Our Family Trip 2015 : Reptile Gardens!

Our next stop that Wednesday afternoon was Reptile Gardens near Rapid City, South Dakota.  Don't let my smile fool you, I wasn't overly excited about being here, but all the flowers were very pretty!  Reptile habitats are not my happy place either, but... for the sake of seeing this world renown place and since my family had been so good about going to the wax museum with me, I agreed to go...

Okay, it wasn't that bad, it was a beautiful day to walk through the gardens filled with beautiful flowers...

Okay, it WAS that bad... I would never dream of letting my 4 year old touch a snake in real life, I mean a real live snake, I mean, uggg whatever... it happened, they all touched it...

And don't let all these happy family trip pictures fool you either.  We had our share of problems and squabbles and disturbances...

All four of our kids got themselves in trouble while we were at the Reptile Gardens that day...

Anyway, back the the flowers! It really wasn't all that bad...

eeeeek.....

nice....

interesting....

eeeek, it's one of the longest crocs in the world!...

I can't believe I'm actually posting this picture.  My blog has always been a positive place to share the things that make me feel happy and good.  This did not make me feel either happy or good.  In fact, the only thing I feel happiness about when I see this picture is that I don't live in the same place as these creatures do...

AND, I don't live in the same place as these creatures do either...

or these ones...

While we were there, we watched a crocodile wrestler.  Here we are waiting for the show, and my husband seems to want to pet one of them...

wrestler in action...

my children petting a baby crocodile...

it's name was "Fluffy"...

And then we went and petted the giant turtles.  These guys were over a hundred years old!

They weren't so bad at all...

Hello to you old fella...

And the flowers weren't bad at all either!

It really was a very interesting afternoon at the Reptile Gardens.  A "must see", even if you are a little squeamish, like me, about these types of things.  The amount of poisonous, venomous, and otherwise dangerous snakes, spiders, lizards, crocodiles, and other reptiles in this place was staggering!  I was very thankful for thick walls and windows!!!  No joke!

After we were done at the Gardens, we headed back to the RV park.  We threw together taco salad and my Aunt Connie stopped by to visit while we ate dinner.  It was so fun to see her for a little bit while we were there.  Then we headed to Gospel Meeting in a nearby town.  More special faces and memorable places on the trip... a highlight for sure!

After Gospel Meeting we hit the grocery store to stock up and then headed back the long way around so we could see the faces of Mount Rushmore lit up one last time!  It was another day to remember!

Our Family Trip 2015 : National Presidential Wax Museum!

The next morning, we got up and headed to Keystone, South Dakota to visit the National Presidential Wax Museum.  I remembered being there as a child and thought it was amazing so I wanted to go back with the family.

It was neat to see all the life size wax Presidents and learn about how they were made.  Its a major process that goes into making each figure.  Each of us had a electronic devise we held to our ear and it would tell us about each scene in the museum.  Here are a few pictures but so much, much more to this museum...

Like I mentioned, an amazing amount of work goes into making these wax figures, but what I was reminded of again was what each of these men was really made of...  

I love museums and history and it was alive and well in this place!

Onward we went to the edge of Rapid City and ate lunch at Sonic.  We don't have Sonic around us so it was a bonus to eat there...

The Shakes were a "treat" too!

Next Stop... snakes, spiders and crocodiles, Oh My!

Our Family Trip 2015 : Mount Rushmore!

Don't worry when you are not recognized, but strive to be worthy of recognition.

~Abraham Lincoln

After an already wonderful first day in the Black Hills, we topped it off with an evening visit to
Mount Rushmore.  Both Randy and I had been here in our youth and we were excited to return with the kids all these years later.  The faces on the mountain did not disappoint.

On our drive from Needles Highway to the Mount, we looked for a place to grab some supper but didn't find anything.  Then our hope was that we would find something at Rushmore.  Here we are, after we parked in the elaborate, multi-level parking area, walking toward the monument mountain...

Happy but hungry...

We did find a very nice, very large food cafeteria with all the food and treats you could ever want.  We took turns getting our food and while we waited, we kept looking up at those faces...

Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.

~ Theodore Roosevelt

Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair; the rest is in the hands of God.

~ George Washington

Enjoying a hot supper with a stately view...

Then, enjoying some cold ice cream cones on the Avenue of Flags,  under Montana!

Then we walked the presidential trail, a 0.6 mile hike around and under the faces.  

"The purpose of the memorial is to communicate the founding, expansion, preservation, and unification of the United States with colossal statues of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt."-Gutzon Borglum, creator

George Washington signifies the struggle for independence and the birth of the Republic; 

Thomas Jefferson represents the territorial expansion of the country;

 Abraham Lincoln stand for the permanent union of the States and equality for all citizens;

Theodore Roosevelt exemplifies the 20th century role of the United States in world affairs and the industrial growth of the nation.

On the trail and looking back toward the amphitheater...

And back again to the Lincoln Borglum Visitors Center, learning about the creation of the faces...

We should not look back unless it is to derive useful lessons from past errors, and for the purpose of profiting by dearly bought experience.

~George Washington

By this time of the evening, one little girl was very tired out...

But the evening wasn't over yet, time for the Evening Lighting Ceremony.  We went out to sit down long before the show because people were pouring in in the hundreds and thousands...

Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.

~ Thomas Jefferson

This doesn't do justice to the mass of people that were there on that Tuesday night.  The balcony was full, the stares and all the seats as it got nearer to the program.  Currently an average of 2,500 people attend the Lighting Ceremony nightly according to the park service...

It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.

~ Theodore Roosevelt

Do you want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.

~Thomas Jefferson

It was truly a remarkable evening and one I hope to remember for a very long time.  A very patriotic, touching tribute to our country and the great, virtuous men who founded it.  It was a great lesson in history for the kids and a reminder for us adults of all we have to be thankful for.  Then there was a tribute to all the service men and women in the audience.  They were all asked to come down and there were rows of them on stage.  They gave their name and what branch of Military they served in... very touching!  And then they lit the faces.  Breathtaking.

We were all very tired as we made our way to our pickup out in the parking area with the masses of people.  It was very late by the time we returned to our campsite and Melita was sound asleep.  It didn't take us long to climb into our beds and fall asleep too.  It had truly been a day to remember.

Please take your loved ones to Mount Rushmore sometime in your life!  It'll be worth the trip, I promise. :)

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.

~ Abraham Lincoln