WHEN IN SOUTH DAKOTA (the best part)

When I was a little girl, I read and re-read the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I wanted to BE Laura, especially the Melissa Gilbert version as seen on tv. There was just something about that life that was so tied to the land, so rooted in family, that absolutely appealed to me.

And you know what? It still does.

Which is why visiting the Ingalls Homestead in DeSmet, South Dakota was such a joy. Take a look:

Here we are on the porch of Ma's little cabin.



Here's the outhouse located near the barn.



Here's Eric getting cozy with a chicken.



And here's three boys just about to break a see-saw. :)



Too bad my memory card was full at this point... but my father had plenty of room on his camera and did his best to capture the little schoolhouse, the covered wagon ride, the big slough, the sod house, the boys making rope and twisting hay, and later, a couple of miles away, the graves where Pa and Ma and Carrie and Mary are buried.

If you are a Little House fan, this is a must-see. Next on my list: Laura's Rocky Ridge Farm in Mansfield, Missouri, where she actually wrote the books!