Day 1 of Vacation: South Dakota

Our first day of vacation is complete, and we have safely made it to Madison, South Dakota, a charming town about 45+ minutes outside of Sioux Falls. We are super excited for this trip and especially for the chance to visit our good friends, the Millers. We are hanging out with them and catching up on lots of lost conversations in the past year since they moved here, and best of all, getting the chance to meet their sweet new baby boy. Then on Tuesday morning we will drive to the other side of South Dakota to see Mt. Rushmore, Custer State Park, and all of the accompanying tourist attractions.

Clearly the most logical (and un-fun) thing to do the day before our big trip would have been to get ready. We instead decided that a much more delightful way to prepare would be to visit Rolling Hills Zoo in Salina with friends to celebrate the end of the kids' school year (while I frantically worked on stuff for work in the car, which was less than delightful, but I am ON VACATION now, woo hoo!).

All of the kids together! There was both a "zoo" and a "museum" component and the kids had great fun at both and really hit it off together.

Another much more fun pre-vacation activity than actual preparation: GOING CAMPING with our church friends! We all camped out at Tuttle Creek together, which was delightful since it was very peaceful and out in the middle of nowhere, yet in actuality, was only a 10-minute drive from home. Our tent has the orange cover below and it was big enough to fit two queen-sized air mattresses. (I stole all of the camping pictures from a friend's post since I left my camera/phone behind to be in touch with nature...)

At breakfast this morning! Where someone else gathered the wood, started the fire, actually cooked the food...yay for camping with friends who know what they are doing. :)

The kids combining two of their favorite activities: (1) throwing rocks and (2) playing with sticks. I never once heard any complaint over the absence of toys or electronics, which is obviously because sticks > any other toy.

We got on the road at about 11:30 am this morning; the route to South Dakota involves driving through many small towns. We got a kick out of many of the accompanying signs, including the one below (we made a detour to check out this historic site).

A big highlight of our drive up was that we had lunch at Valentino's Buffet in Beatrice, NE...AND in Sioux Falls, SD. I am still not sure what is quite so exciting about Valentino's but the kids were in heaven.

 Madison, SD! It is a very charming small town, complete with wide streets (and multiple "first," "second," etc. etc. streets), very cute older homes, and several of our children's favorite fast food options. :) It was awesome to see the Millers and Baby Rowan, although I was negligent and was so busy visiting that I neglected to take any pictures.

Daniel's favorite activity on the trip: Playing with his Toy Bag. And being Mr. Cool with his groovy shades.

Annika's favorite activity on the trip: Reading. :)

We are staying at a hotel in Madison and even though by the time we were settled it was 10 p.m., Will still agreed to take the kids swimming in the indoor pool. This was SO EXCITING!!

The plan is to make it to church tomorrow at 9 a.m. - we will see in the morning if our late night adventures were a wise idea. :)