End of August Fun

The rest of August was spent with the boys going to school, trying to enjoy the nice hot weather and a little more pool time. 

Shortly after getting back from our South Dakota trip one of our passion fruits was finally ripe and fell off the vine in our house. We couldn't believe it. The time had finally come! After over 2 years of waiting and nurturing the plant we finally had a vipe passionfruit. Brandon was beyond excited to enjoy it! haha 

The boys also were able to ride their bikes to school together. It was Emmett's first time riding bikes to school for the purpose of going to school. 

Kayden finally got the hang of our little red bike and was having a lot of fun riding it around outside. Oh, and putting a bunch of rock in the back trunk space. haha 

Last night of braces for Ethan, at least for a while! 

He was so excited to get hid braces off. The first thing he said he wanted with his braces off was to eat corn on the cob. haha 

Then we had Bethke's back to school bash. It was so hot outside and there was not much shade. So we found a spot behind a truck to sit and eat dinner. 

I think next year we will eat dinner before we go and just go to the school for slushies and to let the kids play. Food trucks are just so over priced and not very good. haha 

We also took the boys to a bike park one Saturday. The kids were stoked to try this place out. Every since our St. George trip where they went to the really cool bike park they have wanted to do it again. So when Brandon saw this place he thought the boys would love it. Well they did until.....

Injuries happened. Ethan was the first one to crash. He slipped off his bike seat and landed on the middle bar of his bike. He cut his boys parts and hurt pretty bad for a while. Then Emmett fell. He fully turfed it on the ground and scuffed himself up pretty good. So after 2 injuries we decided it was time to head and probably not go back until the kids are a little older. 

Poor Emmett. He was so sad for a lot of the day. 

I believe we did this on Labor Day weekend. 

Later that day we headed to the Wild Wing Pool where they were providing food to celebrate Labor Day and the end of the swimming season.

Ethan didn't last long because his privates were hurting him from his fall earlier. So he didn't want to swim long. 

Kayden was having a blast!! haha 

At least they enjoyed their food before it was time to head home for the night!

Kayden is so funny! I guess sitting in the bucket is the best place to eat watermelon! 

Oh and apparently Kayden thinks he is old enough to leave me and go on the bus to go to school! 

Sorry little man... You get to stay home with Mom for a few more years!! 

South Dakota

 The end of the kids first week of school we took them out of school that Friday and headed to South Dakota. We had never been and my parents wanted to go as well. So we planned a trip together. We got a VRBO cabin and headed out for a weekend of fun. It is only about 5 hours away so it was not a bad drive. We had a lot of fun seeing Mount Rushmore, eating some good food, hiking a little bit, sitting in the hot tub and playing some cards. It was a good weekend! 

Once we got into town in South Dakota we stopped to get some dinner before heading the last few minutes to the cabin. Right across from the pizza place we were going to eat at was a wood carving area. They carved really cool things into wood. It was fun walking around and seeing the talent that these people that owned the shop had. They were even working on carving something while we were there. The kids thought it was pretty awesome too. 

After some pizza we headed the rest of the way to the cabin we were renting. 

It was a nice cabin, although it didn't have central cooling so that wasn't as nice. It all worked out though. 

The next morning before heading off to Mount Rushmore we stopped in town for some breakfast. The only place that seemed open for breakfast was a buffet place. It was descent. The kids enjoyed it. haha 

Kayden liked the syrup! haha 

After filling our tummies, we took of to go explore Mount Rushmore. 

It was windier than we liked and the wind was pretty chilly but it was pretty cool seeing the monument and learning a little bit about it. 

After exploring for a little while we got some ice cream and then headed out. As we drove back through town we stopped at a rock shop to let the boys get a cool rock to take home. 

So many rocks to look at. It took the kids a while to choose what they wanted. After picking out their rocks we headed out to get some lunch. 

We ate at this burger place. It was pretty good. Nothing to holler about but it was good. It took a while for us to get a seat so we walked around the little town for a bit and sat in the sun when the sun came through the clouds and it stopped raining. haha 

After our lunch we stopped at the grocery store and while I was searching on the maps for things to do I saw a candy shop. I thought it would be fun to go check it out. When we got there I was so glad we did check it out. It was a huge place and it had a mini golf course. So we played a round of mini golf and then picked out some candy before heading back to the cabin. 

It was a really cool candy shop! We were glad we decided to check it out even though the kids didn't really need anymore candy. haha 

Hot Tub Time!! 

Oh.. and peeing in the rocks time! 

I guess thats what you get when you have a bunch of boys! 

We were glad that this cabin had a hot tub. It really was not super warm weather so it was nice to soak in the hot water for a little while. 

Here is a look at the main part of the cabin. We only stayed for 2 nights. It was fun though and plenty of time to be in South Dakota. 

Gigi trying to set up her phone to take a group picture of us in front of the cabin. 

Oh, did I mention there was a random zebra at one of the farms near the cabin!? haha 

Before leaving South Dakota we made one more stop of Silven lake to hike around for a little while. It was really pretty and really cool to walk around. The kids had fun being able to climb up the rocks and explore and pick up rocks and everything little boys like to do. 

This rock formation looked like an elephant. Kind of cool!

My mom sat on this log and as people were passing my Dad said something to the effect of, "Its just a log ride" or something like that. I wish I could remember exactly what he said because it was so whity and funny!! 

MUSCLES!!! 

We were glad that we did this as our last thing to do. The kids had a lot of fun hiking around the area. Some parts I was a little nervous about because of the drop offs but the boys loved it!! 

Before heading back on the road for our 5 hour drive we stopped for some lunch. We decided to go to The Purple Pie Place. Teresa at work recommended it to us. So we decided to give it a try. It was. really cute place. Almost everything was purple. The food was actually pretty good and the pie's were super tasty!!! 

It was a great end to the trip! 

I don't know if I have ever seen a double rainbow end to end before. So this was a cool sight to see on our drive home! All in all it was a pretty good quick trip!