South Dakota--Day 7!

We started off our Friday by driving to Mount Rushmore! The last time we were here, Macey was 5 years old!! Now she is 12 years old! The kids had seen pictures, but it was fun to let them experience Mount Rushmore again.

The state of Utah got a new state flag this year, and we were excited to see that they were already flying our flag! We had to stop and take a picture. A really nice vet from Hickory, North Carolina took our family picture and told us what a beautiful family we had! I'm glad we were able to get a full family picture!

We went on the short hike, so we could get closer to the mountain. We got a really nice shot up George Washington's nose!

There is a small monument to the Lakota Indians. As with a lot of things in US history, this portion of history was especially messy. The US government built this giant monument on the Lakota Indian's land, and so we allowed the Lakota Indians a tiny portion of the park. We made sure the kids saw this portion of the monument, as well. It made me feel like we are doing something right as parents, when they could so obviously see the injustices. We were respectful of all, and we stayed and learned.

It was at this time, the twins started to crumble and snacks became necessary! We watched the movie on how they built Mt. Rushmore.

One, brief, crazy stop to the giftshop, and the kids got all their last minute souveniers! The twins both picked out stuffed animals, and they were so particular about which animals they got! As soon as Scott handed them the one they wanted, they both just hugged them! They did this until we left the gift shop!

We got back to cabin just in time for one last run to the General Store--at totally spent the rest of their earned money! We did A LOT of packing and cleaning, and then we fixed a quick dinner.

We had one last campfire together!

Scott took some family pictures before we left!

One, last good night's sleep with my Harper!

One last family picture in front of our cabin before we hopped in the van and started our journey home (with our new tire and old tire)!

It was a long, long trip home! Lucy still has to check every time we get in the car that we aren't driving to Wyoming again! Most of our driving trip was through Wyoming, and it was a long, long drive for a 5 year old (and a 35 year old)!

South Dakota--Day 6!

Our plans on Thursday fell through at the last minute! We had reservations to tour the Wind Caves National Park, and we got an email the night before that the caves were closed down! Evidently, two days before, the elevator that took people back to the surface broke. Honestly, I was just grateful we weren't on that elevator or weren't at the bottom of the cave when it broke! 

It worked out really well because we had some car drama that we needed to work out, and we had an open time slot to do that!

Owen was a bit of a pill on this trip. I don't think he liked the change of schedule and scenery, and he was not very warm and accepting of new people. On Thursday morning, he was upset with me, and he walked across the field...just far enough away to still see me, but he also got some space. He walked just far enough, and he sat down and played with the grass. I watched him and gave him some space. He stayed over there by himself for about 20 minutes. He turned around occasionally  to make sure I was still there. When he was done needing space, he wandered back! (The first picture is a close up shot. The second is a realistic shot.)

Soon after we planned our vacation, the girls discovered that there was a quilt shop in Custer. We convinced the menfolk to take over childcare that morning, and we escaped to the shop. It was a pretty cute shop and a fun escape!

The men took all the kids to the Peter Norbeck Education Center, and we met there! It was an interactive children's place, and they had a "buffalo olympics" held by the park rangers while we were there. 

The older cousins had a little story time with the younger cousins in the library at the center.

 

For the buffalo olympics, they had to do all the things that buffalo do. They ran, jumped, lifted and worked together. 

When we got back to the campground, we had lunch and then Scott ran our van over to the only tire repair place in Custer. Somewhere between Utah and South Dakota, we hit a nail in our back tire. Our tire pressure light came on the day after we got there, and the pressure was low. We pumped it up, and it dropped again. It seemed like a slow leak, but we agreed that we couldn't drive the 12 hours back to Utah on a tire that was losing pressure...so we found the tire shop.

He quickly found the nail in our tire, but it was on the edge of our tire--where it wasn't smart to fix. We drive a big van that needs truck tires, and he didn't have any on hand. If we paid a down payment, he could get us a new tire in and replace it (for $300) the next day.

Scott assured me that the guy seemed honest, and he showed Scott where the tire had hit the nail. We didn't want to spend the money. (In fact, we just replaced all of our tires 6 months ago!) It came at such a terrible time! Our mechanic had a bit of a swearing problem...and that's putting it nicely.  He quickly found out we were from Utah and we had a giant white van. He asked us if our van belonged to a church. Scott laughed and told him no--it was ours.

Scott and he had several conversations over the next few days. The last conversation Scott had with our mechanic friend, our friend asked if Scott knew where the name Bagley came from. Scott told him he did! Our mechanic said that he likes to learn the history of names and where they come from. He asked Scott how he knew so much about where his family came from, and Scott asked if he had heard of our church. He mentioned there was one locally, and then Scott told him that our churches have family history centers that help anyone learn about where they come from. Scott suggested that he go and learn more about his name, and he seemed to entertain the idea.

I have learned over the years that Heavenly Father has a plan for our every day lives. Scott and I told ourselves many years ago that we would do whatever He needed us to do. We both really felt that we got a nail in our tire because our mechanic needed a connection to his family/ancestors--to eventually Jesus Christ. I'm sure that we won't be the man's only connection, but at least we could be ONE connection.

When Scott got back to camp with our fixed van, he held a water coloring class with all the older kids.

I discovered Macey having alone time in the field across from our cabin. She had a talk in Sacrament Meeting the upcoming Sunday, and so she was thinking through her thoughts for that.

Harper fell asleep that night with her new stuffed buffalo, Lavender!

South Dakota--Day 5!!

Cooper tagged along with the Cutts men on another early morning hike!

Grandpa Christensen hauling all the Bagley grandkids in the back of the red truck!

 

Hauling water for mom to do dishes!

We gave our older 3 kids the option to ride horses in South Dakota. It cost $50/kid, so we told the older kids, if they wanted to do it, they would have to earn the money to go horseback riding. Macey and Cooper decided that they wanted to do it, so they worked their butts off to earn the money--along with spending money!

They tagged along with Aunt Amy and the Cutts crew. Uncle Tom took a lot pictures of them riding on the trail, so we were able to see the ride unfold.

While the big kids rode horses, we brought the younger kids into town to go to the bakery. We found giant pastries as big as our faces! The kids were VERY excited, and we had to snap a picture with the bison on the way to the van!

After horseback riding, the Cutts invited Macey and Cooper to go out to lunch with them! (Cooper was more than a little excited to eat a bison burger!)

We heard that there was a pretty easy walk/hike around Sylvan Lake. It was supposed to be stroller friendly. (It was for most of the time...and then we had to turn around and hike backward!) Scott is Mr. Mom, and he handled all of the little kids like a pro.

Macey, Cooper, Jemma, Lucy and I all hiked up a giant rock, and we saw an amazing view of Sylvan Lake! (We actually discovered that this rock was where they filmed "National Treasure 2", and me being a big fan of those movies, had to recreate the action shot!)

Dinner time!

And we ended the night with a campfire and s'mores!

It was a busy day, and the kids went right to sleep!