The Black Hills

In July, we also took an awesome trip to the Black Hills with two other families. It was so fun to take a vacation with great friends-for us and for the kids! On the drive out, we made our first stop in Mitchell to meet up with the DelBiancos’ and to see the Corn Palace. We then stopped at a prairie dog town and got out in the Badlands to do some hiking and meet up with the Helgets’. After climbing around in the Badlands, we made a stop in Walldrug. The kids did some souvenir shopping, splashed around in the water and got an ice cream treat. After a long day of driving, we finally arrived at the Hill City KAO where we had all rented cute sleeping cabins for the week.

Luke trying to get to highest point possible-of course! Such a beautiful view!

All 8 of the kids that were with us.

The sleeping cabin we stayed in for the week.

Lizzy, Abby and Ashley talking on their phones on the porch swing.

On our second day in the Black Hills, we drove the Needles Highway and through the Custer State Park wildlife loop. The kids did some climbing around the “eye of the needle” and had fun exploring the area. On the wildlife loop, we saw big horn sheep, lots of prong horn, wild burros (which one kicked Luke in the butt!) and a huge buffalo traffic jam. After driving around most of the day, we stopped at beautiful Lake Sylvan to swim and cool off. Later that evening, we went to Mount Rushmore for the lighting ceremony.

The Eye of Needle

This is not the burro that kicked Luke in the butt. :)

Buffalo traffic jam!

Jeremy and Lizzy at Sylvan Lake

The kids all had so much fun together.

One of the highlights of the trip was having an old time photo taken of our whole group. The kids loved dressing up and getting to hold guns and “wine” bottles. They really got into their roles and had a great time. After having our old time photo taken, we headed to a Chuckwagon dinner. The kids took pony rides, panned for gold and shot wax bullet pistols.

Soooo much fun!

We also did Bear Country USA one day. There were tons of bear to see and lots of other wildlife too. When we were done driving through and got out, there was someone dressed up like a bear sitting on a bench. The kids had a blast sitting by him and giving him hugs. We also went to Reptile Gardens before heading home. We went here last year with the kids, but they loved it and wanted to go back. The alligator show that they do is awesome! There is so much to do in the Black Hills. We’ve been out there twice with the kids and there is still so much we haven’t seen. We had beautiful weather and wonderful trip.

Abby and Taylor having fun with the bears!

Alligator kisses for Taylor!