First Day of School

 First day of school? How the heck did that happen? Summer flew by this year.

 Ethan and Mia are in 1st grade this year and Riley is in kindergarten. The girls were beyond excited for their first day. Ethan...not so much. In fact, he was giving me such a hard time about getting ready that they made it to school with a minute to spare.

 I didn't get in all the pictures I wanted because they were lining up when we got there. I did get teary-eyed but I didn't even have time to cry as Riley went off to kindergarten. Plus, my blood pressure was sky-high from Ethan.

 He later told me that he was super nervous about having a new teacher and being in a new class. Poor boy.

They're growing too fast for me!

Vacation is Over

We had such a good time in the Black Hills and our first family vacation went well. We crammed quite a bunch in the five days that we were there. We were able to relax in the mornings and evenings so it didn't seem like we were on the go all day. We were able to save money on the cabin and were able to do more touristy things. I can't wait to bring the kids back when they're older and when I'm not pregnant!

I can't wait to plan for next year's vacation!

Cave

 We weren't planning on visiting a cave while in the Black Hills, but since the horse ride fell through, we had an afternoon open. We happened to be driving by and thought, why not?

 The way down wasn't too bad although I was wearing flip-flops and my legs were burning by the time we got down. The stairs were so steep that it put extra strain on your legs. Everyone else brought coats with them as the temperature was around 50 degrees while in the cave. I thought it felt good!

 I don't think the kids were overly impressed with all the crystals and rocks. I'd say it's more of an older kid-adult thing to do.

 I really don't remember why this rock was so important.

Ugh. Going back up sucked really bad. I was literally the last one walking up. I had to take so many breaks because I was getting out of breath. Plus, I didn't want to put too much stress on my body and the baby.

Old McDonald's Farm

 We visited Old McDonald's petting zoo. We went during a weekday and pretty much had the entire zoo to ourselves. This was probably the kids' favorite excursion we went on. It was a fun place. Who doesn't like seeing their children be man-handled by goats? Too funny. I like how Riley is sandwiched in between two of them.

 The kids were slightly intimidated when they first entered the goat pen. The goats are trained pretty well and know who has corn to feed them. They then swarm that person.

 I wouldn't mind getting a goat! It'd be a fun pet to have. I doubt Mike would let me get one.

 The next stop was to see the baby chicks. The kids all held one. They had eggs that were about to hatch.

 We stopped and saw the pig races. The kids thought this was hilarious.

 The winner gets kool-aid at the finish line. I didn't know pigs liked kool-aid so much.

 They had turkeys and chickens roaming around the grounds. They are so used to humans and know that they're going to get fed, so they go right up to you. Ethan and Mike really liked the turkeys. It kind of hurt when they pecked the food out of your hands.

 How cute is that? A mama with her babies.

 Mike and Ethan fed the turkeys so much that the birds followed the two of them around.

 They all took turns bottle-feeding a calf. They all enjoyed doing that.

 We were going to go on a trail ride with horses, but once they found out I was pregnant, they wouldn't let me go. I was so bummed! I love riding horses and was looking forward to it, as were the kids. Luckily, they had ponies here and they were able to ride them.

 Pot-bellied pigs are so cute. I also would like one of these for a pet. They're so smart and knew the food was going to come down the white tube. We heard some grunting and the three small pigs took off running. This huge black pig came running over to get some food. He must be a bully.

 You can't tell how big the pig is from the pictures, but he was massive. His belly almost touched the ground.

I definitely recommend taking your kids here. They had a blast, and I thought it was fun as well!