Spontaneous Spring Break, Part 3

Read Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

THE BIG DAY.  The day we thought we'd finally get around to seeing the monument we drove all that way to see.  But first, we decided to go to the Crazy Horse Memorial, mainly because the story of its origin is crazy interesting, and it's fascinating that it's still not done and probably won't be for decades.  Also becasue it was another 30 minutes further than Mount Rushmore, and both babies fell asleep in the car on the way to the Mount.

Unfortunately, they also woke up STARVING and super pissed about it, so our visit to Crazy Horse was not as fun as it could have been.  I can unreservedly recommend the restaurant off the gift shop, though.


OF COURSE these uploaded in a totally random order, and I have had too may Teddy Grahams and too much sweet South Dakota wine to fix them.  SO.

Before we left for the day, sporting his new sunglasses and hat.

 Cooper was as good as he possibly could be, but he just wanted to go bye bye his house, or, failing that, bye bye his hotel room.  He wanted to go to his happy place, which is what he calls Disney World.

 Ha!  Love the western bagel sign.

 Crazy Horse.

 What it will look like someday.

 Yelling at a kid or playing with a kid?  HARD TO SAY

 Playing with a kid here.  He kept saying "Kiss me.  I wipe it off.  You chase me."

 So, Crazy Horse was cool, but not that cool.  We were worried that we would feel the same way about Mount Rushmore, but you guys!!  It was GORGEOUS!  And even though we have seen pictures of it a thousand times, it was still really awesome in real life.  So pretty and grand, and the way it emerges from the rock is hypnotizing. We could NOT stop staring.

 NO wonder we kept getting mocked by strangers.  I look like an asshole with my selfie stick.

 Cooper LOVED these viewers and kept asking for more "montey"

 I only just now noticed how matchy matchy Dorothy and I were.

 Set up the tripod for a family selfie.

 Changed lenses.

 And tried it again.  Oops.

 Playing or fighting?

 Looks peaceful, but this little platform was the WORST because Dorothy kept trying to fling herself to her death among the rattle snakes.

 Oh.  Here were are at breakfast.

 Those boys never met a pool they didn't love.

 Harry was the only kid awake on the way to Crazy Horse.

 Lunch.  Delicious.

 The Crazy Horse memorial has a super awesome Native American museum

 Our first picture at Mount Rushmore.  Starring my lame backpack.

 One gust and he;d have been GONE

 Selfie stick blooper.

 Um, where's the other kid?

 Um, he's still missing.

 So we ditched all the kids.

 Ha!

 Another bad one.

 Thomas Jefferson wrote the first vanilla ice cream recipe.  Cool!

 Dorothy's face is the BEST.

 SO windy

 The only kid tall enough to be in the shot

 My FAVORITE

 Almost a good one...

 Almost...

 Yikes.

 This is fantastic.  Every time I put on lipstick, by the way, she puts it on, too.

 Oh, the selfie stick.

 She was a TERROR on the stairs.

 Missing a kid and a president.

 Seriously.

 A good one!!

 Mount Rushmore has really great ice cream in the dining room, BTW.

 We stopped in Keystone for more terrible souvenirs.

 And then had sangria and pizza at our hotel to watch the Badgers win!!

 The kids ran wild in the empty lobby.  It was perfect.

 Cooper ate bacon for literally every meal.

 ...And Crazy Horse again.  Blogger is super random tonight.