We were so excited to join my family in Colorado Springs for a week this summer! I had tried to organize a bigger-family reunion with my mom's side of the family, but it didn't come together for this summer. But my immediate family decided that we'd still get together -- and Colorado Springs would be not only a middle-ground for us but a beautiful summer destination! We worked together to find a rental home on VRBO.com. A rental home ended up being the perfect place for us to stay. We took turns making meals (instead of dragging toddlers to a restaurant). Each family had its own bedroom. And we adults were able to talk and play lots of games together once the kiddos had gone to bed. Perfect.
Our boys were excellent travelers on our drive to Colorado Springs. We rented a mini van and divided the trip up into two days. We arrived to Springs on Saturday evening, and the rest of our family arrived the next afternoon/evening. Grammy and Papa got there in plenty of time to read Ian some bedtime stories.
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| Jason, Cody, Andrew, Abby |
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| Abby, Ian, and Matt |
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| Jason, Cody, Ian |
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| Abby and Ryan |
After we played for 20 minutes or so, the sprayground was able to open up! Perfect timing ... we were all starting to get really hot! :) The ice-cold water in the sprayground definitely cooled us off.
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| Kim and Ryan |
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| Kim, Cody, Abby, Andrew |
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| Kim and Jaden |
Ian thought it would be fun to start a water fight with his aunts, uncles, and parents. :) He didn't mind when he got soaked, too! What fun, wonderful aunts and uncles Ian has!
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| Andrew, Ian, and Matt |
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| Andrew & Ian |
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| Amy and Ian |
Ryan had the most fun filling up buckets and bowls with water. He liked dumping the water on others, too! :)
Jaden liked collecting the water water, too!
We took a break for snacks and getting warmed up a little before playing some more. Ian and Daddy did some sunbathing, too! :)
sidewalk chalk,
Then, Aunt Amy got out one of our planned "free time activities." Sarah, Amy, and I had each brought the supplies for a few activities that we could lead the kids in while we were together. This was a wonderful idea, especially right before dinner time or when everyone wanted the same toy. Amy's first planned activity was a contact paper/tissue paper collage. Ian and Abby were definitely the two kiddos that remained most focused on the activity as it was planned,
though Jaden participated a little, too.
Cody and Ryan (especially Ryan) were way more interested in just watching the other kids attach the tissue paper to the sticky contact paper.
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| The giggles were contagious! |
Papa took it upon himself to arrange the kiddos on the wall for a photo op. I think he did a great job! Everyone actually looks pleasant. :)
We had a belated birthday dinner for Andrew (in May, he turned the big 3-0!). We enjoyed ice cream and Mom's homemade cookies for dessert after a yummy ham and potatoes dinner.
Ian loved blowing the noisemakers.
Happy birthday, Uncle Andrew! We love you!
After the kids were in bed, we adults did some more celebrating. We played Half-Minute to Win It to celebrate Andrew's 30th birthday milestone. We did some hilarious competitions like throwing an increasing number of pencils into the air and catching them (Dad and Matt were GREAT at this!),
1 comment:
I was wondering how you were going to narrow down all those pics into a "Best of CO Springs" one-time post! :) There are too many good pics, huh? Fun to relive through your great post, too.
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