B&B Son

This trip wouldn't have been half as great without B&B Son. He is the most incredible 15 year old boy, such an obvious good-hearted person, with a love of nature and history and people. Having said that, he has kept Niece and I in hysterics. We have literally had to keep a list of quotes for him alone. Where oh where is Niece to help me out here?

Freedom has been granted to all of us here. It's our one slow spot on this trip and we're each enjoying it in our own way. I'm catching up on this blog or hanging on the hammock swatting flies. Niece has been hiking to the top of hills searching for cell service and wafting under the star-filled skies. (She went hiking and found an old Native American ceremonial ground which really impressed her.) Little Man is running wild outside with the other little boy tagging behind calling, "hey, new guy". Peanut has been swinging or smothering Bubbles with love, unless she's escaping the heat to read. Doodle is in and out of the house asking for apples, cottage cheese, shrimp, our neighbor girl -- things we don't find in North Dakota.

Our first day here, while B&B Dad was traveling to B.F.E. for apples, B&B Son was giving us a tour in the golf cart. He took us up to the hills behind the house, called The Little Badlands. We learned that echinacea roots will make your entire mouth numb if you chew it. He also taught us all kinds of ways to make things blow up -- stuffing a swim noodle with fire crackers, for example. Aerosoft guns are a big deal here, too, just like with my nephews in Texas. One of the first things he asked us is if we wanted to see his AK-47, but I think it just shot pellets. The subject of Rock Band and Guitar Hero came up and when I finally figured out what he and Niece were talking about, I said, "Oh our kids don't do computer games." He looked at me dumbfounded and goes, "No computers? Ohhhh, deprived kids."

From the top of the hills you can see these huge circles of crops. They have the pivot watering system and he took us for a ride underneath! We were soaked and thrilled. Before the dam went in, the Missouri River came up to these hills. Now it's fertile farmland. I tried to keep the kids dry at the river but you can imagine how long that lasted. What a blast. We've already listened to the Adventures of Tom Sawyer in the car and the kids kept remarking that they felt just like him in this river. I couldn't have been happier to hear it.

Like Niece, B&B Son was amazing with the little kids, teaching them how to find coal at the bottom of the river (Lewis & Clark wrote about this in their journals), carrying them up and down slopes and being really patient with their endless questions. He looked at me at one point and goes, "Don't hate me. I made your son a slingshot," at which point a stick came sailing toward my neck. He loves his cat, Bubbles. I asked him where he got that name (thinking there was a good story behind it) and he looked at the ground, obviously embarrassed and replied, "I don't know. It was a long time ago. I was a kid."

No one remotely close to his age has stayed here in over a year. He was excited to hang out with us and the feeling was definitely mutual. He was an exceptional tour guide, his brain being loaded with funky information, and clueless about our sort of lives. Niece asked him if they have recycling and without missing a beat he responded, "No we have trash here."

When I told him we live in the city he looked kind of disappointed for us and said, "Oh, so your house probably only has about a 1/2 acre, huh?" I said it would take about 6 houses in my neighborhood to make a 1/2 acre! Our lot is only about 30x60 and that's a big lot for us! I said that we have coffee shops we can walk to and he got all excited, "Starbucks?" I said, "Well, we don't go there usually because they're too far. We have one a mile North and another one a mile South. But we have 4 coffee shops just a couple of blocks in any direction." B&B Son's mouth literally fell open and he replied, "Wow, I have to drive 30 miles just to get a pop!" He can drive, too. Up here they need to drive to do anything so he got his license at 14. How about that? They start them out when they're 3 on these miniature tractors. I'll have to let Little Man tell you about it.

Time for some kid blogs...