Why does she need human friends? Exactly, she doesn't. She should be happy that she is so blessed with sheep friends like us. Chris and I protested and demanded...um I mean...asked if we could come with the next time she went out. So today we got up, brushed our wool and were off to meet at the Bamboo Garden for lunch.

We didn't much care for the company at first. One of Erin's friends kept calling us donkeys. Erin didn't tell us she was friends with a bunch of people blinder than herself. But no matter because while they were too busy poking fun at each other and trying to find their chopsticks, Chris and I ate all the food. And it was delicious. Although in our haste, we might have over eaten a little too much. But only by 1 or 2 bites.

Ug...call a vet.

We had to lay down for a very long time. We went into a deep stupor but were quickly awoken to hear Erin's friends talking about all the stuffed friends they had left at their houses. Angela has dragons. We knew that; one of them entered last year's Halloween Costume on Parade. The other girl said she had dogs. But we don't believe her. She called us donkeys. She probably has cockatoos. The other boy said he had zombies. Again, where does Erin find these people? But none the less they all said we could have a play date together and get to hang out with other plush animals. And by the looks of this lot, I think all their plush therapist buddies need a break of normality.

O yes, I almost forgot V.J. V.J. said he had frogs. And then he said he brought them with. And then he said he would show us his frogs and he rolled up his sleeves and showed us this.

Ribbit

Poor V.J. He doesn't even know the names of his own body parts. Those are arms, V.J., not frogs. V.J. if your reading this, please refer back to this link whenever you get confused. It will help you get caught up on some of the basics which you apparently were sleeping through during preschool.

Now we are back at home and are going to lay down a little more. If we had pants we would have to unbutton them because we stuffed ourselves. Hopefully when we awake, Erin will have scheduled the conference of Seattle's Plush Therapist so that we can all get together and compare notes on these crazy humans.

Franklin is Sleepless in Seattle Part III

The next day we decided to go on an adventure. We took a ferry across the Puget Sound.


And visited Olympic National Park. You know how I feel about the outdoors, and the sheep seemed to like the fresh air too.



Here we are at Crescent Lake. This moss just grows everywhere.



We decided to pay a visit to the Ranger Station.



But Ranger Gordon wasn't home. He must be goofing off with the whole gang down at Possum Lodge.



We saw the biggest tree in the gosh darned forest.



And then we hiked out to Pacific coast at La Push. The sheep wanted to go for a dip, but there was no way I was ridin' in a car full of smelly wet wool the rest of the way home.



The hike back to the car sure was purdy.



And then we came to this city called Forks. Sounds like a utensil to me, but DJ said it had something to do with some movie with Vampires and Werewolves.




After grabbing some chow it was time to head back to the ranch. And then hop on a plane back to Iowa with John.

It sure was a fun trip out to Seattle with the whole gang.

Franklin is Sleepless in Seattle Part II

Any good ole sheepdog knows it's the proper thing to do to bring sumthin' nice along when you're visitin.'


John and Erin went to some fancy-dancy seafood joint for dinner. The sign said no dogs allowed, so they promised me and the sheep some leftovers.



What in tarnation is this stuff. They just keep starring at us!



We talked John and Erin into taking us out for ice cream instead.



Then it was Superbowl Sunday. Jesse fixed us up with some nice submarine sandwiches.



Then we watched the game. What was that ref looking at?



The fixins sure were good though.



And we made s'mores in Erin's fireplace. Made me homesick for the campfires on the trail.