Mount Rushmore

 Nathan did an extra credit report on Mount Rushmore while he was in first grade.  If I knew how to put links on my blog, I would so you could see his really cute report again.  Anyway, ever since his report, we have been planning a family vacation to see it.  We live about 550 miles from there, so not too bad.  We shipped Eric off to EFY in Utah and we packed our bags for the long weekend.  I had no idea what to do besides Mount Rushmore but fortunately others were able to give me some ideas.  I was good and packed my camera and video camera.  But I forgot their chargers and both of them were dead within 5 minutes of using them.  So I'm stuck with iphone pictures from our trip.

Mario did most of the driving for the trip as usual.  I hate to drive and now I have even less desire to drive.  I had just started my shift which was only an hour or two away from our destination.  Within a few minutes, I was pulled over for speeding by a state trooper.  I was in the middle of nowhere going 80 in a 65 zone.  I knew I was in trouble as soon as the trooper drove past me.  Mario begged for mercy since he is military.  The officer said he didn't know because I was going pretty fast. He took my license back to his car and we both thought for sure I would get a ticket.  But he came back with just a warning.  We thanked him and then I gave the wheel back to Mario.

We started with the Wind Cave which is a national park within an hour's drive of Mount Rushmore.  It was a cool cave and the kids enjoyed it.  The tour lasted an hour and a half so I felt bad for Mario.  It was a long time to duck.  I guess there are some advantages to being short.

After the cave, we checked out Crazy Horse just because it was free for military.  It was pretty amazing but not finished yet.  So we didn't stay long. Then we checked into the KOA camp and Erin immediately went horseback riding while the rest of us unpacked and checked out the "fun zone."  We enjoyed some pizza for dinner and then headed out to see Mount Rushmore all lit up at night.  It was amazing and Mario and I could have stared at the mountain for hours.  The kids on the other hand took one look at it and would have been fine leaving.  But we made them stay for the evening program which included all the veterans in the audience going up on stage and introducing themselves.

The next day was Sunday so that was a challenge to not buy anything while on vacation.  We started our morning at church (funny story about using a plastic garbage bag for a slip since I have a horrible time remembering to pack slips for vacations, while in Saipan I used a pajama top around my waist) and then went back to camp and grilled some hotdogs.  We did let the boys play in the fun zone but I drew the line at swimming.  We then went back to Mount Rushmore to view it one more time.  Didn't cost us a cent since our parking pass was still good.  Then we went back to camp and grilled burgers for dinner.  After dinner, we decided to go on a hike that was between our camp and Mount Rushmore.  The hike was beautiful and even Erin, who really didn't want to go on our roadtrip, seemed to enjoy it.

Mario discovered that he really does like s'mores.
If you run out of chocolate,  you can use peanut butter and it tastes just like
a nutter butter.  Yum!

Thief Lake Hike

The smaller scale models

The next morning we woke up early and ate pancakes for breakfast and then checked out of camp.  Friends recommended an attraction called Cosmos Mystery Area.  Fortunately the twins were free because it was a tourist spot that only lasted 20 minutes.  It had a cabin built on a slant and it created lots of optical illusions.  Our friends loved and still talk about it years later. My kids thought it was ok but I doubt they will talk much about it in the future.

                                      

To break up the LONG drive home, we stopped in Sioux Falls to visit their Falls Park.  There were so many people there, we barely got a parking spot.  The waterfalls were beautiful (except for the muddy water.)  It reminded me of Hawaii.  Oh how I miss the beauty of Hawaii (and the beaches).

It was a great weekend and Mario didn't even have to take any leave.  It was nice to only divide my attention between 3 kids.  But I missed Eric terribly.  It makes me so sad to think he will be leaving home in 2 short years.