Labor Day Weekend

So, we decided at the last minute to head to SD for Labor Day weekend. Ben's newly retired mother and her husband were road tripping from Cali across America and were going to be in Keystone, SD that weekend and we decided to crash their party as it were.

Day 1

We left at 0 dark 30 to make the 7 hour drive. There wasn't much to see on the drive across SD so it was a good thing that the kids slept most of the way. Farm land, corn, cows, and repeat. If the signs didn't say SD I would think that we were still in NE. Baby did well on the drive. She got a little cranky towards the end but, then again, we all were cranky after 7 hours.

So for the American history & geographically challenged, Keystone SD is the home of Mt. Rushmore. Yes, we drove 7 hours with 3 kids to see 4 dead presidents carved into a mountain. It was cool to see and the history we all learned was neat. Grandma arrived shortly after we did early afternoon so we headed to the park on the first day. Photos, photos, photos...

The view from our hotel
At the entrance to the park

The family (I got rid of the cast earlier in the week, like my new brace?)

And again, with Bekah looking
It is awesome to have someone else wearing baby!
This is my favorite shot. One, I didn't pose them, and two, I feel like I can see their minds just working as they stare at this amazing thing. Or maybe they are just bored and wondering how long we are all going to look at this mountian. Either way, I love it.
Self portrait (of course)

Okay, we were trying to get a shot to prove to Beks later that she was there

Duh, why don't we have her siblings hold her? Love this one too.
Learning the history of Lakota Sioux
Jake exploring a small, confined space. Shocker.
A close up view

Still there Daddy

The view from the trail that goes up to the mountain
I had to put one of the 20 pictures Ben took in B&W or sepia. I thought the view of God's creation was beautiful.
I'm not sure this was comfortable
"Mom, I was sleeping"


Quit taking pictures of the dead weight on my back

Back at the base of the mountainMountain goats
Beks having her first saltine cracker...
...and wearing most of it
A good day. The park had a museum and an artist studio to show us the how and why of the Mt. It was neat. The kids participated in the Jr ranger thing in the museum. They each got a booklit filled with activities and they had to search the museum to complete it. Fun and learning, amazing. Day one was long but good.