unexpected afternoon in Pierre

A few weekends ago, we went to Pierre for a District meeting. We thought they were going to have a Primary activity for the kids (because they usually do, and we've missed it every year before this.) Unfortunately, we were wrong. So Joseph went to the meeting, while I went out with the kids to find something to do all afternoon. I was soooo sad that I hadn't brought my camera. Until I remembered that my phone had a camera on it!
No, I don't normally use it. Why? Because I'm apparently old and technologically impared. Seriously, it was ridiculous how much trouble it was to figure out how to get these on my computer. It was a bit different- it doesn't zoom (I think) and I couldn't see the screen very well because of glare, but I was so happy to have it!
First, we stopped by the Capitol Building. We had driven by it earlier, and noticed hundreds of geese in the pond! These pictures really don't capture how very many there were. But we had fun watching them! And avoiding all the droppings all over the ground.



The most amazing thing about these photos is that I managed to avoid

capturing the dozens of people that were all around here throwing bread in the water

Eli kept leaning waay out over the water, so I had to grab his collar repeatedly.
 I didn't fancy a swim!

There hasn't been snow on the ground near our house for weeks.
 Apparently, Pierre was hit harder by the weather.

After we had our fill of the geese- and the giant fish that were coming up to eat all the bread people were throwing-

can you see the big fish

we went to find some more entertainment. We were going to go to the riverside park, where we'd played in the water last July. Sadly, the park was covered in pools of melting snow and water, so that wasn't going to happen. But we found something cooler instead!
We followed a man-made landbridge from the park to what looked like a fairly new pier overlooking the half frozen river. It was the pier in Pierre. Get it? It's funny because they sound the same. haha.

From the pier, we could see a big island where the road ended, and a day park place to hike around. I'm too lazy to put these together in a special collage, but here are the two sides of the island as seen from the pier.




































There was a picnic area under the trees, several trails through the forest (there was a big sign showing the trails) and a road that followed the edge of the island down one side.
We couldn't actually go down the road to the tip of the island because Eli was asleep in the car and we needed to stay nearby. We still had fun throwing rocks in the water and taking in the view,

The bridge in the distance is right next to the park. We swam under it last summer.

while spending time near the trees- as you know, they are very exotic out where we live.

Hopefully next time we're in town, we can try out all the trails. We had a fun afternoon!