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!

2nd Annual Costume Parade

Welcome to the 2nd Annual Halloween Costume Parade! Halloween is just around the corner...ok maybe it is 2 months away. But we had such a great turn out last year that we wanted to make sure that all the entries this year got some good top-billing time. And we already have some entries coming in!

This year we are asking for entries to be submitted by October 1st. We know it's early. And yes, we will still post entries submitted after October 1st, we just want to start filling up the parade route. And if your sheep are anything like ours, they're already tugging at your apron strings wanted to pick out a costume. If your creative juices need a little squeeze to get started, check out last year's awesome parade here.

If you would like to participate in the parade, please send entries to Sheep.4225SC (at) gmail.com. Please, only one sheep (or whatever plush animal that provides you with therapy) per picture. And remember to provide explanation of costume if needed, general location, and favorite Halloween/Scary movie. Yup mixing it up a little this year.

We have had request to know what costumes are already taken to avoid repeats. But we don't want to ruin the surprise. So if you want to be original, email us and we can tell you if your costume is already being worn by another.

Need some more creative inspiration? Well, DJ was so excited that the little lamb wanted to have a practice run. So enjoy the creation of DJ's practice Halloween costume and start thinking about your own!

DJ wanted to play pirates so we collected all the pirate-ie materials we could fine. And then started putting it all together.

Look at all this fun stuff!

But then DJ insisted on setting the scene. So off to create a pirate stage. (Backgrounds not needed for costume entries...but always fun!)

I can't believe Erin lost my crayons.

And despite the fact we lost the crayons, DJ had a great time coloring with Erin's normally off limits color pencils.

With a few materials, some time, and a lot of love, we would like to present to you the DJ, the Pirate!

Arg...don't forget to send in your entries ye mates!

Meet Sammy Sheep (That's me!)

Hi Everyone!

I'm Sammy Sheep. I'm just a baby, but I'm much more grown up than Riley and Andi. (Shhhh, don't tell them I said that!) I belong to Sonja, who is a pretty cool person. Almost as cool as Jenni. Yes, almost as cool. Don't tell Sonja that I said that, she might be sad, and might leave me in South Dakota. I'm currently on vacation in South Dakota, and have lots of fun things to do there. I'll be posting South Dakota pictures soon!

Hey! Get me out of this mean sheep jail!

I'm so cute! Just remember, I'm the biggest of the babies. :)

Sheep Doing Yoga Baaaaadly

Jenni keeps telling us how amazing the benefits of yoga are, so we decided to try it out. Keep in mind that we decided to try it out on her new mat. Yes, we took her new mat outside to try yoga. Do you think she'll freak? Probably, so don't tell her.

Hawkeye (9) is attempting Eagle, Andi (3/8) is striking a beautiful Downward Facing Sheep, Riley (1/16) does the best ever Happy Baby, and Sammy (7/10) is posing in Lotus.

This is the way to break in a mat!

We Rested, see!!!

Well someone let Taylor loose again. I don't know what's wrong with that sheep but it's about time for a tranquilizer if you ask me. Anyhow, I wanted to ensure all of our faithful readers that there was in fact resting* at the Sleepy Sheepy Resort and that you should most certainly visit.

I don't quite think this is checkers Chris

As you can see Chris and I played (well attempted) this fun game. I'd tell you what it was, but it was sooooo hard it made my brain hurt and it's been permanently blocked from my memory. I'm sure Chris or Erin might be able to fill you in on the exciting details.

*While we sheep had plenty of rest, you may not want to to tell the humans about this thing called Wisteria. I honestly don't know what it is, but it looked dirty and painful to me.

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!