u/ezztothebezz

I'm curious if any of you have advice on how you treat external calendars where many/most of the events are relevant to your family, but not all (I have a few examples of this, but will use school calendar as example).

I recently synced our school calendar with skylight, which is nice much of the time as I don't have to manually add all the random testing days and off days. And I don't have to worry that I missed or forgot some random teacher prep day, which has been a real concern in the past. So that's great. But there are also many events on the school calendar we don't plan to attend, or just don't apply to us. For example, my kids are younger. I don't need calendar events about 5th grade field trips or 5th grade graduation. I would like to be able to delete individual events that don't apply to us, but keep the 75% or so of school calendar events that do.

My understanding from Skylight's page is that its either full sync or no sync, and if I try to delete individual events while the calendars remain synced, they will keep popping up with the next sync. Skylight's chat bot suggests manually adding the events I do want to my skylight. But there are a LOT of events I'd like to keep. Is manually adding them my only option?

Do any of you have any strategies for external calendars which are mostly helpful, but also have some events that do not apply to you? Do you just not sync and copy things over? Do you sync the whole calendar but have some way to indicate when an event doesn't actually apply? Or just get used to taking events of a certain color as maybe applicable/maybe not? Is there a way to mass import events from an external calendar without maintaining the sync?

Any thoughts welcome...

I have much of our Yellowstone trip planned, factoring all the major sites and my memories of what I liked as a kid. But coming off of one family summer road trip, I realize that some times my kids like nothing more than just some places to climb/scramble around on rocks.

I could list a lot of places in Yellowstone where the kids should NOT climb around, but I’m not actually sure of if/where there are places that could be good for them to climb/scramble and get some energy out. (It’s more about getting the energy out than anything).

Suggestions? It need not be anything too exciting, just some places where the kids could climb around for a bit…

For reference, our trip will take us to Yellowstone via Thermopolis and the East Entrance. We’ll cover the whole loop drive, staying a couple nights at canyon, one night in Gardiner, two nights in Madison campground, then down to Tetons, staying at Grand Teton lodge, then out through the Wind River reservation.

We just finished our first of two summer family road trips. First was Black Hills, SD, and our next will be Yellowstone.

We had/have downloaded GuideAlong for both, and our SD trip was the first time using it. At times I loved it, and at times it caused frustration. Would love to try any tips on how to better use it for Yellowstone.

Questions:
-is there any way to see a list of the audio snippets, or a table of contents, to go back and listen to them later?
-is there any way to keep listening to the snippet we are currently on without auto-playing the next one?
-Do some of the tours have more down time than others, leaving time to chat and check in? Or are they all like the SD where it seems to want to fill the whole trip with commentary?

Many of the issues that came up occurred when we needed to pause the tour for one reason or another. For example, my younger kid had a lot of questions (about the tour, or when we’d get to our next stop, or just wanted to chat), so we’d pause to take his questions. But then lot of times the next clip would auto-play and we’d lose where we were on the last clip, and couldn’t figure out how to get back to it easily while driving, or get back to it later after we’d stopped. Any advice?

So many of the clips added great context. But I wish it were easier to listen to about half as much content, and not have it going the WHOLE time. I got pretty good at just stopping the ones I was less interested in, but am hoping there may be a better way to go back to the clips we are most interested in.

We are going to Yellowstone mid August. I’ve been trying to plan our itinerary in broad strokes.

We are planning to get to Hayden valley very early one morning, so I’m looking forward to that.

I was also hoping to do Lamar valley (in addition to Hayden), but I don’t think there is a good time when we could get to Lamar Valley in the very early morning. The best time for us to slot it in is later morning/midday.

So I’m curious:
-if you could only go though Lamar valley in later morning/midday, would it still be worth it?
-would your answer change at all knowing we are already going though Hayden valley around sunrise on a different day?
-what time in the morning does animal activity start to noticeably die down?
-if you did go through Lamar valley midday, what would you do while there? Any hikes? Is Trout Lake a good hike?

Thanks!

I’d love any thoughts/feedback/additions on our plan for the Black Hills in late July:

Some background: my family is a family of 4, with two kids (5 and 8).  We are also meeting up with my parents (70s, very active) and my brother/his partner (and dogs). First time to SD for all of us. What I’ve listed below is the general/planned itinerary for everyone. I’m trying to plan some things we can all do together, but leave some time to just chill, and some time for people to go off and do things on their own. Don’t want to plan things TOO tight for the whole group.

Basics: We are all staying for 5 nights at the Sheridan Lake Campground in adjoining sites. We are each getting there via different routes and from different places.  My family car will stop for a night at a motel near Devil’s Tower before day 1, and will stop for 1 night after this at a motel in Wall, to see Badlands before driving home. (Each group has NPS annual pass)

Planned Itinerary: 

Day 1: arrive at Sheridan Lake around 2 PM (campground check in). Spend the rest of the day at Sheridan Lake, paddling, hiking, cliff jumping, etc.

Day 2: scenic drives through Custer State Park and Mount Rushmore. Start with the needles highway- hike around Sylvan Lake and/or Cathedral Spires (how’s the latter for kids?).   Visit Peter Norbeck education center, then on to Iron Mountain Road, and hit Mount Rushmore in the afternoon. (Depending on when we get started maybe work in the wildlife loop between Needles highway and Norbeck center? Or would that be too much to even try?)

Day 3: 1 car gets to Wind Cave NP visitor center at 8 to try to get day-of cave tour tickets (we missed out on getting tix in advance, but I have read we should be ok as long as we get there at open and are somewhat flexible?). Depending on time of cave tour if we get one, do Wind Cave national Park (tour, visitor center, short hike) in the morning or afternoon, and spend the other part of the day at Hot Springs, visiting Mammoth dig site and swimming at either Evans plunge or Cascade Falls (or maybe Moccasin Springs for the kidless adults). Stop at Crazy Horse on the way back to Sheridan Lake (either doing an actual visit or just taking photos from the road). 

Day 4: no planned activities for the whole family. Each group may want to do side trips, replenish groceries, go to a site nearby to get a shower, or hang by the lake.

Day 5: Deadwood. (Parents and brother very excited about Deadwood). Get to Deadwood by lunchtime. Half day sightseeing. Days of 76 Rodeo at 7 PM. Late drive back to campsite.

Day 6: Departure day. Sleep in, pack up, final paddle or hike. Check out 1 PM. (Our car heads East to Wall). 

Questions:

-Anything you’d add to or change in the above for the whole group?  Any stops along the way for any of these excursions we might want to know about?

-For just my small family of 4 (particularly for the kids) is there anything you see missing that we should add in/plan to do on day 4, which is otherwise a free day, or that would fit in the bigger itinerary? Especially shorter activities? I have Bear Country and Reptile Gardens on the “maybe” list, but not sure how easy it would be to manage either of these with our dog? (For the larger group activities it is easier to have someone take turns to stay with dogs, and we will also have ability to leave dogs for a bit in my parents’ van with reflective window coverings and ceiling fan. With just our family myself or husband must always be with dog.)

-One thing I don’t have on here that I would love to do with my  family of 4 is drive Spearfish Canyon, and maybe do one or two small hikes along there. I’m curious  if I can fit that in, and how much time I should leave for that.  Would we have time to do that in the morning “on the way” to Deadwood if we leave early enough?  Or between Devil’s Tower and arriving at the campsite on the first day?

-I think we want to do 3 nights eating at the campsite, one dinner will be in Deadwood (at or just before the rodeo), and probably one dinner out somewhere. Any recommendations for that dinner out not too far from Sheridan Lake? (Extra points if dog friendly patio)

2 questions about lists:

1. How can I import a list from an existing document? (right now I have a list saved in google docs, but this would apply to google docs, email lists, etc). I tried to email the list to my skylight email, but it did not work. I got an email saying "we couldn't add your recipe (here's why)" Is there a way to send an email to skylight and indicate you want to add the contents as a list? I am a plus member so I could use sidekick, but that only allows me to upload a photo or talk into mic. It seems silly to take photos of my existing list and upload those when I could just... upload the list itself... Help?

2. Is there a way to duplicate an existing list on skylight? For example, in my google docs, I have a "generic camping trip" packing list saved. Then, when I want to pack for a specific trip, I copy the contents of that generic list into a new list for that specific trip, so that I can modify it for what we need for that particular trip, without modifying my generic list (such as: if we are going to a lake, bring life jackets, or modify certain items based on how many nights we'll be gone). Once I do figure out how to best import my camping list to skylight and get it formatted/grouped just how I want it, I'd love to do the same: import my generic list, and then create a trip-specific version within skylight for a particular trip...

We are traveling to the Black Hills in July, and very excited! We are camping at Sheridan lake. Our group will include two dogs.

I’ve been looking up things we may want to do, and pet rules for each. Many things seem very pet friendly, and for some things we may take shifts where one group does an activity while others stay with dogs. Since we are tent camping obviously leaving dog at our lodging won’t work.

There are a few things we might want to do all together where the best option may be using a doggie daycare for the day (or a half day). Are there dog daycares anyone would recommend that are good for one-time use? It looks like several daycares exist in rapid city, but would love recs. Also curious if there are any options around Deadwood or Hot Springs (or on the way to either, like Custer). (I’m confident my dog can pass a behavior evaluation, since she regularly does daycare at home, but for this to work would want to be able to do the evaluation and daycare all in same day, not have to do a separate evaluation before a stay …)

Thanks!

I know I can skip individual chores, but what about up for grabs chores? Is there a way to skip repeating chores without deleting entirely and having to recreate?

I assume perhaps there isn’t a “skip” option on them right now because they aren’t assigned to anyone, so NOT doing them doesn’t affect anyone’s streaks or completion of all tasks for the day.

But the thing is, my kids are VERY enthusiastic about grabbing chores right now. (We are new to skylight, I assume it will fade).

The example I’m thinking of today is “water outside plants”, and it’s raining outside this morning. Watering the plants would be a waste of water, so I’d like to skip it, without losing the repeat. If I don’t, a kid will probably water them again later when it’s sunny. (My interim solution is to mark it complete and give credit to the dog. But skip would be better).

We are camping at Sheridan Lake South Shore campground in July. Can anyone recommend anywhere nearby where we could get a shower? (Paid or free).

I’ve looked around on the Internet, but some info I have found seems unreliable. Definitely want to know where there are confirmed showers.

Any other recommendations of services nearby, such as where to get groceries, or good places to eat, would also be welcome. I have a good sense of nearby sights and activities, but want to nail down some of the basics.

Thanks!

We are taking a week-long trip to Yellowstone and Teton in August. To mix up our itinerary, I’d like to plan a half day raft trip. My kids are 5 (larger 5 year old, meets weight limits) and 8, so some options won’t work, but I have found two possibilities that look good:

-family friendly 2ish hour 8 mile rafting trip from Gardiner. Advertises class II/III rapids (I’m curious how high rapids actually are in August, would love thoughts from anyone with experience), so seems like a good intro to rapids for kids- in photos it looks like kids sit in the middle of the raft. Scenic, but not nearly as scenic as option 2.

- half day Scenic float meeting in Wilson WY-views of Tetons, more chances to see wildlife, maybe bald eagles. Pretty flat water.

Obviously these are two pretty different experiences- one more about experiencing some rapids on the water, the other more about the views. But budget wise I do not think we would be able to do both.

For anyone who had done either with kids, I’m curious how your kids/family enjoyed, and if you’d recommend. Any sense on which would feel more special? Is the Gardiner half day rafting at all scary for small kids, or just fun? (I have done some white water in the past, but before kids, so I don’t have any recent points of reference).

For what it’s worth, if we don’t do the scenic Teton raft trip, we probably will do Jenny Lake boat-not saying that’s the same, but we would at least have that opportunity to see the Tetons from the water.

Short question; has anyone gone through the process of trying to move personal investments that have to date been largely hands off to more socially responsible directions? (And in particular to divest from private prisons?). If so, any wisdom to share?

I don’t know the right group to post this in. It’s about finances, but I want to post in a progressive forum where I don’t have to justify my concerns. And I’m a busy mom who isn’t used to actively managing my portfolio (to date I generally have gone with age based funds or very broad index funds so I can be pretty hands off). So i thought I’d start with this group.

An example of my own privilege/blindness-today it occurred to me for the first time that since I have a decent amount of funds invested in retirement accounts, and the majority is in broad market index funds, that basically means that some portion of my funds (maybe small, I don’t know), is invested in GEO Group. And now that i have realized this, it really bothers me.

But from my basic internet searches so far, it seems like divesting from GEO group may be a bit more complicated than I wish it were, because most index funds are likely to include shares in GEO, and I learned some funds labeled “ESG” may still include private prisons…

I already sent an email to my financial guy to discuss, but I’m curious if anyone in this group has personal experience trying to move retirement funds to more socially responsible directions, and if you have any lessons learned or wisdom to share. (Especially because I do not have a lot of experience actively managing my investments…). Or if you have looked into it and concluded it would be too difficult to divest entirely, have you taken any steps/actions to counter the impact?