Day 9: Rapid City Part IV

We started our day out at a local park. But this was no ordinary park. It is called the Storybook Island and it was amazing. Basically they brought over 140 different storybooks to life by building and or displaying items form that story. For example, for the Three Little Pigs there were the three different types of houses (straw, wood, & brick) and for Jack and Jill there was a well on top of a water and slides to bring the kids back down. One of Cutler's favorite stories is the Billy Goats Gruff. So he was very excited to see the goats trying to cross the bridge while the troll was on guard! He even drew a picture to show that this was his favorite part of the day! We even got to see a play about Jack and the Beanstalk in the theatre. It was what looked like 5 Highschool kids that are really into drama. But it was really good considering! The very best part of this entire activity was that it was free! It did not cost a dime to get in. We did pay 75 cents for the kids to ride the train, but that was nothing compared to some of the fees we have encountered.
The kids even got to drink Hippo Spit. (A water fountain was shaped like a Hippo and you drank form its mouth- hence Hippo spit!)

After the park we asked the kids what they wanted to do, and it was a unanimous vote to return to Old MacDonalds farm. So we piled back into the car and took off to spend some more time with the animals at the farm. The kids had just as much fun the second time around as they did the first time. They even got to help feed the baby lambs this time. Half the kids rode the ponies before lunch and the other two were going to ride them after- but when we sent them over to take their ride the ponies had just started their hour break!! And we did not have an hours worth of activities to keep us busy, so we decided to head to our next destination which was further up the mountain and then stop back by when we came back down.

...There is more to say but it is 2 am and we have to drive to Denver in the morning, so I will add the rest later.

Okay, we got some sleep and I want to make sure to get yesterday's events down before I forget what it is that we did exactly. So after the farm we put the kids back in the car and then drove out to Hill City. A friend of ours (Brandy T.) just got back in town from a trip to South Dakota and when we asked her what we should make sure to do she directed us out to Hill City where she had taken her kids panning. So we headed out and made our way to Wades Mill. Now we are not sure if this is the same place that she went with her family or not, but it was the only place people directed us to when we asked!
We were a little hesitant upon our arrival as it did not look like what we had pictured it was going to. But my Mom got out anyway and asked about what was available. And they said there was panning and the way they did it every child was guaranteed to "find" gold. Plus they gave the kids a hands on lesson first before the actual attempt at gold panning. So we decided we might as well try it out.
The activity started by each of the older 4 getting a prospecting pan and a vial of dirt. In the vial there were seven pieces of gold that the kids attempted to find using the methods they were shown in he panning lesson. And with a little bit of help, everyone found their "gold". It was nive because we were the only ones there at teh time, so we got the undivided attention of three "miners"!
Once the lesson was over, it was time for the real thing. Each of them placed mill dirt into the pan and then took the pan down to the creek. Once there they removed their shoes and chose a spot on a small low bridge where they could each the pan after it was placed in the water. Each full pan was placed under the water with its natural current and then churned (kind of like kneading dough) to allow for the loose dirt to float away. When quite a bit of the soil was gone the kids had a chance to go through the different rocks to see if they wanted to save any. They found quartz, micah, limestone, etc. It was amazing what some of the "rocks" tuned out to be. The most impressive thing was the number of garnets in the material the kids panned. There were tons. Now these are not huge jewels to say the least, but it was pretty amazing to see how perfectly formed they were!
Lincoln and Mabry did not participate in the panning process. But Lincoln did have a fun time playing in the creek. He started out wading with just his feet getting wet,
but then he moved further in to deeper water that got his shorts wet. And before we knew it he was sitting on the bottom of the creek. And loving every minute of it. He did not even seem to mind how cold the water was. But it was cold and the current was fairly strong! So I took him and Mabry up to the top of the embankment and fed them snacks as the others panned. (I felt like I was a snack for the mosquitos!)

After the gold panning we drove by the Crazy Horse Memorial. We did not pay th entrance fee. I just had them view it from the road because when Justin and I were here before we did not feel like the entrance fee was worth what you got. The sculpture is not near done so you are not allowed anywhere near it. The view from the road is not much different form the view of the observation deck. And it sure does nto seem like they have progressed much since j and I were here before.

After Crazy horse we drove by Mount Rushmore one more time. And I must say it is still as cool as ever. The kids must think so too because they were even willing to hike around the base of the mountain again!

We then stopped by the Farm again and let the kids ride the ponies adn watch the final pig race. After which we went and had diner and then went to Pirates Cove to finish our golf game. Cutler loves to Miniature golf! He does not actually play by the rules, but he still had a great time hitting the ball into the hole as many times as he could.

None of us can believe it is time to move on to our next destination. There is still so much we could do around here. But it is going to have to wait for another time!