Day 4

Our day began with happy happy kids!!! Leif was super fussy with yesterdays drive so today we took a break. We spent the whole day sightseeing and getting some bottled up energy out. Today's agenda we saw Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Jewel Caves and played at WaTiki the biggest water park in South Dakota!

See how happy they were when they woke up!

The days first stop began at the Rapid City Visitor Center. We met Smokey the Bear! Callie's pose involved a leg kick and I'm the only one looking at the camera...dang.

Mt. Rushmore created by Gutzon Borglum from 1927 - 1941. This was a fantastic national monument. The flags you see are above a walkway to the great view. You can also see the rock pile below the 4 presidents from all the blasted rock.

We took a hike that took us to the actual art studio that Gutzon Borglum worked while constructing the monument. This is the view that Borglum would have looked at while working.

Wild goats roamed the area. On this one we noticed a tag on the ear. The goat is standing and the road entrance to the parking lot.

This is Crazy Horse. It was started in 1947 and has yet to be finished. This is as close as we got and the horses head is outlined in paint.

This is inside the Jewel Caves. These caves are about 30 miles from Mt. Rushmore. It was discovered by local brothers who found a 14 inch hole and could feel air coming from it. Currently they have found 150 miles worth of caves and just 2 months ago recorded the deepest depth of a cave known. We actually took an elevator 200 feet straight down into this large cavern.

Here it is...the biggest water park in South Dakota!!!

Callie loved the lazy river.

Grandma and Grandpa J playing with the kids while Andrew and I went on some slides! We had a ton of fun and are so happy we took this extra day to play.