Black Hills 2014

Jeff got home from work on Tuesday evening and we were vacation bound. We finally left the house around 6:30pm heading for Mitchell South Dakota. The boys were pretty excited to be going on a trip. The next morning we woke early and headed for the Corn Palace. It was very neat to see how they plan on making the next design on the wall. 

After the Corn Palace we hopped back into the car to continue our adventure to the Black Hills. Of course it is a long trip so both boys were very good about napping in the car. Of course what is a trip to the Black Hills without a pit stop in Wall Drug. I love going to Wall Drug because I get to take pictures of my children posing in the same places that I did as a child. I don't remember a T-Rex though. (Which scared both kids pretty good, especially since it decided to try eating right when Easton went up to it. Tynan even bolted for the doors.)

 We finally made it to our home away from home on Wednesday night around 5pm so we fed the boys an elegant dinner in the hotel room and off to the pool for the rest of the night.

Day 3 Thursday: We started our day with lots of excitement from Tynan who loves trains because we were going on a train ride this morning. So we had a quick breakfast and headed for Hill city to the 1880's Train. The boys loved the train ride, but it got just a little too long. Easton was having a hard time with the keep seated part.

 After our train ride we traveled on over to Mount Rushmore. Needless to say this was one of the least exciting stops along the way for our kids. They did not find the awe factor in it at all, but did enjoy picking out a moose toy and walking all the stairs. Tynan also enjoyed looking at each of the markers to find where we were on the map.

Backside of Rushmore

Mommy and the Boys

 Daddy and Tynan

 Take this photo in because it is the only family photo we got on the entire trip.

The pack carrier was a much smarter idea this time around. When Tynan was 4 months old we went to Mount Rushmore and pushed him in the stroller and up and down all of those steps.

Our final stop on Thursday was to Bear Country USA. This was another highlight of the trip. We took the boys out of the car seats and let them sit in front with us as we cruised around Bear Country. Both boys love animals so much. (Tynan kept asking all trip if they were real - YES they are real!)

Love this bear picture - These two remind me of my boys - notice the brown one chewing on the black ones ear.

Day 4 Friday: This days adventure brought us to Custer State Park to look for more wildlife. Since you actually drive through the park more than how Bear Country is set up we decided to turn Easton's carseat around so he had the same view as the rest of us. At first we weren't seeing many animals, but once we left the paved path and headed for the road less traveled our sightings increased.

Daddy to the rescue - He woke up early in the morning to wash the car and to buy carrots to feed the Donkey's. The boys had so much fun.

The second stop of the day brought us to Storybook Island. Another neat place to take pictures of my kids at places that I remember going to as a child.

Last stop of the day was to Dinosaur Park - Which quoted by Tynan pretty much sums up this place. "Mom is this all there is? They're old!"

 Day 5 Saturday: This was our last day in Rapid City. We spent the morning at Reptile Gardens where Tynan kissed an alligator and Easton didn't want to stop touching the Python. However, both boys were getting pretty tired from the lack of sleep on our trip and didn't have any more patience to sit through their shows.

After Reptile Gardens we headed to Souix Falls to spend the night and get one last night and morning of swimming in before heading back home on Sunday. Of course we had to stop at the world's largest candy store in Jordan MN on the way home though. It was a great trip, Easton started speaking more and Tynan started crying when we got home that he didn't want vacation to end.