A Memoriable Weekend Part 1

Over the Memorial Day weekend, my sister, Jill, and her family came out to see us. I was a little nervous at first about housing 7 extra bodies in our not so big house, but it actually turned out to be pretty fun. The amount of extreme fun we had, and maybe a little bit of the sleeping arrangements made for some deficiencies in sleep, but we all survived.

Friday provided us with some very nice weather, so we headed out to the Aurora Reservoir. The sun was nice, but being so early in the season, the water was pretty icy. We mostly stuck to the sand. My 15 year old niece, Maddi, was so good to bring her camera. Of course, I forgot mine. She got some great pictures of my kids on the beach. The first two of Ailee are my favorite:

Ailee, learning that sand is for playing, not eating.

What's the beach without a little bit of extra skin showing?????

Savannah and Ailee working on their sand castle.

Maryn, maybe trying to empty the reservoir?

I guess who needs a really big lake, when you have sandy puddles to play in?

That night, the Rockies were playing the Dodgers, so we took our mixture of Rockies' and Dodgers' fans downtown to watch the game.

My kids spent most of the night rifling through the diaper bag for treats....

...the guys watched the game...

...and Jill, Maddi, and I spent the evening gabbing, and cheering whenever everyone else cheered. What a way to spend an evening.

And you would think, that such a fun-filled day would make a little four-year-old pretty tired. Not mine! I think Maryn was so excited to have her cousins here, she couldn't sleep. Poor Savannah, who was sharing a room with Maryn, had her ears talked off before she could catch some shut eye. It made for some pretty tired little girls the next day, but isn't that what vacation is all about? Having fun and not wanting to sleep?

A Memoriable Weekend Part 2

Saturday we spent most of our day lazing about. After nixing our idea of hiking, we decided to gather up a picnic and head out to the park. The girls hung out under a blanket, as the day got a little breezy, and made pretty faces for the camera.

Ailee decided the bag of Doritos was hers, and made them her lunch. Anyone who stuck their hand in the bag to get a handful was given the stink-eye.

The guys played football and baseball with the kids, and a few insta-friends at the park.

Maryn thought this picture was great because her hair looks crazy and it looks like her leg is missing. I put it on here purely for her viewing pleasure.

Austin taking a break from the games to grab a soda and strike a pose for the ladies.

Eh, I'm not for sure what Kade is doing in this picture, but whoever comments with the best caption wins 3 points. Points for what, I'm not sure---just 3 points.

My girls stopped fighting for 30 seconds so my niece could capture this cute photo of them together. Proof that they can be closer than 3 feet and not screaming:

Maryn discovered that our picnicking spot was crawling with ladybugs. Naturally, she spent the rest of the time playing with them and talking about how she was going to take them home. I was able to put an end to that idea by telling her they wanted to stay in the park with their families.

Cam, being his usual goof ball self.This kid for sure has a thing for bugs.

That evening, Maddi was good enough to babysit for us while we went out with Jill and Kevin to dinner and a movie. It sure does cut down on date costs when your sitter is free. We feasted at Ted's Montana Grill, then went out to see "Prince of Persia." (my review is off to the side, if you're interested) Between dinner and movie snacks, I think I gained 5 pounds in those few hours. At least the baby enjoyed it all. Maybe s/he was all hopped up on Jr Mints and soda, but s/he was kicking up a storm during the movie. Aw, the kicks are so cute...for now.

A Memoriable Weekend Part 3

On Monday, Memorial Day, we honored those who have died serving our country by going out and enjoying the beautiful landscape they have protected, just for us, at Roxburough Park.

I just had to snap a photo of Ailee in this hat. I found it in our beach bag when we went out to the reservoir, and fortunately it still fit. She immediately put it on and wore it for most of the day. What a girly girl.

Of course we had to get a family photo. This view is much better than last time with all the green in the background.I was going to include the family picture of Jill's family, but I only had the two pictures I took with my camera, which were:

1. the one where only three people were smiling, and the rest looked like they hadn't had a good night's sleep all weekend,

2. or the one where people were walking away because they didn't want to take any stupid pictures.

Maryn and Savannah

Maryn and Hudson

Maddi and Jill

This picture made me laugh. We had to cross this little puddle in our path, and Hudson (after wading through it several times) decided it was too big to jump across. Maryn, I guess, ran back to give him moral support, and possibly a few pointers on jumping puddles.

[singing] Sisters....Sisters....Never where there such devoted sisters....

After sufficiently exhausting ourselves, we headed home for s'more Wii and hanging out. We concluded our celebration with the traditional grilling of the hamburgers (because what screams freedom more than being able to gorge yourself on hunks of delicious meat between two slices of white bread?) and homemade berry ice cream. We got the kids in bed at the nice, early hour of 10 o'clock, so that every one's drive home the next day would be extra fun.

It was a pretty great weekend! I'm so glad my sister was willing to haul the whole family out to visit us. I keep thinking my house is too quiet, and way too empty. Perhaps they should come again....

Two's Company, Three's a Crowd

This is what Kade has been telling me since we found out we are expecting. It's official: we will have a crowd of children come November. Yikes! Sometimes it hits me what we have done. Now we will really be old and always tires. I am going from being double teamed to being seriously out numbered. What if they gang up on me? What if it's a boy? I don't know how to do that. Today, given the choice between a brother or a sister, Ailee chose a "budder." Maryn wants to name him Humpty Dumpty.
I guess there is no turning back, now.

Nude Art

A while back, Maryn presented me with this picture.

"This is your ladybug," she said. "And this is your bellybutton, and these are your nipples." I personally love the bird feet arms and legs. What a funny kid.