Our son Alec turns eight years old today. For a child who has been in motion literally since the moment of birth, it seems appropriate to celebrate on the road. I can't account accurately for how that tiny, wide-eyed baby grew to be eight years old. I'm only grateful for it, and I pray that he has many other multiples of eight to celebrate in his future.
Alec has been pretty much out of his skin with excitement for this birthday. More than any other, he seems keenly aware and excited of what it means and the fact that he's transitioning from being seven to being eight. He's excited to be camping and excited about the promise of a cookout tonight and excited about the promise of Mt. Rushmore today. If only all birthdays could be as wonderful and exciting as the one that burns most brightly in our minds.
We arrived at Mt. Rushmore around noon. The kids were ecstatic. We hiked a wooden platform trail that had a series of signs that gave information about the four presidents on the monument. Alec in particular enjoyed reading these, though Mika got some practice as well.
We left to go and find lunch, winding our way down US385 to Custer, Wyoming. We found a little diner there where we had lunch, culminating in a shared ice cream sundae that the kids thought was pretty darn cool. We drove back to Hill City to go to a supermarket and stock up for the big birthday dinner. I was so happy that they had some ice cream cakes in stock to round out the evening's culinary delights. Then it was back to our campsite to start the fire, cook the hot dogs & marshmallows, and then enjoy the cake and presents.
We ended the evening by heading back to Mt. Rushmore around 8:30pm to be on hand for the monument lighting ceremony at 9pm. There was a short speech by a park ranger, followed by a film highlighting the contributions of each of the presidents. Included in the film were shots of a variety of well-known locations in the US, such as the St. Louis Arch, or the White House, or Niagara Falls. It was an amazingly exciting experience to hear our kids squealing and shouting out with excitement "We've seen that!! We've been there!!"
The lighting of the monument itself was a bit anti-climactic, but a good ending to a very, very fun day.
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