Wedding Bells and Fire Alarms

On the last weekend of June, we took another trip out the Rapid City, SD this time for a wedding of a friend of Joe’s which Joe was standing in. We left after Joe came home from work; it was a long drive, and when we got to the hotel we were staying at we found that they had already sold the room that we had booked months before. Ugh. However they had one room left, and gave it to us. Lucky for us there was a pull out couch, as well as a king size bed – a supposed upgrade for the same price. I was good with that, and the boys thought it was great to sleep on the “magic couch.” Gannon’s port-a-crib fit snuggle in between the bed and the couch. Saturday came all too quickly, even with the time change, and after a quick breakfast we had to go buy Joe some dress shoes because I forgot to pack his. Soon Joe was off with the wedding party, doing wedding party stuff like taking pictures and whatever else which left the boys and me to find our own fun. I took them to see the small Dinosaur museum that Joe and I had seen on our last trip out there. Surprisingly they liked it more then I thought they would and they were very respectful not touching the exhibits unless there was a sign saying they could. This time I brought my nice digital 35mm camera, and got a few pictures of them before the battery ran out; of course I forgot the battery charger. (Maybe I should start making a list…lol.)

Run, Royce, Run!

Giovonnie playing like he is a T-Rex.

Giovonnie and Royce digging for dinosaur bones.

Royce, Gannon, and Giovonnie in front of the triceratops head.

After the Dino Museum we went to Mt. Rushmore, the boys did the Junior Ranger program and received a Junior Ranger badge for completing the booklets. I was lucky to get the photos I did here. I used the smaller digital camera which was also low on batteries, so after I would snap a photo it would turn off. (Batteries definitely go on the list!)

Giovonnie and Royce at the top of the stairs before the Avenue of Flags.

Royce and Giovonnie by the piller for the State of Iowa.

Royce said, "We were born in Wisconsin, so we are really from Wisconsin." so we took a picture in front of the Wisconsin State pillar too.

Royce and Giovonnie in front of Mt. Rushmore.

After the visit to Mt. Rushmore Royce and Giovonnie talked me into letting them swim in the pool at the hotel, and because we had 20 minutes to spare I let them. By 3:50pm we went up to our room to change, and then left for the Karl and Cindy’s wedding. We were a bit late after I missed the turn to the chapel, but we got there. The boys were so wonderfully behaved! After the ceremony Joe joined us for the short ride to the reception. It was here that we learned and important lesson… “People listen to what we say, and even if it’s not important to us it may affect the rest of that person’s life.” This was the reason Joe was asked to sand up in the wedding from one sentence, just words coming out of the mouth of a “smart ass” at a Skill USA competition. (See the story at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsWQMuIVuSE ) About 10pm all three boys were crabby, two whining the other crying, so it was time to go. We walked across the parking lot and through the hotel, road the elevator to the sixth floor, walked down the hall to our room, and then went on in. We all got ready for bed, and by the time we were all asleep it was about midnight. I woke up! Shot out of bed, and said, “What the heck!” Alarms, Voices! What was it saying… whoop, whoop, whoop, then an announcement followed, “There has been a fire reported in the building, please exit immediately, do not use the stairs.” I looked at Joe, grabbed Gannon, and the diaper bag, told the boys to move quickly, and slipped my flip-flops on. Joe grabbed the keys and Gannon’s car seat, and ushered us all down the hallway to the stairs. The stairs were packed; we filed in and headed down the six flights of stairs. The alarm finally stopped. People stopped moving. What in the world, people want to push through and go back up. “Are you kidding me?!” Our family continues downward and out to the front desk. It was a false alarm, a fog machine from another wedding reception made the alarms go off, so back up to our room, and back to sleep. In the morning we packed our bags, and stopped at the front desk to pay for our room. We were only charged for one night, at a discounted rate. :) Then we piled in the car and headed home – a long trip home.