Mini vacation

We love to see new places and to experience things we have never experienced before. We try to instill in our children a love for adventure and travels and we tried to do a little of that this summer. Although it wasn't quite how we planned it and is got broken up into two parts we drove from Fort Collins to Mount Rushmore and then eventually to the pacific northwest. We drove two cars which was hard at times. I had the kids 90% of the time and we both would get very tired not having anyone next to us keeping us company, but we did plan ahead and we used walkie talkies to talk back and forth and a little bit of that made a whole lot of difference.

Our first stop was a national park about 20 miles outside of Mount Rushmore. We got to see some pretty amazing animals, buffalo, deer, some rams and a bus. If you ask Lilly she would tell you she really liked seeing all the animals but she was really excited to see a bus there. I even took a few pictures for her so she wouldn't forget what that bus looked like. There were some gorgeous views and best of all we all rode in one car through it so we could experience the beauty all together.

Next up was Mount Rushmore. Let me just say that no matter how many pictures you look at there is nothing like experiencing something like that in person. Our history is so rich and so deep and how better to learn more than to immerse yourself right there in the middle of something so grand. It was our first time and I can say that I am sure there was a bit of a child like awe in me. We went through the museum section showing Lilly things as we went and learning a few new things as we went through.



After Mount Rushmore we drove back to fort Collins for once last month of unexpected fun, before we drove to Washington.

Graduation

I am so proud of my awesome husband. I cannot say that enough. He deserves all the praise in the world for everything that he has accomplished including graduating from Colorado State University with his bachelors degree in economics and a minor in business. Although he will be going back to school in the next few years for his masters it's nice to say that for a while he's done with school. With two kids and supporting a growing family it is no easy task to achieve what he has. Congratulations!

Opa!

I have always loved the movies My Big Fat Greek Wedding. It reminds me so much of my family. Although we are not Greek and we aren't Catholic, but if you look beyond those small details there lies a perfect movie about my family. I don't kid! Which is maybe why I love Greek restaurants so much, a touch of home but then I get to go home to quiet at the end of the night.

My best girls and I had one last official night out at a new Greek restaurant in town called Taverna and let me tell you what the entertainment alone was worth it. There was music and clapping, dancing, fire spiting, and plate breaking. The food was pretty good too.

As always we had good conversation and enjoyed each others company and Kathleen who was in town for a few weeks got to join us also. She brought along Alice so it was an extra special girls night out since it was Alice's first.

I miss going out with these ladies. They keep me sane. They are always there for me and always ready to listen advice and comforting words at the draw. I can't wait till I can go back and we can have a mini reunion.

Fishy Fishy

I am so very behind on my blogging, but I have decided desktop or no desktop I will update :-)

Back in May my very good friend Kathleen was in town with her 2 kiddos. It was my first time getting to meet her newest precious addition, Alice. since she was in town and we knew we would be leaving town soon we decided to head down to the Denver aquarium and visit all of our fishy friends. We had a good time. There were a few stressful moments as crowds make me a little anxious and there were a few parts where it was pretty packed, but overall it was a great time had by all. Lilly would say her favorite part was the scuba guy who blew bubbles. She talked about him for the rest of the week. It is fun to watch as she is growing up how the experiences from the activities we do are changing. She enjoys things from a very new perspective and can pick up on more of the little things and have favorite parts. It makes our outing so much funner because they are each different even though we may have visited somewhere before.Kyle is getting to experience new things and is starting to learn about all of the wonderful things this world has to offer. The aquarium was quite exciting for him. He took it all in little by little and along the way would point to the fish and babble in excitement. He really seemed to like the sharks and turtles best. Both very good choices in my book.

It's been a while

So it's been a while since I have posted anything. Life has been a bit crazy. In May we were supposed to move, our lease was up, boxes were packed and we headed out, only to get an email 400 miles into the drive that we had to turn around and go back to Fort Collins. Turns out Ziff had one more class to take to finish his degree...talk about annoyed!

Luckily I have some of the most amazing friends. I texted one friend and she texted another and before I knew it we had places to stay for the next month. It worked out really well. A couple of friends were going out of town and we were able to house sit and a few others had some extra rooms so we bunked with them for a few nights. Not an ideal situation by any means, especially with little ones in tow, but somehow we managed. It was quite an adventure and an experience I am sure that will not be soon forgotten.

After Ziff finished his class we loaded up the car and headed up to the good ol' pacific northwest. We made a stop in Spokane to spend some time with Ziff's oldest sister Tab and her family and with my grandma. It was pretty laid back but I do have a few pics I'll post once we get our desk top set up (although it might still be a few weeks). After a great visit with them we mozied on over to Marysville where Ziff's parents and my brother are and now here we are in idle. We are hanging out. Ziff is job searching and I am doing my best to keep the kids happy and entertained.

Hopefully it won't be to much longer before we can switch from idle and start moving forward with life. I can't complain to much though we have wonderful family and friends who have blessed us beyond words in these last few months, but there comes a time when most people just want to go home and I just want to go home. Soon. Very soon.

More posts to come, but for those that actually read my blog...there is the short and sweet version of why there has been such a long hiatus.

Bowling

Thinking of new things to keep the kids entertained is a major part of a mommy's job, Improvising is another. Lilly has been struggling with playing independently and so in an effort to show her that playing is fun we mocked up a mini bowling alley right in our living room! It was so much fun and Lilly was laughing and smiling the whole time and so were Ziff and I! We really want her to learn to play independently but how could we miss this opportunity to play with her... So we joined in. We used cups for the pins and blue painting tape we had lying around to mark the spots so she could put the cups back up on her own. It was a perfect indoor family activity. It is however one of those things we have to do while Kyle naps because he thinks it's funny to knock all the cups over when you turn your back.

An adventure a day

One gorgeous, sunny, spring day we decided to venture with some friends to visit the butterflies. Lilly wore her butterfly shirt for this special occasion was so excited the whole way there she kept pointing out the window asking if the buildings she saw were where the butterflies were. We had a great time looking at all the butterflies and trying to stand super still so one might decide to land on us. We took a little break to have a mini picnic and to get all of our wiggles out in the play area. We missed the butterflies so much during that little break that we decided we needed to go back in and see them one more time. Kyle was fascinated by the butterflies and when one would catch his eye he would follow it around and then get very excited and bounce up and down. So very very cute. Lilly would get excited and gasp ever so cutely when she would spot a butterfly before me. By the end of the day the kids were exhausted, but they had a great time!