On the 5th of July, we flew out early in the morning from Phoenix to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. It was a long day of travel but we arrived there at the same time that my dad did flying in from Texas, so it worked out well! The kids did awesome on the flights but they were exhausted by the time we arrived to my parents house.
It is always so nice to go up there and relax.
At my Uncle Mike's farm, he has a ton of kittens running around in one of his barns and the kids LOVED going over there to play with them.
There were 3 or 4 kittens who were pretty tamed for farm cats and Ethan and Ellie named them and loved on them every time we were over there, which was just about ever day.
This is Katie the Kitten. who was really a boy but we weren't going to tell her otherwise :) Ellie fell in love with this kitty and carried her/him around like it was her baby. This is the most docile, loving cat I've ever seen!
The kittens were so darn cute. I would've taken one home in a heartbeat!
Everyday we would go see the cows, the hogs, and take the Ranger out in the pasture to see the baby calves.
My cousin, Brittney, was there with her little boy, Kellen, and it was so much fun to get to see her and chat with her again. She's a great mommy and has one cute little boy!! I'm so sad that this is the only picture I have of them!
We love swinging out on the swings while watching the sunset out on the lake. Isn't it amazing that their backyard has this view?
If you look closely, the black dot on the lake is Justin and Ethan fishing out in the canoe.
My mom had been trying to catch the racoon for a few days and finally caught it!
These animals are mean. We poked it with a wire stick and it grabbed the stick and started violently tearing it apart. My uncle took it and disposed of it.
If the kids weren;t outside playing or "helping" Justin and dad downstairs in the basement, they were inside playing with the Bend-a-roos, playing with toys, and dress-up.
Mom has a ton of dress-up clothes, barbies, and dolls and Ellie was in heaven.
Ethan joined in on the dress up clothes too!
Ellie found Grandpa's work glasses. I think she can pull them off :)
The boys worked hard in the basement putting up the ceiling and installing doors.
Mason became obsessed with cars and trucks while we were there. Those are his favorite toys and pushes them all over the house all day long!
We took the kids swimming in a nearby lake a few times. Lakes are awesome for kids to swim in because they only go out as far as they can touch and we don't have to be so paranoid about them drowning. Ethan is an awesome swimmer though. I totally got bit by chiggers. Luckily I was the only one that did.
Mason could splash and play all day long!
It's not a trip to see my mom without her pulling the kids in a little red wagon. It's really cute.
Ethan and Kellen even got to know each other in the wagon!
My dad says that this tree will someday hold a tree house. How fun would that be?!
Fishing is always a must. We caught some good size fish!
Eating smores is a tradition as well. The kids LOVE them!
Ellie eventually had to say good-bye to her beloved Katie.
She was so sad. She still talks about that kitty and just how much she loves her/him. I really think that cat was made for Ellie. Seriously, what cat lets a 3 year old carry her around like this?! Hopefully Mom and Dad will bring Katie down to Texas so we can see her at Thanksgiving. :)
On the way home, our flight was delayed and so the kids were entertained by playing at the kids place there in Sioux Falls. Is it me or should play places be mandatory in airports?? Our kids most definitely have leader personalities. They would start doing something ,like bang on the sitting stools, and sure enough all the other kids would come and join them.
It was really great when they had all the kids jumping off of or over the seats! I'm sure other parents just loved us:)
We had an awesome vacation and are so grateful for mom and dad always opening up their home to us! Until next year Minnesota!
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