Kansas City

We traveled to Kansas City for a quick little visit.

We spent a few nights in Colorado Springs visiting my family.

We got home and I spent the day cleaning and packing up…again.

Then headed out for our 9 hour drive to Kansas City for a little family reunion to celebrate James' uncle's 60th birthday party.

It was so fun!

They live on a lake and have the most amazing backyard.
This is their back yard.

This diving board is actually really high, Micah was a champ and went off the board over, and over again the first night. But wouldn't have anything to do it the second day. 

See….looking a little timid.

Fearless.

 How gorgeous is their dock?
And that man?

There was even a kiddie pool on the pontoon boat.

Did you catch that?
Grandma drinking a beer.
I love it!

This is exactly what the weekend looked like.
Just a lot of floating.

So much fun! But we were so happy to be  home. Finally!

And now that summer is coming to an end, it was a perfect way to wrap things up!
I am truly blessed to have great family surrounding me!

Breckenridge

We needed a getaway….badly.
James and I hadn't been on a vacation {just the two of us} since Micah was 6 months old. That was June of 2009.

My parents own a timeshare in Breckenridge, CO and we booked it for an entire week for only $169!
Three of the days my parents and my sister watched the kids for us.
Yes…3 days and nights alone!

We slept in.
We ate out.
We laid by the pool and sipped on frilly drinks.

Our gorgeous mountain views….poolside!

We played sudoku on the kindle…in peace and quite!
We even watched about 2 movies a day.

Bliss.

Then the crew joined us for the remaining 4 days of the rental.
Let the chaos commence.

 Ella doesn't like to share.

My brothers "vintage" lego box saved our sanity.

Our ad for apple juice.
It was HOT even in the mountains.
We had taken the kids to a little fun park, and got suckered into paying $18 to let the two boys jump in a bouncy house. We made them jump for 45 minutes so we didn't feel guilty about paying that much!

I taught Ella how to lounge.

Watching her brothers swim (constantly).

My lady bug loves her water!

Movie night….somebody loves popcorn. {No, she's nothing like me}

Pizza at Fatty's. {That's how I felt when we got home}

{No..the sun wasn't shiny RIGHT in our eyes…}

And the most fun we had was on a Chuck Wagon Dinner.

Of course we were the last to arrive so we had to wait for our wagon to make the trip back up the hill.
But it was worth the wait because we were the only ones to ride it!

Pictures do not do these mountain views justice.

The kids had SO much fun and the food was delicious.
The show was hilarious and really interactive.
Worth every cent for the ticket price.

What a great trip. We only left a day early because Ella is the worst sleeper ever.
But other than that…AMAZING trip.

473.83 Miles to Lincoln

We just took a little "vacation" to Lincoln, Nebraska. Our Grandpa Dean was being inducted into the Nebraska High School Sports Hall of Fame. It's a really big honor and we were so excited to be going. I will not lie to you; I was extremely nervous about what it might be like to spend 3 nights in a hotel room with all 5 of us. But James' prants came to the rescue and took the boys in their room for a "sleepover" for two of the three nights. So in our room it was just James, me and baby Ella. Below is a sweet picture of Josiah and Ella on our first night in Nebraska, and one of Micah and Ella on our last night. Super precious; don't you agree?

The boys must have had an awesome trip. They got to ride with Pa and Gran (who brought snacks, toys, and have a DVD player). Then they got to go swimming each day, got to choose what they ate for meals, and when we went to visit Gramps' sister they got pushed around by "Pa" in this awesome looking wheelbarrow. They lived in a perpetual state of a sugar high.

This was also the first time that the boys had the chance to see their Great Grandma Beverly's grave. Bev passed away when James and I were engaged. I didn't know her very well, but from what I hear she was the most amazing woman. A woman we can aspire to be more like. Ella Beverly was named after her as well. It was a really neat moment to have Ella's picture taken next to the one of Bev. I know one day all of the kid's will meet her, and it will be so special!

I don't know what going out to eat with your family looks like to you, but in our family it can be pure chaos. The boys were seated next to James' Grandpa Tom, who (bless his heart) let them run a muck with the water cup, milk, and straws. It kept them entertained, and kept me happy. Just look at that water, it's disgusting!

One of the toughest moments was during the actual induction ceremony. It was nearly 3 hours long and quite boring for kids. Micah was exhausted and eventually fell asleep in James' Mom's arms (he would never do that with me, and of course it made me a bit jealous). Ella had a rough time, fussed a little bit, but eventually fell asleep. Josiah took several "breaks" from the ceremony and was allowed to run around the building. Overall, they were pretty well behaved and I have to say I was quite impressed.

If you are ever driving through Paxton, NE you must stop to eat at Ole's Big Game Steakhouse. No, they don't actually serve "big game" (although they do have a Buffalo Burger), but they do have mass quantities of "big game" that have been killed by the original owner, Ole himself. They boys thought it was so fun to be there, but I doubt they had any idea these animals were once alive. There was even an elepahant and a polor bear. True Story. Ha!

In all honesty it was a really quick trip, and really stressful at times. I mean who likes to pack for 3 kids? But James and I were able to have some much needed quite time in the car together. We even had the chance to talk about hearing God's still voice, and His calling on our lives. We are so incredibly blessed to have family that we can celebrate good times with, and mourn in those hard times. I am so excited for the many trips I know we'll take as a family.

I am truly one blessed woman!