Last year we were all sitting in Ambers backyard and somehow we started talking about a vacation. We started off with thinking of going somewhere close to home for a 3 day weekend and then we got sidetracked and ended up planning a 8 day trip to South Dakota!
I'm so glad we did!! It was a FUN trip!! I am surprised that we all got from place to place without losing someone or something- I can't even imagine what the people were thinking when the whole "Thomas Tribe" showed up. The servers all gave us the "oh crap! don't seat them in my section look!" when we walked into a restaurant- I don't blame them there were 10 adults and 7 kids in our group!
One of my kids favorite things on this trip was "meeting" My mom would call all the kids into her room and basically do a sharing time about what we were going to see and learn the next day-
The kids learned a lot and were more interested in the places we went.
Day 1- Driving to Casper Wyoming and Swimming-starting out as the best vacation ever if you ask my kids!
Day 2- We woke up early and made out way to South Dakota- On the way there we stopped at the famous landmark- Mount Rushmore!!
The kids Thought it was neat that they had learned about the presidents on the mountain (Thanks Grandma!!!) My brother in laws also thought they were hilarious and gave me a themed shirt to wear-
They said they wanted me to know how my kids feel every place we go-
It was neat to think that something that impressive was carved in the 1920's- When we seen what they were lowered over the side of the mountain on it made it even more amazing!
Karden loved looking through the binoculars and had been looking through them for a good 5 minutes before he all the sudden turned around and screamed- "I can see the presidents through these!" Don't ask me what he had been looking at before he realized there purpose.
Day 3- The boys decided they had already had enough family fun and went golfing-
The girls loaded all the kiddos and went to Storybook Island-
It is the cutest little park that has fun status of kids stories to play on and look at- the best part is it is free!!
We spent the whole morning there and the kids had a great time!!
I think the grandma did too-
We of course had to have a family picture by the Wizard of oz!
But we realized 7 kids is ALOT of kids to wrangle-
Later that evening we went to the Circle B Ranch for a chuck wagon dinner- Before the dinner could begin- there was a problem, the biscuit bandit stole all the biscuits and the kids had to help find him for the sheriff-
This was the extremely mean biscuit bandit-
They also had fun panning for gold,
and practicing roping the calves...... or there cousins... whatever works! :)
The entertainment after dinner was well... pretty dang boring, so my mom had to entertain kids while teaching them to clap in fancy ways!
But in the end we all had fun-
Day 4- Bear Country USA!
This would be Ryans Favorite day!! We drove though a park were animals were just roaming around- We seen elk, big horn sheep, and of course the main attraction....BEARS!!!
They were all just walking around, at certain points we would half to stop for a bear crossing- IT was crazy!!
We could of rolled down the window and touched them- if we were brave-
but around here we do like all our fingers! After the drive through park we walked around baby land- yup you guessed it baby bears! They were soooo cute!!
Oh yeah the baby bears were cute too!
The baby bears were really fun to watch but I don't think they hold a candle to our "cub"
Who invited these two?
after bear country the girls went shopping and the dads had the kids- were did they end up... The watiki water park-
Let me tell you my kids ran there guts out for 4 hours and we still had to drag them off the slides- They were alot braver than I thought they would be love the water slides-Ryan not so much, he learned how to go down the tube slide, minus the tube-
Later that night I got roped into having ALL the boys for a sleepover so a few couples could go to a casino- Bad deal for me I think- but the kids were so tired them went to sleep within minutes!!
4 boys in a bed in a few too many, 2 ended up on the floor by morning but they had fun!
Day 5- Reptile Gardens!
What else needs to be said- snakes, turtle, and alligators all in one place. Just for the occasion we needed to have alligator hats-
Our first stop was the dome which in all over the place were snakes,
lizards
and other creepy things are loose and able to roam free! The kids had a fun time trying to spot animals and my dad ... well, he stayed up top!
We also met a employee named Berkley- We were talking to her and she had never met another Berkley until that day- We had to get a picture with both Berkleys!
Karden loved the snake show because they had a cobra and a huge nasty giant snake- which all the kids wanted to touch after.
The alligator show was really neat too-
But there is no way I would get in a pen with all those alligators- They were kinda boring until he brought out the chicken to feed them and they it got a little crazy-
The bird show was a bird show but the kids liked giving the bird money for conservation efforts-
Karden and Whitley really liked the HUGE turtles
Berkley, well she liked the stick she found-
We then headed to Custer to visit Flintstones town and see the magic show- on the drive there we got caught in a freak thunderstorm with hail the size of quarters- I have never seen anything like it- The ground when we had to pull over because of the zero visibility
Five minutes later...
I honestly thought the windows were going to shatter in the car- Whitley was crying, Berkley didn't really know what to do and Karden spent the whole time covering his ears! Within a matter of minutes the road looked like it had just got a winter snowstorm - When we got into town the roads were all flooded and Flintstones land had closed due to Weather- Just our luck-
We wasted a few hours in town we shopped a little, discovered different buffalo,
found a very "handy" chair
and of course posed for pictures
That night we went to see the Grand Magic show-
Duane the magician and I are Best buddies, I think since I have made the reservations in April, he has emailed me once a week to just make sure we are still coming- so while waiting for the show to start and being the only car in the parking lot, you can imagine the teasing I was getting- but after the magic show everyone had to eat there words- It was really really good- like Vegas good!! We got pictures with the magician and assistants after the show- everyone was impressed,
except berkley, she must of known all the secrets to his tricks!
Day 6- On our way out of South Dakota we finally had the chance to stop at Bedrock- and take a tour of Flintstones Land-
The kids thought it was fun to see inside Fred and Wilma's House and take pictures with all the characters-
Our attempt at a cousin picture- Looking good except for Kardens ornery face, He was having attitude and we teased him all day that the souvenir he needed was a shirt that said "I went to Bedrock city and all I got was my butt kicked behind the Flintstones house"
They also loved the playground and riding in a Real Flintstones car-
We then headed back to Wyoming for More Swimming!!
Day 7- Some of the boys went golfing again and the rest of us headed to the Science Center in downtown Casper- The kids had fun playing with the kids size science experiments
and flight simulator and Ryan was mesmerized by the bubbles-
Karden and Whitley thought they were pretty neat too!
It was a fun little 2 hours activity but I'm glad it was free!
That night we went to dinner at a fun little pub and grub and of course had to take picutes with the giant shark,
and dinosaur
and car full of alligators-
Of Course Grandpa had to show it how it was done!
a little random but fun!
Day 8- Driving, driving and more Driving. We decided to make a pit stop at Martins Cove on the way through Wyoming-
It was cold, and Windy and we through any jacket we could find on the kids to try to keep them warm.
Needless to say it was a very fast pit stop!
I have decided Wyoming is not for me- There is a whole lotta nothing to look at and a whole lotta wind! If I ever decide to move there remind me that I hate it! We of course had to stop in Evanston for Fireworks and finally made it home that night-
It was a super fun trip- lots of memories were made, 6 GPS were cussed, one truck was towed home,
But the most amazing part is that we all are still talking to each other- :) Love my Family!!
and the new exhibit was really fun to see, it made for a nice summer night!!
