Mount Rushmore! (South Dakota Part Deaux)

 

This photo is definitely a favorite from the trip.  I just love his swagger as he enters the park.  He is such a happy, friendly, curious child and places like this fascinate him.  He was pointing out the flags he recognized, talking to other visitors, and asking lots of questions.  I'm so glad that he has already developed an interest in history.  I know he will have an important place in our future!

And Sister loves to wave at and talk to people too!  She wanted to make sure the other visitors didn't miss the carvings in the mountain so she was pointing them out to everyone.  "Look right there!" she kept saying.

Yay! Everyone is looking at the camera and you can see the presidents too!  The nicest lady offered to take this picture for us and then saw us later and offered again at a different spot.  I am always so appreciative when people offer and I want to do the same for others.  It's important to have these family pics with Mom and Dad in them.

After we toured the visitors center we took the long hike to the sculptors studio.  Lots of steps, but the kids did great and it was fun to see the presidents from different vantage points like this little nook we found.

Sissy on the steps.  She wanted to "do it myself".  So we were a bit behind the boys but we made it. 

The Sculptors Studio was so cool.  We learned that the majority of the mountain was "carved" with dynamite!  And the air conditioning was nice for a break before we tackled the return trip.  Sis did a little less walking this time and Best did a little more carrying.  Thanks Dad!

Seeing it was Peanut's 5th birthday that day we figured he was ready for a grown up adventure!  I thought he was so brave as he eagerly climbed aboard the ski lift to go on the Alpine Slide. 

They had so much fun!  I think next time we will have a picture of Sis and I racing down!

After a quick trip to Walmart to stock up on "camping supplies" we made it to the cabin.  It was located in a beautiful forested area but once inside we were definitely not roughing it!

The balloons and banners are in honor of Peanut's birthday.  Best set it up so the cabin would be decorated and cake and ice cream waiting for us.  It was such a great idea but didn't surprise me a bit because that's just the sort of creative thoughtful man he is.  Smile.

The tablecloth was a hockey rink and there was even a hockey puck piñata!  All Minnesota Wild theme and we saved some of the décor which now hang in Peanut's room.  The cabin itself was gorgeous and for less than 200 a night we felt like it was a steal!  Great planning ahead on Best's part.

 We ate a lot of cake in those three days...

And we saved a gift for the cabin, a remote controlled police car.  We had so much fun making obstacle courses for it!

 We keep the kids on bedtime schedules when we travel which works well for our family.  After a full day they are ready for bed at 7 and Best and I are ready for some alone (together) time.  We enjoyed some of that time in this private hot tub on the deck. 

Later we dried off and I enjoyed some quiet time on the deck with a new book and Best watched some of the Stanley Cup.  Our first three days done and a great time had by all.  Ok, stayed tuned for more fun!

South Dakota at Last! ( Part One)

 

I say "at last" because we had been anxiously anticipating this trip since Santa gifted it to us at Christmas.  Thank you Santa, wink wink.  Here are 2 of the happy travelers, ready to go at 7 am!

We decided to break up the trip with a stop in Sioux Falls and took in their local zoo.  It was really fun.  Peanut even got to ride a camel!  This is the same kid who was a bit too nervous to indulge in the pony ride last summer.  How he's grown.

Sister didn't seem to mind that her camel ride was a bit more stationary.  At the time she didn't mind anyway.  She seems to have given it some more thought however because since we've been home she had asked me repeatedly if she can also ride a camel someday.  Like at least 10 times she's asked!  

So in true Sis fashion when we roll into the hotel around 3 she proceeds to announce, "It's my resting time" and crawl into bed.  The hotel had a waterpark on site and I offered to let her join the boys who were planning on checking it out right away.  Nothing doing.  She just said, "I will go after my rest." So she rested, and I actually ended up going to the waterpark with Peanut so Best could catch up on a few work emails and relax a bit after driving.  She did make an appearance in her watermelon bathing suit later and got her toes wet...literally.  We had fun though and had a nice dinner in the hotel restaurant where the kids got free ice cream AND about 5 things each from the treasure box.  What a life those two!

We got to bed early and everyone slept well which was good because day 2 was probably our busiest day of the whole vacation.  First stop Wall Drug.  (You'd never know it was coming)  ha ha

This kind of quirky fun is right up our alley and Peanut loved this piano playing ape!

And Sis was very brave posing with some giant animals too!

Lots of souvenir shopping here too.  Peanut got a really cool helicopter and Sis finally settled on a drum.

And then we had ice cream.  Because we always do.  Always on vacation at almost every stop. Smile.

Our second stop of the day was Bear Country USA.  I had really enjoyed it when we went almost 6 years ago and knew the kids would get a kick out of the proximity of the animals.

 Those binoculars are getting lots of use Grandpa Chuck!

And we're training Sister in on a junior model.

It was so awesome to see these beautiful creatures up close.

These huge beasts just look so soft and cuddly!

These two always have fun together and I love to hear Peanut instruct Sis on where to look and what to do.  She does what she wants but its just so sweet that he doesn't want her to miss a thing!

I couldn't believe how great everyone was doing come dinner time on our 3 stop day.  I really don't remember if we squeezed in a nap for Sis but I can assure you if she was able to she did!

The Cowboy Dinner took place at a little place called Fort Hays.  I'm pretty sure it wasn't ever a real "fort" but they have lots of authentic looking buildings there and it's where part of Dances With Wolves was filmed along with many other westerns.  There were plenty of opportunities to learn about how they did things long ago such as making your own rope!

Peanut was very excited about the challenge of pumping and worked up quite a sweat on this rig.

While Sis preferred the shade of her surrey with the fringe on top!

Dinner was great and we were in the second row for the show.  Our table companions were some seniors who got such a kick out of the kids and they were so nice to visit with.

Peanut really enjoyed the lemonade out of the tin cowboy cup.

 I wasn't sure if the show would be too loud for the kids but they loved it.  Peanut was singing along to Johnny Cash and Sis was standing on the bench dancing! The musicians were talented and funny and we had a great time.

We headed back to the hotel with 2 tired kids and had a good nights sleep.  Again, I was so happy everyone slept well because the next day was the long awaited trip to Mt. Rushmore!  More to come...