On Thursday, July 29th we took Ana to ballet in Yankton and then headed out west to The Black Hills. I did most of the planning and packing for this trip so if something went wrong it was going to be my fault, ha! I was really excited for my family to stay in a cabin! I was able to get us a cabin at the Mystic Hills Campground for 2 nights. I wasn't sure what to expect and on the drive out I thought "Is it going to have an air conditioner?" Why did I not think to ask?! I tried to convince myself that it must if a wedding party has the place booked for Saturday night, but I was wrong. Luckily, we weren't there during the day and at night when we were, it cooled off beautifully. When we arrived at our cabin, the kids were absolutely thrilled! I teared up seeing them so excited (darn pregnancy hormones). Dad started a campfire and we roasted marshmallows and made s'mores before settling in for the night.
Friday morning we all had some breakfast in our cabin and got ready for a fun-filled day! I wasn't sure about going to the Cosmos, but after seeing that kids were free I thought what the heck. So our first stop was a 30 minute tour of the Cosmos. After that, we headed in to Rapid for some lunch before going to Bear Country USA! The kids loved it! Next, was the Black Hills Caverns where we took an hour long tour. It was very interesting. The Golden Corral sucked us in for their delicious buffet. After stuffing ourselves, we went to meet Rob's Iraqi interpreter, Hussein and his family who now live in Rapid City.
Saturday morning we packed up and headed to Deadwood for the Days of 76 parade and then dined at the Deadwood Social Club which is above Saloon #10 where Wild Bill Hickok was shot. After lunch we headed toward Rapid stopping at BJ's in Sturgis where we saw Rob's cousins Jason and Chris. Continuing on, we met up with some more of the Dvorak family at Rob's grandparents house for the afternoon. After our visit, we checked in to our hotel and then met up with Hussein's family for supper.
Now I hadn't originally planned on going to Reptile Gardens, but Dantae really wanted to go there. The kids were doing so well and enjoying everything else I planned that I thought I would see if we could squeeze it in. Reptile Gardens opened at 8am on Sunday, perfect! So we went to one of my favorite places for breakfast, Hardee's and then out to see the reptiles! We attended the snake show and the alligator show. For lunch, we went to Rob's Aunt Ranee's house where we got to see some of the McFarland family. It was great getting to see as much of the family as we did. On our way home we went through the Badlands National Park. I asked the kids what their favorite part of the trip was and they said "Everything!" So then they asked me what my favorite part was and I said, "Seeing them have fun!" I'm sooo glad we were able to do this.
I started uploading pictures to this post, but there are so many that I decided to add links at the very bottom of this post. I've never done this, so hopefully it works. Some of you may have seen them already on facebook or my picasa.
This was our cabin.
Inside our cabin.
Justus didn't want to get too close.
Roasted marshmallows - delicious!
Finger-lickin good!
Dantae eating a s'more.
The smile says it all!
Our first family attraction.
Dantae in the truth chair. His expression here was after he was asked who the best tour guide was? We did find it interesting when he was asked how old he was and he told the truth, 7. Guess he didn't want to fall.
Justus and Ana participating in one of the height activities.
Ana and Zahara walking to the park.
Huda, Zahara and Hussein. Huda is expecting a baby boy in November.
Dantae, Justus and Ana at Reptile Gardens.
