the black hills: day two.

the first full day we were at todd's parents' house was the fourth of july, and i actually remembered beforehand to pack the kids some red, white and blue clothing.  look at me go, i was actually on top of stuff for once!  so we dressed the kids all up in their patriotic gear and headed for the parade in town.  (except i forgot to pack appropriate clothing for myself, so i somehow wound up wearing purple to a fourth of july parade...)  

after the parade, we did the next most patriotic thing we could think of: we headed to a flintstones-themed park with todd's brother, mike, and his son, david.  just like the founding fathers did on the very first independence day.

the kids had a blast on this yabba-dabba-dune buggy thing.

finneas IS bam-bam.

and coincidentally, laurelai IS pebbles.

all the kids had fun on the train, which ran the perimeter of the park and allowed us to see the many species of plastic dollar store dinosaurs and what appeared to be deer bones tucked among the rocks.  the kids were duly impressed and freaked out, and atticus kept asking to make sure that none of the dinosaurs were real or alive.

when we got home, the kids played in the pool and the hot tub.

todd practiced his hair-whip for his upcoming sports illustrated spread.

and, though laurelai wasn't a huge fan of the water, she did dabble in it a little while i scowled around in the background.  because i'm a fun-hater.

and that was day two of our trip!