Imaginary Debauchery

We spent 2 days in Hettinger, visiting Aaron's two sisters and their families. We visited, walked around town, supported the local economy and ate. And then ate again. Aaand again. It. was. great.


Lisa made homemade tortilla chips, salsa, and white chili for dinner. And while we were waiting/grazing, she whipped up some "lime slushies" which I'm pretty sure was a margarita mix without the tequila. Hopefully.

'Cause check out my kids sucking them down:

Are they cute little reprobates or what?

We headed home Sunday and made the mistake of waiting until Bismarck to eat lunch. Which means the kids whined for 2 hours that they were hungry, and by this point of the trip we were down to pretzels and fruit strips (which are Surprise! not that filling).

Ben finally fell asleep, predictably, about 45 minutes from the Bizz-o, so Aaron got a wild hair to stop at Salem Sue. Do you know this lady? My grandma Gertrude made miniature ceramic versions to celebrate New Salem's centennial, and was left with a dozen or so. I have one, and it resided in my classroom during my teaching days. The first kid who asked about her significance was given an opportunity for 5 points extra credit if they could discover her name.

I had never actually visited Salem Sue, but I can now scratch that off my to-do list. Although I was in the van with Ben, I was totally aware that she is MUCH bigger than the Jamestown Buffalo.

Leah said it was a boy cow because of his horns, but Aaron and I said, "Ahem, she's a girl. And even girl cows can have horns."

I once gave an impromptu biology lesson on the various types of cattle to one of my English classes, but I think I'll wait awhile before explaining it to my 4 year old. Like maybe 15 years.