South Dakota August 2019

We took a trip to South Dakota, leaving August 15th. 

Our first stop was the Outdoor Campus in Sioux Falls. The boys had fun climbing on this giant structure. Joey enjoyed sitting on it too :)

We went to dinner that night at the only fancy place we went to on the trip. It was a Brazilian Steakhouse. Sam LOVED it. He was the last one eating (savory Sam). 

We had to visit Falls Park. The boys seemed to like it almost as much as I do. 

Sam was not interested in being in pictures this vacation. Joey was all for it and was a ham for many of the pictures.

Of course this picture Sam would be in!

We visited Scheels, which has a huge store in Sioux Falls. This was before it started pouring!

We stayed overnight in a cabin at the KOA in Sioux Falls. The boys enjoyed that. Luckily the rain didn't last long, it was just really hard when it was raining. 

We headed across the state the next day. Had to stop in the Badlands!

Sam enjoyed seeing these by the side of the road. 

We stopped at Wall Drug as a pit stop. 

Joey was being a dinosaur or something like that here.

We headed to Bear Country USA in Rapid City the next morning. Saw lots of animals up close!

After Bear Country USA, we went to Dinosaur Park to see some giant dinosaur statues and a great view of Rapid City. The boys were underwhelmed. I thought it was cool!

The boys decided to try to scare their Dad coming out of the bathroom. 

I don't think he was scared. He could probably hear their giggling.

At the Hill City Dinosaur Museum. It was pretty small, but had a lot packed into the space. 

Eating lunch at a saloon. This was Joey's.

On to Custer and Windgate Parks. Such beautiful views.

Joey decided he was going to walk out to see a buffalo way off in the distance. The prairie dogs started yelling at him and popping up and he changed his mind quickly.

We stayed in Hot Springs at the KOA there and checked out the downtown with this waterfall along the walking path. 

Visiting Mammoth Site in Hot Springs. 

Panning for gems outside the Mammoth Site.

After Mammoth Site, we went to Evan's Plunge. I didn't get any pictures since I didn't want to take my phone in with the water, but this was the boys' favorite stop of the trip. They loved the fast waterslides and water volleyball the most. Next,  on to Custer.

This was our cabin in Custer for 2 nights. We had a great time staying here. There was a porch swing, and we made smores one night on the grill.

We had to visit Mt. Rushmore. We went for the night lighting ceremony. The boys were impressed with the size of it.

A funny story from that night is that there was a boy having a fit during the ceremony (loud crying, yelling, for more than 5 minutes). We were leaving and saw the boy still having a fit at the exit. Joey turns to me and says, how can that boy be having a fit? He is at a national monument and has expensive ice cream (they had ice cream for sale that we didn't get because it was expensive). 

The light on George Washington wasn't working so that is why the left side is so dark. 

The next day we drove some of the Needles Highway. We had some fun tunnels to go through (like this one), and got some great views!

Sam got bear feet at the Mammoth Site gift shop. He wore them a lot at the end of our trip. 

Our hotel in Sioux Falls on the last night. Sam made a fort with the pillows.

We had to make another visit to Falls Park.

There were fish jumping out of the water, which was fun to see. Ignore my fingers..lol. The sun was really bright, and I couldn't see what I was taking. 

We had a great trip! As with all vacations though, we were happy to be home.