Day 2 - Hiking

Since yesterday when Collin found out that the white stuff towards the top of the mountain was snow, he has wanted to hike up to the snow spot and see it.  So....if you can imagine, he did NOT want to go get groceries or breakfast when he woke up.  He wanted to hike.  We needed to get groceries so we loaded up in the car and found a great little place called Cliff's Cafe.  Collin ate a huge plate of pancakes and 3 sausages.  Guess he did need to eat breakfast after all. 

We left and walked to get groceries because they were in the same shopping center as the breakfast place.  After that, we headed back to the house in the mountains.  I barely unloaded one back and Collin asked when we could go hiking.  I let him know that I needed to unload the groceries, especially the cold ones, first.  He seemed to be OK with that response and went to watch a movie. 

After we all rested, we packed up in the car to go hiking.   We did not know how long Collin would last hiking so we found a trailhead that looked like it would lead us to the patch of snow that was closest to the bottom.  I thought he might last at least an hour based on the hiking he did on our trip to South Dakota.  I was right....he wanted to lead the way and not stop too much to rest.  Hiking up to the snow spot was a little tricky because of the rocks and high plants, but we all made it.  Collin walked to the edge of the snow and was very cautious when he started to walk on it.  He did not know what to do so Daddy talked him through it and eventually walked over to help. 

Collin leading the way

Finally....snow!!!

View looking out from the snow patch.  We are staying in the house on the end of the cluster of houses to the right.

 After playing in the icy snow a little, we hiked down and across to find the waterfall we could see from the road.  It was a lot higher up than we thought and a steep climb, so we walked down a little and at least to the stream towards the bottom.  Collin put his hand in the water and said, "It's FREEZING".  We explained that it was cold because it was melted snow coming from the top of the mountain. 

After hiking for over an hour, we got back in the car and went to the house. Collin and I threw the football and then went inside so he could rest.  He watched a little of a movie and then we started putting a puzzle together.  We did not finish because this was Collin after 5 minutes......

He slept for over two hours and was hungry when he got up.  After dinner and a shower, we all relaxed while watching a movie (I read and watched a movie).

Tomorrow, we plan to do some of the activities at the bottom of the mountain and ride the tram to the top.  Should be fun.

Traveling Day - Yes, We Are On Vacation Again!

I cannot remember the last time, if ever, that we went on vacation for a week twice in one year....but here we are doing it.  We are headed to Utah to stay in the mountains for a week.

In preparation for our trip to Utah, Daddy bought Collin his very own suitcase. He showed him the night before we left which might have been a mistake. Collin immediately started pulling out his clothes and other things he wanted to take for the trip. I thought he did a decent job with the clothes minus a few important items. Here is what he packed:


4 soft PJs

3 underwear

1 T-shirt

1 shorts

1 long pants

And…..7 of his favorite animals

Considering we will be gone for 8 days, I think he packed a little light. What, no socks? What good is one shirt going to do? After packing all of these items in his new suitcase, he sat on the top of it so he could zip it up. He did need help but did a great job of trying. Of course, I did have to unpack it and include several items he forgot. He starting crying when I told him that he needed to limit the stuffed animals he brought to only 4 of them. I thought that was being generous too because I knew that I would be the one keeping track of these guys on the trip.

As soon as he was packed he started asking when we were going to leave. We had 14 or so hours to go so I needed to start the distraction tactics. We watched a movie and went to bed.

The next morning, he was ready to go. He wanted to know when the plane was going to get here thinking that it was going to pick us up from the house. We explained about the airport and that the plane would not fit on our street or front yard. Once we finally got in the car and Daddy just started to drive on the highway, Collin asked if he could take the short cut to the airport. Daddy said he was trying not to laugh at the excitement coming from the back of the car.

Once at the airport, he thought it was funny that there were cars driving people to the different gates) and restaurants inside. After going through security (he did great!), we started looking for lunch. Collin announced that he wanted shrimp (he loves shrimp no matter how they are prepared). He was in luck. There was a nicer restaurant near our gate that had a shrimp po-boy. He ate all six butterfly shrimp and was still hungry.

While we waited to board the plane, he was entertained looking out the window. He had TONS of questions about what the people where doing out there. I explained about the luggage guys and the people directing the plane. The people inside waiting would smile when Collin yelled out about the planes moving backwards or the cart pulling the plane out of the gate (we were about to board one of the smaller planes so these planes do need help pulling out from the gate).

When it was our turn to board, he thought it was great when we had to walk outside and go up the stairs to the plane. He wanted to know if these would fall or if they would hang off the plane when we were flying.

He looked out the window the entire way at all of the planes guessing which one was ours

Once we got on the plane, he was ready to pull out his animals and blanket to get ready and watch a movie. I explained that we had to be in the air first and wait for the flight attendant to let us know when we could use the iPad. He was satisfied to watch the plane start moving and getting ready to take off. When the engines started getting louder, he said "Monkey is crying because he is scared and puppy is laughing at him." As soon as we heard that we could use the iPad, he pulled off his shoes, got his blanket ready, put on his headphones and chose The Lion King to watch first. While the movie was starting, he placed his animals around him so that they could watch too.

Snowball, Monkey, Puppy and Collin ready to go!

There was no interrupting this kid during his movie

After the movie was over, the questions started again. "Does this plane have guns?, Are the wheels still down or up? Will the wings fall off? Are there bigger wings in the back of the plane? Why is there only one fin in the back? Which state are we flying to again? How many sleeps (nights) will we be there? Do we need to use the mask now?" (he was obviously listening to the flight attendant announcement in the beginning of the flight explaining about the mask coming down in case of an emergency) and, once we were flying about the clouds, "Where's God? We are above the clouds now?"

The landing was a little rough but he did great. He was busy looking out the window at the mountains and asking more questions about the white stuff (snow), the green stuff (trees) and grey stuff (rocks). He thought it was funny that the cars were so small. When we did land, he turned to me and gave me this biggest grin.

We rented a Ford Expedition because we have another family joining us later in the week. Collin immediately climbs to the third row and thought he was a king sitting back there. After we found a place to eat dinner, we headed to the mountains and the house were we will be staying for the week. The house is not just a cabin in the mountains. It's a 3,500 sq ft, 3-story house on the side of the mountain that overlooks the Snowbird ski area. The surrounding scenery is beautiful!!! We unpacked the car and the boys immediately started checking the area out. They found checkers and played a little on the balcony. Then, we found the game stash and played Jengo. Collin said he knew how to play because he learned at museum camp last week. He's good too! After a few games, we went into the TV room to watch a movie before going to bed. Collin's room is a tiny little area off the master bedroom. He loves it though because there is a thick, wooden ladder leading from that room down to the mud room at the front of the house through a secret door. I will have to watch him on this because it's not the safest thing for him to use.

Not a bad view while learning to play checkers

Collin concentrating and not wanting the tower to fall.....

......but it did anyway!

Zoo Camp - Summary

Collin had a great week at zoo camp.  I know he was active....nope, not because he took a nap when he got home....but because he had a new bruise or scrap on his legs every day when he got home.  He said one was because he fell looking at the Meerkats (my favorite too) and the others he could not remember. 

I know I enjoyed hearing about the animals he saw and what was going on with the exhibits at the zoo.  Just this morning on the way to breakfast, he said, out of the blue, "the zoo is going to add gorillas because they don't have them now.  They are building where they live".  Later he even added, "they are probably going to have a lot because they are building a big cage".  He also does not want to cut off the two wrist bands that he had to wear for camp showing which camp he was assigned to and his age.  He was classed as a Butterfly denoting that he was "6".....we know he is not but we wanted him to be in Jacob's class.

Each day, they learned about a different animal habitat.  Here is what I could get out of him:

Monday
Animals: Sharks and Sea lions and they made a water bottle fish

Tuesday
Animals:  Lions, giraffes, dogs and ostrich.  He made a Z for zebra.

Wednesday
Animals:  Reptiles and Children's zoo

Thursday:
Animals:  Jaguars, fossa (this was his favorite...I have no idea what these look like), and tigers

Friday:
Animals:  Primates and bird house.  He made a handprint monkey that was really cute.   Interesting because this is the day that he and Jacob stunk the most.  Wonder why? 

He told us that he wants to go back to the zoo, not necessarily for camp, to show us all of the things he saw.  I asked him where certain animals where located in the zoo and he could tell me even saying, "the elephants where over on this side (showing the left side) but they have been relocated to the back".  hmmmm....good to know.

Zoo Safey Rules According to Daddy

Daddy has been dropping the boys off at zoo camp in the morning.  On the first day, he told Collin not to get eaten by a tiger.  Good thing he listened because he came home safe that night.  This morning, he had some additional rules:

1. Don't get eaten by a tiger
2. Don't let an elephant suck them up in their trunk
3. Don't let the monkeys throw poop on them - I am sure the boys had a good laugh with this one

Gotta love Collin's hair.  It is MUCH more tame than when he woke up this morning.  Trust me....

Zoo Camp - Injury Report

When I picked Collin up from Jacob's house this afternoon, his mom gave my Collin's lunch bag, papers he colored and the yellow paper above (not sure why it turned sideways on me).  All I saw at first was Injury Report.  Collin looked fine so I was not too worried.  I read further and saw that it said "Collin was accidentaly pushed by another camper.  He was apologized to and said he felt much better".  Collin could not even tell me what happened and was not interested in the attention at the moment. Later at our house, he still did not have any details. I guess he was OK.

Yesterday, I noticed he scrapped his left knee bad enough for it to have bleed at some point in several different spots.  He did not favor his knee and said, "It hurt at first but I am better now".  He said that he fell when they were looking at the animals.  I believe that because this kid has fallen at the zoo every most of the times he has been there.  I thought he would be out of the "falling stage" by now, but I guess not.  He probably was looking at the animals and not looking where he was going.

He seems to be having a good time at the Zoo Camp.  As with the museum camp last week, he is not tired and is ready to play when we get home.  For instance, tonight, he hit the baseball Daddy threw to him for 20 minutes before wanting to ride his bike.  He was not ready to come inside but it was time to take a shower.  He was in bed by his normal time which is 9pm.

Zoo Camp Week

Collin had his first day at Zoo camp that will last all week.  He was very happy to talk about what he did today.  He got to see the Meerkats, Sea Lions, Sharks and birds.  He made a fish out of an empty water bottle and confetti.  He also colored an underwater scene that included fish, sharks and other water creatures.  We asked if he liked zoo camp more than the museum camp.  He said he liked the zoo camp better so far because "I like looking at real and alive animals much better than the dead ones." 

Here he is with Jacob in their zoo shirts before they went to their class.  They are in separate classes because Collin is in Happening Habitats and Jacob is in....well, I don't remember.  ;)

Natural Museum Camp

Collin had a fantastic time being a Jr. Paleontologist all week at the Natural Science museum camp.  We enjoyed hearing every afternoon what he did that day.  Even if he was not too talkative, I knew what he did during the day because he was sent home with a list of that day's activities.  As I read them off, Collin would fill in the details and talk more than if I were to ask "What did you do at camp today?" 

Some of the activities:

• Scavenger hunt outside
• Visited the Paleontology Hall for two hunts/finds
• Built a flying Pterosaur
• Visited the Butterfly Center - this was Collin's favorite based on how much he talked about it
• Put together a Pterosaur skeleton
• Learned about dinosaur teeth
• Made a T. Rex tooth necklace
• Made a T. Rex tooth fossil mold
• Made an edible T. Rex tooth - that one did not make it home :)
• Went on a tour of the Energy Hall - he did not have much to day about this one
• Studied footprint forensics with a dinosaur track
• Made decorated plaster footprint casts
• Compared his feet to a T. Rex track
• Watched cosmic collisions at the Planetarium
• Sorted extinct and alive animals and plants
• Created scenes with dinosaur tracks
• Learned about dinosaur eggs and made his own egg
• Had a dinosaur excavation

The surprise was that he was not wiped out at the end of the day like I thought he would be.  He had the same amount of energy as he did when he came home from school.  I thought he would be more tired....for no reason...just hoping probably. 

"Did you want to marry her?"

Now that school is out, Collin is attending summer camp every week.  For the next two weeks, he is attending the same camp that his buddy from Montessori school, Jacob, is attending.  Daddy plans to drive the boys in the morning and Jacob's mom is picking them up. 

On the ride to the Natural Science Museum camp this morning, Daddy heard the following conversation between the two boys:

Jacob:  "Your mommy was at my birthday party"

Collin:  "Did she have a hat on?" (because I wear hats to cover my bald head)

Jacob:  "No"

Collin:  "Was she wearing a bandana?"

Jacob:  "No"

Collin:  "If she had hair, then that was not my Mommy"

Collin:  "Was she beautiful?  Did you want to marry her?"  Daddy did not hear Jacob's response to these questions because he was looking in the rear view mirror at Collin's face when he said this.  He said that Collin had that look on his face when he looks at me lovingly when he said "beautiful" and "marry her".

Awwww.....I love this!  I drive the boys tomorrow morning and cannot wait to hear their conversation.  I doubt it can beat this one but I could be surprised.

Reflections - What We Learned During the Trip

Before I begin, yes, we did play three rounds of mini-golf before we got back on the road this morning.

Last night, we were talking about what we learned during our trip and here is just a short list of what we have come up with so far:

• Flies in South Dakota are the size of bees. Collin kept thinking the flies were going to bite him and he ran away from them.

• Sunrise in the mountains is WAY too early when you have a 5 year old. He saw the sun and thought, "It's wake up time!" but it was only 5am. We pushed him to sleep until at least 7am but he was ready to go by then.

• The dryness in the air had us coughing at night because our throats were so dry.

• We CAN survive a week long trip in an RV.....and cannot wait to do it again....wait, maybe we can wait 3 to 6 months to do it. I think living in the apartment the last several months helped us adjust to the tight quarters we had.

• Collin does not get tired of doing the same thing over and over and over and over again.....like playing mini-golf, watching movies or playing Slap Jack. Mommy, on the other hand, needs a break. I don't want to play card games for at least the next week!

• Daddy is a driving fool. He can drive for HOURS!!!!

• Nebraska and Kansas are flat as I thought they would be. I'll admit I was ready to get out of Nebraska when I heard of tornado warnings north of us.

• I brought too many books. What was I thinking? I expected to be able to read AND entertain Collin during the drive.....ummmmm....nope!

• It was a lot hotter than we expected. South Dakota was 88 degrees when we left. Yes, some of the mornings were cool but not lower than 60 degrees. I'll take the 88 degrees knowing that it's close to 97 degrees at home.

• There sure are a lot of John Deere tractors in Nebraska and Kansas.  I was surprised at how new all of them looked too.

Well, our goal today is to reach north Texas. With Daddy driving most of the time, I know we can make it.

On the Road Again - Day 7

This morning, we packed up the RV and started heading home.  Before we left, yes, we did have to play at least one round of mini-golf.  I also talked Collin into playing on the playground for about 45 minutes while I had a load of clothes washing.  During this time, Daddy got some much needed sleep for the drive today.

During the 8 hour drive today, Collin and I played several games of the Memory game (aka matching).  I was worn out after five games because of the bouncy road and trying to keep Collin honest while he played (he wanted to peek at the cards before flipping them over or not letting me play again if I found a match).  However, I am glad we played because I did MUCH better this time than just 6 days before.  When we played the day after chemo, my mind was really foggy and it was tough to remember where the cards were.  I was so happy to have played better because this let me know that the "fog" I experienced was only temporary. 

When we were not sitting at the table, this is how Collin liked to travel

Watching a movie at the front of the RV

After the card game, Collin watched Superman, while I finally read one of the several books I brought to read on the trip. 

We ended up in Goodland, Kansas tonight.  While Daddy was checking in, Collin and I got out to stretch our legs and see what this campground had to offer.  He started walking towards the playground and then saw the mini-golf course.  He got all excited and quickly ran over to the course.  "Can we play?!?!??!"  OMG!!  I cannot believe we had to find a campground with another golf course.  Only because it was sprinkling did we not play.  I did not think it woudl be a good idea to play with a metal club when there could be lightening.  Thank goodness.....I don't think I could handle playing another game of golf.  I am sure we will have to play in the morning before we leave.

HUGE canvas of Van Gogh's Sunflowers in Goodland, KS

The canvas is out of place in this farm town



"The sun is in my eyes!"  but he was still smiling



South Dakota - Campground - Day 6

Because we are planning to head back home starting tomorrow, we stayed at the campground. We first had to introduce Daddy to the campground pancakes. This time, Collin wanted only the caramel roll because he liked it so much. Daddy and I had the pancakes. Daddy ate all of his and wanted more. The pancakes are all-you-can-eat. If you want more, you have to catch the pancake as its being thrown by the cook over the counter. Daddy did great and caught both of the ones thrown to him. Other people were not so lucky. After breakfast, we left the tent and starting hiking. Collin was excited because he wanted to climb more rocks. He got to climb at least five of them but that was not enough. Daddy and I wanted to keep walking around to find some cool trails. All Collin wanted to do was climb rocks. As we were hiking, we saw people riding around in a four-person ATV. They looked a lot of fun so we headed back to camp to rent one. We had to wait two hours until the next one was available so we had lunch and took a nap because the ATV rental was for four hours.

Cool rock near the campground

Collin wanted to pick up every dandelion.  This was a great picture of him showing me that you have to have 2 dandelions to make the things blow off better.  He was right.

The ATV was a lot of fun! Collin did not like wearing the helmet and wanted to know why he had to and we did not. He did not like the answer that it was because he was under 16 years old. Daddy and I sat in the front and Collin sat in the back. For over two hours, we road across the trails. Some were really rocky and bumpy and others where smooth. The scenery was beautiful the entire time we were out. Along the way, we did see deer and cows. The cows stood along the road and were not scared of us at all. I had enough so the boys dropped me off at the RV. They went back out for another hour while I relaxed and read.

He was not thrilled at first but had a great time.  I think the helmet was hurting his ears.

Daddy looked like this the entire time....especially when we were going fast!

Collin is "driving" now.  I am scared!

This cow was not bothered by us being there.

Most of the roads looked like this.  There were several rocky ones...impossible to take a picture of those because it was so bouncy.

When they got back, Collin was ready to go again. He has been non-stop the entire trip. Go, go, and go! After a few days, we are getting warn out with his energy and not wanting to stop. But….we were on vacation and wanted to do things as a family. So……we went golfing. Yep, for, oh….I don't know…the 12th time. We played two rounds and then headed back to the RV for dinner. Our plan was to see Mt. Rushmore at night because we heard great things about it. However, when we heard the tour was 3 1/2 hours including the shuttle trip….Daddy and I looked at each other and said, "no way!" We would get home after 10pm and Collin was a little whiny this afternoon. I was not ready for over 3 hours of whining.

We watched the camp movie showing, The Lion King. After that was over, we bought some ice cream and then went back to the RV. We were all pooped from the long, activity-filled day.

We are back on the road tomorrow headed back home. Hard to believe our trip is almost over.

South Dakota - Exploring the Black Hills Area - Day 5

I knew we would see some beautiful scenery during our drive today to our multiple destinations. I don't think any of us were prepared for just how beautiful the landscape would be. From the campground, we headed south to drive through Custer State Park to eventually end up at Wind Cave National Park. We were in awe as we drove along Needles Highway looking up at the different rock formations and driving through the one car tunnels on the drive. We stopped just before one of the tunnels to get out and hike a little. We discovered that Collin is a little Billy Goat. He took off climbing up the rocks as fast as he could. We quickly figured out he did this because there were several older kids in front of him and he wanted to catch up. Daddy and I followed behind him stopping along the way to look back over the landscape and take pictures.

They were not kididng when warning of a narrow tunnel ahead.  Only one car could get through at a time.

Monkey on the rocks

More climbing

Daddy and Collin

We encountered at least four of these on the Needles Parkway

After hiking for over 30 minutes, we got back in the car and made it to Custer State Park. We told Collin to look for deer and learned we should have pointed them out to him because all we heard was, "there's a deer", "look, there's another deer"….when there was not any deer in sight. He just thought he saw deer. We did find at least six deer during this drive. We were amazed at how close the deer came to the road and how unafraid they were. I think Collin's favorite were the Buffalo. At first, we saw one or two here and there and then saw a herd resting. Two of the Buffalo got up and started playing with each other. Collin wanted to know why they were fighting. Daddy explained that they were playing that he and Collin did sometimes.

Eventually, we did make it to Wind Cave National Park. Good thing too because we were tired of the question, "When are we going to see the cave?" I was not sure if Collin would like the cave tour or not, but bravely signed us up for the 1 1/2 hour tour that took us through the upper and middle level layer of the cold 48 degree cave. Climbing and descending 450 stairs along the way, we all enjoyed the cave tour. Collin did great for being the youngest on the tour.

• He did not touch the rocks

• He had fun pointing things out to us

• He called out; "Mind your head" because the people in front of him were passing this information along. He would duck even though he did not need to. Several times, he asked where the duck was knowing that he was being a smarty pants

Then, my fear happened. After having him go to the bathroom twice before the tour, he had to pee. We still had at least 30 minutes of the tour left. He acted like he was not going to make it so we told the tour guide to see what suggestions she had. She actually had a pee bag and gave it to us. However, Collin did not want to use it "because those people will see me". Never mind that we were 15 stories underground in a dark cave lite only sparingly along the path. He decided he was going to hold it and not use the bag. He did make it to the potty after the tour was over. I was shocked too especially because he would wiggle his butt every third stair or so because he knew we were behind him. He would do this and quietly sing "Let's get this party started". The people in front of us probably did not expect entertainment on the cave tour.  After the tour, Collin picked up smalls books about Buffalo, deer and other animals from the area.  He also wanted a "Presidents book" which was a picture book of Mt. Rushmore. 

We were so hungry after the tour that our focus was getting something to eat. The closest town, Hot Springs, was 15 minutes away. I could make it that long. We had no idea that most of the restaurants, pubs, or grills would be out of business, so we ended up at a Pizza Hut. Not what I expected but did not care. We all needed food.

After lunch, we headed back North to the Cosmos Mystery Area (area of unexplained gravitational pull. Grandma H would NOT like this). The 45 minute drive was good because both Collin and Daddy needed a nap. I was not sure what to expect from the Cosmos stop especially because I was just starting to feel good after the last round of chemo. After talking to the tour guide, I felt like I would be OK to take the tour. Collin had fun walking sideways and looking at the people that looked like they were about to fall over. He kept saying, "I'm going to fall" and laughing so it was good that we stopped to check this out.

Back at the campsite, Collin rode his bike a little and then wanted to fish. He has been asking to fish since we got here. We learned that he needed a fishing license so that took care of not fishing on the trip. He was fine when he and Daddy went to watch the movie showing at the camp theater.  After that, dinner, shower, read books and then bed after a very long, fun day.

South Dakota - Exploring Sculptures - Day 4

The next morning, Daddy needed to sleep in so Collin and I spent over two hours together. We first got up and went to the pancake tent where they served all-you-can-eat pancakes for $2.50. Collin not only ate three plate-sized pancakes but also ate half of the caramel roll I bought for me. Walking over to play golf (Why wouldn't we? It had been a day), he walked with his tummy out showing me how big it was after eating all of the pancakes. We played all eight holes of golf and then had to back track to his favorite ones. By this time, I knew Daddy had to be up and I was ready to get in the rent car to explore the area.

We headed to Mt. Rushmore first. I loved seeing Collin's face looking out the window as I pointed out the President's faces on the side of the rock. He stared out the window with a smile until we went into the parking garage. While walking up to the observation area, he asked who the guys were and we explained that they were past Presidents and what their names where. Daddy rented one of the audio tour hand held devices so we could learn about the mountain and the Who, Why, When this was all made. Collin liked listening to some of the discussion.

We then went to the museum to look at pictures. Collin was actually interested in looking at the pictures for at least 15 minutes. I was impressed. He was then bored until he found the explosion simulation. He stood there taking his turn pushing the bar on the explosive device, watching the picture show the explosion and listening to the boom.

This was Collin's spot in the museum.  Boys love to blow up things.

We had lunch there before heading to our next stop, Crazy Horse, which was about a 15 minute drive from Mt. Rushmore. We spent over an hour walking around the museum, watching a movie about Crazy Horse and the sculpture in progress and the observation area. Collin was excited about watching a movie until he figured out it was not a cartoon. He sat there anyway and listened to it. Towards the end, the narrator mentioned that Crazy Horse was his hero. Collin leaned over to me and said that he was not his hero. I asked who his hero was and he told me George Washington. I am sure that's because he just learned about him at Mt. Rushmore.

Unfinished Crazy Horse sculpture

Collin enjoyed this pond...and especially throwing pennies into it

After Crazy Horse, we drove to Hill City to ride the 2 hour 1880 train that left Hill City, stopped in Keystone and then headed back to Hill City. Collin was so excited to ride the train especially because Daddy had been promising a train ride since last summer (not this particular train). On the way there, he sat by the window looking out and asking questions. He did great on the hour ride there keeping fairly quiet. I was glad I brought snacks because he was hungry eating a fruit bar, pretzels and gummy snacks. On the way back, he had a lot more energy and bounced around the seat area. It was really hard for him to sit still. I asked what was different on the way back and he told me, "I don't have snacks this time". I had to laugh not expecting that response.

Back in Hill City, we ate at a local diner that had a home-cooked buffet. Collin saw a picture of shrimp and wanted that to eat. While eating, we were entertained by Collin signing the country songs playing at the restaurant. He did not know the songs but it was easy for him to pick up on the words because they were repeated over and over. He also played air guitar while singing and occasionally eating. We were not in a hurry and were enjoying this free entertainment.

Back at the RV campground, Collin and Daddy played another round of golf and then on the playground while I had some quiet time….ahhhh!!! After putting on PJs, we all watched a movie, Bee Movie. During the moving, there was a Mt Rushmore snow globe. I pointed it out to Collin and he said, "That's why I wanted to watch this movie". Smarty-pants!

What a great day. I am looking forward to tomorrow. We plan to see Custer State Park and then Wind Cave National Park.