Gigglesandgumballs: Nebraska and onward day 3!

Did you miss the first two days of our vacation? you can click: here

Day 3:

We drove by it several times on our first day in the Black Hills, but today we actually visited the museum and got a little closer to the Mount Rushmore memorial. It has a fascinating story on how it came to life. The kids loved seeing it and learning about the history. This is hands down one site you must see at some point in your life. We visited the memorial during the day.

Walking to the memorial...trying to not lose the little ones...they have their road ID bands on...just in case!:)

All 50 state flags represented

All of us!

Cool stuff!

Learning about history!

The kids being goofy!

and then again at night.

Sylvan Lake in Custer State Park. Oh my goodness! My friend Amy G. showed us pictures of this lake from their vacation last year and I decided right away that this was a place WE MUST GO SEE. I was so right! It was beautiful! We visited on a perfect day...sunny and low 80's. Perfect day for a walk around the lake. We didn't know the terrain would turn from a normal light gravel path, to no true trail and just climbing rocks. It was quiet a hike with the little ones (and a stroller...thank goodness for a strong hubby who can carry the stroller). We all loved it! I could spend all day there. There were quiet a few activities that you can participate in...swimming at the beach, jumping off of rocks and into the water, canoeing, paddle boating, fishing...the list goes on. My friend Erin even attended a wedding there in May. I can only imagine how pretty that was! Also, this was the site to a scene from the movie National Treasure 2! I took a million pictures during our hike. Enjoy!

Our sassy little girls.

Getting ready to climb

Part of the hike

Can you tell...this isn't an easy trail for a stroller

Taking a break from the hike

Easton and I

Hiking

Sean having a pine cone fight with the kids

BFF's forever!

I believe this was our lunch...ice cream bars.

By the time we spent time at Sylvan lake we drove through Needles Highway in the state park. There were many tight tunnels that only one car can go through at a time. One tunnel was back up with people parked to the side with their camera's ready. We had no clue what was going on...turns out a tour bus was trying to make it's way through the tunnel. It took it a while. Here are a few more pictures from this day. These three activities filled our day!