Tourists

This last week, Brandan's parents and Mandie, Tyler and their kids came to visit.  We did almost all the sightseeing things available in this area and wore ourselves right out.

Saturday

After hiking around the Upton hills, we came back and relaxed at the house.

Colt dressed up in his cousin's gear.

Monday

We started this day with a drive through Spearfish Canyon, then went over to tour around Deadwood and ended the day at the Animal Sanctuary.

Daddy and the boys at the pond in Spearfish Canyon.

Throwing rocks into the pond.

The family at Roughneck Falls in Spearfish Canyon.

Daddy and Sport touring Deadwood.

Colt didn't like the scary gun shots in the Wild Bill murder re-enactment so we went out to wait in the restaurant area.



Dash and Colt eating smores at the pond at the animal sanctuary.




Mike and I eating smores.



After dinner we hiked up the mountain to look out over Spearfish. This was by far Dash's favorite activity of the whole week.

Before we left the sanctuary, Brandan helped Mike feed the animals. He smelt like rotten chicken the whole way home.

Sport spent most of Monday in the backpack.

Tuesday

We spent most of the day at home recovering from Monday's activities, but we did go down to the library magic show in the afternoon.  The magician was pretty good and the kids had a great time. Of course I didn't have my camera, but Dash was his first helper.  He was so cute up there waving a magic wand. He even turned a handkerchief into a slice of bread! I think we may have a career option here.

Wednesday

This was the hottest day of the year.  I'm talking 100+ degrees.  So naturally, we spent the day outdoors...ughh.  We started at Mount Rushmore, went into Rapid City, and then came back to Custer.

The cousins sitting in the heat at Mount Rushmore.

The family at Mount Rushmore.

The family at Mount Rushmore.

The boys posed for a picture at Flintstone World in Custer.

Thursday

We went into Gillette to swim at the Rec Center.

Daddy and the boys in the pool.

Dash crossing the lily pads at the pool.

The older boys went outside to eat a brownie and Sport stood at the window and yelled at them to share.

Friday

On Friday we drove over to Devil's Tower and walked around the base. This was my favorite activity of the week.  The morning was overcast and cooler and the forest was super pretty.  Later that day we went back out into the Upton hills.

The family at Devil's Tower.

The kids with the Devil's Tower rangers.

Saturday

This was another super hot day.  We drove back over to Spearfish and had a picnic in the park and then went over to the sanctuary for a last look at the animals.  On the way home the skies clouded over and we drove through a major hail storm.  We thought we'd made it through the worst of it, but as we came into Upton I noticed white balls all over the ground. I kept hoping that the storm missed our house and garden, but we weren't quite that lucky.  We came home to golf ball size hail, a battered garden, dented vehicles, and a broken skylight.  It could have been worse though, no real siding damage on the house, our cars aren't really that nice anyway and now we have a good excuse for why our garden looks so sickly.

Golf ball size hail.

Flood irrigating the garden after the rain.



Dash put Sport in his truck and took him for rides around the house. The adults were nervous, but Sport loved it.


The company headed out Sunday morning as we were getting ready for church.  We spent Sunday recovering from all our fun so that we can be ready for another full day of celebrating on the 4th!