There's also a great park with several playground areas around the corner from the downtown area that we went to one afternoon. But Rapid also has tons of great kid tourist things to do too - we went to Bear Country USA, which is a drive-thru zoo. You're only going about 2 miles an hour, so we were able to get Kinsey out of her carseat and let her come up front with us to see the animals. She really enjoyed it. They also have an area where you can get out and walk around to see some smaller and baby animals (more like a regular zoo) and Kinsey found a young girl to befriend while we were there. She kept grabbing her hand and walking around with her - it was so cute. We took some pictures of them together.
We went to Reptile Gardens where Kinsey really liked checking out the giant tortoises, watching the gator show and hugging a baby alligator, petting a snake and giving a parrot a dollar bill. She was really intrigued by some baby turtles that were in a little enclosed area that she was determined to climb into with them. And she and a python had a mutual interest in each other - fortunately through a piece of glass. It was really cool to watch though - they were watching each other very intently.
We also went to a place called Old MacDonald's farm where Kinsey enjoyed some things she can do at home like a barrel train ride and hugging a baby goat, but she also got to ride a pony and help feed a calf a bottle of milk (boy they drink fast!). It was a fun place.
For the end of the trip, we relocated to Custer, SD to stay at Bedrock City, a Flintstone-themed RV and theme park. Unfortunately the theme park was pretty disappointing (pretty run-down and basic) and Custer was tiny and boring too. When we were at the splash park one day in Rapid we met a local who told us about a great hamburger joint and a pie place that we had to try in Custer - those turned out to be the best things about that city. We ate at each of them twice!
Kinsey also decided on this trip that she likes the swimming pool again - yeah! We were fortunate that the KOA had a regular pool as well as a kiddie pool and we used the kiddie pool to ease her in. Once she got used to having her feet in the kiddie pool, we got her in all the way, then we eased her into the regular pool too. She was unsure, but it worked and now she loves it again like 2 years ago :) We had a rainy, cold day and found a nearby hot springs indoor pool to go to that day. They had 2 kiddie pools - one was only 1 ft deep and the other was 3 ft deep with a little water slide that Kinsey loved! I wish we could've gotten a video or pictures of her on it, but it took one of us to put her on the slide and the other to catch her at the bottom, so no extra hands for the camera.
Of course, we went to see Mount Rushmore while we were there too. Kinsey didn't care about that, but we enjoyed it. Kinsey's favorite part of that was bouncing down a bunch of stairs in the stroller! I'm not sure who enjoyed that more - Kinsey or the people going up the stairs that were laughing at her laughing! Going back up was nowhere near as fun for any of us though!
Kinsey did great on the whole trip - sleeping well in the camper for the most part and was good in the car (as usual). We were careful not to plan too much each day and tried to give her lots of playtime. She was most interested in making friends and playing with other kids everywhere we went. It's so sweet to watch how friendly she is, but at the same time it breaks my heart to see the reactions of other kids sometimes. Some are friendly and play with her or hold her hand, but others stare and some run away :( It's awkward because she approaches them, but then just stares at them, reaches for their hand or starts making gestures they don't understand. We try to help by introducing her and explaining that she doesn't talk, but wants to play, which works sometimes. On the other hand, some kids are extremely receptive to her - like the young girl at Bear Country or 3 young girls we met at the pool one night who took turns holding and hugging her while near the stairs of the pool. They were really sweet.
Since we've been home, we've continued to have lots of fun. Kinsey started summer school, which is Tues and Thurs mornings for 3 hours. We also started music class on Wed mornings - the same class we used to do a few years ago and she's liking that a lot. We decided not to do gymnastics since she got sick a few days after the trial class (I blame the foam pit)! I can clean everything she touches at the music class, so that makes us feel a little better.
Anyway, we've spent lots of time in the water - going to the beach lake with Aliy and her kids, checking out City Park Pool, which is zero entry with play structures, and going to the local splash park with our MOPS group. I was really impressed with how well Kinsey walked on the sand at the beach! Here's a video and here's one of her playing at the splash park too.
I have so many pictures from vacation and the last couple of weeks - too many to post, so you can view them here instead (If you've already seen them on Facebook, they're all the same). A few pictures and vidoes that haven't already been on Facebook are below.
Enjoying a merry go round.
Swimming with daddy.
At Carhenge:
Enjoying the Pool:
Eating one of the best burgers in the country (as rated by Food Network)
Playing at City Park Pool
