"The Wild Wild West" - Day 12

This was a big day for Ben. Before we arrived I signed us up for a rock climbing class in the park. Ben has done several climbing wall classes at the community center, and he loves it. But he's never had an opportunity to do the real thing, so I thought this would be a great opportunity for us. Ben did great. He climbed both walls several times, and I even got in on the act a little. The highlight of the morning was watching Ben climb a 99 ft rock face all the way to the top. Half way up on his climb he got a little nervous and he was about to come down. But then he changed his mind and continued on upward, eventually reaching the top. I was really proud of him.
Later in the day we all drove over to Mt. Rushmore. My dad had never been there before, so he really enjoyed seeing it. The kids enjoyed it as well. I wondered if they were going to find it interesting, and it turns out they did. Megan kept "pointing out" George Washington's face on the rock. That was pretty funny. We stayed into the evening so we could watch the "lighting" of the monument, and Ben even earned another "Junior Ranger" badge (this time for Mt. Rushmore.)