Since we stayed for two weeks in the Black Hills, I thought I’d break it out into two posts. This second week, Dustin and the kids were able to explore the Reptile Garden, including petting a very old turtle and watching him eat carrots.

Perhaps our favorite activity of the week was visiting the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, SD. We had stopped at Cascade Falls, a beautiful waterfall on the way (where Kai fell on his booty in the water, of course!) and marveled at how clear the water was. Kai’s shorts dried pretty quickly, so we continued on. At the Mammoth Site, we walked around the main exhibit and got to see the different layers of excavation and the fossils that were found. It’s pretty cool to see how you can learn from where the fossils are located. Basically, though, all the mammoths went to a hot spring, slipped on the edge, fell in, and drowned. Oh, and they were all male! Our dig guide said it’s been theorized that most of the mammoths fell in during their first winter away from their herd, so they were looking for easy water in the snow. While walking around the excavated area, Dustin was telling Kai how amazing the site is. Kai thought for a moment and said, “yeah… but not for the mammoths!”

We also signed up for a family dig experience, so Kai and Reya got to be paleontologists in a simulated dig site. This was a lot of fun for all of us! They learned about the tools that are used and how to use them, and then how to excavate a bone without damaging it. Kai did so great listening to the details and even said he wants to be a paleontologist when he grows up. Once it was time to start digging, Reya found the first bone in the pit, and Kai found the biggest (the mammoth tusk), so we were proud parents.

The next activity we were fortunate to do was a tour of the Wind Cave at Wind Cave National Park. Dustin woke up early in the morning to drive the 40 minutes to the visitor center to wait in line to be able to get us tickets for the day, since they were sold out online. He was successful (thanks for your early morning, daddy!) and we were able to spend some time exploring the visitor center before our tour. They have some really cool displays that show the areas of the cave that have been mapped out already, including where in the cave certain geological formations are found, where there’s designated camping locations for cave explorers (no, thanks), and where the exit points are. Reya and I had fun virtually exploring!

After the tour we went back to the visitor’s center. Our tour guide told us there was a box that represented the smallest pass in the advanced tour, so of course I wanted to try it! We had walked by the start of this advanced trail on our tour and it definitely looked more advanced. The good news is we all fit through it, so we can go on the tour (Kai and Reya have to wait until they’re 16 though)!

Overall we had a wonderful time in the Black Hills and will definitely return to the area in the future for more exploring!