our vacation

COLORADO!

We had a fabulous time in Colorado with my family! I'll try to recap as best I can, all the cool things we got to do . . .

• we drove through Kansas, and passed Ellsworth! If you're a rascal flatts fan, you'll know the song - I didn't even know the place existed . . . cameron asked if we could drive by the burnt house. What?? "You know, Grandma burned the biscuits?" he answered, as if we should know better. Oh, yes, the first line of the song - well, the house didn't actually burn down .. er, never mind. The only cool thing about Kansas was the wind farms! Before and after them, there was . . . nothing.
  
• Once we got to Colorado, we all tried to do at least one thing a day - we drove up to the National Monument and trekked around the mountains a little. As we were driving down, we spotted two small cave openings! They were so cool to walk through - the first one, we walked into, and it started shrinking! By the time we got to the end, we were on our hands and knees, looking up at a circular opening that only my brother John, was brave enough to shimmy up and exit out. The rest of us chickens turned around, and shuffled our way out towards the front.
  
• We spent a day, in the blistering 100 degree heat at bananas fun park, riding go-carts, bumper cars, huge bouncy trampolines, batting cages, mini golf - miserable heat!! I thought Mom and Dad told us it was DRY HEAT!!
• Found out Wednesday was Free Day at the local pool, so we spent a few hours there with all the kiddos; and lucked out that one of the local churches was sponsoring Free Lunch that day, too. One of the volunteers serving lunch brought their dog named Beka. What are the odds of THAT? C'mon!!
• Drove up the mountains again to a place called the Potholes. It's a series of pools of water, fed from mountain-top water, tumbling over rocks and crevices. GORGEOUS, and a little bit treacherous getting there! There were people jumping 50 feet from cliffs to a small pool of water below that was supposedly 20-ft. deep. I wouldn't want to find out that's not quite true! It was Cameron's favorite part of our trip :)
• Made the supposed 90 min. drive, turned 2 hr. drive to Ouray, Colorado - a small mountain town at around 3,000 ft. elevation. Every 40 min. or so, the temperature would drop on the way up there. We saw waterfalls tumbling from the mountains, just breathtaking scenery! It started raining while we were eating lunch, so a few of us headed back, since it got pretty chilly. My sister, Suzie, and her family got a really cool old-time portrait done.
  
• We enjoyed time with Opa, my grandpa. He is 91 years old! Getting so frail, you just wanted to scoop him up and just hold him. He has been such a huge part of my life, as well as to all of my family's lives - it was so good to be with him!
  
• Mom cooked up a storm for all 20 of us! We ate and ate, and then ate some more. I know I gained a couple pounds .... ugh!
  
• Driving home over the Rocky Mountains really gave us a taste of living out there! I'd totally move out there someday! (of course, on the Grand Mesa Valley side where it IS warm, not the wretched winter Denver side! haha)

So THANKS, Mom and Dad, for such a great week together! I love you both SOO MUCH and miss you already.

they said what??

here are a few of the funny things the kids have been saying lately:

"Mom, when people get older and don't get married, do they live in departments?" (apts) - Claire

"Burger hore ..." - Cameron, reading a fast food sign that said "Burger Hour" (don't think I'd want to eat there! haha)

"But Mom, why is everyone still bigger than me?" - Caloway, upset that the bigger kids could ride in the street, and he couldn't, since he's not big enough

"This is sooo good, I just can't STAND IT!" - Claire, eating homemade waffles

"Are we going to the big church or the little church?" - Caloway, every Sunday morning. He doesn't like going to our new little church - he wants to go to Gospel, the BIG church!

"You smell like mommy!" - Caloway, sniffing my arm (don't know WHY he does that - claire does, too!)

"Can I have those when you're done?" - Claire, eyeing my new silver heels

"Is it fresh? Here, smell it!" - Caloway, when I give him his wubby at night

just one of the many uses cameron discovered for his glow stick . . .
sweet baby ava
hold it . . . hold it!
here's where it all began!

how much were those glow sticks and sparklers again, Dad? three amigos

ten years

sign me up, let's do it again! I love, love, LOVE you, Tim, and would go through everything all over again just to be with you. I can't wait for the next 50 years, so we can sit out on the front porch we'll have someday, rocking, sipping our passion tea lemonades, holding hands . . .
Sign me up, let's do it again! I love, love, LOVE you, Tim, and I would do everything all over again just to be with you. I can't wait for the next 50 years, so we can sit out on the front porch we'll have someday, sipping our passion tea lemonades, and rocking ... holding hands.

busy, busy ...

I'm sure we're not the only ones who've been watching the summer fly by! Since school let out, we've been enjoying the much more relaxed schedule of the summer months. Tim and I went to see James Taylor in Cincinnati a few weeks ago, and had a great time out on the lawn under the stars, breathing in the sweet aroma of freshly mowed grass, wildflowers and ... pot?? Of course when you're out on the lawn during a concert, you have to meld into the bustling crowd which is steadily drinking way too much. Some people were smoking, but as soon as that distinct, musty smell started wafting through the air, everyone sat up straight, and eyeballed their neighbors to see who was smoking pot. We all zeroed in on these two barely 18-yr. old boys, who were smoking with their heads between their knees. Real subtle. So my sister in law, Keri, who was with us at the concert w/ her son, Jake, crawls over to the boys and asks them to quit smoking since she doesn't want her 10 yr. old son getting high. They got outta there pretty quick! The music was good, but that's definitely the last time we go to an outdoor concert. My mom said that's what we get for going to a secular concert! The kiddos had a great time at Grammy and Grampy's, and we headed to King's Island the next day with some friends in Cincinnati. It was soo much fun! Perfect weather, and Cam and Claire were tall enough for all of the kiddy roller coasters. Cam was finally tall enough for all of the water rides, and he and Tim rode like crazy. Cal, Claire and I hung out at the kiddy pools, and played with our friends' kids. We ran into Tiffany Puckett with her kids, Caloway and Nora; we named our Cal after her hubby, and they had a boy exactly one year after Cal, and named him Caloway too! So Cal Holman was born Aug. 17, 2004, and Cal Puckett was born Aug. 17, 2005. They even kinda look alike! How weird is that! Maybe they'll end up in college together someday too, like their dads. I have some pictures from Kings Island, but can't figure out how to get them off the internal memory of my camera!! grr.
We had a garage sale last weekend, and sold all of our baby stuff; knock on wood! The last time I sold a crib, I got pregnant! We're hoping that doesn't happen this time hehe. This picture is of Caloway; he strapped himself into Tim's golf caddy, and asked for a ride. :) Mostly, we've been spending a lot of time at the pool, and riding our bikes. We took Claire's training wheels off and she is riding her two-wheeler like a PRO! Hooray Clairely! Helmet, dress, fancy shoes and all. She is in love with Fancy Nancy books, and we found one at Target - Fancy Nancy's Favorite Fancy Words. So much fun to hear Claire reading that book - she is such a fabulously proficient reader! :)
Kinda long post, but just a little taste of what we've been up to. July is here, and we get to see Nani and Poppi in 2 weeks! Can't WAIT to go out WEST!!