Mount Rushmoore

The kids thought the mountain was pretty cool, with the presidents heads. Alli can now tell you all the presidents on the mountain and a little about each one. The kids did their first Junior ranger book and each got a badge. There was some learning on this vacation too....

Wall Drug

We were told.... You can't go out west without stopping at Wall Drug. It was pretty fun. It was bigger than I remembered as a kid. Lots of fun shops and things to see. There was a roaring dinosaur that Tyler was a little afraid of at first. Then he wanted to watch it again and again. We got some ice cream and of course some free ice water, which they are famous for. It was a fun stop!!!

Badlands

We spent the afternoon in the Badlands. It was a beautiful, hot sunny day. We took a hike through the rocky part to get a better view. Tyler asked "why do we have to take a hike in the dessert." I told him it was part of the experience of the badlands. He stated "it isn't the fun part." So maybe it was pretty hot and sunny but it was also amazing and beautiful.

Rest Area Eagle

At one of the rest areas we got to see an eagle. They were transporting it to a rescue center and stopped to feed the eagle at the rest area. The man was nice enough to give the kids a little information on eagles and let us get some pictures. It also gave the kids something fun to do while I put together dinner.

Mall of America

This was our first destination on our journey out West.

The girls took there dolls to see all their American girl doll friends. They spent quite a bit of time checking everything out.

At lego land we were all impressed by the amazing things made out of legos. It was very inspiring.

We rode rides most of the day. The bumper cars and the Pepsi ride were the favorites. We saw sponge Bob and Dora which was kind of fun. Erin wins for riding the most rides. She is queen of the coasters. She just can't get enough.

At the cottage

Tim and Todd checking out U-tube

A hug from great grandma.

Alli and Tyler riding scooters.

Matchbox location uncovered...

We went to the Jenison Parade today. The kids were so excited to go.

Although the title may not make sense on this post, Tyler can clear this up in a hurry.
We were sitting among a group of older adults who nearly fell out of their collapsable, chairs laughing at Tyler's comments.
As a classic car rolled by Tyler yelled as loud as he could. "Mom, that looks just like my car that has been stuck under the fridegerator since a long time ago." "Do you remember that car?"
One of the ladies started offering Tyler tips to get it out. If you take a yard stick she told him you can just swosh stuff out from under there. He just grinned and said " Oh, I just use my Mom's spatula mostly, but it won't quite reach that one. I tried the fly slapper and that won't reach it either. It's pretty far under there." Nice to know..... because I flipped the pancakes with that spatula this morning.... Didn't know about it's apparent sebaticle under my appliances.