Breckenridge

We spent the past week in Breckenridge on family vacation with Monica's family, and had a great time!  One day we even rented a boat, and the kids loved it!  I don't think they've ever been on a boat before, but they had a blast, especially when we sat in the front.  We stayed in a cabin up by the ski resort.  We definitely want to go back and visit again some time.

On Monday morning the kids snatched our bed!  They were very excited to go on vacation.

While we were getting ready, Winry got sad, and after holding her for a little Monica needed to continues getting things ready.  Brooke volunteered to hold Winry, and Winry was perfectly happy sitting on the couch with Brooke!  What a great big sister.  She even read to her a little.

In the early afternoon we made it to the cabin!

There was a little trike in the garage that Brooke was very interested in.  She rode it around a few times throughout the week and had tons of fun each time.  They also had that little roller coaster thing, and she really liked riding that too.

On Tuesday morning we headed to the lake.  We tried to get a boat rental, but they were all full for the morning, so we played at the playground for a while.  Winry loved chucking sand.

The kids also rode on the swings for a little while before we headed down to the lake. 

We'd seen online that there was a good beach at the lake, but nothing said where it was.  Well, it wasn't at this spot (Dillon Marina), but we made the most of it.  The kids had a lot of fun playing in the water, and Winry, well she threw rocks (and had her diaper talked about).  Also, the water was FREEZING cold!!  There was also some fishing, which Brooke had a blast with.  It consisted of throwing out a line and reeling it in.  No fish were caught, but Brooke loved it none-the-less. 

That afternoon I took a nap with Winry in the afternoon (I was sick, remember), and when I woke up there was a water fight brewing in the back yard.  Tricky thing about water fights and 3 year olds is that you can't get the 3 year olds wet...  I think most of the kids had fun, though there was some crying, and mostly ganging up on adults.

On Wednesday we went back to the lake for our boat rental at Frisco, and not only did they have a boat but they also had the good beach.  We didn't go to this beach at all though.  Upon arriving we parked next to a car that had a door mat outside the driver door.  Well, I know how to use those!  Thank you, fair citizen!  Also, it was not trash, and belonged to this car because when we came back both the car and door mat were gone.

We headed out on the boat and the kids had a hoot!  Winry loved looking over the edge and kept saying "Wa wa" when she'd see the lake (which, when you are in the middle of a lake is very often).  And Brooke said this.  She was really excited to tell us all about being on a boat, and it was very cute, especially when she tried to duck out of the video at the end.  There wasn't a boat big enough for the whole family to go on, so we got one for two hours and were going to send out two groups for an hour each.  We were in the first group, and our kids loved it so much they got to go out again for the second hour.  Monica got to go with them too, and I was left ashore!  It was a lot of fun on the boat, but I didn't mind as I was very tired.

Wednesday was the 24th, and therefore, Pioneer Day!  So our family tradition is to make biscuits and home made butter.  We had to make a lot more than usual, but Monica got all of the kids to help put in ingredients, mix, and cut the dough.  Then, while the biscuits were baking we got out the heavy cream to make butter.  I helped Winry shake her jar.

All the kids had a good time shaking up their butter, and formed a wild rumpus around the table on the deck.  There were a lot of wild rumpuses, which happened whenever all of the kids paraded around the table in a line.  Typical wild rumpus times were during meals, and.... well... typically just meals.  That was usually when all of the kids were out there together.

On Thursday morning Winry threw a cap on backward cause it was time to throw a dance party!!  Oh my did the kids have a lot of fun dancing!  It was a good distraction while the adults finished getting things ready to go.

We headed out to Burro Trail to go for a hike.  Our family made it about a mile and a half round trip, and we were the first to turn around since Winry totally lost it.  She was in a hiking backpack and didn't even need to do anything.  She just sat up there and ate snacks, and probably drooled on the back of my head.  Anyway, right before we got back to the car we crossed this stream and let the kids play.  This was a mistake because we were NOT there long enough, and Winry LOST it when we left.  She cried "wa-wa" all the way back to the car...

To make it up to the kids, I took them on the gondola back up to where we were staying.  Breckenridge has free public transportation, which includes buses and more importantly, a gondola.  And the last stop was maybe a half mile from where we were staying.  So Monica dropped us off at the bottom, and drove back and made lunch while we rode up and walked home.  It was a lot of fun, and the girls were really excited to ride.

That evening we went to dinner at Fatty's in Breckenridge.  We ordered some pizzas to share, and while waiting for our food Winry was just losing it.  I tried walking around with her but that made it worse, so we came back and ate Parmesan cheese.  Sometimes, it's just whatever makes you happy.

Hum... I just realized I dropped the dance party video on the wrong day, because we made the tie-dye shirts on Thursday and all the kids wore them Friday.  So that video was definitely Friday, however, I like the backwards hat tie in, so I'll let me story stand.  Anyway, on Thursday afternoon the kids made tie dye shirts!  Monica and I stayed up late that night and partied in the hot tub until the shirts were ready to be washed.  They were all ready to be worn come Friday morning, and the kids loved em!!

On Friday we walked up to the gondola stop and rode back down to the town.  The plan was to walk around main street and head back for lunch.  Monica drove down because she gets motion sick, and our departure for the gondola was about an hour late, so when we got down there Winry was ready for her nap, so we walked back to our car and headed back for lunch.  But you know what, ride the gondola at every opportunity (it's free!).

Down by where we were parked there was a jerky cart, and this is where we parted ways with everyone else.  The real reason I took this picture is because I loved the wheel!  I like the wagon wheel just set on the outside of the actual wheel so it looks like a cart.  Bravo jerky man, bravo.

I totally missed this, but that afternoon Brooke read her Aladdin book to baby Laura.  Very cute.  She was reading it to everyone all week and almost has the whole thing memorized.  She even "taught" Audrey how to read by reciting the book to her!

Friday afternoon Pop took all the kids to get slurpees, because that's what grandpas do!  Brooke got blue raspberry and loved every drop.  She also had a very blue tongue.

And on Saturday morning it was crazy that it was already Saturday morning!!  The week flew by!  We packed up our things and it was time to say bye.  Winry really wanted to go home with Gram, as can be seen here.

Brooke gave everyone a hug, and we have many hug pictures, but I wanted to include her and Audrey because they are the best little friends in the world!  They had so much fun together all week long.

The drive back felt amazingly short, and on Saturday my previous sickness worked its way into a sinus infection!  I'm sure I'll feel better some day, but I wish that day was a few days ago...  Anyway, when we got home we put Winry down for a nap, and when she woke up we headed to the Ropers for a BBQ!  We stayed and hung out until Brooke was telling us she needed to go home for bed  (I should mention this was only a little after 5 pm!).  When we got home we did baths, got on pajamas, and then remembered we needed to check our garden.  Strawberries!!  First fruits of the year!  And they were so flavorful!  Definitely worth the excitement Brooke showed.

And that night after the kids went to bed it started raining, and there was a super bright rainbow in the sky!  There was even a double rainbow, though you cant really see it in this picture.

I went with Winry to nursery again today, and I didn't even try to leave.  She had a pretty rough go in sacrament meeting, so I knew it wouldn't end well.  When I got back from meeting with the missionaries after church Brooke was nowhere to be found, and I asked if she took a nap.  There had been a little tantrum/melt down, and Brooke had gone to her room to rest for a while.  What was the issue? "I don't like how much five is."  We taught Brooke how to play go fish yesterday, and she wanted to play again today.  Brooke asked Monica what the rules said for cards to deal, and Monica checked and said 5, so Brooke dealt 5 cards to each of them, and then yelled "I don't like how much five is" and started crying and was inconsolable!  Cant say we've ever had that issue before!  I just hope Brooke can get over this hurdle before she has so start math in school!

Well, that basically brings us up to the current moment, so that's all I've got for this week. Hope you all have a good one!

Melon Munching

Howdy howdy y'all!  Summer is out in full force (again), so we've been getting into summer living!  Monica went to the rec center to exercise with some friends on Monday, and when they came out there was free lunch at the park that is there!  And who could say no to some watermelon?  Not this little Bubs!!  Winry loves watermelon, and who can blame her.  Everyone had a fabulous time.

Winry has been exploring the potty a little bit this past week.  She is definitely started to get interested.  Who knows if that will turn into anything helpful like potty training, but at least the interest is starting to show.

At work this past week I got a fancy liquid cooler for the hardware I was working on.  I can't talk about exactly what is going on in this picture, but I really liked the heatsink zip tied down to my experiment!  It's been working great so far!

Brooke has gone a whole month leaving her blankie in her bed!!  As her reward she wanted a Cinderella dress!  While she was wearing it she'd even say "dad, please call me Cinderella" if I ever said Brooke.  She showed it off with some princess spins, and when I got home from work we danced at the royal ball!  She's been loving being a princess so much!

Monica took the kids to "baby" story time at the library this past week.  It was focused to littler kids.  But on the bright side, all of the big kids got to hold stuffed animals so they had babies to help with the activities too!  They sang lots of songs, and Brooke had a great time showing off her motherly instincts.

Our garden continues to grow.  The weeds are unreal, and I'm sure Monica would agree, but here are our strawberries!!  Unfortunately, we always have squirrels running around on our fence, so we're worried that we might not get anything to ourselves this year... 

On Saturday we headed up to Ft Collins so that Monica and I could go to the temple.  The Denver temple is closed for like 3 months, so we're planning to make a few trips up.  Monica and I took turns in the temple, and while I was in Monica took the kids to the library up there, and they loved it!  When Monica went in I took the kids to lunch (Monica said it was okay that she didn't come).  We went to Tom+Chee and it was great!  I think we all had a great time up there.  On the drive home Google auto-changed our route to speed us up and we took 270-225 instead of heading down I25.  As we got off onto 270 we drove into some really heavy rain.  This morning Monica saw a news article that said the rain was so hard on I25 that there were feet of built up water on the road and traffic was stopped for miles with cars trying to get through.  Glad we took the alternate route!

That evening I took the girls to the park.  They rode on the bouncy animals and had a wonderful time.  I think this is one of Winry's first times.

And Brooke was rocking like crazy!!  Like she owned the place.

We also went down some slides there, and Winry went down them all by herself!  Maybe someday Brooke will do that too...  We didn't get to stay for too long because we started to hear thunder.  I put the rain cover on the stroller and we headed for home, and about half way back it started to rain on us.  Good thing we came prepared!  It was a fun walk in the rain home though!

I woke up sick today, so Monica took the girls to church, and I stayed home and watched Elder Hollands General Conference talk from this past April.  It was so good, and it was a great reminder about the importance of the sacrament and what we do on Sunday to prioritize it.  I also really liked his descriptions of the Atonement, and I really felt it helped me understand more deeply the importance of the Sacrament and what Jesus did for all of us.  I encourage you all to go read or watch it.  I know that Jesus Christ suffered for our sins, and is our Savior.  I know that He loves us and through the Atonement we can return to live with Him and God again.  I encourage everyone to take time to ponder how the Atonement has changed your life, and how you can properly take the time to show your gratitude for all the Savior has done for us each week as you prepare to partake of the Sacrament.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Naadam!

Tavtai saihan zuuljin uu?!  Naadam started this past week!  This year we one-up'd our celebration game and actually invited people!  Of course a thunder storm rolled in just in time for the party, so we ended up moving it to the church.  I brought Mongolian clothes so that people could put them on and take pictures, and everyone wanted to see how to put them on, so I did, and then all of the kids ran over and took a picture with me.  Not quite what I imagined, but good times nonetheless.  We'll talk more about Naadam later though.

On Monday I had to go pick up some hardware that had arrived and bring it over to the building I work in.  Each of those boxes is worth more than my car.  I know that's not saying much, since that's a 1999 Corolla, but still!  Combined they are worth more than most new cars.  I don't think I'm allowed to say what's in there though.

On Monday we also got a trampoline!!  We promised Brooke months ago that if she stopped jumping on the couch we'd get her a trampoline.  She immediately stopped and hasn't jumped on the couch since.  I happened to remember the promise we made at the end of last week, so I ordered a little trampoline and it came Monday.  The girls helped me put it together, and by help I mean Winry grabbed pieces and ran around the yard, and Brooke chased her trying to get them back so we'd have time to jump before bed.  They had a wonderful time though Winry was still getting used to it!  We've played in the back yard on the trampoline and the swing just about every day this week.  The swing is a nice way to help the kids take turns, which lets Winry actually get some jumps in.  And sometimes... well, sometimes the trampoline is just the best place to have fun.  "Poke the belly button" is a new game.

On Tuesday, Monica took the kids to the museum.  They went to see the dinosaurs very first, and in the kids area in the exhibit they had a puppet show place.  I wish I could have seen the show, I'm sure it was entertaining.

And the girls got to sit on "goat" chairs while looking at these... goats?  I"m not sure what that is.(Come on, they're llamas!!)

While the heat has been high, we've enjoyed our little pool in the back yard.  Also, We got Winry a matching Purrr-Maid swim suit, so now Brooke and Winry can match.  I think Brooke was more excited about this than Winry.

Winry has started to love taking stuffed animals with her for her naps and bed.  This past week she needed everyone, and hugged them tight.  This is typically how I leave her, curled up, hugging all her stuffed animals, and sometimes laughing.

This past week, my Trogdor board game fimally came!  That was almost a year in the making.  The hardest part of the game was definitely trying to pick which Trogdor meeple to use... So many decisions.  It was a pretty fun game, but we lost...  I guess our Vs weren't consummate enough.

On Friday night for date night, Monica took me to a surprise location.  It is called Game Train USA, and it's a restaurant with board games.  It was a full restaurant, and they have over 400 games.  We didn't get food as we went after eating dinner with the kids, but we did get an appetizer and dessert, and everyone else's food looked really good.  We played Sagrada (Monica won), Azul (Alex won), Onitama (Alex won) and Fox in the Forest (tied).  Also, the pretzels were great, and our dessert was sticky toffee pudding with a root beer caramel sauce and it was amazing!  We'll definitely have to head back soon.

Also, the room is designed to look like a train car.  You can see the "window" in the background.  They had TVs in the wall with videos from outside of a train, and there were train track sounds playing.  It was pretty neat.

On Saturday morning I took the girls out for an 8 mile run, and when we got home they were exhausted!  You'd think they had pushed me in the stroller!

Brooke had her first hair cut on Saturday.  Here's the final product.  She had been a little nervous about it, and I don't thinks she believed us that it wouldn't hurt because as Monica cut the first bit of hair she said "Hey, that doesn't hurt!!"

And Saturday night we celebrated Naadam.  We invited some of our friends from the ward to come, and we had a bow and arrow to do archery.  An arm wrestling tournament was discussed, but never happened, and Brooke and I had a "horse race" crab walk style.  Naadam celebrates the three "Manly Sports" of archery, horseback riding, and wrestling.  So those were our takes on each.  Everyone had a great time, and we made huushuur for everyone.  We don't have any pictures because we were late and in a huge hurry!  But we made almost 40 in total.  And everyone loved them too!  Also, here's a little video I found with some clips of this years Naadam opening ceremony in Mongolia.

Today was Winry's first day in nursery at church!  She did a great job, and I didn't even have to stay in with her the whole time.  However, it would appear that shortly after I left she had to sit in Sister Smith's lap for the rest of nursery.  But she was happy!  And I think that's everything for this week.

The Girls' First Firework Show

Hey all!  We had a great 4th of July week out here with quite a lot going on.  We were busy with all kinds of activities throughout the week, and I am TIRED today!  I would like to take a nap, but I feel I should write this instead.  My work has a big Independence day party every other year, and we were able to stay all the way until the fireworks at the end this year!  Here we all are enjoying the show during one of the brighter fireworks.  I'll admit that I don't 100% understand the nuances of the physics of light, but I'm not sure how only my face didn't light up... oh well.  You can see my nose a little.

On Monday for our FHE activity we went bowling.  This is a favorite of Brooke's.  She still gets the ball slide thing and bumpers.  She had a blast while we were there!  Winry even found a new game to play!  For my very last frame I let Winry bowl for me, which was maybe not a good idea because then she did NOT want to leave!  Everyone had a really great time, and we'll have to head back again soon.

On Tuesday right after dinner I took the kids to the park to play on the playground and fly a kite!  There was a pretty good breeze, which is possibly the first time ever the wind has cooperated when we had our kite with us.  Brooke got her longest flight in to date!

When it was time to go Winry wanted to give things a try before we headed home.  Almost....

Brooke is in a summer dance class, and she is learning some tap in her class.  She really likes it, and she is definitely getting into the spirit of tap!  She was really hammering down!  I can't wait for her next dance recital, though I suppose a little more control would be good between now and then.

That night was the SEAKR Independence Day party!  It was so fun!  They had lots of great things for the kids to enjoy.  They had a bounce house, which the kids enjoyed briefly while no one else was in there.

There was also probably the best balloon animal guy I've ever seen!  He made Brooke a flamingo and Winry an elephant.  They were incredible!  We also saw a bunch of other cool things like air planes, butterflies, and the like.

After doing a few activities, it was time for dinner.  They had the standard fair of hot dogs, hamburgers, pulled pork, and sides.  They also had the SEAKR band there, and the whole family enjoyed the music, but Winry really got caught by it.

They had supplies to decorate your bike, and then a bike parade.  We decked Brooke's bike out and then she got to ride around the parking lot so everyone could see it!

And after that we had dessert and found a spot in the grass to lay, play and wait for the fireworks.  Brooke really wanted to wrap up in a blanket and be cozy while she waited.

And Winry was kind of all over, but did spend some time sitting.

We had to wait a couple hours, and the time flew by.  We all had a lot of fun playing together, the kids were great, and everyone stayed up the whole time.  No crying or whining, just a great time together as a family.  And then, just after it got dark, the fireworks started!!  Brooke had ear plugs, and Winry had her over the ear sound dampener things.  Winry was completely enthralled the entire show, and just loved every second of it!  Monica was holding Brooke and sitting slightly behind me, so I don't know exactly what was going on back there,  but Brooke seemed to have a good time!

The next morning was the 4th of July, so we had flag pancakes for breakfast!!

Then we broke tradition, and instead of going to the ward breakfast we headed to downtown Parker for Brooke's very first race!!  She was so excited, and I think we might have a new tradition.  I think I really want to run the 5k in the future too!  Brooke did a great job of warming up before the race so she was all ready.

Then when it was the actual time for the race, she nailed it!!  She did great and has such a fun time out there.  The race was probably about 0.2 miles, and we've been training for it recently.  When we go running together she's recently wanted to start getting out and running for a little while during my run, which is what inspired signing her up for her first race.  Her number from the race is currently hanging up on our fridge!

We celebrated her speed by heading over to the pool after.  It wasn't a particularly warm morning, and it's been stormy most afternoons for the last while, so it wasn't super warm, and the water was rather cold, but we had a great time nonetheless.

And that evening we headed to the Wilkes' house for dinner.  We had a great time and had a special family recipe. for dinner.  When we got home we turned the kids noise makers up all the way to try to help them sleep through the fireworks.  It worked for Winry, but fireworks started before Brooke fell asleep, so then it was "too loud." She did eventually fall asleep, but she was up pretty late.

Then, to cap off the week my mom and sister, Oriah, and her kids came out to visit on Saturday.  Michael's parents live down in Colorado Springs, so they were coming out to visit them and stopped by our house along the way.  We had fun playing in our little pool in the back yard, went to Butterfields for ice cream for an afternoon snack, and roasted hot dogs over a fire in the back yard for dinner!  It was a pretty full day, but it was a lot of fun. 

Oriah sent me some pictures she took, so here's Jonathan, Cameron and Brooke drying off after swimming.

And Winry and William playing in the water table together.

They spent the night, which encouraged us to install a toilet and vanity/sink in the basement bathroom on Friday night (but we still don't have a bathroom door...), and came to church with us today.  They continued their journey south after church, and now everyone is relaxing and recuperating from a busy week of fun.