Vacation

Last week we got to take a break from our regular day-to-day and visit family (my brother Dave and his family who live in Erie, my sister Mims and her family that live in Monument and my sister Melisa and her baby who flew in from Seattle) in Colorado. It was a much-anticipated, much-needed/wanted vacation.

This is how I trapped my three little helpers while I tried to prepare and pack. Eleanore loved sitting in there...haha...she didn't think it was a trap at all.

All three girls did well on the airplane, with only a short crying spell by each of the babies. Eleanore was a pro on the plane. She called it the fly boat (Wonder Pets) and loved going "Up-Up and Away!"

I was so excited to see my sister. We chat by phone nearly every day and I was so excited to spend time with her. I am just sad the time wen too fast. I wish we lived in the same town and that our  kids could grow up together (her oldest is one month younger than El and her second is about six weeks younger than Maya and Ivy).

A lot of our time was spent hanging out at Dave's house. Joanna, my awesome sister- in-law, was the world's best hostess. She made us feel so welcome, made yummy food (I got a couple of great recipes) and had fun games planned for us. We played Minute to Win It two nights, played Family Feud and BannanGrams for bragging rights, and had a soda taste test one night (that Bryan proudly rocked).

VICTORY POSES

My siblings and I and cute little Anna Holmes.

Saturday we went to Estes Park, a fun little mountain town, and let the kids play at the park, had a picnic and walked through a few shops. Eleanore of course loved swinging.

With Milly

And with Maya (although she didn't like going slow).

Here are the five babies  we had together in age order left to right (Harper, Ivy, Maya (actually Ivy is older than Maya),  Eden and Anna. We were just missing one more cousin, Sicily, who was born a month before Anna.

Another day we swam, which started out lots of fun.

But El got tired before too long and wanted to hang with Lucy on the bench.

Ivy woke up just in time to take a dip, which she really enjoyed...and Maya slept through the whole thing.

The next day we thought we'd try and pass these three off as triplets at the Children's Museum.

I loved the museum. The three "big girls" were thoroughly entertained.

El stepped in the bubble house and didn't mind a bit...love this pic of her cute little feet.

Maya entertained herself at the museum by sucking her toes (which has become a trademark for her).

And Ivy was just happy to be there.

With how close these girls are all in size we probably could have tried to pass them off as quints. Five happy girls.

Not pictured outings included browsing the Pearl Street mall in Downtown Boulder, eating at the Speghetti Factory (a Toy Family tradition) in Denver, and a lot of hanging out!

Two times Lucy, Els and Mills tried to have a slumber party, but they couldn't get the slumber in, all they wanted to do was giggle. They had fun trying and maybe next year they'll  last more than a half hour before mean old moms come in and separate them. Why is it that it bothers me so much when my kids aren't sleeping when I think they should be? These three played so good together. 

Our trip to the mountains made me so homesick. It was hot, but not humid and cool in the mornings and evenings -- we could just send the kids out to play. We sure loved spending time with family and watching the kids enjoy each other. A BIG thank you to my family who made us feel so welcome and made it hard to say good-bye.

We sure love you guys!