We enjoyed a delicious red and green meal of raspberry-pistachio crusted chicken and wild rice pilaf. Emma helped crush the pistachios with the mortar and pestle. It was her idea to use it and at first we didn't think it would work. She persevered and proved us wrong! It turned out that using the mortar and pestle helped to make the pistachios stick better to the chicken, resulting in a very delicious chicken dish- the best ever! Even Emma liked it as leftovers.
We rushed to make it to church on time, which meant that finding seats was impossible. If it weren't for Lynn and John we would have been standing. As it was, we squeezed into the spots, with one girl each on our laps. It was a nice service. Emma liked holding the candle for Silent Night.
Emma made sure we put out the treats for Santa (store bought dairy-free Newman O's) plus 9 carrots for the reindeer. She was particularly curious about whether or not Rudolph would come with Santa.
Annika slept for 6 hours I think that night- a Christmas miracle. :) Santa had come and the reindeer had eaten the carrots to the ends. Rudolph did come because all 9 carrots had been eaten. After presents we just hung out all day. WE packed and organized for our trip.
Bright and early (5 am ish) we loaded up the van and started the looong drive to South Dakota. Annika slept a lot, which was great. Emma amused herself quite well for the most part. Once the DVD was introduced, though, it became a hassle to set it up and keep her behavior in check. We had a McDonald's dinner in Rapid City (in the car) and made it to the cabin in time for stories and bed.
Emma was fascinated by the loft and really wanted to sleep up there. Due to the steepness of the stairs and the lack of a door to keep out the sounds, we convinced her to sleep int he downstairs bedroom. It had it's own bathroom, which was fun for her.
Annika had a horrible night of sleeping. It was also hotter than blazes upstairs so I woke up dripping sweat. We had to open the window over the bed to make it comfortable.The next morning we planned our day and headed to Mount Rushmore. It was snowing, silently and dream-like. It made for a gorgeous drive and view. There were hardly any people- yay! Emma wouldn't smile for the camera and was very grouchy about the museum part. Annika slept in the stroller and seemed quite content overall.
I don't remember the rest of that day. Except that night we went and saw Mount Rushmore lit up-cool. Then we drove into town for some beer and dessert. Emma chose strawberry cookies. I chose lime mini-popcorn bags. The popcorn was so good. Annika had another rough night.
The next day dawned clear and cold. Mount Rushmore was seen again in many different views all day long. The sideview of Washington was neat. Then Crazy Horse was a big disappointment as we drove up to it. It's not even close to being finished! Once we were inside and learned the story we felt bad for disparaging it. The sculptor worked alone for a number of years. Mount Rushmore can fit in the side of his head (the scale is astronomical). The family doesn't accept funds from state or national governments. It's pretty amazing.
Emma liked the Native American museum part (just not the video, which she almost ruined with her whining- we were the only ones in the theater though). We had fun looking at the artifacts, rugs, bead work, etc. We tried to come up with what our Native American names would be. I can't remember what she said.
We rambled along and finally headed out to the Nature Gates that was covered with metal animals. We each found our favorite. Emma searched for a horse and couldn't find one.
Then we headed to the Wind Cave. We had lunch in the center's small cafeteria. Chloe stayed in the van. Then we went on the 1 pm tour over 100 feet under ground. Emma was scared at first, like me, but we turned it into a game. Emma kept pointing to places where the Pegasus would sleep or fly through. The boxwork formations were yummy Pegasus food. Almost at the end Annika filled her diaper and began to cry. Steve had to take her back down the trail a bit to not disturb the ranger or the group. The ranger brought up the point that people who go caving need to take food in and waste out, like one memeber of the group was showing us. :) It was funny. (At home, when Emma saw the Wind Cave brochure she recognized the boxwork!)On the drive back to the cabin we saw some elk and then some bison way off in the distance. We drove through some tunnels and saw Mount Rushmore yet again from different views. We ate some dinner cooked in the electric skillet and rested.
The next day we left later than we would have liked and made it home by 10 pm. We played 20 questions and I Spy a lot on the way home. Annika needed to be soothed a lot as well. That's not easy in the car!
Overall it was a fun trip and we are glad we made the effort.
