rock mushmore

We took a Morgan family vacation this past weekend to the Black Hills in SD.  The whole family rented a house just outside Rapid City.  It was a HUGE house and everyone had their own room and bed.  Including us was my brother Eric, his fiance Alice, their daughter Amaya, my other brother Bret, and my parents.  7 adults and 3 kids ages 3, 2 and 1.  Yikes!  It was super hot out so we had to limit what we did each day and make it back to the house sometime around naptime.  Here is a brief breakdown about what we did and a ton of photos to follow!

Storybook Island- A cheesy, free park for kids.  The kids loved it because it had a ton of characters to look at, pose around, and play with.  By far the kids' favorites were the Winnie the Pooh display.  All three kids couldn't stop hugging Pooh, Tigger, Rabbit, and all the rest.  It was super cute.

Old McDonald's Farm: A kids petting zoo.  A little overpriced if you ask me, but the kids mostly liked it.  By kids I mean Amaya and Jaxon.  Kendall was scared of EVERYTHING there.  Goats, pigs, cows, horses, you name it.  She wouldn't even hold a baby chick!!  I tried hard not to get frustrated with her, she seemed to have a battitude from the second she woke up that day.  Jaxon on the other hand absolutely loved this place.  He went right up the the goats, cows and everything else and tried to give them all hugs.  He loved them soo much.  He also did a pony ride which he also loved. 

Mt. Rushmore (or as Kendall called it, rock mushmore!): This was cool of course and neat to see.  Kendall can still pick out "Teddy" from the other presidents and we got some cute pics in front of the Presidents.  We also did the alpine slide in Keystone.  You go up in a chairlift and slide down 2000 feet to the bottom. Kendall went on this with Rick and enjoyed it very much.

Bear Country: Ok.  I had my hesitations with this.  I thought you would see bears that were very far away.  Well, I was so wrong.  There are tons of bears walking alongside the car, crossing the road, and hanging out right next to you!  It was crazy how many different types of bears were there and how much they play and interact.  At the end of the park was an area that you walk through and the best part was the area where all the bear cubs were.  There must have been 30-40 cubs playing, climbing up trees, wrestling and swimming.  The entire family loved Bear Country and I would love to go back.

Reptile Gardens: This was pretty neat, and we saw many different types of birds, turtles, snakes, and other reptiles. I am not a HUGE fan of reptiles, but Kendall and Rick loved it so it was a win win.

Spearfish water park: Very very nice water park.  It is as good, if not better then Raging Rivers.  Best part?  It was way cheaper!  It was only 7.50 for adults and the kiddos were free!  So much fun.  We didn't get to spend too much time there since there was lightening off and on throughout the afternoon, but it was a good thing to get some energy out of the children before the long drive home.



Amaya loved to chase the chicken, ha!

Love this picture!

Absolutely no fear when it came to the animals

I had to put this picture on.  Kendall had a bad attitude this morning!

Loved the pony ride

Family pic



This boy loves BEARS!  When he sees one he immediately hugs him

 WHO IS THE SCARIEST??

We told Kendall to look scared

Cousin LOVE!

Kendall has always loved the story of the Three Little Pigs

Once again, Jaxon hugging everything he sees

I really love this picture of Amaya and Grandpa