Colorado

We got to spend two weeks in CO with my Mom and we had a blast. Here are a few (OK, more than a few!) photos of the visit.
We went to the fountains downtown and had a picnic. It was a little chilly to get wet, but heaven for me.

Proof that Matthew has another speed besides on. It's called off!

The very first thing that T. Jay wanted to do was go to Mr Bigg's. It a huge arcade, bowling, jumpy, go-cart, little Bigg town place. Here they are playing in the ball room. There are air guns all over the room that shoot these foam balls. The kids had a blast in here.

Grammy protected Lexi from any stray balls flying her way!

We also went to the Denver zoo. It was a great day. Although here our second stomach bug outbreak (Summer) took place while watching the Monkeys. Later that night, Uncle Chris and Aunt Brittany also succumbed while T Jay got to enjoy round two the next day.

You can't drink form the hose like that in FL! The water is too hot! Of course, one should pace oneself...

We went on a great hike! Oh, why is Matthew pant-less you are wondering? Well, when we got to CO he decided that the toilet was overrated and opted instead for his pants. While on the hike he kept acting like he was going to use the bathroom (#2)but refused and so I just took them off. I didn't have extra clothes, nor enough wipes to clean up such a mess. I finally got him over it with unholy amounts of sugar and hosing him off in the yard with the lovely CO glacier water! Terrible, I know, but a girls got to do something!

The view from the start of our hike with Aunt Lana, Uncle Carson and Amanda.

Summer and I went with Grammy and the sisters-in-law in town (we missed you Nicole and Katherine) to have a mani-pedi! Great fun and Summer ate up the girli-ness of it all.

Hugely underrepresented in this post, so a little slice of cutie pie for you!

Note that row of cups on the wall behind you. Having a Mother who barely (if at all) scrapes the 5 foot mark (sorry, Mom) I have to be mindful of myself at all times in her house. These cups that are eye level for her are right at shoulder level for me. I can't tell you how many times I chimed those cups walking by! It's a little like being an almost giant in an almost little persons house! stools everywhere, etc.! I love you Mom!

We got to go to my Mom's church picnic with her. The kids had tons of fun running around this huge park. Oh, that sweet face! I cna't begin to tell you how much I enjoyed the awesome, dry weather in CO. I loved the cool nights. I wanted to sit in lawnchair outside and just enjoy being cold on Mother Nature's dime!

The children got to bath and walk my Mom's dog "Magic (pronounced majeeck)." They loved playing with him, and his really cool retractable leash. By the way, those kinds of leashes are good for way more than just walking dogs!

We went to Garden of the Gods to climb around and play with Uncle Carson's rock crawlers.

Anyone else nervous? I had him put his monkey backpack on right after I took this. I really didn't need to lose him over the cliffs! No fear, I tell you.

Summer coming down with the little car. I love this park. Great hiking trails and beautiful scenery. Jess and I went one of our first dates here to see the sun rise.

All of the cousins present posing for a picture. Amanda (Carson) and Caevin (Chris) and Brittany (Chris' wife) are on the right.

Check out the storm in the background! I had two requests for my trip. One was obviously to survive and enjoy the trip and the other was that I could have at least one cold, rainy day. I love rain, which we have plenty of here in FL, but I really love cold rain. I was blessed abundantly, I think I got three or four rainy days in CO and even more in MT.

So, that was our trip to CO, plus lots of cousin time & relaxing. Oh and remember that post where Jess and I declared our independence from being obsessed with desserts, well that didn't work on vacation! My brother Chris and I made cookies several times and compared notes. We used to call Chris "cookie boy" when we were kids because he always made cookies for the fam. Thanks for the fun visit, Mom!

Testing

There's a quote from the movie Happy Gilmore that I love. It goes like this:
(After being reprimanded for violent outbursts on the golf course-referring to a broken rake)
Happy: "What! I didn't break it, I was just testing it's durability and then I placed it in the woods, because it's made of wood, and I just thought it should be with it's family."
This quote was brought to mind yesterday at the dinner table, and here's why-
I informed the children that they were going to start receiving two stickers each day, and when they had 20 stickers they will get to have an ice cream date with Mom or Dad. The kicker, they can lose stickers for making bad choices. So, at the table, we were talking about this and Summer was pushing T Jay's buttons. I informed her that was the type of thing that she would lose stickers for, once we began the program. She informed me that she "was just testing to see if that was an example of what probably would lose someone a sticker." Smart girl, perhaps a little too smart.

The Drive out

It was so long ago, I hope that I can remember all of the details. First of all, Any of you planning to take a trip with kids, whether it's for an hour or a bazillion hours, snack bags are key! 4 days of travelling over 6 days, and the snack bags combined with the TV/ video games and coloring books, I hardly heard a peep out of them. The trip went so well, I am planning to do it again next summer, only longer! FYI, snack bags were filled with all kinds of treats that I never allow them to have. (chips, packaged cookies and crackers, candy, fruit snacks etc.)
Our first stop was in Atlanta to visit my High school friend Maggie. We went to this fun lake with the kids. We also went to her community pool and the kids had a great time playing. Oh yeah, and T Jay threw up in the parking lot right when we got there. Little did we know then, we were gonna drag that little buggy across the country with us! Lo ciento, mi familia!

Should I be worried? (I say that a lot, don't I?!) My kids are crazy about these motorized cars because I won't let them have one. My theory: it's not a toy for us unless it wears the child out some how. Thanks for sharing, James!

Our next stop was to see my Dad in Tennessee. The kids had a great time tromping around in his back yard, climbing trees and getting dirty. They loved riding in the tractor with Grandpa. They also got to go on a boat ride. T Jay and Summer both tried knee boarding behind the boat and they both did it! Summer held on so long, my Dad was trying to dump her off. He finally just slowed down so she would sink. Good times.

My Dad lowered Summer out of the tree she was in. She thought that was the greatest thing ever. Me, not so sure.

Our last day of travel to get to C. Springs was in Topeka,KS and we stayed at "the BEST hotel ever!" It had a spiral slide. Ideal for kids who have spent a week in the car! Stay tuned, more trip pics are a comin'!

So, so behind...

I know I said I would get the vacation pics up, but you all know how it is, right? Well, School started last Monday and we are slowly getting back into all of our routines. Blogging should be one of those falling into place this week!
T Jay ready for his first day of first grade in Mrs. Taylor's class. After school he told me that, "Mrs. Taylor's class is AWESOME!!" That makes me happy.

Summer all ready for kindergarten. Her teacher is Miss Biernes, the same class that TJay had. She was so happy to be in T Jay old classroom. Her response to every question about school was to give a thumbs up and smile really big!

Do you think a little more discretion needs to be used around here?

Our little cutie! She is five months old now! My how the time flies. We missed her four month checkup due to our extended trip, so we'll have to wait until 6 months for some stats.

Here's our overachiever poised and ready to take off. I keep telling her that she is our last baby and I want to enjoy a non mobile baby for a bit longer. We'll see how much longer we get. Right now she is just practicing upward and downward dog and rocking on her knees. When I see her really working , I put her in the exer-saucer. Am I stunting her progress already?

We made it

Yep, we are home. Six weeks on the road and it's time to hang up our travelling pants, at least for a while. Florida welcomed us home with nice sunburns for the kids. I got so carried away catching up with my friend, I forgot to reapply! Before I knew it, four hours had passed by. FYI reapplication is necessary before that!
School begins on Monday so we are scurrying about buying backpacks, meeting teachers and the rest of the usual household chores-laundry, grocery shopping and cleaning. Ahhh, it's good to be back. I was gone so long I forgot momentarily which drawer housed the wooden spoons (for stirring, not paddling!) and our new fangled light switches keep throwing me off. (wide flat vs. skinny small) I am going to up load our photos from the summer right now and take a little stroll down memory lane. I'll post my favorites soon. Yep, back to the routine come Monday. I'm glad, I like routines.

We're not weary yet...

Hello strangers! I haven't been very good at keeping up with the 'ole blog while on vacation. We have been having a wonderful time and can't believe that we have to head home on Friday. We will have been gone for 6 weeks by the time we get home, and strangely enough, I am not tired of living out of a suitcase yet. But school is beginning, so home we must go. We have tons of pictures and I will try not to get too carried away as I share some of them and document our trip.
In the meantime, we had Jess' brother Rich take some family photos of us at our ranch here in Montana. We haven't had a family photo taken since Summer was a year old, so we were way over due. Here is our first photo of our family in its entirety! Look at that bunch!

"Shopping is kinda Fun."

My Mom and I went to Castle Rock to the outlets to do some school shopping. We had the kids with us, so I was sure that it would be a quick and slightly miserable trip. Some how T Jay found out way too early that shopping was "girl stuff" and takes it upon himself to complain incessantly. He has even been know to start complaining before we get to the store. Once he starts, the copy cats follow and soon I've got a basket full of whiners! It's really fun. Come to think of it, maybe Jess told him it was "girl stuff" to ensure I only do the most necessary shopping (food, toilet paper etc.) Just kidding, honey!
We began at Striderite and spent a good chunk of time there getting Mary Janes, sandals and tennis shoes. (I love back to school shopping!) Carter's, Gymboree, and The Children's Place followed. I must say that I scored taking advantage of the summer clearance items. Lexi was stocked up thanks to Carter's and T Jay and Summer thanks to Gymboree and TCP. Once we got into The Children's place, I started in the girls section and T Jay followed my Mom over to the boys. About 5 minutes later he came running over showing me a "really cool swim suit." I began to notice that he would go and then return with a shirt or pair of shorts that he deemed cool and hung them on the stroller. (What was life like before I had a stroller to hold all of my stuff? I hate carrying things. Do you think I would get looks pushing a stroller with no kids? I guess I'll have to get one of those baskets on wheels!) Anyway, Here's the best part of the story! After a bit of this, and asking him which shirts he wanted he said, "Shopping is kind of fun!" I said, "see, I told you." His response, "There's so much cool stuff to buy here!" Yes, you read it right folks! My son enjoyed shopping! Take that Jess! (kidding again, mostly!)