Life as a Yowler

What a day today! We did so many things. It exhausts me just to think about it. We went to The Badlands, Bear Country USA, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Rushmore Mountain Coaster, Needles, and Custer State Park. We set out today and decided we were going to see as much as we possibly could, but try to pace ourselves so we could enjoy everything. We definitely enjoyed everything. We saw some beautiful, incredible scenery. Mount Rushmore was amazing and the highlight for me. Bear Country was also awesome. Bears were crossing the road right in front of us. They came right up to the cars. The kids were laughing. Caed was holding my hand. At one  point Brandon started to roll down my window. He’s funny isn’t he? We also saw wolves, coyotes, foxes, mountain lions, reindeer, elk, mountain sheep and goats, buffalo, porcupine, beavers, and bobcats.  Our kids are learning so much. These are places I have never been, so I was just as excited as the kids.

The Badlands were really beautiful. The oldest two kids climbed and climbed. Caed was really timid, but eventually he climbed too.

Next we went to Bear Country USA. There were so many animals. The kids were so excited.

Bears were coming right up to our vehicle. This guy was scratching his back.

Our reaction to seeing the bears. We also saw a ton of other animals. Our favorites were the bears, the wolves, the Buffalo, and the mountain lions.

Mount Rushmore was awesome blossom….extra awesome!

We went on a coaster ride through The Black Hills. It was SO cool. Joah was panicking before the ride. We did the compassionate thing and forced him to go. It sounds mean, but the little booger panics every time before a ride then loves it. We really wanted him to have the experience and he’s always glad he did it.

Brielle is all about the adventure. There’s never any forcing that girl. She loves every minute of every ride.

Caed was so excited to go on the ride, but then immediately regretted his decision. The entire time he chanted, “I don’t like it I don’t like it  I don’t like it.”

We went to Crazy Horse. Unfortunately it was lightning and we weren’t able to ride the bus up the mountain. We explored inside for awhile. We hope to go back someday and ride up the mountain.

We ended the day by driving through Needles and Custer Park. It was beautiful. We saw a lot of wildlife. We saw several herd of buffalo. We also saw tons of cows. They were crossing right in front of our car.

What a fun day. I for one am totally beat. My kids on the other hand……they are belting out singing at the top of their lungs. It’s 8pm here but 10pm in our time zone.