There are funny things that happen which, at the time I think, "I've got to write about this!" but most of the time, I forget by the time I get to my computer. One of those moments was when we first checked into the hotel. Ryan was speaking in a French accent (or so he thought) and he spoke that way for the rest of the day, especially when we were out in "public" because he wanted everyone at the hotel to think he was from France.
There were a million more of those moments and I'll probably never remember them!
Anyway, our third day was spent at Bear Country, the Cosmos, Rushmore Tramway and Slide and Mount Rushmore. On the way we saw this car and Nathan asked why they had underwear hanging from the car. After closer inspection it appeared it was actually underwear. But hard to tell. Ha!
Bear Country is a drive--thru animal park with bears (obviously), Big Horned Sheep, wolves, and other animals that are walking free. The line got very backed up because of animals walking in front of the cars, which is fine when someone doesn't have to use the restroom! I was cursing these animals and the driver of the SUV who didn't plow them over. (Just kidding) :)
Fellow Missourian! We had seen a few on our way and I tried to wave and take their pic but usually Mike was driving too fast. Since we were waiting in line to see the animals, this person was captive but had no idea I was taking his picture.
Friendly bear...saying hi to his friend.
Family pic. One of these days Nathan will learn how to take a picture without closing his eyes and with an actual smile on his face. :) Poor kid...I think he's getting tired of us trying to teach him how to smile for a photo. He is beginning to avoid getting his picture taken.
Grace loved the bears so much, she wanted to kiss one!
Nathan loved Bear Country. He bought a stuffed bear and named him Coco. He brings him EVERYWHERE!!! This is not the stuffed bear, btw. But a cute pic with his eyes OPEN! :)
On our drive through Bear Country, we let the kids take turns sitting in the front seat. I was trying to get a photo of Ryan and me...this is probably the 10th one I tried to get. Every time he would make some goofy face.
I finally make a goofy face along with him and he doesn't...go figure!
On to the Cosmos...this place was great and I would definitely recommend it. I am still completely confused by that experience. I know it is some optical illusion but it makes my brain hurt trying to figure it out.
Here are Ryan and Grace on completely level concrete slabs. Yet, they appear to be different heights when they switch sides. Why???
This I understand a little better...the "cabin" is built on a hill and was, itself, slanted so the center of gravity appeared to be off. Well...I understand it better than I can explain it! Haha! Anyway, it was a complete mind trick...they showed balls that could roll up hill and we could stand against the walls and lean forward without falling. Craziness!
Next was a completely unplanned stop but those are the best kind! We took a ski lift up to the top of a huge hill and went down a slide. On the way up, they took everyone's picture.
Here we are on the way down:
Last stop for the day...Mount Rushmore. Or what Ryan called it about a trillion times until you felt like wringing his neck--Rush Mountmore. This was the place where we found our 44th state in the license plate game. Yes...we actually drove through the parking lot checking out the plates of all the cars. We are still wondering if we are going to find Hawaii.
This was a great end to our day. At least, Mike and I thought so. I think the kids just wanted to go swimming back at the hotel. We got some great pics:
Foreshadowing??? :) Grace did tell me she wanted to be the first woman president. That should earn her a spot on Mount Rushmore!
And we are hoping they win the contest being held by their orthodontist. Kids were to send pictures of themselves wearing their orthodontist's t-shirts at a summer vacation spot. I think it's a winner!
Well, that was the end of that day! We did manage to get back to the hotel for an hour of swimming. Kids were happy!
No comments:
Post a Comment