Two fun weeks in July with daughter Melissa and our 2 grandchildren part 1

We have so many great memories from our daughter and our 2 grandchildren visit in July.  The first week Melissa was here to enjoy some tourist attractions. First thing on the list was getting acquainted with our neighbors 12 mastiff puppies.  They are so cute our daughter loved them.  BTW, our neighbors still have a few left and I am sure at their age they would sell at a great price.

They all 3 brought their bikes and enjoyed several bike rides on our nice trails and historic bike paths.

Papa time on the patio and also trying out our new patio rockers that we got for our 43rd Anniversary.

Rapid City has bronze statues of all the past US Presidents.  We had so much fun snapping pictures of the kids and reading about each president.  It was a lovely day.

Getting the hang of it, lets do what the president is doing.  Makes for more fun and interesting pictures. 

Love the bronze dog. 

Our daughter had the great pleasure of getting her hair cut at the Beauty College by one of her former first graders now graduated and learning to be a beautician.  They are still great friends and both share the name of Melissa.

While mom got her hair cut, we continued our president adventure all the way back to the Main Street Square water park.

They were intrigued with this statue of President Kennedy and his little boy John. They also liked that President was handing him a toy airplane. 

Here we are at Main Street Square, They couldn't wait to change into swim suits and cool off in the fun water splash park.

Nana, Nana, watch us! 

Look Nana, I am all wet.

Mom met us at the Square to watch the children enjoy the water.  I love her hair cut, 
 I would guess Melissa B. will make a great sought after beautician.

The next day, on our list of things we "MUST" do, was the very fun STORYBOOK ISLAND.  Another beautiful day to enjoy many fairy tail play areas. 

You just can't go to Storybook Island without the 

climbing the entrance castle steps and having your picture taken at the top, over looking the walk to the park. 

Mom gives fun fast pushes on the marry-go-round.

It just isn't Storybook Is if you cant get a drink of water from the  unique water fountains.  These have been there for a long time.  I remember many many trips to get drinks on those hot summer days when I used to take our 2 daughters to Storybook Is about 37 years ago.    The whale that you can go inside gives a good opportunity to review or tell the Bible lesson of Jonah.     

101 Dalmatians with Dr Seuss below. 
 Both our grandchildren are learning to read and just had to read this "Cat in the Hat". She is home-schooled and does an excellent job with reading.  We are so proud of them both and all the hard work our daughter does teaching them.

This 100 year old carousel with real wood horses is the newest attraction to Storybook Island park. It works just fine and the grandchildren certainly enjoyed their ride.  It brings back many memories of my childhood when we only called these fun, moving up and down horses a "marry-go-round".  There are so many interesting facts to learn about these old carousels if you just look it up on internet. 

Taking the tickets before the ride.

Cinderella and Noah ark below. 

Next year we will stand in this same spot to see how much we have grown.  LOL

The old steam train above is always a big hit with buttons and levers to pull and push.   The gorgeous rainbow below with the pot of gold.  You can see the new bigger improved train that even adults can ride on.  

Going on a train ride.  I was with them but someone has to take the picture right?  

Another day of fun when we check out the newest park in town. 

A lot of fun active things to do in that park.
 Even exercise equipment for adults, 
gardens and nice walk trails. 

He loves his bike.  

 When we weren't taking in the attractions we were enjoying time in our yard.  It is always fun to play crochet with grandchildren and our daughter.  

MY TURN!

Our main attraction was a ride on the 1880 train.

The conductor had to punch our tickets.  That was almost too exciting to hand him the ticket.

Black smelly steam and a loud whistle too.
  We are off!

Not much scenery when you are passing through a deep rock cut of a hill.  Below we pass by a Rail Road crossing where cars normally stop and wave at the old 1880 train.

Lucas was very interested in following the map to see where the 1880 train was at any given time.  I would bet he still has this very special fun map. 

A selfie with my granddaughter.  

We pose for a picture with the 1880 train and water tank for background.  This was a 2 hour layover as we could either ride the train back to Hill City or spend some time in Keystone.  We decided to spend time and eat lunch in Keystone.  

So much to see and do and already so many bikers in the area for the 75th Sturis bike rally that would not get underway for another 2 weeks.. 

Delectable Pizza for lunch. 

Lots of fun things to look at in Keystone.    Below we enjoyed some very delicious hard Ice Cream cones for dessert.

This old worn out pony, might be the "Old Grey Mare"  has been in place for many years.  I guess we have pictures of our girls sitting on this same horse when they were this age.

Back for the 1880 trip back to Hill City station.  

A picture with the train Engineer and Conductor.

On our way back.  This time we traided seats and Dezzi sat with mom and Lucas sat with me.  

Selfie with  Lucas.

Notice the train hats that Nana just couldn't resist.  

Back to where we started and what a grand time we had riding the 1880 train.

What fun we had and we waved as the new passengers left on the 1880 train for their adventure.  

Art alley is always interesting and makes for some very unique pictures.  We enjoyed some downtown shopping and walking around to see the sites. 

Look how she matches the big tiger painting.  

So many fun activities and there are more to come.  Follow my blog for part 2 of Two weeks in July. What a blessing our grandchildren are. We thank God for bringing them into our life.