South Dakota Cont.

Friday morning we went over to see Crazy Horse and go to Jewel Cave. At Crazy Horse we found out that it was the annual volksmarch. It's where any one can go hike up onto the mountain. They only let that event happen the first week in June. In the gift shops there Maysa really enjoyed looking at all the jewelry displayed. It took her forever to pick the one she liked best. We then went to the Jewel cave. On the way there we did stop for some pizza. We didn't want to make the same mistake as yesterday and not eat all day. When we got there it had been raining some. We saw a sign and it said the tours had been canceled due to the weather. It was a bum deal but they still had a basic tour available so we took it. While waiting for the tour Maysa and Hunter signed up to get a badge and we went on a little hike. In the entry way there is a block and for the spelunking tour you have to be able to fit through it. Crazy.... So after the Cave we started heading back to the hotel. We stoped at a few rock shops and other souvenir stores. The kids really wanted to go swimming at the water park there in the hotel. It is a really cool indoor water park. Which is a good thing it was indoors because it started to really rain outside. The kids had a really fun time there and didn't want to leave.

South Dakota

This was our family vacation spot this year. I have always wanted to see this area. We left early Thursday morning. It is a beautiful drive, but a long one as well. On the way to Rapid City we went to Devil's Tower. The mountain is different than all the other mountains that surround it. The rock is formed verticaly rather than sideways. We got to the Hotel and checked in. Then we went to Chuck-E-Cheese's for dinner. We woke up early the next morning to go gold panning and to see Mount Rushmore. On the way to the gold mine we would stop if we saw any interesting shops. We came across several of them, one was a cute Christmas store. We drove under lots of bridges and went through several tunnels to get there. The kids loved the mine and panning for gold. Both kids did find some gold and kept it in their vials. You were able to see George Washington's face at the mine cave. First my impression was it was smaller then expected. Then as we got closer the faces got bigger. After the mining experience we left for Mount Rushmore. It is a beautiful site to see. We then went to the Black Hills to explore some of the beauty there. It came time to start heading back to the hotel after realizing we never had lunch (just snack food) and it was getting late. We went to Perkins because it was the only restaurant opened at 10:30 at night. Yes we went that long with out a somewhat of a decent meal.

Maysa's 10th Birthday

First off... sorry so late posting Maysa. Her birthday is actually on May 29th.

On Maysa's big day she had to wait till Shad got home from work to start it. He got home around 12:00 and she immediately started to open the gifts that had been sitting there all day!! We then went to see the movie UP. Which is the best animated movie I've seen so far this year! Afterwards we went out to dinner at Chuck-A-Rama with grandparents and the great grandparents.