Just a Day at the Park

A few weeks ago, my younger sister, and her family drove over from Utah for a visit. It's always nice when someone else does the traveling, isn't it? Well, since they came all this way to visit, I was good enough to plan some fun things for us to do. Our first day was spent out at the fabulous Bellview Park. I would recommend this park to anyone who visits Denver between Memorial Day and Labor Day. The rest of the year, the park is still fun, but the train and the petting zoo are closed, and the creek is a bit....chilly. The day we drove out was just about perfect. It did take us some time to find the best shady/non-sloping patch of grass for our picnic blanket, but after many calculations of the sun's rays, we found an obliging tree to provide some cover. The kids (and by the kids, I mean Maryn, Ailee, my nephew, Johnny, and my brother in law, Mike) spent most of our day playing in the wading creek.
What fashionable girls I have:
Johnny:
Mike was good enough to keep 2 of my three children entertained by letting them throw a toy boat up on the rocks and watch it sail down the "rapids."

Who knew sailboats were good for white water rafting?

Marybeth and I mostly just hung out in the shade with the littlest ones of the group, while we served up lunch, snacks and towels to shivering bodies.

Little Ella:

(Don'tcha just wanna pinch those cheeks?)

Cora, with one of her usual "Cora Looks":

After getting appropriately water logged, Mike and Marybeth took the kids up for a ride on the train.

Happy train passengers:
The day ended with a few minutes at the playground, and 3 exhausted, but happy little kids.

The First Grade Maryn

Maryn started First Grade last week. She's got a cute little teacher, and fun friends in her class. From 9 am to 3:30 pm....life is good!

One Vacation. Five Friends. No Kids.

Earlier this month I got to go on vacation.

I did not say "we." I said "I." Just me. Escaping the hum-drum of housewifedom/motherhood for four no-whining, unscheduled, sleep-and-eat-whenever-I-want, fabulous days.

Pretty much it was awesome.

I flew in to L.A. where my friend, Maria lives. Amber had already made the long, early trek from Alaska, and we had some time to kill before the others arrived--so we hit the usual sites. Why Brittney Spears? I don't know. And I guess that Shrek is one of the "usual sights."

After Erin and Janelle rolled in, we spent the rest of our day just doing whatever. Eating, walking along the beach at night. It was so nice not to have a curfew. [insert contented sigh]

The next day was spent at the beach:Collecting sea shells, loosing frisbees, and getting sun burned. It was great. [another contented sigh]

That night, we scouted out a Japanese restaurant/bar that had karaoke. We stuck out a bit (or a lot) with our pasty skin and loud American songs--but it was great! We totally got our karaoke on.
The next day was spent, of course, on the beach again. We rented some boogy boards:

And had cupcakes for lunch. [contented sigh]

As per our new tradition, we hit up another karaoke bar that night. Instead of Japanese songs, this one sported togas and cosmic bowling. We were SUPER STARS!!!
I was either singing "Cold Hearted" or "Total Eclipse of the Heart."Janelle

Erin

Maria--I love the tambourine effect.

We got back to our hotel at some crazy hour of the night. Being exhausted from vacation is a sign of a good time, right?

The next morning, we said our goodbyes, and slowly, one by one, we made our way back to our normal lives.

Girls--Thanks for a great trip....and I already have my song picked out for next time.

[contented sigh]