When the hotel breakfast is a bust (things just weren’t working in the continental breakfast kitchen) you hit up Hardee’s for raisin and cinnamon biscuits. 

The church we attended for 8:30 mass, Holy Family Church, is a parish that uses the Family Formation program that originated in our home parish. I talked with Fr. Stevens after mass and he spoke of the importance of parents being the primary educators of the faith, which is why he likes the Family Formation program. He is moving to FL this week and I told him he should bring the program to FL. 🙂 

We all agreed that we enjoyed the mass – the kids thought the pipe organ in the choir loft was pretty cool. During the homily, Fr. Stevens talked about not living life in fear – not to fear things external to us and not to be fearful internally. He encouraged people to go to confession at least 4 times a year (once in each season is an easy way to remember) and how going regularly can help combat fear. 

We lit 4 candles for our intentions – for our family, for a safe and fun trip this week, for Michelle, Kari, Leo, and Angela, and for the families of Holy Family participating in the Family Formation program.

The crew helped re-pack the suburban and then we stopped at Cabela’s to check out the live fish and stuffed animals. 

Then we headed to the big attraction of the day – The Corn Palace. 

Pit stop at the Lewis and Clark rest stop by Chamberlain, SD. 

On our way to Murdo, SD. Lots of hay bales!  I’m loving the blue sky and white, fluffy clouds. 

Just finished dinner at the Rusty Spur. Now it’s time to swim!

We’ve been looking forward to taking this trip for months! This morning we packed the suburban, loaded up, and headed for Mitchell, our first overnight stop of the week.

After being on the road a little over an hour, we made a pit-stop at the World’s Largest Candy Store. There we ran in to the Hulk and found the TARDIS. 

Next up was lunch – Dino’s in Mankato. We decorated the tablecloth while we waited for our pizza. 

After eating we took advantage of the swings down the street – one of the fastest and smoothest swings I’ve ever been on. 

As we left Mankato, Godzilla was reaching for a hug. 

Midway through today’s drive the kids said things were going great so far!

Nothing says summer like road construction. 

Stopping at the Porter Sculpture Park, we nearly blew off the hill! The kids had fun posing with the random sculptures. 

Mitchell and its wind welcomed us around 5:30. We checked in to the hotel and went out to dinner- everyone clears their plates. Clearly traveling makes us hungry.  Now we are off to swim.