Day 2- Bears and Snakes

We spent our second day in the Hills at two popular tourist attractions.  The weather forecast for the entire week called for some rain showers and thunderstorms.  We were nervous to plan our activities, but in the end, we lucked out every day.  That morning, we headed to Bear Country USA.  Like last time, we unbuckled the kids and let them sit up front.  This time I decided to sit in the back, but once the kids were situated, I completely forgot about the car seats.  It was an uncomfortable ride for me, but the kids had fun!

The binoculars from Grandma and Grandpa's Easter baskets came were handy!

 

After the drive through portion, there is a walk through area.  Here there are smaller animals like raccoons, fox, skunks, and the baby bears.  Buddy was so impatient.  He'd take one peak in the cage, and want to move on.  I was obsessed with this adorable (yet sad) little baby bear, so Buddy wasn't too happy.

We headed to Keystone to look at souvenirs.  Buddy got frustrated because he couldn't find a "squishy dinosaur".  And we realized Punky wasn't feeling well.  All week long, poor Punky was run down with a bad case of diarrhea.

We ended the day with a trip to Reptile Gardens.  This was our first time visiting.  Reptile Gardens is the home to every kind of reptile imaginable from snakes to crocodiles to giant tortoises.  There are also tropical birds, prairie dogs, and an eagle.  I don't know why.  Our favorite part was the indoor portion where you can walk amongst the reptiles (think Como Zoo conservatory with lizards everywhere).  Buddy was so tempted to hold and pet the animals, but we told him he couldn't.  Because we were there before Memorial Day (the busy season), they were not doing the bird show and the crocodile wrestling.  We did get to watch a snake show which the kids loved!

Komodo Dragon

We visited the gift shop.  Buddy chose a toy crocodile and Punky found a snake necklace.  We headed back to Rapid for dinner, swimming and bedtime.  More tomorrow!