Family Summer Vacation - Part 4

So Thursday morning, after breakfast, we headed to the United States Airforce Academy. You probably know that Holden LOVES airplaness, so my sister suggested this place. And it was perfect. We enjoyed strolling around as much as Holden did. It was nestled among the mountains and a great view from every angle. Jeremy and I both began daydreaming of Holden going to college there. And how cute it was going to be because we would have all of these pictures taken from our visit when he was only 2 years old. Whoa! We got way ahead of ourselves. I promise we won't force our children to go to military school. But it just seemed like a cool place. And Holden seemed to agree.

Here we are watching the cadets marching. I realize from this picture that I HATE my hair. I look like a skunk. Why didn't anyone tell me? It's changing soon. Bleh!This was our view of the cadets.

Holden practicing his military march.
Paxton terribly wanted to join in on this military march

Ah, the nice view of the mountains. And of course, me with my sweet boy.
Holden and Jeremy are posing by daddy's plane. Ha! I like to take possession and call it Jeremy's plane. It's nowhere close to Jeremy's plane. I think he does some kind of work on this type of plane. Honestly, I'm not really sure what Jeremy does at work. :)

Some other pictures from our time at the Academy:

So this was our final day in The Springs. And honestly, I wasn't ready to leave. I hate when vacations end. The only thing that kept me going was knowing about our little detour on our drive back to Texas. Holden and Pax would finally get to meet their new friend. They had heard about her for months and now it was almost time to see her face in person. And that little visit deserves a post all it's own. Until next time. . .

Family Summer Vacation - Part 3

Getting bored with this yet? Well, on Wednesday of vacation week we went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. Hands down, the best zoo I've ever visited. It was up in the mountains and it was a cooler day. I felt like we should have all brought jackets. There were some chilly moments, but the weather was perfect. And it was a good workout with the hilly terrain. Especially for Jeremy since he pulled the wagon that we had rented for the day. The boys + a wagon are quite a combo going uphill.
One of the most exciting features of the zoo, was being inches from the giraffes and being able to feed them crackers. Holden was so brave and loved it so much we did it twice. Can you believe how close they are? I took about a bajillion pictures of this, but I will spare you the repetition and show just one more. And a few other pictures from our day at the zoo:

Exiting the zoo. Pretty sure he had a fun day!

Next stop: the Airforce Academy. Holden is now enrolled for the graduating class of 2030.

Family Summer Vacation - Part 2

So Tuesday morning we left Uncle Loren, Aunt Mandy, Hopie, Bella and Ava and headed to Colorado Springs. First stop: Focus on the Family. The entire downstairs was created for children. And it's pretty amazing. They have something for every age. I think the boys will enjoy it even more in a few years. But they loved running around freely, enjoying the play areas and stopping for icecream. There was much to see and do at this fun, little place. And I'm positive that we will be making more trips here in future years.

A little sugar right before afternoon naps. There is no cost to tour the facility or to come and play. That's right, it is completely free, which seems so generous to me. But then they have an enormous bookstore for suckers like me. So we left with a couple of souveniers for the boys. A Veggie Tales sing along DVD and a Veggie Tales book. Jeremy or I may one day regret the DVD purchase when we can't stop singing Love My Lips. After naps and dinner out on Tuesday, our evening was spent like this.

With daily evening showers in the area, we were elated for the indoor pool. So we soaked up the fun that offered. On Wednesday we headed to the amazing Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. More on that later ...

Family Summer Vacation - Part 1

We returned home last night from our little family getaway. It was really, really great! It was nice to spend the time concentrating on just the 4 of us being together. I took over 250 pictures on this trip. I won't bore you with all of them. But I am sharing alot, so I will be doing a few posts over the next few days, as time allows. Otherwise, it will be one big, fat post and that's just too overwhelming to me at this point.
So we left last Friday night at the boys bedtime (7:30pm). That should have put us rolling into Canon City, CO at 6:30am (since we would lose an hour moving into mountain time). We thought the boys would quickly drift off to sleep since it was bedtime. I remember laughing because at 9pm they were both happily jabbering away. But the happy travels didn't last forever. Lets just say we won't be doing anymore middle of the night driving. If I'm going to be unbuckling my seatbelt every 15 minutes to reinsert a paci (for Pax), then it might as well be 2pm instead of 2am. On the way there, he was a terrible traveler. In his defense, we found out he was poopy at one of our stops (around 1am, I believe). And my guess is that he had been sitting in that poo for 4 hours. Eeek! He drifted off to sleep for several hours after that diaper change. Our bad. I think we made it to Canon City at 6am with a couple of brief stops along the way. And there, our fun began with my sister and her family. We had a relaxing first day at their house and took some naps. Some of us more than others (Jeremy hardly remembers anything about this day, though he had conversations with me and others. He can not recall them.) My sister and I, with her big girls, went to the farmer's market in town, which was fun. All the while, the boys and babies napped at home. We went to church with them on Sunday, where 2 of my boys sported their pink. I had to ask Jeremy's permission to play matchy matchy. He gave me the okay.

We were able to meet their wonderful friends that we've heard so much about. And I know they are more like family to one another. Sunday was the 4th of July and it was lots of fun. Relaxing. We stayed around the house. Loren cooked brawts and burgers. We played outside and enjoyed a nice Colorado summer day. The weather felt amazing for our entire stay! You gotta love Colorado summers!

Paxton enjoyed the company of his cousin, Ava. They shared paci's, beds, diapers and all sorts of things during their week together.

I have no idea why Holden has his tongue out in some of these pictures. Weird. I'm just happy he will look at my camera. Sometimes. When he feels like it. :)

That night the fireworks began. Since we stayed home, we put the babies to bed at their normal time. Now, fireworks are my favorite part of this holiday! Holden started out timid.

Notice Bella holding his onto his arm to comfort him. So blasted sweet!

By the end of the night, he was a brave little boy and held his first sparkler (with daddy's help). Everyone was so proud of him!

And a few other pictures from our time in Canon City:

This is how the kiddos slept. Hopie's eyes are open, but yes she is asleep. :)

Uncle Loren getting some cuddle time from Holden.

Pax pulling up on anything he can get his hands on. In this picture, it's his daddy's leg.

4 little cousins.

Holden was unwilling to participate in this photo. :) This was taken on Tuesday morning. And right after we snapped this photo, Jeremy and I loaded the boys into the car and made a short drive to Colorado Springs where we spent the next leg of our fun getaway. Stay tuned.

Vacationville!

Summer vacay for my little family is right around the corner. And we can't wait! Jeremy has been working his little tail off and we are ready to relax. All 4 of us. Together for 9 days. No one goes to work. No one cooks. No one cleans. Just some serious family fun time. I can't wait for it to begin. We are headed to The Springs! (As my Colorado sister calls it.) That's Colorado Springs for those still wondering where we're going. And we are driving. It will probably be about 12 hours. Eeek! Luckily I have good little travelers that normally just sleep during extended car rides. And we are going to attempt to drive through the night. The last time we attempted this, we ended up pulling into a sketchy motel in Kansas around 2am. We're just not night drivers. We're night sleepers. But we're going to give it a try. It would be perfect with the boys and then we don't waste any fun daytime driving.

We are going to visit my sister and her fam for a few days. And then we will head to The Springs for some more fun. Holden has been talking about his cousins for a few days now. He calls those 3 little girls Opie (Hope/Hopie), Beh-wuh (Bella) and Ava (which he says correctly). Our last time together, Holden followed Bella around my mom's house all week. She is 16months older than he and they hit it off! She was so good to play with him and share toys with him. And pull him out of mischief when my hands were full with Paxton. Holden will go nuts when he sees these girls! And Paxton can have some baby playtime with cousin Ava. They are only 6 weeks different in age. Little Ava has graciously said that Pax can borrow her crib while we visit. So selfless, that girl! And we have yet to have Pax practice sleeping in his pack-n-play. We seriously have to get on that! Anyways, we love cousins and are excited to see this bunch!

In Colorado Springs we found a great hotel where we were able to get a suite. That way the boys can have a separate space to sleep. That's super so Jeremy and I won't have to call it a day at 7:30pm. During our stay, we plan to visit Focus on the Family. Particularly because it's free and we hear it is absolutely amazing for kids. And my sister mentioned a particular zoo. At first I turned my nose up to that idea thinking, we can go to a zoo here. Well, you see, I was wrong. It is so blasted hot here that we haven't been to the zoo at all this year. I'm a wuss with the heat. Each day that I feel the humidity, this Colorado vacay sounds better and better. So I think the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo will be on our list. And then we are also talking about touring the US Air Force Academy because we would love to see Holden flip out. I'm pretty sure he will. He nearly hyperventilates when we drive near the airport and he sees the large planes landing and taking off right over our car. So what else people? Give me some fun ideas for my 2 year old and almost 1 year old. We want to get out and about and do some fun things. And if you have already made some suggestions in person (Erin T) then go ahead and make them again, because I don't remember them. :) We will only have 3 days in The Springs, so with the above, our time might be full. But tell me if there's something you know about that we just shouldn't miss. Or any local restaurants? Remember, I'm not cooking. Now, I better get to packing.

blessings.

I left my church Bible study about an hour ago feeling refreshed, re-energized, thankful and a little emotional. Just one of those days that I was reminded of my blessings. Rarely do I need reminding. It's constant for me to thank God for my family. These 3 guys in my life are not something I take for granted. But today I was reminded to NOT push through and rush this season. Reminded that I am going to miss this incredible stage when it's gone. And I was reminded that I really am living a fairy tale. Not because it's always easy, but just because it's so full. Entering parenthood didn't come as easy for us as it does for some. But we also didn't waste much time getting there. So I can't say that I struggled for years and years for this desire to come to fruition. But I remember that wilderness time vividly, though short compared to some, and extremely long compared to others. And can I say just how thankful I am for that wilderness! They are not always a delightful walk, but how they can change us . . .well, it's almost indescribable. How God drew me to him. How he taught me to trust. How he provided lessons in listening and obedience. And he called me to pray like never before. And how he sat with me through painful times while he could clearly see the hope in my future. And I was just asked to trust. This being the part I could not see:

Feeling a little sentimental today and extremely blessed. But the blessed part is not unusual for me.

NO hair care required . . .

For Holden, that is. As you can see, Holden got another hair cut. Jeremy cut it tonight. Let me share a story. Several months ago, I was getting the boys out of the car in the Target parking lot. An African-American guy was getting into his car, got back out and handed me a business card. It was for a barber shop. I held onto the card for a while and then ended up throwing it away because Jeremy had been doing just fine with the cuts. I told Jeremy about this a couple of months ago and he wanted to try the place out. So I searched around online and found it. Jeremy specifically wanted an AA person cutting his hair so he could watch and learn. He wanted to learn how to trim around his face, where all his fuzzy baby hairs are. Anyways, I ended up taking both boys a couple of weeks ago while Jeremy was at work. (Pax was not getting a cut, just along for the ride.) All was fine and dandy at first. I had brought a few suckers. The guy put Holden in the chair on a booster. Still, all was fine with Holden. But the guy was very tall and so he started pumping up the seat to make Holden sit higher. And that's when it began going downhill FAST. Holden wouldn't wear the cape, he cried and screamed, reached for me (even though I was right there holding his hands). He was crying "ode jew" over and over again. (That means "hold you". He means to say "hold me." But I love that he says it backwards.) He was throwing an all out fit. I think he was scared of the noise, being up high, the stranger touching his head. All of it! And honestly, Holden doesn't recover from these episodes until the event is over. I had asked the guy to cut it short, but not bald. Then I told him that we wanted it trimmed around the face. He explained that there was no way he could do the trimming with Holden flippin' out on us. He needed a steady head for that. That made sense to me. I was sweating through the whole thing as everyone watched my child freak out. It felt like an eternity and I kept apologizing to the young guy that was cutting his hair. So finally the cut was done. Nothing impressive, but it was completed. My bill was $12 and I paid $15. Which probably wasn't enough of a tip considering the experience. So for the last 2 weeks, I've been telling Jeremy I still wanted it a little shorter. So tonight he had at it. He did 1 swipe over his head with the clippers and I freaked a little. I didn't realize he was going so short. I was thinking something like this. But he kind of balded our boy. Jeremy has assured me that it will have grown some in just 1 short week. But I'm getting used to it now and it's actually kind of growing on me. When his hair is short, he seems all-face. (If that even makes sense.) But I love his little face, so what could I possibly complain about! So mid-summer, we've gone super short! Practically bald. And I'm actually liking it.

mid-cut. no turning back.
final masterpiece!