Category Archives: cedar ridge hideaway

Birthday Bash and Our Weekend

May 26, 2015

This was a big weekend for the Koch’s! John has worked ultra hard the past 5 months and just finished an addition onto our cabin in Yankton, so it was the big reveal and Grandpa Dan’s 70th birthday party! We had the whole Koch clan down for the weekend and had so much fun with everyone. Despite the crummy weather, the cabin and lake were still so soothing for this 36.5 week preggo gal.

We started on Thursday with a trip to the Cottonwood Bar, our favorite for live music, drinks, and ice cream! YUM. Ivy didn’t want to share her ice cream with the birthday boy Papa!

Dance Ivy, dance!

Happy 70th birthday Dan!

We even got a special visit from cousin Emilie :)

We braved the weather one day and headed to the lake. We bundled up but it was still nice to break in the first day on the boat for the summer!

Counting fingers with Uncle Jeff

Captain Ivy!

On Monday, we had the day to just us three. We took Ivy to the Gavin’s Point Fish Hatchery and Aquarium and it was so much fun! We got to feed the trout and Ivy LOVED it. Hilarious. We had to make a trip to the beach too. She wasn’t a fan of the sand. She better get over that fast!

Hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend with your family and friends. We are forever grateful to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. Thank you thank you!

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Our Weekend Getaway

February 15, 2015

I always look forward to February. It’s another month past winter, it’s a short month, us teachers have President’s break, and of course, there is always Valentine’s Day.

This weekend, we took off to our cabin in Yankton near the Lewis and Clark Lake. We love it down there, and it’s a fun getaway just an hour away from our home. The views are spectacular, even in the winter, and we really enjoyed the glorious weather on Friday! Ivy LOVES to be outside.

My sister Catheryn was in town visiting from Portland, Oregon, so my Mom and Dad also made the voyage down with us to get in some quality fam time.

So damn cute. Ivy says “grampa” over and over again. SWOON

We are just a short walk from our cabin to the lake, which is perfect to stroll down to and also visit the bike trails and park.

My family headed back on Saturday, so the rest of the weekend was spent with just John, Ivy, and I. We took strolls around the neighborhood, had our Valentine’s Date at The Landing where Ivy devoured some creme brulee (she’s lucky I shared), and just enjoyed some relaxation.

Ivy certainly knows how to relax at the cabin ;)

So long, summer

September 22, 2014

Summer 2014-70 Summer, my favorite season, is now coming to an end.

I love summer for many reasons, the bright sunshine, the scorching heat, the exhilarating outdoor activities, the smell of freshly cut grass, the vegetables and flowers at the farmer’s markets, the juicy burgers on the grill, and mostly, the cheerful moods everyone is in. I love summer. I even turned 30 this summer, and still loved it.

Fall, on the other hand, is a gorgeous season. I love sweater weather, boots, fires on the patio, and the changing colors of the leaves and trees. But, it’s the calm before the storm of winter with what’s looming ahead. The bitter cold of South Dakota winters and, ugh, I’m actually going to stop right there because I am NOT ready to think or talk about winter. I want to talk about summer and live it up until 9:29pm, when fall specifically starts (or so says the almanac). So here. Here was our summer, little tidbits of random that didn’t make it in an earlier post. This was our spectacular summer. (Siiiiiigh).

Summer Memory – PLAYDATES

Ivy and Natalie

Ivy, Natalie, and James

Spending the warm summer hours at McKennan Park. Favorite.

Sam and Ivy

Summer Memory – BOATING

Summer Memory – FAMILY

Grandma Betsy would meet us at McKennan Park for Children’s Theatre

Grandma high fives at Lake Madison!

Cousins Anna and Nora reading to Ivy. SWOON

A visit from Grandpa Bill!

Hanging with Auntie Jillian

Summer Memory – Just. Plain. Fun.

Spent lots of time on our patio

LOVED visits to the Great Plains Zoo – I hadn’t been there in YEARS! So I think I enjoyed it as much as Ivy :) And Erin and Natalie were regulars with us too

STUD at her walker

Loved the cool hottub

Jazz Fest

Like a good teacher’s baby, loves books :)

Lots of time at the pool

Backyard Shenanigans

Loves to swing

Became obsessed with her blankie

Summer 2014-236

Enjoyed mornings in bed watching the news with Mama

And she STOOD on her OWN this summer! WOO HOO. (Don’t mind the tampons in the pic : / )

Overall, summer was damn good.

So long, summer. So long.

I’ll begin my countdown to next summer now.

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Labor (or lack thereof) Day

September 2, 2014

Labor Day was gonna be a good one this year. Weather looked nice, we had some days off of work, and we were headed to our our cabin, Cedar Ridge Hideaway, in Yankton. I was quite anxious to spend the weekend with the fam and enjoy the last few rays of summer sunshine until fall rolls around (sigh).

The weekend was full of boating, friends, the great outdoors, and a random helicopter ride. Yep. Ivy rode in a heli. This girl, I’m tellin ya, she is all over the place! But, that’s what kind of parents we want to be, expose our kids to just about everything. And if she can go in the heli, by golly, she’s goin in the heli. Although she was more into trying to grab the throttle and the door handle (freaking out at both of those), I tried to hold her hands down and take in the beautiful scenery. The Lewis and Clark Lake and Missouri River are just amazing. It looked so much bigger up there! The cliffs were shining and the water was gleaming as the sun was setting amongst us. It was extraordinary!

So here it is, our Labor Day weekend.

Cheers.

Anchored off and taking a playtime break

Favorite thing about the river, are the bright cliffs. Perfect photo op.

John’s brother Jeff and his lady Amy

Justin and Emily

Pretty much obsessed with this photo

#sexyhusbandselfie

Helicopter ride!

Check out THAT view!

Here is a sky view of our cabin!

We even had the pilot drop us off at our cabin! John said it best, “Only a $120 cab ride!” Ha

We ended the night with a bonfire. I LOVE BONFIRES.

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4th of July

July 7, 2014

4th of July is a holiday of celebration! The sparkling fireworks, waves and boating, bright sunshine, hot weather, sizzling grilling, juicy burgers, and cold beers. Summer at its best. This year, my sister Jillian and her husband Brian made the trip from Indianapolis to visit and have some family time. Also, my aunt Teresa from California made it and my friend Shannon came down for the weekend! We headed down to Yankton and Cedar Ridge Hideaway (our cabin) for the festivities. Like my man Zac Brown sang, “I got my toes in the water, ass in the sand, not a worry in the world, a cold beer in my hand, life is good today, life is good today.”

Our 4th of July in photos

Wednesday: