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Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Revising our plans for a flooded Pierre summer!

Like a lot of people here in Pierre, SD, the flood has changed a lot of our plans for the summer. I know this doesn't in any way compare to losing your home or your business, no need to point that out, but it does change what we had planned for our summer. This is our first summer in Pierre and we were full of plans for boating on Lake Oahe and fishing on the weekends. We were expecting picnics at the band shell and camping at Farm Island (pictured above). I had big plans for taking the boys to the park on the waterfront during the day and walking around La Framboise Island with the dog. All of those things are on hold, for at least two months. 

Now I'm on the search for other things we can do in Pierre.  Harrison Park remains high and dry. We can play on the playground at the Pirate's school- and check out the playgrounds at the other schools. We can talk walks around Hilger's Gulch and skip rocks into the lake at the memorial by the Capitol building. We can still go to the library (if my children ever find their inside voices) and to Zestos.

My mother will be visiting for several weeks in June (can you believe she hasn't met the Princess yet? Sidenote: the Princess is 9 months old today!!). Mom is an elementary school teacher, so I'm planning to squeeze every creative idea out of her while she's here. Left to our own devices, my kids will be flying kites made of Wal-mart bags (hey, don't laugh too hard, they did it for over an hour!)

We'll make detective kits and look for mysteries and bug catching boxes. We have sidewalk chalk and bikes to (learn to) ride.  The boys excel at scavenger hunts and now that the Pirate can read it's even easier for me to make them lists.  The Pirate still finds educational things fun- learning to count money, and making up worksheets and tests for us to take.  I've promised to buy them a case of carbonated water and let them shake it up and spew it at each other once we have a hot day. Worst case I take them to the mall and plunk quarters into the "rides" that litter the place.

So there's still plenty to do here in Pierre. It's just not the same as we had planned. (And if you have any suggestions, I'm all ears!) I am optimistic that the Corp's plans will succeed and that by August we'll be out on the boat. That everyone's homes will be dried out and that Pierre will recover, with slightly different flood maps.



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6 comments:

  1. I would never laugh at those kites. I used to keep my son entertained for hours with a little soap and water in the sink. I'd give him plastic things to "wash" and he'd stay busy for hours. He made a mess, but I didn't care. Whatever works!

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  2. Oh man, that is awesome! It gets so windy here in Vegas that I'm going to totally steal that idea when Rocket is a older. We are all about recycling and what better use :)

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  3. Remember what fun an old cardboard fridge box was? Go to Sears and ask for a fridge box. You can cut it up and make a playhouse for them.

    We don't have flooding, but our weekend was cold and windy. Not the norm here AT ALL. We did have a nice Memorial Day but the days leading up to it were about 55 degrees. Brrr.

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  4. Is there a community pool you can join? If there is and it's out of your budget, sometimes you can buy a booklet of passes cheaper than a full membership. Then you make sure you go on perfect weather days and stay the whole entire day and pack a picnic.

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  5. Sounds like there will still be more things to do than you'll actually have time for. Hey, plastic bag kites are a great idea! So glad your mom is coming; that will be so much fun.

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  6. My hubby was just in Pierre last week--wish I could have come up with him and spent some time with you and the kids! When my kids were young and I was a stay at home mom, we did our own summer school and had so much fun--sounds like you'll do some of the same things we did. Bet you can't wait for your mom to get there!

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