Adventurous week!

My parents drove out to see us for a week at the beginning of October. It was a fun week which brought us heat and freezing cold conditions at the same time. Colorado is just Bipolar, it's too bad the weather can't take a pill to make it happy. :p

 They got in Sunday night after the kids went to bed, but Monday was like a huge party. Like most grandparents Nana and Opa came bearing gifts! They got color books galore, their own rayon roll ups for church, and a curious George matching puzzle. Riley Played the matching puzzle at least once every day with Opa. Here are some cute pictures I got of them spending time together! :)

Our first adventure on Tuesday took us to Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. It was a gorgeous day (around 70 degree weather) and the kids loved running around and exploring.

The next day, Wednesday (I was not able to get pictures), we explored downtown Castle Rock. It got up to 80 degrees. It heated up fast causing us to shorten our day quickly! We were able to stop by the Republican party office to stock up on our bumper stickers and yard signs. Even though my parents know they're vote doesn't count in the state of Oregon, they were happy to finally be somewhere where they could get some representation. My mom and I also got to explore the antique barn store, which is my current favorite place to frequent.


Thursday was an excursion to Golden Colorado. This day ended up being around 50 degrees with a nice arctic wind. We were definitely not prepared for this weather and found ourselves running into a sports shop raiding the clearance rack for warm coats. We had fun wandering around some old homesteads, a school, and chicken coops. My mom and I even attempted to go inside a quilt museum until the ladies at the counter began to talk. I overheard one of them say "When I was working in the Littleton school district I couldn't believe how suppressed the young girls of the Mormon church are. Their parents don't let their girls become what they want to become. When they would come in.... " That's when my mind tuned out and I found my self saying louder and louder "that's not true, that's not true, that's not true. I am Mormon and that it not true!" The  ladies then said they were sorry and the one who started the conversation then said "Well the more devout Mormons.." I don't know why I didn't give them more info and my mom didn't even hear them until I blurted out. I just had the feeling to let it go and we went on our marry way. I wish more people knew that it is a choice that we put our families first and our career second. Instead of career first and then family. I know every one has different circumstance, but I am thankful that Brandon's job gets us by each week so that I can be home.:)

This picture has a great story to go with it. It looks like Riley is having fun running around. In all actuality he is trying not to pee. There was no bathroom close by and the inevitable happened. We got outside and he peed standing next to Opa. Luckily I had brought him a back up pair of clothing. Thinking that he would not do it again we went back to exploring. As we were wrapping up our time at this park he decided he needed to go again. This time I found a secluded place along the trail for him to pee. Unfortunately he decided not to aim and soaked himself again. Needless to say I was a very unhappy mommy and everyone in the park knew about it.

School House

School house teacher.

Me taking a picture of my mom who is taking a picture of me through the chicken coop! :)

Lorelei was crying at my feet and did not want to be in the picture.

Here is a small series of Lorelei crying. This happened throughout our adventure and very frequently. She wanted Mommy to hold her the whole time. Add this with the pee and you get a really cranky mom.

 

 After Riley ran out of clothes we packed up into the car headed to Arvada for our German Bakery. I stayed in the car with kids while my parents got the goods. Luckily Lorelei feel asleep and Riley for the most part stayed in his car seat. Thank heaven for tinted windows because Riley was not appropriately dressed.

Friday I was ready for anything. We had coats, two pairs of clothes instead of one, and I gave Riley less water to drink. I am proud to say that our day at cripple creek was a success. The kids behaved, Riley had no accidents, and we tired them out! Our first stop in Cripple Creek was the Molly Kathleen Mine. We learned that she was the first women to own her own mine and we got to go down and see it. I was totally fine at first, being slowly taken down a dark hole into mother earth. Then the tour guide told us that we would be descending a 1000 feet underground. Once in the mine we heard explosions, it was a little creepy. Over all it was fun and the kids actually enjoyed it. Riley loved wearing the miners hat and the ride on the air powered tram-air-locomotive. Brandon was sad he missed it due to deadlines at work, but I made him feel better when I brought him home a raw specimen of Gold.

After a bite at a small pub in town we headed to the the Bull Hill Railroad Station. The kids had a lot of fun on the Steam locomotive and the adults had fun learning about how cripple creek came to be and about the mining towns that once existed. 

 Did you know that Cripple Creek also had the first American Doctor as well? Her name was Dr. Susan Anderson.  Doctor Quinn Medicine Women is loosely based off of her life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Unfortunately like all fun vacations they have to come to an end. Saturday morning we had to say goodbye to Nana and Opa. Now we are just counting down the days until we see them again! :) Thank you for spoiling us and patching the whole in our wall. You guys are lifesavers!

Color me RAD!

I have been in a running mood lately and decided to sign up for a fun run. I cam across color me RAD for September 25. Throughout the race, they throw colored corn starch at you, or spray it at you with a watered down version, out of a weed killer bottle. (There was no weed killer, but the vessel was the same.) I was so excited that Jana and her friend Mandy wanted to do it with me. We had a blast running, walking, and blasting each other with color. We even enjoyed talking and eating afterwards while watching the traffic madness around us.It was a gorgeous day and I can honestly say I had so much fun! I also had blue armpits for two days in a row.

Before the race.

After the race! :)

Thanks Jana and Mandy! I hope we are all around to this again next year! :)

A new home in Castle Rock

It's that time of year again for family pictures! It so much fun to do these and compare them to the past years. I went back to the same photographer we had before Lorelei was born. She does an amazing job and is so much fun to work with. I don't know how she does it, but somehow she catches my kids good side. We took them in downtown Castle Rock. I love the feel of this area and wanted to make it a part of us. Now we have the small town feel with city not too far away. We are also the halfway point from Denver and Colorado Springs. This gives us great options for day trips in either direction! :)

 

 

 

 

Clowning around!

 Contrary to what you may think, we really aren't that boring. We have our days of insanity and fun! Here are some shots from our secret family vault. 

Sometimes I have to overcome how I look and join in on the fun!

It's not every day mom lets us jump on the bed.

Who said toy cars didn't make good sunglasses and nose shades?!?!

Cats aren't the only ones who lick their young.

Riley, at the end of a blue tunnel.

Daddy made a face at me.

This is how I responded.

Living in a dream!

I have a thing for old houses and mansions. A couple of years ago the city of Highlands Ranch bought this mansion with plans to renovate it, and opened it to the public. This summer was it's grand opening. I have been wanting to see this building up close for years. I even took my parents to see it in the past, but it was owned by Shae Properties ( a home builder) and they kept it locked. Now you can wander around the grounds and enjoy it's grandeur. We decided to make the adventure a picnic!

Lorelei and Riley Loved the stairs. I guess we need a huge house and yard full of stairs.

Looking for the perfect spot for lunch.

Love, Love, Love the detail on this door!

We had the whole place to ourselves. It really felt like we lived here. It almost felt like I walked into my own version of the secret garden.

My kids had to explore every ounce of the property, even if it meant peaking through the windows. 

You are how old?

Our Lolly is 19 months old today. During her 18 month check up she got 4 shots and handled them well at the time. The rest of the week she was cranky and clingy (but she's always clingy). Lolly loves playing with her baby doll and mimicking her brother. She can put two words together and sometimes surprise Brandon and I with a full sentence. (They are rare, but catch us off guard when used.) Her favorite words are, mama, daddy, no, up, dog, duck, uh-oh, snack(fruit snack), milk, baby and wow. As you can see she even has enough hair for us to put two pig tails at the top of her head! We also get to drop her off at Nursery on Sunday's which is a sigh of relief. I just can't walk into her classroom for the fear of a meltdown. Brandon and I cannot believe how fast the years pass.

The Smith Family Reunion

We were able to take a week vacation to Southern California for a Smith family reunion at the end of July. (Brandon's grandparents on his mothers side!) We started traveling Friday night and did not stop until we reached saint George at 5:00 in the morning. Brandon and I wanted to get some rest so we parked right outside the Temple and got about one hour of a break before the kids got up.

We also had a run in with an old Lady. Our little family had just finished our pop tart breakfast and began assembling ourselves for the next couple of hours to Las Vegas. All of a sudden someone was honking at us. I looked behind the van to see this elderly lady very upset. I told Brandon that she wanted our space, but that she will have to wait until we were ready. The Lady kept inching her way forward and staring us down. I finally decided to approach her. She rolled down her window and I said "I am sorry it is taking us a while, but we will be done soon." She then looked at at me and said "Do you think you could hurry it up?" I gulped down my sass pot attitude and found myself saying this "You know what? The Next time I see you in Heaven I will be sure to give you a BIG Hug." The lady then looked at me again with a sarcastic tone "Oh aren't you just sweet." I walked away and Brandon and I just got a good laugh out of it. How often do you find people attending the temple mad? 

Once we made it to Las Vegas we killed some time visiting the Hoover damn. All I can say is that it is huge, it was hot, but I loved the color of the water! It was a refreshing difference to the multiple shades of brown. 

 After an hour we decided it was time to head to the Hotel. We found great deal for the Excalibur online and were determined to have a good time. Well, the Excalibur was NOT worth the money even with a discount. The all you could eat salad bar was awful and the weather was HOT, HOT, HOT. Riley and Lorelei did not fair well and Riley got over heated and passed out for a couple of minutes until Brandon poured ice cold water on his head.

 (Can you believe this statue of Liberty is solidly made up of Jelly Bellies?!?!? I had to take picture seems how I am a big Jelly Belly fan!)

 

Sunday Morning we went Ihop for breakfast and continued our journey to California.We arrived at Mimi and Papa's house for some fun. We spent our nights at Uncle Kurt and Aunt Debbie Moorse's house. Over the course of three day's we had fun with Brandon' aunt's, uncle's, cousins, cousins spouses, and all of their children. I had so much fun meeting all of them and wishing I could spend time with them again. 

Riley really attached himself to Papa.

 

from left to right: Riley, Lorelei, Landon, Joel, Will, Ava and Grant. 

After three days the Henderson Clan broke off to spend a few days in Uncle Deans Beach house. We had a blast at the beach and playing in the back yard. The kids really enjoyed watching their movies on the indoor theater and spending time one with another. Friendships definitely were formed on this vacation. 

On our trek home we got to spend a night at my Aunt Laurie's house. It was fun to chat and catch up with her and see a couple of my cousins. On Sunday morning we headed out as they headed to church. Brandon and I decided that a detour was in order. We decided to tack on a couple of hours by driving through Zion's National park. It was definitely rock Heaven. Brandon loved getting a few souvenirs for himself and I had fun trying to capture the beauty around us.

By the end of the trip, we were exhausted and worn out. The whole week was packed with things here and there. We had some tears, frustrations, laughs, and booboo's, but came away with a lot of good memories.