The Buhler Bunch

Colleen is my famous friend from Montana. She drove out to re-connect with family and friends. While it was difficult to find a free minute to grab a camera we did take a few pictures. I am missing Colleen's oldest daughter who was such a lifesaver that I feel bad to not have even one shot of her.



Colleen was able to come to see our family on her trip through the midwest. We had such a wonderful time with all of her kids doing fun stuff in Hastings. The first day we went to the waterpark and only had one close call with a drowning! The second day we went to a par to feed the ducks but all of the ducks ran away from the group of children. The kids tried hard and never gave up but the ducks just were not in the mood. They are home safe in Montana now and we are missing them.

Fishing with the Family

We went on our annual family vacation to Detroit Lakes MN to visit my Grandpa Norma and his wife Myrtle. We started the trip by driving to DeSmet SD again to see the Laura Ingalls Wilder Homestead. This time we had my Dad with us and we slept in covered wagons. It was fun to remember from last year what we did and have a little more time to enjoy the Praire.
After a night in the covered wagon we were all ready for a hotel on a lake. We had a blast fishing, swimming, boating and talking. The last night, we left all 7 children with the grandparents and were able to go to a really neat restaurant that we boated over to. The 3 couples are pictured at the Fireside Grill, ironically we all matched our partners in color. All 7 children were alive and well when we returned too, amazing.

The neglected blog

OK, so you knows it bad when you haven't added any pictures in over a month. I have many good reasons why I haven't made the time to add new pictures to the blog, but I will try to do better.

On June 18th, our baby turned 7 years old. He had such a great day that started with breakfast with Mimi and Papa at the famous OK Cafe. Then we had a fun packed day followed by cake and gifts that night. Matt worked really hard to make a sepcial cake for Tagg that included all the super heros that were important and make it an ice cream cake. During dinner that night we convinced Tagg that Matt didn't have time to make a cake, we are a little mean, and so he was extra happy and surprised when he saw his special cake.

The day after his birthday he was still receiving gifts, thank goodness birthdays can then stretch to be longer than one day that way. Notice the shirt (blue) Gregory gave this to him and now it's a favorite!

We are gearing up for the annual trip to Detroit Lakes tomorrow sure to be a wonderful time as always. I will be posting new pictures from this event soon. Have a wonderful 4th of July.

More, Boston!

Cousins are great!

"Killer", I mean wicked Boston trip!

Last week we went to Boston for an Orthodontic meeting and to see the sites. I'm pretty impressed by everything that we saw in a short amount of time. John and Cathy went along for the marathon event. The day we arrived we took the subway out to Fenway park there wasn't a baseball game while we were in town so we just walked around. The Second day we went to the Science Center, which was amazing and perfect for the kids. They actually got to touch a heart/lung of a sheep! That same day we took a duck boat tour around Boston and Tagg was even given the chance to drive the boat on the Charles River. Day three, Cathy, Matt, the kids and I walked the entire Freedom Trail, yes all 3miles plus some extra detour miles for treats! It was worth the walk and we ad lunch at the oldest restaurant in the US and by total chance we were seated in John F Kennedy's favorite booth *picture. I guess the reward for the walk was at the end when Andy, Emily, Harry and Gregory were waiting for us at the USS Constitution. The other Pershing's were able to come to Boston and experience all the fun. At the USS Constitution Tagg and I watched a man build tiny ships and put them into glass bottles, one of my highlights! Day four we went to the Aquarium with a special behind the scenes tour. We were given the opportunity to see fish that no-one else could while seeing people at work. The aquarium was so fabulous, it was hard to leave because the longer you stayed the more you noticed. That night, the Maine Pershing's returned home and I'm not sure if I have ever seen Tagg soo sad, very unusual. The last day, Dad and John went to their meetings and Cathy and I took the kids for a final adventure. We traveled by subway out to Harvard University, which had a store that only sold cupcakes, I love the Ivy League. The kids loved to travel by subway, and I did too, except for the looming threat of H1N1. The kids have talked alot about the trip but Tagg insists that his favorite part was being with his cousins. And yes, we stayed at the Craiglist Killer's hotel, another part of history that we were expecting.

Easter Everywhere

This year Matt and I tried something we had never done before, we each took one child on a separate trip. Saylor had a friend that she wanted to take skiing last year when Tagg and I didn't ski. Unfortunately, when the trip was planned last Feb. I had a mishap with my port and had to have surgery, canceling the trip. Thus, this Easter was the make-up ski trip in Breckenridge for the Dad/Daughter ski EGGstraveganva! Tagg and I rode in the car with the ski group as far as Denver and then took a short flight to Albuquerque to see Grandpa for the weekend. When I planned the trips initially, they made alot of sense, but in hind sight I feel lucky that everything went as smoothly as it did with no weather problems. Tagg, Grandpa and I went to the aquarium and botanical garden. We had been to both before but it was really nice to go with one child and get the full experience with them. The botanical garden has a castle for kids with enormous plants, pumpkins and bugs that create the feeling of being an ant. When the trips were over and we were home we all agreed that we had missed each other but that we each enjoyed the time spent away too. I learned that Tagg was very little trust in my abilities in an airport and I had to loudly explain that I have backpacked across different countries using trains, boat and airplanes without any help. If anything, it was a good learning experience.