Mill Mountain

We've made a couple trips up to Mill Mountain and there is always something new to explore! We did the tourist thing and stopped at the star. The star is 100ft tall and lights up at night. It is just as iconic as the brachiosaurus at the Dinosaur Park in Rapid City. We did a tiny bit of hiking, more wandering than anything, but I had the wrong shoes on and ended up bruising or straining my foot somehow, thankfully I now have my new hiking boots (These are on sale for a little cheaper than what I purchased them for if you're looking for a new pair, or a Christmas gift!) and will be wearing those from here on out. I love my Chacos (These are on major sale if you're looking for next summer, I HIGHLY recommend these for walking or hiking, I'd love for you to use my affiliate link.:)) just as much, but they're a little out of season. Maybe I should've purchased a nice pair of toe socks. hah!

We also met a homeschool group the next week to learn about fall and explore the gardens here. We had the best time. I'm always so thankful for the people that welcome us into their community knowing we are transient. People truly are incredible. We also spent some time at the small playground, but the slide was questionable. It takes a climb up a rock wall and all of us 2yo parents had a few heart attacks trying to help our kids up. They also have a zoo which M is set on visiting soon and two bicycle sculptures on the way in which are not climbable to the disappointment of two small boys.

 

We later visited the zoo and the boys had a great time! We spent time with a new friend here in Roanoke and did some homeschooling activities. Being the Biology nerd that I am, I put together a classification activity and we talked about how each group of animals is different and what makes them special and unique to fit within a classification group. M finished his up at home by drawing a picture of the animals we saw. I think he really enjoyed it!!

 

Our first stop at the Mill Mountain Zoo was to crush a penny for the boy's collection. We have some from every place we visited in Rapid City, and I think these will be so fun for the boys when they're older. I'm snagging a 2 pack of these penny passports for them for Christmas to store their collection. Next stop was the farm animals. Which seriously cracked me up. This was a small zoo, worth the visit for sure, but definitely smaller than the DSM zoo we are used to. Some of the animals here really made us giggle. The raccoon was an interesting choice for a zoo. I was very tempted to set him free to go torment everyone's trashcans. We also saw a wolf, plenty of reptiles, foxes, a red panda, and some incredible birds. My personal favorite was the snow leopard. Such an amazing creature to see. They have a train that was out of order and we heard it has been for 2 years! There is also a small playground where we spent most of our time after walking the park. And don't forget the amazing views! The zoo is on the top of a mountain, so you can see all of the city from a few look out points.

There were these awesome animals made out of disposable products that would have ended up in the trash or recycling bin. I love that they used these products to create art! I wish I could go back and show it to my 8th graders during our Human Impact projects. This would have been a fun project for them.