To Grandmother's House We Go

 We started our crazy visit-as-many-people-as-we-can-in-the-west trip with a few days with my mom, Rara, in Colorado.  It had been 2.5 years since we'd been out, and this was the first summer visit the kids remember.  They had so much fun playing on the rocks and around the pond.

 They also had a good time "swimming" in the hot tub.  At least, Bug and Bean did.  Peanut had a great time pouring water everywhere and watching the other two splash, as long as they didn't get him in the face.  The kids did get a chance to go swim in a pool so they could show Rara their swimming skills.

 Another day, we headed into Denver to go to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.  There was a great view of downtown from the balcony, and they had a telescope set up for us to look at the sun.

 The kids really liked all the dioramas.  They pretty much cover the entire earth.

We took a LOT of pictures.

 The Smoky Mountain window.

 There was also a dinosaur section. Perfect for this little palentologist.

 They had a lot of different skeletons.

 And Peanut found the "ah-bees", of course.  This kid loves his horses.

 Getting to watch one of the paleontologists at work.

 And a picture in memory of my dad.  He loved llamas, and he was the first one to take us to this museum, back when Bean was only 1.5 years.  We missed having him along this time.

The kids also spent a lot of time playing with all my old stuff--listening to the Disney books on record, building with the Legos, making puzzles.  It was a great week to start off the trip.

A True Vacation

I've always said that a trip with the kids isn't a vacation. We have taken a lot of fun family trips, but I seldom feel rested or relieved during or at the end of them. But this trip was about as close as I can come to a vacation with the kids. I took a nap every day and didn't cook dinner once while I was there, and pretty much stayed off the computer except a couple quick email checks each day.

I suppose I should feel a little lazy, but it was such a nice break, so I just appreciated that there were people there to entertain Bean during Buggy's nap and that my brother was happy to cook dinner for us each night. And he makes good food. Like these brussel sprouts, which I'm not sure if I've mentioned yet, but its worth saying again. I've never really liked brussel sprouts, but when he made these for us at christmas, I fell in love and have craved them every week since. We've eaten more brussel sprouts this winter than I had my entire life before this.

I'm so thankful for being taken care of for a few days. It's fun to get to be the daughter and sister once in awhile, even if I'm still the mom at the same time.

A Change in Weather

Just as spring hit Charlotte, we headed out to Colorado to see my mom, brother, and a little more winter.

It was snowing the day we got there and then, in typical Denver fashion, the sun came out and it was actually warm enough to really enjoy playing outside, especially since one of my mom's friends loaned us some snow pants and a pair of pink princess boots that fit Bugaboo.

Some of the drifts were pretty deep.

But the best part was throwing snowballs at Uncle D, of course.

Happy New Year!

snGot a little lazy with the blogging at the end of 2007 but here's to a better 2008--and starting out with lots of pictures. And we're hoping and working towards a better 2008 all around, full of patience and SLEEP, but so far, we've gotten about 3.5 hours of broken sleep this year. Guess change takes time.

So, our Christmas in review:

It started with the Church dinner and nativity program.

As activity chairpersons, we were in charge. Overall, I think it went pretty well, but I was a little surprised that the kids were actually MORE crazy than at the Halloween party! Who would have thought that Christmas crazy is actually more powerful than being dressed up as a superhero and carrying a bag of candy.

Two nights later, we had Christmas with Daddy-o's brothers. It was the normal chaos of having 10 kids ages 9 and under in the same house. But everyone loved their gifts and had a great time playing.


I was pretty busy the week before finishing up gifts. A clothespin doll apron for the youngest Art kits for the two boys

And a kit to paint and decorate a dollhouse for the oldest (which I didn't get a picture of, but Bean has an almost-finished version so I'll get a photo as soon as we add the final details).

Plus clothespin dolls for Bean and a pincushion stocking stuffer for my mom. I had a lot of fun this year and saw even more ideas that I want to copy in years to come, but I'm glad the gift making is over for awhile so I can get back to scrapbooking--haven't had time for that the last couple months.
Then came finals for Daddy-o, packing for me, and finally, our trip to Denver. It was snowy both ways (which combined with our wiper fluid not working on the way home made for some pretty sketchy driving moments), but that made for a very white Christmas--absolutely beautiful and we even went out to play in it a couple times with the kids--who didn't last too long, but about as long as it takes to get them in their snow clothes. Bean's favorite was sliding down the driveway on the snow shovel (pulled by Daddy-o--the driveway really isn't that steep).

We had a fun visit with my mom and both brothers as well as the soon-to-be sister-in-law and got together with my extended family who live there in Aurora a few times as well. Unfortunately, I didn't get pictures of any of our gatherings. Seems like that always happens--when there are actual events to take pictures of, I miss it, but I have countless photos of Bean's tea parties and Bugaboo's silly faces.
And now, we're back home, working on the laundry pile and suitcases, and trying to figure out what our focus is going to be this new year. Oh, and trying to catch up on some sleep.