Our Girls

Where: A Land that Describes itself as Bad, but in actuality is pretty cool When: The Great Bach Vacation of 2018 On our way through South Dakota, we decided to hit as many National Parks as we could. And the first one that came up was Badlands National Park. Unless Wall Drug counts as a National Park, but we opted not to stop there. We didn't want to reinforce their aggressive highway sign marketing campaign. We got to the Badlands and headed straight for the Visitor Center! Actually the first thing we did was stop at the entry gate and allow Katie - a fourth grader- to get us into the park for FREE. Fourth graders get in free as part of the Every Kid in a Park program, and so Katie was our golden fourth grade ticket throughout the trip. And yes we were aware that she hadn't actually started fourth grade yet, but if you've finished third grade... you just round up. The Ranger gave us some great info on some trails and we wandered around looking at the exhibits. ...

Where: Mitchell, SD, which you would think is the middle of nowhere, and you would also be right. When: mid-July 2018, Early Days of the Great Bach Vacation of 2018 You only have one life to live. And that life should, no, MUST include a visit to the grandest corn-themed architectural wonder of the Great Plains, that’s right, the Corn Palace. As we made our way (at the highest possible speeds allowed by South Dakota law, the limits of Monkey House’s abilities and the rules of physics) across the pancake-esque landscape of South Dakota, we felt compelled to stop in Mitchell. Where else in the United States can you see a building festooned from top to bottom with a corn-constructed mosaic? Nowhere else. And that’s why we stopped, we toured, we took it all in. At the end of the day, if you haven’t seen the corn palace in Mitchell, South Dakota, you should ask yourself “am I actually living or am I just alive?” The King and Queen in front of the Palace We posed ...

Great Bach Vacation of 2018 Where: Basically the entire middle section of the United States When: mid-July 2018 It’s time once again to climb into Monkey House (our mini-van that after an epic road trip begins to take on the smell of a primate lair), drive close to 3000 miles and see the WORLD! This year’s destination? Yellowstone National Park and several other points along the way.  We began with a Friday night drive up to Omaha, Nebraska, which was our launching point for the true Great Plains adventures to come.  First real Stop? Sioux Falls, ND. And what did we see there? Why, the Falls, of course.  In addition to the waterfalls, which were cool, there were also giant rocks to climb on and jump off. The First Full Family Falls Foto The sisters who leap chasms together...

Where: A park in a Mid-Missouri town near you AND the family HQ When: As close to Emily’s birthday as possible – July 2018 This year for Emily’s duodecennial (occurring every 12 years –isn’t that the best word you’ve ever heard?) birthday extravaganza we decided to do something a little different. Jessica and Emily decided. And they planned it to perfection. It was a dessert pizza war in our local park. Em’s friends and our local family members each had to make a dessert pizza in one hour that matched our theme (summertime reads) and incorporated our secret ingredient.  They got tickets that they could trade in for various decorative, edible items like fondant, plain frosting, candies, pretzels... you name it.  Think of it as a cross between cupcake wars and the Hunger Games and you’re on the right track. And everyone got to wear a monogrammed headband of course because they were pizza ninjas. This was twelve years’ worth of fun. I...

When: July 8, 2018 Where: Springfield/Branson MO After picking the older two girls up from Kamp we decided NOT to drive three hours home at 9 pm on a Friday night, and instead we opted for a fun weekend down south. We spent the night in Springfield, hung out at the pool, and then explored Nathaneal Greene/Close Memorial Park. There's a cool trail with playground equipment strategically placed alongside the path.  Bach Girls Amongst the Trees There's also a butterfly house where you can see giant butterflies up close and we even saw one emerge from its cocoon! Later we headed to Branson and watched Samson at the Sight and Sound Theatre: such a cool place to watch a show! And we happened to see one of Em's good friends in the crowd as well!

When: July 7, 2018 Where: Kanakuk Kamps, Branson Mo While it's never fun to leave Kamp, it is always SUPER exciting to be reunited with our Kampers! Katie had an incredible first year, and can't wait to come back in 2019.  Here's Emily with some of her counselors after cabin awards. The sisters won't admit it out loud, but they missed each other.  Katie and her friends and cabin mates had a blast all week! Here is Katie with one of her favorite counselors.  Here's the whole Kamp family - back together again!

Time: July 5, 2018 Place: The Magic House! When the big sisters are away at Kamp, Molly owns the week! She's been (a little) spoiled this week. She picked the desserts, she picked the activities. She had a play date with one of her best friends, AND she got to go to the Magic House in St. Louis with her COUSINS! Serious Static. Water Play, Bubble-making and of course Beanstalk Climbing! What's more fun than pretending to drive construction equipment? Or surrounding yourself in a giant bubble? Or climbing to the top (seriously Molly? To the top?) of the beanstalk. We even had some exciting times closer to home. Molly got both parents to herself at the park to play what's becoming her favorite game - soccer! Finally, although her sisters were having 4th of July fun at Kamp, we got to be in the Ashland 4th of July parade! Molly was a champion flag-waver.