Our first stop this morning was Wind Cave National Park. We send Grandma and Grandpa over early to get the first come-first serve tickets and I'm relieved we did. They went fast!
While we were waiting for our tour to start, we looked around the Visitor Center, earned Junior Ranger patches and learned about the formations inside Wind Cave. It was all very interesting, but the kids were excited to get underground.
Our tour guide was great. He explained everything very well and, more importantly, answered Enoch's many questions. Enoch was fascinated with the small wind tunnel coming out from the cave.
Inside the cave was amazing! It was a lot of wet stairs, but we did okay going down (we got to ride an elevator back up! So nice!). Enoch could hardly contain his excitement and it was contagious to everyone on the tour. Our tour guide kept telling him he was asking good questions. Don't encourage him!
Wind Cave was beautiful and very expansive. We completely enjoyed our time there.
After a quick lunch, we arrived at the Mammoth Hot Springs Dig site. We weren't too sure what to expect from this place, but we weren't disappointed!
We started by touring the site, it is amazing. While developing the area, they came across a mass burial of mammoths and other ancient beasts. It is truly amazing to see all the bones in one small area. I'm not sure how they tell what belongs to what, but somehow they have sorted it all out. They are still digging.
As interesting at that was, the best part was still to come. Way back in the spring, I booked a spot for Enoch and Kate to participate in their own dig. We started out by learning basic archeology skills.
And then the fun... digging! The kids adored this. They dug and dug and finally they both reached bones. They completely loved this activity.
Enoch and Kate both said this was one of the favorite things they did.
After the dig, we said good-bye to Grandma, Grandpa and Gavin. They were heading home a day ahead of us to attend Ethan's wedding and Gavin was helping with a mock emergency drill at BYU with Matt. It was hard to have them leave, but they made it home safely.
We headed back to our campground and spent some time just enjoying the outdoors while roasting our hot dogs. It was a great place to stay!
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