Jellystone Park

Ok, Ok, I have been horrendous about updating the blog. It now seems easier to just upload pictures to FB rather than write something, but I know that, since I have no other means of scrapbooking, I really need to try to keep up so that the kids have something to look back on some day. So, here goes...

Just a couple weeks ago, we took the kids on their first "camping" adventure. We went to Jellystone park outside of Estes Park with some friends in our neighborhood. (I'm not sure if you can really call it camping if there's mini golf, a swimming pool, playgrounds, crafts, and bathrooms, but we're going to count it anyway.)

The weekend started with the rental of a pop-up camper. Our friends have their own camper, so we thought we would follow the trend rather than tough it out in a tent. ;-) The kids were ecstatic!

Once we arrived at Jellystone, with dog in tow, we explored and then started in on the plethora of children's activities available.

The kids got to paint pottery...

play on the playground...

meet Yogi Bear...

play Candy Bar Bingo

where Eli won...

get Yogi tattoos...

go on a wagon ride...

ride Go-Karts (OK, so that wasn't actually at Jellystone Park)...

and have root beer floats while watching a movie.

The kids also enjoyed the campsite where the girls colored and played games...

and the boys ran around outside and played in the dirt.

Overall, it was a fun family weekend and time with friends. The kids can't wait to go "camping" again!!

A STAR IS BORN (or turns 4)!

We had Eli's birthday party this past weekend and, oh my word, did he love it! His party was at My Gym and they did an amazing job of making the birthday boy the STAR. And, if you know Eli at all, you will know that he LOVED it and life will pale in comparison now. He got to be the first one to do EVERYTHING, everyone was reminded constantly that it was HIS special day, he got to have extra turns, and he even got his very own Birthday Parade starring...HIM! I must say, my eyes teared up as he was pulled around on his saucer giving everyone high-fives with music blaring. He was BEAMING and it made me so happy to see him feel so loved and special.


After saying all of that, I think the rest of the kids had a good time too. What 2-6 year old wouldn't want to play their brains out for an hour and a half and then eat cake & cheese puffs?? :-)


Eli requested a soccer ball cake which, I must say, is the easiest one I've done so far, so I agreed. Oh, and the hit of the party was the soccer ball shaped sport drinks! So funny what kids love. :-)


The kids were so cute playing and running and listening to stories and then, the Grand Finale... the zipline across the gym. A great end to a great party (and no clean-up, what more can you ask for?).






What a day (or couple hours)! After the party, we headed straight up to the mountains for the long holiday weekend and continued our fun, but that's for another post.

Giving Thanks for Little Blessings

We did it! Our first BIG road trip with our little but very active kids. And...it went MUCH better than expected! :) Praise God!! For Thanksgiving, we drove out to see John's siblings in Wisconsin and stopped along the way in Chicago to visit my sister & her family. It was quite the trek, but driving through the night made it significantly easier. When we finally returned to our house a week later, Eli said, "Let's go on another road trip!" :)

Our first stop along the way (minus gas stations and fast food) was Wheaton, IL. While we somehow managed to miss out on photo opportunities with my adorable nephew, Jackson, and our jaunts to the Arboretum, historical museum, and Two Toots, we did manage to get several of the kids with Larry. Eli & Maddie LOVED Larry, my sister's very large English mastiff. Here they are using him as their pillow and loving it!

Next stop, Whitewater, WI. We spent the day (& night) with John's brother and his family. That includes 5 children and 4 adults. We hadn't had a chance to meet their daughter, Karianna, yet and only Leon had met Maddie. So, the cousins (and aunts & uncles) had fun getting acquainted. Maddie was quite thrilled that there was a real live "baby" to play with and wanted to hold her, even though they're almost the same size! ;-) Here's Maddie with Karianna & Aunt Beth.

The favorite activity was by far anything that included the bunk beds...climbing up, jumping down, playing "monster", etc. From left to right we have Eli, Joshua, Maddie, & Evan.


On Thanksgiving Day, we headed out to Milwaukee to spend the rest of the week. We finally were able to get all 3 siblings' families together for a holiday! It was so fun to see everyone together. There were 7 children aged 3 and under and the first day was CHAOS, as you might imagine. However, Robyn & Ryan did an amazing job of hosting and we had quite the feast that day.

We became quite creative in enetertaining the kids indoors, since it was rainy and cold outside. There was a huge stuffed fish that we brought out and the kids had a blast playing on it, under it, around it, etc.

The last 2 days we were there, the weather decided to finally clear up, which made life with little kids much easier. We were able to let the kids play outside, go on walks through the woods, and check out some railroad tracks. The adults even got some time to talk and catch up.

Here's John's brother, Leon, and his middle child, Evan.

And here are the two youngest little cuties, Karianna & Selah, only a few months apart in age.

Thanks to my hubby for insisting we try driving rather than flying...I might even consider doing it again.

Maddie's TWO!!

My baby is 2 years old now and I can't believe it! She seems so grown up, even though she's still a little munchkin. She requested an "Abby Cadabby" birthday cake and, for those of you who don't know, that it one of the new Sesame Street characters. The thing that cracks us up is that Maddie doesn't even watch Sesame Street; however, all of the Sesame Street characters are on her diapers. Every time we change her, she wants to pick which diaper and she kisses the character...So, we went with a Sesame Street theme this year!

Abby Cadabby - The girls made wands just like the little fairy-in-training, Abby Cadabby. Unfortunately, we didn't capture it in pictures. Oh well!

Elmo's World

Cookie Monster Match-Up

The Monster Mash -

Eli was in charge of this one. I don't know if you can tell or not, but the kids got to blow up these monster balloons and use them as individual punching bags.

Eli & Maddie playing in Maddie's new playhouse.

Playing with leaves - I think the kids had just as much fun playing in the leaves as they did with the other games. Here's a picture of one of Maddie's little boyfriends at the end of the party. Doesn't it just make you laugh?! :-) I love it.

Halloween

Wow, I don't even remember all of the Halloween/Fall festivities that went on this year, but I know there were lots of them! Eli had enough events to attend to wear 3 different costumes...batman, Thomas, & Dash. On Halloween day itself, we started by doing Trick or Treat street in our own little downtown area, then had a short nap before heading off to our church' Fall Festival, and then ended the day by trick or treating on our block. As you can imagine, by the end, the kids (and parents) were exhausted.

Here are the only 2 decent pictures we got from all of that:

Maddie dressed up as Ariel, complete with pink crocs. :0)

And here's Eli as Thomas for this go-around.

October Blizzard

Well, we already had our first blizzard of the season and it was before Halloween! Here are a few pictures to see how we Coloradans live. ;-)



Day 1

Decked out to play in the snow. However, it didn't last long because it was still snowing and quite cold and windy too. So, we moved on to inside activities...bubbles in the kitchen! The kids thought it was quite cool that they got to blow bubbles in the kitchen.

John got home a little early, so we did head to the sledding hill. Eli had been begging to go as soon as he saw the first hint of snow. Can you pick John & Eli out of the winter wonderland?? Eli only lasted for 2 trips down the hill because it was too cold and snow got in the sleeves of his jacket. Oh well, at least we tried.

Maddie didn't like having snow in her eyes, so she wore her TinkerBell sunglasses to help out. She actually did 1 trip down the hill in her own little sled, but then was content to sit at the top and cheer on her brother.

Day 2

Here's our back deck on the morning of Day 2. We got close to 2 feet of snow! Of course, this being Denver, it was melted and gone within a few days. Sunshine will do that.

We started Day 2 with some good ole' fashioned cut-out cookies. The kids were quite occupied rolling out the dough, using cookie cutters and singing to Christmas music (come on, with all that snow coming down, I just couldn't resist). Then it was time for the fun part - frosting and decorating them! I think they were busy for a good 2 hours and, for those of you who have small children, you know that's no small feat!!


After cookies, the kids (mine and a neighborhood friend) did want to go outside to play and this time it lasted a bit longer. Anything covered in snow is new and fun!

They loved wading through the snow, climbing in the playhouse, and falling off the ladder without getting hurt. :)

The swings didn't work too well, though.

It's nice having neighbors close enough to hang out with even when you're "snowed in" by a blizzard.

Cousins

A few weeks ago, John's sister and her family came out to visit for a week. That means that 4 of the 7 cousins on John's side were able to get together. Here's they are playing outside on the first day they got to our house.



...and 3 of them playing on the floor together. But then, the craziness began. Eli & I got a stomach bug and then the following day we had a break in our water line and ended up being without water for a day and a half.

Watching the men dig up our front yard (and watching lots of $$$ get washed away too). The kids were pretty fascinated with the construction vehicles and the big hole in the yard, but mom & dad weren't quite as excited.





Thank goodness it was finally nice weather so we could all get out in the fresh air again! We had a picnic at "Puna's" school one afternoon.



And look at these two crazy boys. :) They both love to climb and jump and run and be loud. What else are boys for, right?



And, last but not least, here are Eli & Maddie entertaining their little cousin Selah. So cute to see them making her laugh! :)