South Dakota, part 2

Mount Rushmore!

Goofy Dad squishing George Washington’s face

Joe wanted to box

In the Visitors Center, the boys could push down on a lever and see the explosion on the side of the mountain through a video.  This was a huge favorite.  Luckily, we were the only kids there so no one was concerned that we were dynamite hogs.

Joe found some gold!  Not really, but I’m pretty sure I’ll still have those sparkly rocks in my purse in three months.

After our time at the monument, we drove around the Needles Highway in the Black Hills National Forest.  Man, that would have been a great family shot… thanks, Andrew.  Mt. Rushmore is over Scott’s shoulder.

The tunnels we went through were were so skinny.  It was super cool to honk in them and listen to the echo.  Not sure the animals appreciated it as much as we did.

The Explorers Club meets again!

No, that’s not our boys, thank goodness.  We saw this formation from afar but only realized it was being scaled by someone.  Holy cow.

Back to those skinny tunnels, some moron tried to squeeze his RV though it.  A bystander was nice enough to ride on top to make sure he cleared the sides.  It took him half an hour, but he made it through with just a scratch.

Andrew goofed off while we waited.

Then they all joined him.  Such goofy kids.  They did great for being in the car so much that day.

And we got up close and personal with some bison. The one up top was, um, scratching himself on that post. I felt weird video taping it. There’s a tent just off to the right. Hope those folks weren’t in there!

Silly picture with mom.

Just on the other side of the first sign was this sign.

Some of the needles are in the back ground.  Of special note in this picture is mom’s necklace.  I didn’t begin the day with it.  It was a gift.  Scott was watching Luke checking out necklaces at the Rushmore gift shop.  When he questioned him, Luke announced that he wanted to get a necklace for mommy and he wanted to pay for it himself.  They selected a nice dragonfly one and he gave it to me on our way out.  It was so touching, I almost cried!  He was embarrassed that I liked it so much.  A few minutes, later sitting down for lunch, the waitress noticed it and commented how much she liked it, too.  I told her it was a gift from my sweet son Luke, and I gave him a big kiss.  His response:  a totally red-faced “don’t mention it” – as in, '”really, mom, please don’t mention it again.”  Love it!