There are lots of things to do with her here beyond the standard Chuck E Cheese or Playground play date as well. We, obviously don't have the amenities that a major U.S. city avails but Sioux Falls does have some unique offerings like: The Sertoma Butterfly House and SFSD’s own version of Philadelphia’s Please Touch Museum called The Kirby Science Discovery Center located at The Washington Pavilion which, incidentally, houses a café with food that’s actually good enough to forego needing to pack my own. Other fun things to do with the kids in downtown Sioux Falls include the opportunity to watch motion pictures and educational films on a 60-foot wide, four-story cinedome 4D screen if live performances like Seussical or The Russian Ballet aren't your cup of tea.

We really aren’t in the "middle of nowhere" here. We’re in the middle of The United States...where handshakes are binding agreements and integrity flourishes from a deep sense of personal responsibility. Unlike a majority of the country, where unemployment still averages 10+%, it’s not difficult to get a job in Sioux Falls, SD. The unemployment rate here is closer to 3%.

We are three mouse clicks away from Zappos, Zulilly and the highest-end fashion on the planet, three hours away from the nations’s second largest shopping mall and 10 minutes from the largest single story mall in the U.S.. Also a short 15 minute drive from our new digs is Great Bear Park and a few glacier-fed lake resorts, Lake Madison, Okaboji and The Black Hills / Badlands (Locations where “National Treasure” was filmed). We’ve been told by friends back in Bryn Mawr that the 4th of July fireworks display at Mt. Rushmore tops any pyrotechnics display they’ve ever seen… so that’s on our list of things to do as well.

The only real downside is missing the family and close friends to whom we lived so near. My family is still in the western suburbs just outside Philadelphia and even though we've already enjoyed a few visits here and there... it was nice to know they were only 5 minutes away. We miss them very much but my wife is home almost every night for dinner now and we're spending much more time together as a family. The distance from the rest of our family is made easier by seeing my daughter spend a lot more time with her mommy…and after a year of always missing her, I feel like I have my wife back too... and that’s a very very good thing.

My wife just told me about an in incredible job opportunity she has in Sioux Falls, SD. She may as well have said it was somewhere in the Himalayas. Seriously, what’s the difference? I just looked at a map to see where South Dakota is located because, although i'm somewhat embarrassed to admit it, my knowledge of domestic geography is akin to that of a child’s proficiency with jigsaw puzzles. I’m pretty good with the corners and edges but a bit dodgy on the middle.

Living in a big coastal city with a baby, where cultural arts abound, is a lot like having a pool. It’s nice to look at… and if you didn’t have it, you’d wish you did but at the end of the day, you’re basically paying a premium for an amenity that's really appreciated more by your friends and family than you.

Don’t get me wrong. I recognize the inherent value of a big city with access to amenities like superior health care and education, the arts / museums and concept dining…even if you don’t regularly take advantage of them. Chances are, those amenities have drawn others to the area that may not take advantage of them either. So at the very least, you’re left with having like-minded neighbors with similar interests.

We moved to the suburbs of Philadelphia (back to my roots) just before Catherine was born. We thought that growing up with trees and a yard was preferable to vents in the street spewing out the smells of the subway and buses heaving clouds of heavy dark smoke on top of strollers on the sidewalk. Moving back to the suburbs not only offered our daughter the same kind of childhood my wife and I enjoyed, but also brought us closer to my family who made it downtown about as often as a herd of deer.

So, moving to the middle of the country doesn’t really seem feasible… but we’re considering it.