Rapid City trip 2021- part 1.

The girls and I took a trip to Rapid City, SD to visit family and we had tons of fun! Kley had to stay back to work and we missed him, but are grateful we could go. My maternal grandparents live there as well as an aunt and her family. My cousin has one daughter, Taylor, who is 8 and it was so fun to watch her and the girls together. Taylor and Norah hadn't seen each other since Norah was one (so basically it was like them meeting for the first time), and none of my aunt's family had met Lucy and Ellory yet. So sad that it's been that long, but glad we could make it happen. There was a Christmas gathering a couple years ago that we missed because we were all sick, so it had been far too long since we had seen them. We had seen my grandparents sooner than that thankfully, but it had still been a very long time due to COVID. Everyone but my brother and his family was able to come from my family, and one cousin and aunt/uncle were able to come from Chicago also. Yay!

We rented a place where we could all stay together, which was great to have a common area where we could all hang out and all see each other more staying in the same place. It was beautiful! The girls kept commenting on the pretty views and all the hills!

Lucy and Ellory enjoyed throwing rocks into the water. We had great weather and I love these pictures because they are such a perfect representation of childhood.

We went on multiple paddleboat rides. It was free when you stayed there and was right outside our place- a super fun amenity! This is my Uncle Jeff, Aunt Darla, Taylor, and Norah.

Uncle Zack and Aunt Kayla with Lucy and Ellory.

We went to Storybook Island one day, which was so fun to show the girls because I remember going there when I was younger when we could come to visit my grandparents. It's a park based off of classic stories, so it has fun houses, statues, and play areas each corresponding to a story. So fun!

Grandpa (my dad) giving the girls some fun rides at the park there.

Carousel rides.

A train ride too.

So neat to take the girls to a place I have such special childhood memories at. Here's Taylor, my dad, and Norah in the face holes.

The three little pigs.

Uncle Jeff trying to sneak in a girls picture.

A really fun day!

Al's Oasis didn't really mean anything to the girls, but it was a place we always stopped at during our trips to Rapid City, so it was fun to take a picture by the sign. This was the longest car trip the girls had ever done, and I did it solo, and it went really well. Proud of all of us!