Dickson visit day 3

Today was another day full of adventures.  We woke up and barely made it out the door in time to make it to the 10:00 dollar movie.  The summer movie of the day was "Rio".  This is one of my favorite movies.  It was the first movie that Brittlynn would sit and watch.  I give credit to all of the great music that is in it.  It doesn't surprise me at all that she loves to shake her hips when she dances.  The theatre was full so had to sit down on the front row.  A large popcorn plus a refill, lots of candy, and another set of happy cousins.

We stopped at the splash park outside the theatre to play a little in the water.  Savannah was so excited she couldn't stay out of it.  I forgot to grab the towels on the way out the door so some of us were a little wet and cold going home.  I even ventured through the water with Brittlynn.  She wanted to go so bad...but was a little scared.

Home for lunch and a little quiet time.  I ran some errands and it was off to see some airplanes at the Air Force Academy.  We had a lot of fun visiting the Chapel and then looking at the different airplanes.  Eric came to join us for this adventure.  We finished off the trip to the academy watching Eric play a little softball.

We got home ate some dinner then made some cookies so we could enjoy with marshmallow's around the campfire.  Dakota and Hunter decided to earn a little money pulling weeds.  We all went to bed happy and smelling a little like smoke.

Dickson Visit Day 2

We tried to see what we could get done all in one day.  We woke up packed lunches and headed off to the pool.  Savannah had swimming lessons at the outdoor pool and everyone wanted to stay and swim for awhile.  Swimming is always so much more fun when cousins are involved.

We left the pool and head straight to the Garden of the Gods.  This was a special request for Dakota.  She was sick the day we went together the first time she came to visit.  It is always fun to climb and explore the garden.  Even Hunter managed to enjoy himself after letting everyone know he had already been there.  I am amazed about how much he could remember.  There was a lot opportunities for cousins photos...unfortunately we had to bribe the kids with candy to get them all together.  You gotta do what you gotta do to record those memories.

We stopped on the way home for an cool treat from Sonic.  Unfortunately we missed happy hour by 5 minutes.  Too much traffic.  We came home to throw together a quick dinner and then some free play time. The kids were very exhausted, but not as exhausted as the parents.  They barely fell asleep before we went to bed.

Dickson Visit Day1

Arrival day is always kind of crazy.  It started off cray for at our house because the breaks on the van had to get fixed and it was ready for pick up just before dinner time.  After a long day in the car Lisa's kids are ready to run and play.  So we decided to stay home and enjoy the evening as a family.  Not to worry we had a lot of surprises in store for the whole family.

After dinner we let the kids play together.  It always amazes me how well families that lives so far apart can become instant friends as soon as they walk in the door.  We made so mini cupcakes and then had a little cousin birthday party.  I am not very good about sending presents so I thought I could just give them all a little gift to let them know how special they are to our family.  So after the gifts we did a little cupcake decorating.  It was fun for everyone.  It was a long night and we had so much to do in the next couple of days...there wasn't really time for more.

Family Visit

My sister and I were best friends growing up.  She made all of the friends and I hung out with her and her friends.  She got married right after she graduated and shortly after moved to Las Vegas with her family.  She was still my best friend and I missed being with her.  While I was in college I would go and visit her every chance that I could.  It wasn't that long of a drive and it was a nice get away for a long weekend break.  Then I got married and moved even father away...a long two day drive.  I didn't get to see my sister that much.  She came out to visit right after I had Savannah and it was a very expensive long drive.  When we found out our next home was going to be Colorado my sister didn't take any chances to plan her first visit.  She has come out to see me every summer since.  I love when she comes, and I love that she takes the time out of her crazy schedule to come and be with me in my home.  It means the world to me...it means that I am important to her.
So when she comes we try and make the most of each day...and our visit together.  Last year was a little unlucky...car accident...savannah eating peanut butter...more sitting at home than fun in the sun.  This year each day was packed full of adventures and lots of fun...fun that only sisters with a lot of kids together can have.  It makes me miss her and wish it didn't take so much to be able to have that much fun together all of the time.

Color Motion

Eric and I have been in a few races lately.  Savannah and Brittlynn love coming to watch us run our race, but Savannah really wants to have a chance to run herself.  So we decided to enter a race a family.  We found a 5k color race that we could all run in together.  Savannah and Brittlynn were so excited that every morning after I got done running they would come out and run around the block with me.  I loved watching them run.  Savannah was so excited she talked about how fast she was getting and it became a competition between her and Emily.  So to solve the fighting we decided to see how it all ended on race day.  I borrowed a stroller from a friend of mine just in case the girls got tired.  Emily was a little confused about it being a 5k run.  She thought that were walking the whole course.  So Savannah had her day running faster than her sister.  Brittlynn did great...they all did.  I hope that this is a family tradition that we could have for a long time.  It was fun...we had amazing playing in in the color.

Kenney Chesney

I was never really surprised as a kid by anything.  I really don't enjoy surprises...and I think that is sad.   I hope that I could give something to my kids that I didn't have.  So I am working on being better and hoping that they could find excitement in life and the surprises that they could bring. 

Savannah is always asking when its her turn to be able to go to a concert.  Then it happened...Eric was able to get free tickets to the Kenney Chesney concert.  We canceled the plans that we had knowing that we would never have this opportunity again.  We debated about telling Emily to see if she wanted to go.  We decided not to tell her which drove her completely, but we enjoyed it.  We decided that she wouldn't want to miss it for the world.  We told everyone that it was a family fun day....and that was about it.  

I dropped off Eric early at the stadium so he could get in line to get our tickets.  We went exploring around downtown Denver a little bit.  We found a really cool river that people play in, a garden that is similar to a garden in the palace of Louise XIV, and some really cool wall paintings.  

We could only get 4 tickets so we bought one in the nose bleed section for $40.  Not a bad price for  the whole family to see a concert.  Emily was the first to figure out the big surprise.  She saw a sign on the side of the stadium...and was over whelmed with excitement.  The girls didn't realize what was happening until it all started.  Everyone had a blast, but Savannah was so much fun to watch to scream and to cheer.  Brittlynn was the first to crash and Savannah went a little after...but it was late into the night.