Colorado Vacation - Pulling an All Nighter

Wednesday, September 15, 2010


Day 1 & 2 of our Colorado vacation kind of bleed together.  Why?  Because we left yesterday at 2:30 pm and drove ALL NIGHT LONG to get to Colorado.  So for Mike and I...it's been one loooooong day!  Does it really count as a new day if you didn't ever go to sleep the night before?  I still feel like it's Day 1...but I guess since the sun set and has risen again...it must be day 2!

I picked the boys up from school yesterday and hurried home to meet Mike (who left work a little early).  We packed all the last minute items and got on the road (well almost...we had to stop for gas, ice, and coffee before we got out of town). 

Mike started a movie for the boys, took a few Benadryl to help him sleep, and then began to relax while I drove.  I planned to drive to Amarillo and then Mike would take the hard shift (the middle of the night shift) and drive to Salida, CO.  Everything was going as planned until (you knew there was a but coming...right?) I heard a thud and looked in the review mirror to see the top of the luggage carrier land in the middle of the highway along with a bunch of our camping gear (sleeping bags, kid carriers, etc).  Praise the Lord we were on the less busy Hwy 287 (north west of Ft. Worth) when it happened.  If we had been in the middle of traffic, I can't imagine the disaster that might have ensued.  I slowly pulled over to the side of the road and Mike (who's adrenaline had overridden the Benadryl) got of the Jeep to jog back and retrieve our belongings.  The boys asked what was going on and I told them and then asked them to pray for safety for us and for the other people driving by.  I couldn't help but have joy in the middle of a troubling time when Brody immediately bowed his head and began to pray.  (He prayed without ceasing until we were safely on the road again!)  I backed the Jeep up to where Mike was with the gear & luggage carrier lid and then we began the task of repacking the Jeep. 

We weren't exactly sure why the top of the luggage carrier didn't stay latched on, so Mike tied it down with some straps.  We'd left the ratchet straps at home (we hadn't needed them when packing the first time, so we didn't bring them) and the straps that we did have weren't doing the job very well.  We had to stop several times to tighten them back down again.  Finally we found a Wal-Mart and stopped there to buy some ratchet straps. 

Almost 2 hours later we were back on the road...oh wait!  Now Brody needs to go potty!  We pulled over at the next gas station.

Back on the road again.  Within about 30 minutes the chorus from the backseat of "I'm hungry!" began to get louder than the movie that was playing.  We pulled over at a Whataburger with an indoor playground (we don't even consider restaurants without indoor playgrounds when we're on long road trips!) 

An hour later we were finally back on the road.  I drove until bedtime and then we pulled over to put on the boys jammies and let them go potty.  The rest of the trip to Amarillo was uneventful.  The boys slept and Mike dozed off and on.  We arrived in Amarillo around midnight and Mike took over driving.  I attempted to sleep...but (seeing as I can't sleep on my back) it was virtually impossible!  I maybe got an hour or two of total sleep? 

At 5:30 am (mountain time) we pulled into the Wal-Mart parking lot in Salida, CO.  The boys woke up and we headed into the store in search of a fishing license for Mike.  Of course, the license department didn't open until "between 6:30 and 7:00 am" and we couldn't head up to our campsite (where one of the main planned activities is fishing) without Mike getting a license.  A gas station attendant told us about a restaurant called Patio Pancake that opened at 6 am.  We got there just as they opened and walked in with all the regulars (you know...the local ranchers, the parts store employees, the "town fathers" who meet for coffee).  There weren't any other kids in the restaurant, so our boys were the entertainment for everyone there!  They were wide awake (they'd had a good night sleep) while Mike and I looked like we needed coffee. 

After filling our bellies with pancakes, eggs, and bacon, we stopped to get Mike's fishing license and then headed towards Mt. Antero.  The boys were happy to finally be in Colorado!  We're very happy to be here too.  Can you believe it's been 3 years since our last trip?  That's too long!!!

Just to tide you over...

Here's one of my favorites. I promise to get a real post up sometime tomorrow!

After these messages....

Actually, after I get the mounds of laundry done...I'll be right back to post about our

AMAZING COLORADO VACATION!!!

I'm sure you can guess that I have TONS of pictures to share with you.  We had so much fun (and arrived back home around 3 pm today)!  Check back soon...  (the posts will be backdated, so be sure to scroll down to look for new vacation posts)

The Good and the Bad

Sunday was game day at our house.  First up was the Rangers/Yankees game.  It was a WARM summer afternoon to be at the ballpark.  We were soaked (with sweat) by the time we left, but we had so much fun!  The best part?  The Rangers not only beat the Yankees...but it was a sweep!!!!

Have I mentioned that I'm not crazy about big sunglasses coming back in style?  I love the functionality of them...but I think I look ridiculous in them!!!  I liked the big ones I had before this pair...but like every other pair I buy...they broke within the first year.  I purchased these in a hurry (with kids giving me their opinion).

Ann (a lifelong Yankees fan) noticed that some of the fans had plastic cups that had something about the Yankees on it along with the Texas Rangers logo.  At the end of the game she asked the guy in the yellow shirt if she could have the cup that was lying on the ground under his seat.  Can you believe he told her no?  We ended up finding one that someone had left behind.  Don't worry...she'll wash it good before using it ;)

Ann & Caleb show us the score (not a very high scoring game!)

There were lots of fans who brought brooms (rooting for a sweep).  This was probably the wimpiest one we saw (and the guy's wide eyes are a little freaky), but he was all for getting his picture with a Yankee fan! lol

After the game we all headed back to our house to get ready for game #2...the first game of the Cowboys regular season.  We all changed into our Dallas Cowboys attire and our friends, Jason & Julie, joined us just in time for dinner.  Mike made some delicious food (crab dip appetizer, a yummy salad, and calzones) and Tyler & Ann brought tiramisu for dessert!  It's a good thing we had good food and friends surrounding us that evening...because the game was terrible!  I sure hope the Cowboys don't look that bad every game this season.  They made mistake after mistake...and it cost them the game!

Even with the Cowboys loss, we had such a fun day!  I love my family!

(Side note:  I almost forgot to mention that we had to hire a babysitter while we went to the Rangers game.  I think this was the first time Barrett's had anyone but family babysit.  We asked Morgan, the daughter of one of Ann's co-workers, to babysit for us.  I was a little nervous about the fact that she's only 12 years old...but I was babysitting a lot at 12 years old.  I wonder if I looked as young to the parents as Morgan looked to us?  Anyways, she did a great job!  In fact, when we got back, Brody begged to let her stay "just one more hour".  I don't think he realized that it would cost money for her to stay one more hour! lol)

I dare you not to scratch!

Remember how Lauren, Katelyn, & Collin came over to play last night?  Well...for the first 15 minutes that Brody and Collin were outside playing they didn't have bug spray on.  Here are the results of those 15 minutes....

 

I counted all the mosquito bites tonight as I applied hydrocortisone cream.  Brody currently has 43 mosquito bites!  Doesn't it make you itch just thinking about it?

*** (P.S.  For those of you using a blog reader, make sure go to my actual blog page.  Mike did a redesign for me.  Let me know what you think!)***

Surprise Playdate!

Tonight Julie (and the kids) came over to Daddy Steve and Namaw's house so I could help her with a project.  I didn't tell the boys ahead of time (incase plans had to change).  I wish you could've seen Brody's face when he looked out the window and saw Julie pulling up the driveway.  He said, "That looks like Collin's car?  I wonder who's driving a car that looks like Collin's?"  When I told him that it was Collin he about jumped thru the roof from excitement!

Lauren and Katelyn are going to make good babysitters.  They played with the younger kids while Julie and I worked. 

As always, the kids had so much fun playing together.  You can tell on Brody's face below that he was very sad it was time to go home.

 

First Day of School 2010

(Important FYI:  It is extremely humid here today.  I now know what Megan's talking about when she talks about trying to keep her lens from fogging over!  I didn't realize until after I'd taken most of the pictures that the lens was so foggy!  Arg)

Barrett ready for his first day of pre-school!

This is what most of the pictures of the boys together looked like...

Brody ready for school!

 

This year our friends, Joseph & Anna, have asked us to take Autumn to school when we take the boys (so they can get to work).  Brody was super excited about this!  Of course, I had to take a FDOS picture of her too.  She was crackin' me up!  She kept posing like she was a model doing all kinds of different poses! lol

In the car ready to go to school!!!

In front of the school.  Can you tell that Barrett's just ready to go inside?  He was done with the picture taking!

I was so proud!  He walked right into his classroom and started playing.  No tears!!!! 

I'm super excited about Brody's teacher.  Mrs. Pam teaches aerobics at my gym and is an amazing woman!  She's one of those people that you think, "You can't really be this happy all the time...can you?!"  She definitely has the light of Christ exuding from her!  I know that Brody's gonna LOVE her as a teacher...once he gets over his initial shyness.  (He wouldn't even look at the camera when she posed by him!)

 

It's REALLY quiet here at work today.  It's amazing how much I can get done when I'm not constantly solving disagreements or fixing toys...but I have to admit that I really miss them when they're gone!  I'm excited to go pick them up in just a little bit and hear all about their day!

Big Boys...little cars

 

Birthdays and Pork

Yesterday (after Lauren's baptism) we all went to Daddy Steve and Namaw's house for a lunch celebrating Lauren & Katelyn's birthdays.  Julie had asked Mike to smoke some pork for the party and we were all excited to eat pulled pork!  Ann "helped" Mike get the pork ready for lunch (I think she was actually standing there so she could sneak a few bites when Mike wasn't looking.  I don't blame her!  It smelled so good!)

Daddy Steve and Namaw got a new "kid" table that will seat at least 6 kids.  Even Bella is sitting at the kid table now!

That means that the adults were actually able to converse without too many interruptions from the little ones!

After lunch (and presents & cake), all the kids headed outside to play. 

Some of the adults sat under the shade of the trees and talked while the kids played. 

Brody & Collin found some frogs and put them in a big cup to observe them.

Barrett decided that he wanted to watch the sky as he was driving the 4-wheeler.  I'm not sure that's the safest way to drive a vehicle?!

 

Lauren's Baptism

Today we were privileged to witness Lauren's (my cousin, Julie's, daughter) baptism.  It was just our family and a few friends who gathered at church for this special occasion.  Lauren asked us to sing the song "Down to the River to Pray" before she was baptized.  I love that song!  Here's a YouTube video of the song..

Lauren was baptized by her father, Matt, and her grandpa, Ron.

We are so proud of Lauren.  Proud that she has given her life to Christ and made the decision to follow him!  We can't wait to see the plans He has for her!

 

Almost...

Yesterday was gorgeous!  We ate pancakes on the patio for breakfast (and Brody got cold!)  Then Mike took the top and the front doors off the Jeep and we headed to Cabela's for some family time.  When we pulled up in the Cabela's parking lot we saw a truck parked by the dog kennel area that had a sign on it saying, "Registered Lab Puppies for Sale".  Of course...we had to go look!  They puppies were ADORABLE!  They have 3 generations of hunting dogs in their pedigree and were the sweetest puppies!  It was sooooo cute watching the boys play with the puppies.  (Side note:  Long before we went to Cabela's Brody informed me that he'd be asking Santa for a puppy this year for Christmas.)  I know they they don't stay little for ever (the puppies), but I love big labs too!  They are great family dogs.  I know that they shed and that they require lots of exercise and attention, but they boys would have so much fun with a lab...and our little boys with a puppy would make for some great pictures!

We were really close to buying one of the puppies...but we didn't.  We almost did though...which means that next time it may be a for sure sale.  Here are some pictures of the cute puppies that we did not buy...

 

Toy Story

This was part of the conversation today while we were eating lunch with Daddy Steve and Namaw:

Barrett - "I stay dry all night long!"
Daddy Steve & Namaw - "Good job Barrett!"
Brody - "and he was in his big boy bed too!" 
Namaw - "Does your bear like sleeping in the big boy bed?"
Barrett - "Yep!"
Brody - "Then he can get out of bed by himself."
Daddy Steve - "Who?  The bear?"
Brody - "No!  Barrett!"
Daddy Steve - "Oh.  What would you do if the bear got out of bed and you saw it walking around?"
Brody - "I'd shoot it."

I guess Toy Story didn't give Brody any empathy for toys! lol

Success!

For quite a while now Barrett's been waking up in the mornings with a dry diaper.  On Monday night we left him in undies at bedtime.  Tuesday morning I walked into his room and could smell the pee!  It could have something to do with the fact that he slept until 9:30 AM!!!  Thankfully his bear survived the washing machine without losing any more fur.  I was having second thoughts about the undies for bed. 

We tried again last night, only we added a new element.  We've put off moving Barrett to the big kid bed because we plan having him sleep on the bottom bunk in Brody's room...and we have yet to add the rail to the top bunk so Brody can sleep up top!  Last night we decided to just put Barrett to bed on the daybed in his room.  He got up 3 times after we put him in bed because "I need to go tee tee", but he finally went to sleep.

This morning he woke up about an hour earlier than normal...but he was DRY!  YAY!!!!  I'm hoping that we'll have the same success tomorrow (the dry undies...not the early wake up! lol)

Just a Shiny Red Car

Tonight my cousin, Matt, met Mike for dinner and then stopped by our house.  We were surprised to go outside and see that Matt has a new shiny, red car....aka a Ferrari!  It is a gorgeous car and the boys had fun "driving" it!  I'm sure when Brody's 16 he'll love the fact that he insisted on holding his stuffed deer while I took his picture in a brand new Ferrari.

 

How to train for a Colorado vacation while living in the city...

That's right...it's the 4 year old on my back and the 2 year old in the stroller.  I did 30 minutes of hill work like this and then another 30 minutes of jogging.  My hiney is SORE today!!!