South Dakota bound- Day 2 (6/9)

 We spent all of Monday in Sioux Falls.  Woke up to rain, but it actually worked in our favor!  I had only planned on the Zoo, Butterfly House/Outdoor Campus, and Falls Park but with the rain, I needed to find something indoor.  I had read about the Washington Pavilion and all that's in it (Science Center/Museum, Omni theater, art museum, music hall, etc.) but was kind of under the impression that the science center would be outdated and not much for Logan to do.  We decided to give it a try and it was really fun!  3 floors of stuff to explore. We spent the morning at the science center, went to the Zoo around Noon or so and then the Butterfly House/Outdoor Campus until they closed, before ending at Falls Park.

Tornado ride.  $1 for some windy fun.

 Logan loved all the cute space toys!

 There was a fun young kids room with tunnels, slides, climbing stuff and a big water table.

Once the kids got the hang of this robot, it was pretty neat.  You had to program the directions on the computer and it took off.

 Harley Davidson had an exhibit with motorcycle simulators.  It was pretty cool.  You could decorate your ride, hence Em's purple flames.  Let's hope this is the only time she's ever dressed like that, on a motorcycle.

 Faster you pump, faster the train moves...

Time for the Zoo! 

This bear was a riot.  He was in the far back for a while, we were hoping he'd come closer.  He started walking towards us, scratched himself on a log, sat on a rock and stared at us.  It even looked like he was waving.

Luke was looking at the monkeys and said that he saw something on one of their backs.  Sure enough, a baby!  It was so little and they move so fast that I'm not sure I would have spotted it.

The start of our South Dakota "smashed" penny collection!  The kids ended up filling an entire tri fold album.  The zoo was fun and I'm glad we went but, I don't think we would come back here again.  It just wasn't one of the better ones we've been too.  It was worth it to see the funny sitting bear and the adorable baby back monkey though!

After the Zoo, we went to a place called The Outdoor Campus, which is affiliated through the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks and is free.  Cute place for the kids to run around and play with some fun things.  Air conditioning, clean bathrooms and cold water too!  It is right across the parking lot from the Sertoma Butterfly House and a huge playground that looked really fun.  But, we still had the Butterfly House and Falls Park with only a few hours left and the kids didn't want to give up pool time!

The Sertoma Butterfly House was pretty neat.  Small, but has a marine cove and some touch tanks also.  Plus a cute kids playroom with books, etc.  One of those places you try once!

 Our final stop of the day was Falls Park.  It seems like everyone passing through on vacation must stop here.  Nearly every license plate in the parking lot was different!

 We walked up to the observation tower which was fun.  Great view.

 There was a U.S. Air Force plane making several touchdowns and passing by a lot.  Of course, Daddy found a spot off the road to take a video.  We got back to the hotel, Daddy took the big kids to the pool and I tried to get Logan to bed at a decent time.  Like before 10 pm :)