sunday we got up and went to church
arent these kiddos the CUTEST!
the kids did sooo good at church...
all of them but madyn that is.
all she wanted were her cousins!
she didnt want to leave them for moonbeams.
that evening the colemans got into town.
we let the kiddos play and we just hung around the house until
the hysells and mom and dad came.
ill tell you what it was pretty squishy in our little house,
but we made it work!
eric had to work a graveyard shift so the next day was pretty long for him.
we got up and going and started our trek towards south dakota!
we had to make a stop in cheyenne to get some groceries and lunch.
we were able to meet up with the meeks then and headed out.
along our way we saw signs for fort laramie, so mom wanted to make a quick stop.
so that helped break up the trip a bit.
once we got out of new castle and hit south dakota, i couldnt believe how
BEAUTIFUL it was.
and the cabin was awesome! i think the kids were so excited to get out of the car.
we all had our own room and there was a bunk bed room downstairs for all the grandkids.
(although none of them ended up staying down there because it was too cold)
tuesday we spent our day around historical deadwood.
we went on a tour bus and saw calamity jane and wild bills grave.
it was really fun to go around and learn all the history of deadwood.
we had a picnic at the park and went to the Adam's museum.
on our way home we stopped at an old gold mine and did a tour
and then panned for gold.
madyn was a MESS! seriously sooo dirty!
she loved playing in the water and rocks at the bottom while they panned for gold.
the funny story of the day was maycie stepped in some stuff
on the way out of the cave. (must have been sap and leaves and just a bunch
of gross muck.) and she goes ewwww i stepped in mine's poop!
wednesday we took off to mt rushmore.
and i have to say... it was A LOT smaller then i expected it to be...
i mean it was still huge but in pictures i think it looks bigger then it really is.
we walked around the trails and every angle you could get was sooo pretty!
after we went to a little campground and had a picnic and
the kids and guys rock climbed.
after lunch it started pouring!
so we hit up Crazy Horse.
which was fine, it was ok, but i dont think i would go back.
but i was glad we went.
that thing will probably never be done in my lifetime.
we then went to Custer State Park and the needle highway.
that was my absolute favorite part of the trip! it was soooo gorgeous!
(although i do wish there was more animal life... and a little more variety then buffalo
and antelop ;)
but by the end of the trip i was pretty car sick...
i was sooo ready to get out of the car. we stopped and had a light dinner
and that only made it worse.... i was sick the rest of the night.
(but that was kind of the story of my life in SD i was constantly running to
the bathroom.... Stupid crohns:/)
it was getting close to dark and we wanted to see them light mt rushmore at night.
it was awesome!
after the movie presentation they had all the military and veterans in the
stands come down to be honored.
it was pretty cool to honor casey like that. then he was able to
help fold the flag that they have flying on the grounds.
it was pretty cool.
thursday we took a trek over to Devil's Tower.
it was SO stinking HOT!
to be honest it was actually a titch miserable.
all of us said we weren't going to hike around it since it
was sooo hot but mostly all of us ended up sucking it up and going.
the rest of the night we spent at the cabin and let the kids get in the hot tub.
(madyn was soooo excited to get in... she didnt even care that eric put the straps on wrong...) lol
it was a GORGEOUS night. seriously the sunset was breath taking!
we also had a wild turkey wandering about around the cabin which was pretty fun...
fact i did not know, turkeys can fly, who knew. obviously not me.
friday we went back toward rapid city
(through Sturgis- which is NOTHING like you would expect it to be, by the way.)
and hit up bear world.
madyn was soooo excited!
i think that was her favorite part.
and it made me love it even more that she was sooo excited!
i thought it was well worth going. they had TONS of bears!
seriously they were EVERYWHERE!
they also had some big horn sheep, elk, mountain goats, wolves, reindeer, mountain lions,
and buffalo.
after the car ride we got out and they had the CUTEST baby bears!
make-my-ovaries-hurt CUTE!
and then some other animals- pine martins, raccoons, skunks, porcupines,
foxes, coyotes, and my favorite OTTERS!
we then had a picnic and headed over to Reptile Gardens.
now i wasnt quite sure how i would like reptile gardens since im not to into
creepy crawly, snakey, scaley things... but i very much enjoyed it!
we watched a bird show and snake show and then part way through the alligator show
madyn was over it so i didnt really get to see that one.
my personal favorite was the snake show. (i know, right?!?)
i think everyone else liked the alligator one the best, guess i missed out.
we then went over to see their tortoises.
i didnt think madyn would like them because she shys away from everything else
and is such a scardy cat.
but she actually went right up to them and was petting them... until it moved...
then that really sent her for a loop... (it was actually pretty hilarious!)
right next door to reptile gardens was a dinosaur museum,
and of course the kids wanted to see that.
and we were actually pretty excited thinking it would be nice and
air conditioned.... yeah we were wrong....
only air going through there were from a few fans....
it was sooo hot.
it was kind of a funny museum.
dinosaur statues and displays, and then a random mirror maze (which was actually a blast),
sand tables for fossil digs, and then mini golf.
maycie was just plain ecstatic. and to be honest i quite enjoyed myself too.
when we got back to the cabin the kiddos did some more hot tubbing.
saturday we went to the Wonderland Cave.
that was pretty cool.
madyn however did not enjoy it... because she fell asleep as soon as
we walked down there.
oh my goodness and it felt SOOO good down there and being out of the heat.
they said to take a jacket but you didnt need it. it was PERFECT!
on our way back to lead our little train of vehicles were stopped along the
side of the road- it was a wild turkey....
and BABIES!
dad insisted i go out and take a picture....
but i was getting car sick... again... and wasnt feeling it.
so eric grabbed the camera and was determined to do it.
he got out and mom had made the comment about how she was shocked
the momma turkey wasnt in distress with eric getting so close to her babies.
and then he put the camera to his face...
and she flipped!
she started chasing him... clear back to the truck.
it was pretty hilarious.
seriously soooo funny!
after that we hit up the chubby chipmunk to get some yummy truffles.
the rest of the day everyone headed off to deadwood again
to go to some museums, watch the shoot out and wild bill trial, and explore.
since i still wasnt feeling very well i stayed back with maycie, karys and locklyn at the cabin.
it was seriously the best vacation.
we had soooo much fun!
best week ever.
we let the kiddos play and we just hung around the house until
the hysells and mom and dad came.
ill tell you what it was pretty squishy in our little house,
but we made it work!
eric had to work a graveyard shift so the next day was pretty long for him.
we got up and going and started our trek towards south dakota!
we had to make a stop in cheyenne to get some groceries and lunch.
we were able to meet up with the meeks then and headed out.
along our way we saw signs for fort laramie, so mom wanted to make a quick stop.
so that helped break up the trip a bit.
once we got out of new castle and hit south dakota, i couldnt believe how
BEAUTIFUL it was.
and the cabin was awesome! i think the kids were so excited to get out of the car.
we all had our own room and there was a bunk bed room downstairs for all the grandkids.
(although none of them ended up staying down there because it was too cold)
we went on a tour bus and saw calamity jane and wild bills grave.
it was really fun to go around and learn all the history of deadwood.
we had a picnic at the park and went to the Adam's museum.
on our way home we stopped at an old gold mine and did a tour
and then panned for gold.
madyn was a MESS! seriously sooo dirty!
she loved playing in the water and rocks at the bottom while they panned for gold.
the funny story of the day was maycie stepped in some stuff
on the way out of the cave. (must have been sap and leaves and just a bunch
of gross muck.) and she goes ewwww i stepped in mine's poop!
wednesday we took off to mt rushmore.
and i have to say... it was A LOT smaller then i expected it to be...
i mean it was still huge but in pictures i think it looks bigger then it really is.
we walked around the trails and every angle you could get was sooo pretty!
after we went to a little campground and had a picnic and
the kids and guys rock climbed.
after lunch it started pouring!
so we hit up Crazy Horse.
which was fine, it was ok, but i dont think i would go back.
but i was glad we went.
that thing will probably never be done in my lifetime.
we then went to Custer State Park and the needle highway.
that was my absolute favorite part of the trip! it was soooo gorgeous!
(although i do wish there was more animal life... and a little more variety then buffalo
and antelop ;)
but by the end of the trip i was pretty car sick...
i was sooo ready to get out of the car. we stopped and had a light dinner
and that only made it worse.... i was sick the rest of the night.
(but that was kind of the story of my life in SD i was constantly running to
the bathroom.... Stupid crohns:/)
it was getting close to dark and we wanted to see them light mt rushmore at night.
it was awesome!
after the movie presentation they had all the military and veterans in the
stands come down to be honored.
it was pretty cool to honor casey like that. then he was able to
help fold the flag that they have flying on the grounds.
it was pretty cool.
thursday we took a trek over to Devil's Tower.
it was SO stinking HOT!
to be honest it was actually a titch miserable.
all of us said we weren't going to hike around it since it
was sooo hot but mostly all of us ended up sucking it up and going.
(madyn was soooo excited to get in... she didnt even care that eric put the straps on wrong...) lol
it was a GORGEOUS night. seriously the sunset was breath taking!
we also had a wild turkey wandering about around the cabin which was pretty fun...
fact i did not know, turkeys can fly, who knew. obviously not me.
friday we went back toward rapid city
(through Sturgis- which is NOTHING like you would expect it to be, by the way.)
and hit up bear world.
madyn was soooo excited!
i think that was her favorite part.
and it made me love it even more that she was sooo excited!
i thought it was well worth going. they had TONS of bears!
seriously they were EVERYWHERE!
they also had some big horn sheep, elk, mountain goats, wolves, reindeer, mountain lions,
and buffalo.
after the car ride we got out and they had the CUTEST baby bears!
make-my-ovaries-hurt CUTE!
and then some other animals- pine martins, raccoons, skunks, porcupines,
foxes, coyotes, and my favorite OTTERS!
we then had a picnic and headed over to Reptile Gardens.
now i wasnt quite sure how i would like reptile gardens since im not to into
creepy crawly, snakey, scaley things... but i very much enjoyed it!
we watched a bird show and snake show and then part way through the alligator show
madyn was over it so i didnt really get to see that one.
my personal favorite was the snake show. (i know, right?!?)
i think everyone else liked the alligator one the best, guess i missed out.
we then went over to see their tortoises.
i didnt think madyn would like them because she shys away from everything else
and is such a scardy cat.
but she actually went right up to them and was petting them... until it moved...
then that really sent her for a loop... (it was actually pretty hilarious!)
and of course the kids wanted to see that.
and we were actually pretty excited thinking it would be nice and
air conditioned.... yeah we were wrong....
only air going through there were from a few fans....
it was sooo hot.
it was kind of a funny museum.
dinosaur statues and displays, and then a random mirror maze (which was actually a blast),
sand tables for fossil digs, and then mini golf.
maycie was just plain ecstatic. and to be honest i quite enjoyed myself too.
when we got back to the cabin the kiddos did some more hot tubbing.
saturday we went to the Wonderland Cave.
that was pretty cool.
madyn however did not enjoy it... because she fell asleep as soon as
we walked down there.
oh my goodness and it felt SOOO good down there and being out of the heat.
they said to take a jacket but you didnt need it. it was PERFECT!
on our way back to lead our little train of vehicles were stopped along the
side of the road- it was a wild turkey....
and BABIES!
dad insisted i go out and take a picture....
but i was getting car sick... again... and wasnt feeling it.
so eric grabbed the camera and was determined to do it.
he got out and mom had made the comment about how she was shocked
the momma turkey wasnt in distress with eric getting so close to her babies.
and then he put the camera to his face...
and she flipped!
she started chasing him... clear back to the truck.
it was pretty hilarious.
seriously soooo funny!
after that we hit up the chubby chipmunk to get some yummy truffles.
the rest of the day everyone headed off to deadwood again
to go to some museums, watch the shoot out and wild bill trial, and explore.
since i still wasnt feeling very well i stayed back with maycie, karys and locklyn at the cabin.
it was seriously the best vacation.
we had soooo much fun!
best week ever.
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