A couple weeks ago, the kids and I made our first solo flight to Colorado to spend some time with my family. Normally, I go to Colorado to get away from the nasty Texas heat....but really, I cannot complain one bit about the weather so far this summer. We have maybe had a few days that have reached 100. It's been delightful!
Nick was able to come out for 4 nights over the long weekend, but the rest of the time it was just me and kiddos.
Anyway, it's always good to get home and spend some time with the family and the cousins always have such a great time playing together. Thank the Lord the flight there is only 1.5 hours!!! Cole is a gem, just sits there and will watch a little bit of the iPad. My daughter....if you've met her, I'm sure you have an idea :) I do have to give her credit, she actually was pretty good, as long as I kept her face stuffed with suckers :) Mom of the year!
As soon as we got to my parents house, Cameron and Sydney were already there and ready to play. It was just nonstop play.
Sydney and Finley...these two were inseparable!
My parents have this little stream in their backyard. The kids love it, but it also made me a bit nervous because there were lots of wasps flying around the water. Cole actually did get his first wasp sting that night :( Right behind his ear.
One of the mornings we took the kids to the library for Story time. Cole enjoyed some computer games while we waited.
Even though it was pretty warm out in the evenings, Cole still really wanted my dad to start a fire. They even roasted some marshmallows.
It's so funny, because like normal kids, mine are always a bit timid around people they don't know too well or people they don't see often....totally normal. What amazes me is that my kids only see Uncle Ross a few times a year, but it's like Finley just knows he's family and someone special. Right away she gets so excited to see "Winkle Woss" (Uncle Ross). She always wanted him when he was around and loved to go snuggle with him in his bed....adorable!!!
The kids loved it when my dad would read them some bedtime stories...especially a funny Honeybee song that made them hysterically laugh.
Over the last couple years, my dad has really gotten into motorcycles. Whenever he would have some down-time, he would always hit up the golf course....he still is an avid golfer but has now found a love for motorcycles. Now, whenever he has a few moments to spare, he goes for ride.
He even took me for a ride one evening and even though I was a little nervous that I was going to orphan my children, I can totally see why my dad loves it! It was a great time!
Speaking of golf.....we took the kids to the driving range one evening. It was hilarious
The Saturday morning I was there, Longmont had a fun race in town and I got sucked into participating. Unfortunately I was not feeling 100% because I guess the dry air in Colorado really affected me and I had some major sinus stuff going on. I knew I'd probably die if I actually ran, so I offered to walk with the girls in the Bob. That way Ryan and Rachel could really run and not have to push that massive thing. I really had a great time and walked with one of my dad's employees.
We took all the kids down to the Denver Zoo one morning. It was so great because my great friend Courtney, who was also one of my college roommates, met us there and it was so great seeing her and her kids. Neither of us had even met our youngest kids yet!!
All the kids had a blast, but I think I'd have to say Finley was the most into it. She has such a love for animals so everything she saw was, "ohhhhhhh!!!! Ahhhhhhh!!!".
Rachel and I took the kids to a fun wadding pool. This is a pretty new pool/park area, I didn't even know it was there. It's so nice to see them update some of these parks from when I was little. This little pool was absolutely perfect for our age kids.
Sassy-pants girls :)
Rachel and I even got to take Cole and Cameron on a little movie date. My mom was so nice and stayed back with the little girls. We took them to see Despicable Me 2 and then to Red Robbin for dinner. It was so nice to spend some time with the big kids, it was really special.
I forgot to mention, that on top of all the fun we had...it really was a bit of a rough trip health-wise. When we got there, Cole got pink eye. Then I got my nasty sinus stuff that gave me a throat infection. Finley then woke up with a double pink eye, then a couple days later, I got the pink eye.
Then, the day of the race (when I pushed the girls), I dropped my phone and cracked the screen. In the last 6 months, I have dropped my phone in the toilet, cracked that screen, sold that phone, and now cracked my current phone. I give up.......
I have 1.5 years left on my contract so I have to keep my old iphone in working condition so we had to get the screen fixed. $92 later, it is fixed....however, now the actual PHONE part of my phone doesn't work. So if you try calling me and it doesn't work, that is why.
THEN, one morning we were at the park with the kids and I took this picture as Finley busted her lip open. I totally didn't mean to take the picture as she was hurting herself :) It just happened that way. She did a little face-plant....
And after lots of blood and crying, this was the end result.
While we were in Colorado, the kids had late nights, almost every night. It was hard to make them go to bed because they were having so much fun. One of the evenings, I guess it caught up with Finley. My mom and I were sitting at the counter looking at something on the iPad and next thing we know, Finley lays her head down and just passes out on the counter.
This is the last shot of the cousins that we got. They are all just the cutest!!!
We all had such a great time and it's always so nice to be home and make some great memories. It's always hard and sad to leave. I'm so thankful to my parents for hosting us for that long and my mom cooking for us all week.....the best!!! We are so blessed to have such a great family and we miss them terribly when we aren't with them.
