Christmas Vacation Part 4/ Final

 Two weeks into our trip, we hadn't seen any of our friends, so we contacted them and had a lot of friend time during our last week.  Unfortunately I took zero pictures during these wonderful visits.  :(  We started on Saturday (Dec. 29) by spending the day with our dear friends Nicole and Kelly.  It was so fun to have that whole day to catch up, and the kids were super excited to be reunited with their friends.

On Sunday we visited our old ward and had the chance to say hello to a lot of people that we were friends with just previous to our big move out here.  It was really neat to see so many friendly faces that day.  

After church we headed back to my mom's house to celebrate a birthday.  We really enjoyed getting to know Josh's girlfriend, Nicole, during our trip and it was fun to celebrate her birthday.  We played charades, had a nice dinner, ate cake, and played board games.

She gave the kids lots of attention, so they were completely enamoured with her.

On Monday we visited our friends Sam and Michelle during the day.  It was another wonderful friend visit.  The kids played so nicely and the adults talked and talked.  That night we celebrated New Year's Eve with Jim's family.  Again I took no pictures.  Audrey made us a nice dinner, and most played Monopoly, their traditional New Year's Eve activity.  I wasn't feeling well, so I mostly watched everyone, but it was still a nice night.

On Tuesday I visited my friend Marissa and her kids.  It was good to catch up again and our time flew by way too fast.  Then I had a date night with Josh that night; it was my Christmas present to him.  We went to Red Robin and had a nice visit.  The kids were so tired from all of our fun that both Annie and Alex fell asleep super early in the evening.  I wish I had a picture of Alex because he fell asleep standing up!  So funny.  Here's Annie where she fell asleep. 

On Wednesday I took Annie and Logan to Focus on the Family for a play date with my friend Angela and her kids.  Jim stayed back to spend the day with his brother Ben. My mom ended up with Alex all to herself that day because he was so cranky we decided to leave him for a nap.  It was so good for him.  He woke up in a great mood and was thrilled to have his grandma all to himself.  I think they both enjoyed the one on one time.  Jim enjoyed the time with his brother and I had a great visit with Angela.  I also was able to meet my dad at his uncle's house for a visit before heading back that evening.  It was so nice to have that visit with Uncle Jim and Aunt Young Hi.  Annie and Logan thought it was neat that they got to see their great-great uncle.  :)
 

That night we had an impromptu birthday party for my mom because earlier in the day I'd bought her a present (and we would be home again before her birthday).  So when we were back at her house and finished with dinner we announced that it was party time!  Luckily she'd just made cookie bars (she had no idea she was making her own birthday treat) so we put the candles in and sang to her.  :)  

Then we gave her our gift (Bubble Talk) and had a giggly time playing it.

 

 When I was trying to take the previous picture Logan and Alex kept putting their fingers in their noses, so my silly family decided this would be a good pose.

This pose had to follow of course.

On Thursday my dad took me on a date, so Jim and the kids went out to his family's place again.  My dad and I went to Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch because I'd never been there.  I'm a fan!  It was so fun to have my dad all to myself; it's so hard to get enough time with him.  Then we drove through Garden of the Gods and walked the streets of Manitou Springs.  While in Manitou he took me into a bar because we were trying to find a bathroom.  It was pretty funny because he didn't realize it was a bar when we first went in, and I've never been in a bar before.  I can now say that the one and only time I've been to a bar was when my dad took me.  :)  I really enjoyed having those hours to just talk with my dad.

On Friday we spent the day visiting our friends Mike and Laura.  The kids were again thrilled to reunite with friends, and we had such a great time talking.  They are the friends that introduced us to the way we homeschool and so it was so fun to discuss our experiences.  That evening we went back to Nicole and Kelly's to celebrate their son's birthday.  Angela and her family, as well as Michelle and Sam's family were there as well so we had a second visit with all of those friends.

On Saturday we had our last and biggest excursion.  We went to Denver with my mom, Sarah, Dave, Josh, and Nicole.  While up there we visited the aquarium, Casa Bonita, and IKEA.  It was such a fun day and we were so beat afterward.

I did take pictures this day.  :)

Piranhas!

 It's so strange to see tigers at the aquarium, but also really cool.

Check out these turtles!  We couldn't figure out what they were doing.

At the very end, there was a pool of stingrays that you could touch if you wanted.  I think Logan managed to reach one, but Annie and Alex had a problem with their arms being too short.

Casa Bonita was fun.  I haven't been there since I was a teenager and I remember loving it as a kid.  My kids were super enthralled and the food was better than I remembered it.  We enjoyed our meal (and sopapillas..yum!) from behind the waterfall.  It was a bummer not to see the divers while we ate, but the kids thought it was so cool to be behind the waterfall.

We spent quite a bit of time exploring the restaurant after our meal.  The kids loved Black Bart's Cave and watched a cheesy puppet show.  

Sorry for the blur...my phone again.  Their favorite part were the shows and cliff divers.  We managed to watch all of their short shows while we were there.

We also explored the restaurant in general.  They have so many cool themed rooms.  Here are Annie and Sarah (again blurry) having a rest.

I'm thinking these next two pictures are from our silly impromptu birthday party...

Our last day in Colorado was another Sunday.  Unfortunately, Logan and I had been up most of the night with the stomach flu and weren't feeling well, so we stayed in.  I spent most of the day in bed feeling rather yucky.  Everyone else went to church though.

That evening we had a final family dinner and game night over at Sarah's house.  I was feeling a little better, so it turned out to be a really enjoyable evening.

We headed home the next morning and had a not-so-great drive.  I guess it could have been worse, but we had a lot of whining and fighting from the backseat and also got a speeding ticket at one point.  :(  Alex actually did the best on the drive home.  He napped when he was tired and was rather cheerful otherwise.  The other two were obviously tired and cranky from so much vacation.  It's entirely possible that I was tired and cranky from so much vacation (and the stomach flu) as well.  We pulled in just before midnight and it was good to be home!

We really had a great vacation!  It was wonderful to have so much time to visit with family and friends, as well as a much needed break from the daily grind.  It was one of those trips that was so much fun that it was good to be home again.  Thanks again to everyone we saw on our trip!  We love you all!

Christmas Vacation Part 3

 I accidentally left my camera at Jim's family's home on Christmas Eve, so I have a lot of blurry pictures coming up.  My phone just doesn't take great pictures, but I wanted the documentation!

We spent Christmas morning at my mom's house.  My mom made her traditional Christmas morning breakfast: German pancakes.  The kids were excited to try those since they'd never had them.

Josh probably had the most time with us during our trip.  He managed to make himself available a lot so we were really able to enjoy him.  The kids skipped their normal mom/dad snuggle time every morning to snuggle with Josh.  He loved it.

Alex was a real ham with Dave on this trip.  He's such a fun uncle.

Alex became REALLY attached to my mom during those weeks.  

With permission, Sarah let me take her picture.  I wish this wasn't so blurry because I think it's a nice shot.  She is seriously so pretty...

We opened stockings before breakfast.  The kids were excited for the little gifts and bubble gum they found.

After breakfast we commenced another round of presents.  I was pleased that the kids didn't act spoiled with all their gifts.  I'm really glad they showed real appreciation for each one.

Silly Sarah...

My mom had to go outside for her gift from Josh and Sarah...

We had a white Christmas!  Apparently it was an even whiter Christmas at our house, but we weren't complaining.  It's been MANY years since we've seen snow on Christmas.

Annie is very interested in ballet right now, so we gave her this leotard, my mom gave her the tutu, and Audrey gave her the doll with ballet outfit.  It's time to sign a little girl up for dance lessons.  :)  I let her wear her dance outfit all day.  She was so cute and felt beautiful.

The kids had their traditional Christmas bubble bath after presents.

I love this picture of Logan.  I discovered a neat child size tool set at Lowe's AFTER I'd purchased his gift from us, so when my mom wanted a gift idea I directed her to it.  He loves it.  All the tools and gear were real, but smaller and light weight.

Alex just loved everything.  He's so easy to please.

On Christmas afternoon we headed down to my dad's house for some time with him.  I didn't take any pictures, but we had a nice visit there too.  There were a lot of people and lots of good food.  We had another round of present opening and then played their traditional 'dirty santa' game.  It's like a white elephant exchange, except it involves nicer presents.  It's pretty fun.  I enjoyed seeing both of our families for Christmas this year. 

On Wednesday and Thursday we had a couple of low-key days.  Alex had his Wednesday nap, and we dealt with some car issues: a car repair on the van, and learning that Jim's car had been towed from in front of our house while we were gone.

We did make an excursion to Seven Falls on Thursday night, but it was short.  The elevator and stairs were closed so it only took about two minutes to see everything.  I'm glad it was a night that we could pay by canned donations!  I would have wanted my money back otherwise.

A not-so-great picture in front of the falls.  I almost didn't put this up because I hate how enormous I am when I'm pregnant, so here's my self sacrifice.  :)

We spent more time in the gift shop than looking at the falls.

On Friday we had a fun day with my dad, Josh, Sarah, and Dave.  Sarah and Dave had taken Thursday and Friday off of work to spend with us, so Josh took off as well, and Dad took off on Friday.  Unfortunately Sarah wasn't feeling well on Thursday; that's why we had such a low key day.  On Friday, however we were out and about. 

We started by visiting Miramont Castle in Manitou Springs.  None of us had ever been there, so it worked out to be a neat excursion.  The first part had a fireman's exhibit...again sorry for the blurry pictures.

The rest was preserved to look as it had years before.

After visiting the castle we went out for lunch and then to Sportman's Warehouse and spent just as much time looking around in there.  :)  The last thing we did was visit I Top It which was a new experience for my family.  It's a frozen yogurt place where you built your own treat and they charge you by weight at the end.  I thought it was neat.  If only we'd been better judges of how much was enough...first time experience I guess!