Good 'ol Reptile Gardens...one of the favorite stops of the trip.
Love Zach's reaction to the 'herd' of alligators/crocodiles.
Waiting for the show.
Double checking that it's not real before getting too close.
Zach's 'mean' face.
Ahhh yes...there's what I remember! They said the couple turtles they had were around 50 years old...can't sit on them anymore, but still cool!
Yes, Zach finally touched the turtle...I wasn't quick enough to get the picture, but you can see he was pretty pleased with himself.
We stopped off at a little amusement park...the boys all got to do go-karts (pregnant mom was banned)...I didn't have my camera with me...which is a bummer since the go-karts were a favorite of both boys from the trip.
One of the best things about being tall...you get to drive your own bumper car!
On to Bear Country.
Saw all kinds of animals, tons of bears...but you can't beat the baby-bear attraction.
Mount Rushmore... or as my boys dubbed them... 'The Heads'...politically correct I'm sure.
We stopped to do the Alpine Slide ride near Rushmore...up the chair lift. Unfortunately mom was banned again from the slides so Zach had to settle with some quality time with mom riding the chairlift back down while Dad & Ben did the slide.
Flintstone Village...my childhood memories of this place had it right up there with Disney Land. I have to say when we pulled up to the place I thought we must've been at the wrong one...it couldn't possibly be a couple stone buildings in the middle of a pasture could it?
Visiting with the conductor...
And yes, we were the only ones on the train (you can see how packed the parking lot was in the background.)
I guess Nick was still pouting in disappointment.
There she is!
Ecstatic.
At least Fred & Barney still were out in full force!
You can see from the grins that the boys still thought the place was pretty cool.
Although they did keep asking why nothing 'did anything' (i.e. moved, talked, etc.)...yep, imagination is critical at this place!
This car really drove...Ben was a little disappointed he couldn't do the driving, but they did take this picture for us...although apparently they didn't notice we had another little boy beside the driver.
Probably the best part of the place...the old school playground!
We wanted to hit the big outdoor waterslides in Rapid City, but it wasn't really hot out so we opted for some indoor ones. This was the favorite...part of the slide spit you out into this funnel where you would go around and around before getting sucked down the hole and carried on. At the top of this pic is Ben getting shot out of the hole.
And here comes Dad & Zach.
There they go down the toilet.
Lazy river.
It was fun for Ben to be able to go on his own...and helpful for Dad since Mom wasn't in waterslide condition.
Zach loved it and wanted to go over and over...good workout for Dad for the day!
Finally the swim lessons have paid off!
Another childhood favorite...Storybook Island.
And again lots of imagination required...nothing 'moved'. Somehow back then that never occurred to us, but these days that can be a little lame I guess.
I need to dig out pictures at my parent's...I'm pretty sure we have this one with some of the Sletten cousins!
Same water fountains!
Dino Park
Ben's photog.
Inside Rushmore Cave
Mini golfing the last night. We were a little worried about 2 rambunctious boys on a mini golf island, but they loved it and did great. Ben even got into his golf game.
I guess I'll admit that everyone got a hole in one except Mom... yes, even Zach on a downhill bank shot. Ben's was straight as an arrow down the middle between some rocks.
This was the hole Ben got his hole in one...Dad was lolly gagging and missed it, but I was a witness buddy.
Someone was ready to call it quits around hole 15, but still a trooper!
