Day 3

Famous last words as BB and I planned our day:  "we need to be in the KOA campground before it gets dark so we can hook every thing up correctly the first time, so lets be in by 7:30".  After a great night of sleep the kids got in swim suits and headed for the pool while BB and I headed to get a  little exercise on the treadmill, this lasted 20 minutes when the kids came to tell us the hot tub smelt of pee---seems to be the theme of this trip.  After taking showers we head to breakfast in the lobby.  The lobby was full of people waiting in line for the Treasure Hunters road show, the kids all wanted to see what they had they were not so eager about us. We dined with tables of older people who did not really welcome the excitement of our five kids and with our $40 vouchers from the inconveniences of last night.  By 10:30 we were on our way to the Corn Palace in Mitchell South Dakota.  Along the way Bricker decides he needs to use the bathroom and soon the PV was overcome with a horrific odor.  He opens the door the allow more odor into the living space to tell us that he can not get it to go down the hole.  I now have my head out the window like the Shaggy Dog, with fear I may not keep my breakfast down as I am driving 65mph down interstate 90.  No sympathy from this crowd they have gone from yelling at Bricker to laughing and watching me.  BB is now in tears by my side and hands me a baby wipe to put up my nose to void the ordor.  Mean while Tim and Peter want to go back and see how big it is.....true Brick boys.   Next we arrive at the Corn Palace I still need to put on my matching  MSU t-shirt and while doing so 3 motorcycles drive into the parking lot to a front view of me.  We walked around the corn palace for about 15 minutes then went inside  for about 5 minutes and the kids were ready to leave, as we are leaving I ask a few questions about the construction and the lady asks if we saw the 15 minute video, I then make the kids go back into the corn place bribing them with taffy to watch  the video.  Dragging their feet they go in and find a seat, it was actually really good.  We head out  to take pictures and BB gets asked to take pitures for an Asain family, the lady proceeds for the next 10 minutes to tell BB how to take the picture, where to stand and hold the camera.  next the lady comes over and tells us how to take pictures of our family we are all just laughing.  We hit some shops, get back into the PV and head to Wall Drug.  During the next 3 hours we counted wall drug signs and dealt with Tim's nose burning stench coming from his shorts.  BB tried to go to the bathroom while I intentionally zig zagged down the road laughing so hard. We have now officailly named the passenger seat the hot flashseat as one's body temperature exceeds 100 degrees when you sit there, OMG I am sitting here now.  We now need to find powder to put in Peter's boot cast, did we mention Peter has a broken foot, as it is beginning to smell.  Finding store is not and easy mission.  We arrive at Wall Drug around 7:30 we promtly lose the boys in the excitement, while looking for them we hear several pop guns go off in the back of the store,  BB  and I look at each other and laugh knowing for sure have just found them.  Sure enough.  We wonder Wall Drug and fall into and old time photo booth where we go an get photos with the kids----to much fun.  We are so lucky.  The kids are having so much fun.  It is now 9:30 and realize the kids have not had a meal since 10 am and they are now hungry chiefs.  We head to the store and Subway and back into the PV to head to our first camp sitght, it is now 9:45 and getting dark. We suddenly smell somthing funny, I ask Nora if the stove is on, she goes to check and turns on the pilot to the stove igniting the burner. We now have a fire started, BB bolts to the back of the PV to extinguishe the flames, is this really happening?  Journey continues, we turn into the bad lands and the topography has changed and so have the roads, I am struggleing to see the kids are anxious and we are all tired.  I let the car know they need to quiet down cause I have night blindness and driving is dfficult when I realize I still have my sunglasses on, I take them off and much to my surpirse it is not that dark out...another good laugh.  BB calls the campgrounds to let them know we are on our way and we are informed that they will close at 10, we have 4 minutes to travel 15 winding miles.  The lady says she will wait.   We travel about 5 more miles and come to a campground we pull in BB gets out and gets us registered, then comes out to the car  and asks me to go in when we realize this is not the KOA we are registered at, we get back in the car and head to our desination.  We arrive about 10:30, the lady is gone and left our instrucitons on the door.  We find our camp site and now have to figure out how to set everything up, for the first time, in the dark, during quiet hours. It is now about 11pm.  With flashlight in hand and our "Crusin A,merica" guide in hand we manage to make it happen.  Kids have now found a huge toad and are chasing it around.   We all get into our matching PJs and begin to play a  competive game of 99, this last about 20 minutes when we all decide we need to go to bed.  Everyone piles into their sleeping area, BB and I in the back room.  The two of us proceed to rehash our day and begin to laugh uncontrolably for about 10 minutes with all the kids telling us to be quiet and stop laughing, which we can't.  Around 4 am Halee crawls into bed with us freezing cause we left the air conditioner on high because we could not find the controls, I then left the bed and went to the overhead compartment where we all slept till 8:30.  Two additions for the day
1. Bricker slams his finger in the door to the camper while laying on the floor in pain Tim gets up to shut the door and joins Bricker in his agony as Tim slammed his finger in the door as well.
2. One of the kids saw the sign for the KOA and said hey look there is a Ko A there too.  So now BB and I refer to our camp grounds as the Ko a.

Day 3 comes to an end.  :)