Mueller State Park

We went camping in early June. It was the weekend after my mom and sister left and before Brian's parents arrived. I wasn't looking forward to it so much, but Brian reminded me how much fun the kids (him included) would have and the memories we were making as a family. I went and had a good time. The campground was really pretty. There were lots of trees and our campsite was very secluded. Brian picked it specifically so we wouldn't be around motorhomes and generators. That was good. The only problem was we had to walk all of our stuff from the car to the campsite. We don't pack light. We use all the available space in the car. If we had a roof rack we'd still use all that space. Anyway, we carted our belongings to our spot and set up camp.

Part of setting up camp included moving all of our food, utensils, stove, and ice chest into the bear box. We were camping in BEAR COUNTRY!!! Well as I stated above, we tend to over pack. So we (by we I mostly mean Brian) had to walk back and forth to the car with the ice chest, food, utensils, etc.

Anyway, after we got settled in for the evening we fixed dinner and took Baxter for a walk. We got to the outdoor ampitheatre just as they were starting a slideshow on the animals we might see around the campground, so we settled in for a few minutes. And it got cold!

So we went back to our home sweet home and started up the fire. Well, we tried to set up the campfire. Apparently our wood was too wet and we had a heck of a time. We spent more time trying to get the fire going than we did warming up by it. I finally said forget it and climbed into my sleeping bag where I was hoping to warm up.

The next day we wanted to go for a hike, but dogs weren't allowed on the trails and we had Baxter with us. I wasn't comfortable leaving him at the campiste alone so we took some short walks around the campground throughout the day, but mostly hung out aroudn the campsite. We played a lot of Yahtzee, read, and I listened to music. We also started the campfire early in the day so that it would be toasty warm before it got dark.

We also enjoyed just hanging out relaxing. The kids especially loved having soda. A special treat.

Saturday night was slightly warmer. At least the wood had dried out enough to make a fire. Luckily this campground had full bathrooms so Brittany and I scrounged up 4.00 in quarters and treated ourselves to a hot shower. The only problem was that it started to rain overnight. We woke up and everything was damp, wet and once again cold. We ate a quick breakfast, packed up and headed home. A couple weeks later I bought myself a camp heater so at least when we go camping next week I can warm up a little in my tent!! :)

THE TWINS WERE HERE!!!

And I was so excited about their visit. My mom and Cassie flew out with the girls to visit us for just over a week. We all had a good time, but I think Cassie was exhausted. Here she is with her 2 sweet little shoe eaters.

The girls are both the cutest little things! We didn't go too many places while they were here, but we did take them for their first swim. I think they both enjoyed it and it tuckered them both out. We took them to the pool with the Froggy slide the first day. The girls weren't sure what to think of the water at first, but I think they both had a good time. Then, a couple days later we went to the lazy river pool and I think they really enjoyed that one. We had floats for them to ride in some of the time and they would chase William and get going pretty quick. I think Brittany and William had fun playing with them, too. Here is Brittany playing with a float and William (with frog eyes) behind her. Gracie and William played in the splash pool. That water was C O L D though. In the bottom picture Talia was just splashed. Neither of the girls minded it when we put them under the water. What little swimmers!!!





After swimming The girls got dried off and warmed up. They are so cuddly!!! Gracie was cold when she got out so she got to wear her hat. Talia gave Grammy loves! She is a cuddle monster. Then it was Brittany's turn to cuddle Talie.

The girls also got to take baths together. At home its too hard to watch 2 babies in the tub together, but since I still had William's bath seat it worked out okay.

We also spent a lot of time hanging out and taking care of the babies. Everyone volunteered to hold them.




For the most part the girls were happy. Their smiles are enough to melt your heart. And their cries are enough to break your ear drums. :) But how can you not love those smiles. Gracie is definitely the more demanding one. When she is mad she lets everyone know. When she's happy she is adorable and Miss Charming. Talia is quieter and just a happy go lucky girl.

William was happy that they were willing to share their food with him. He enjoyed eating baby food again. I guess I know what I can pack in his lunch for 1st grade next year! :)

Talie had fun swinging on William's "park". Gracie tried it, too but she didn't think it was as much fun as Talia. Talia also enjoyed sitting in the grass. I think Gracie wasn't loving it as much.

That is Baxter in the background. The girls both loved him and he'd walk right up to them and lick their faces, ears, hair, whatever. He loved them, too!!!

Then it was a sad day. The day we had to take everyone to the airport. Poor Cassie was sick. She was actually sick for a couple weeks after she was here. And the twins got it. And my mom got it. And my dad got it and ended up sick for his whole cruise, came home and a couple days later was put in the hospital with pneumonia. Not fun!!! Anyway, back to the day we left. We decided we'd better get some pictures of the 4 cousins together. Talia wasn't interested in that at all, but we did get a couple good ones.

Pikes Peak

On May 18 we took the Cog Train up to Pikes Peak with Chris. There are over 50 mountains in Colorado that are over 14,000 feet and Pikes is one of the most famous ones. One very important fact that we didn't think about before heading out on that beautiful, warm, sunny day. At that high of elevation its COLD!!! It was so cold Brian bought Brittany a pair of sweats to wear instead of her skirt, and Chris wore William's Star Wars ski cap!

We got on the train and it was a slow ride. Up we went. William and Brian decided to make funny faces to entertain us.


The ride itself took just over an hour. The scenery was gorgeous, and as we got up higher it changed a lot.

In the above picture you can see the train tracks zig zagging up the mountain.

Once up on the peak it was really cold. As soon as I stood up I was light-headed. The kids and I went into the gift shop/ snack shop while Brian and Chris walked around and took in the view. I am glad they did because Chris took a lot of really good pictures.

The view from up here is absolutely stunning. Its like being on top of the world. You can see forever in every direction!

After about 40 minutes up there we made the trip back down. The trip down was a little boring. But luckily we had William to keep us entertained! About 20 minutes from the bottom William needed to use the bathroom. This Cog Train had the bare minimum. It had plastic bucket type seats (3 to a row) and windows that went up and down. That's it. So we are chugging along and bam. The soda William had been drinking hits him! He had to go so badly he was doing "The Potty Dance" for the last 10 minutes of the trip. Chris was certain William wouldn't be able to hold it. I was hoping he would. As soon as we made it into the station Brittany grabbed William's hand and made a bee line for the exit and bathrooms. Luckily because they were kids most people let them ahead. William made it!!