South Dakota

Greg's sisters decided to road trip to South Dakota and invited me along.  The kids and I drove to Park City Sunday night, spent the night at Parkinsons, then headed out the next morning with the whole group.  Our first stop was Martin's Cove.  Pushing and pulling the hand carts in that heat was such a cool experience except for the horrendous mosquitoes.  I don't think I have ever been eaten that badly.  The itchy bumps left behind would bother the little girls the rest of the trip.  It was neat to listen to the stories and history of this place.  Church history stories have always helped me feel the spirit.  

The kids had so much fun riding in all the different vehicles together (Laurie's Party Van, Grandma's CRV, Teresa's Van of bottomless fun, Brad's car, and my Van)- eating the different snacks, enjoying different movies, and just being silly together.

On our first day in South Dakota we visited the Jewel Caves.  They were so incredible.  Lily loved the long feature that looked like a huge piece of bacon.  But she didn't like when they turned all the lights off.  Yes, that loud screaming was her...  Emily and a bunch of the cousins did their Junior Ranger Packet while the rest of us ate lunch.

Then we headed over to the Crazy Horse Monument.  A bit expensive in my opinion but cool to learn more about Crazy Horse and the Native people.  It will be cool to see the whole thing when it is finished but that could be a while...

Our last stop of the day was Mount Rushmore.  The girls were so excited to fill out their Junior Ranger packet they couldn't be bothered to look at the monument 😉.

Grandma made all the girls matching muumuus - so cute and it made them easy to find.  They absolutely loved it!

We loved the walk down to the artist studio; Andrew especially loved walking with Rush and Dane.

The ranger had never sworn in that many kids at once.  He couldn't believe it and asked us to take a picture for him.  We love the junior Ranger program - great souvenirs.  

Little girls proud of their badges.  

The next day we drove out to the Badlands (It was my birthday).  I had never been there before and loved it; such unique, beautiful features. Lily and I were a little too slow when the group headed out on a hike and got left behind so we turned back and explored with Papa.  Andrew realized we were missing, started worrying and came back to check on us.  Sweet boy.

When the rest of the group got back they were heading off to another hike.  Andrew was desperate to see some animals so to pay him back for his loyalty and patience I ditched the group and went searching for animals.  The park was so beautiful and we saw a lot of prairie dog towns and big horn sheep. 

Can you find the Big Horn?

I loved all the colors in the rocks.  So incredible.  These pictures just don't do it justice.

Here is the whole group checking out a group of cattle that I mistook for bison -oops.  Papa corrected me and we had a good laugh.

Bode and Brad searched for animals with us and Kate stayed with the others.  Lily didn't want to leave me and Emily didn't want to miss any animals, but it was hard for her to leave all the girl cousins.

These magical mounds looked like rainbows of colors.  I could imagine a village of mystical creatures living inside these rock domes.  So incredible.

It started to pour right after we found a few bison for Brad - then we headed home.  It was an amazing day - so glad we made the trek out there.  Teresa was so sweet and gave me a present and adorable Dahlia let me share her birthday glory.

When we arrived at Parkinson's Sunday night there was a bag of stuff Gayle thought we had left at her house.  This fabulous stuffed horse was in the bag.  It was not ours but it was similar to a horse Lily had left in a hotel room years ago, a stuffed animal she still asks about.  I talked to Gayle and she told Lily she could keep it (who knows where it came from).  Lily was so excited.  That horse shared a bed with Lily and I every night of the trip.

We started the morning of the 4th with a visit to the Dinosaur Park.  Then headed to find a hike - there was a lot rain, changing of plans, sunshine, more adjusting, but we ending up having a fabulous day in spite of it all.

We explored a mining museum and then the sun shone on our beautiful hike and the kids loved playing ball together in the parking lot while we ate lunch.  Then we went into Deadwood.  

I loved the cute old town feel and the history.  The kids loved all the reenactments and the parade candy.  We wondered around town, exploring and looking for dinner.  Then we got caught in a down pour and got soaked through.  Laurie worked her magic and convinced the museum ladies to open their doors for a while (they were closed) so we could see the stuff, get out of the rain, and dry off.  

Can you tell how wet he is?  I don't think there was a dry spot on him.  After that we headed to the saloon where the story of Jack McCall starts.  They picked Bode, Ari and Andrew to be a part of the show.  Andrew loved it and totally got into his role.  The actors did a great job as well and made Deadwood a hit.

Later in the trial, Andrew was called out of the crowd to be the Sheriff.  He totally got into his role and it was definitely a highlight of his trip. (I think it even got him thinking about trying out for the High School musical).

The littles all got to be in the jury.  Even Mack got called up to to the stand to bear witness.  They acted like they forgot the paper with Mack's lines on it so he looked pretty ridiculous for a while.  It was hilarious.  All the kids loved Deadwood in spite of all the rain and a dark scary drive back to the campground.

The next morning we were up and on the road home.  We had a really close call  where I was sure we were going to run out of gas in the middle of nowhere but my many many prayers were answered and we managed to make it to a gas station.  Miracles and blessings for sure.  I drove the whole way home that day excepting the 1 hour Mack drove - 13 hours.  The kids loved the trip but I was glad to be home in time to prepare for our adventure to New York.