Luke is 7!

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I am not sure how we have gotten to this point but Luke is 7! He is the joy that makes this family complete! He has a giggle that will make you sides hurt from laughing, he writes us love letters daily,  he kisses us almost to annoyance and loves his family with every ounce of his heart! He is still a self-proclaimed ninja and his tricks are getting scarier by the day! The kid literally has NO fear! I don't think he even comprehends to be afraid of anything! He is the strongest kid I have ever met...he can rock push-ups better than most grown men, lifts weights on his own freewill, puts me to shame in plank holding, and is currently sporting a visible six pack and pecs! He takes great delight in being the "little brother"...he loves to torment his brothers endlessly all well placing the two of them as high as Santa on his cool list!

Luke woke up ready to celebrate his big day! He is in full Birthday mode this year and truly believes the whole day should revolve around him! He came downstairs to so many awesome presents, ate his giant  "7" doughnut and went off to school leaving his lunch request with me! Chinese food plus ice cream cones for his class made for a perfect Birthday lunch, followed up with dinner at Chili's left all of us stuffed and happy! What a perfect day celebrating our perfect little man!!!

The biggest thing Luke wanted to do was go to Six Flags in Dallas for his Birthday since he reached the next magical height!!! This milestone got him on his very first looping coaster!!! He was ecstatic to ride and in keeping with our "if I can't ride, Mom can't ride" tradition, I got to be his partner for this excitement!!! Kelly, Chris and the kids also got to spend the day with us at Six Flags and Emma/Abby had a ball riding all the rides with their cousins! All in all...Luke had a pretty amazing time welcoming turning 7!!!

Luke's Ninja Warrior Party



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Anyone who knows Luke at all knows that he is a self-proclaimed ninja that "is in training" to be on American Ninja Warrior! The kid is a nonstop bundle of energy that is constantly doing ninja tricks everywhere he goes! He truly believes with every ounce of himself that he is a ninja and is 100% confident we will all see him on American Ninja Warrior one day! I gotta hand it to him though....he is actually an amazing little ninja whose tricks both simultaneously amaze me and almost give me heart attacks!

Luke is turning 7 in less than two weeks so this year we planned a ninja party at the ninja training gym! He was in absolute heaven! For weeks he has been unable to sleep with excitement and yesterday the BIG DAY finally arrived! Luke had all the boys in his class, plus 2 of the girls (he specifically requested that we not invite the "girly girls" and the Rinn family all there to help him celebrate! These kids spent 3 straight hours being ninjas and having an absolute ball! We literally had to drag them over to eat and have cake! Luke was so exhausted when we got home he put himself to bed for a nap...I'd say the party was a HUGE success!!!

Back to school we go :(

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Summer is now a distant memory and we are back in school...YUCK! As crazy as my fools can make me, I absolutely love being home with them, taking them fun places and just spending time with them. Each time we start a new school year I am forced to admit that they are getting bigger and bigger and that they will not want to be spending everyday of the Summer with me in the very near future...and this literally kills me!

This year we are starting 5'th, 4'th and 1'st. Luke is in full fledged real school, Matt is getting way too big for me (he has 1 inch and 20 lbs on Brian!) and Brian is in the middle school transition year at their school meaning he switches classes and plays school JV sports! Sending them back to school for 35+ hours each week kills me, I miss them and hate that they just happily disappear from my life! Fear not...I found a solution that enables me to spend 2 of those days with them! You may be assuming since I have my Master's in teaching I am teaching at their school....HA! NOPE! I found something even better, something that puts me at their school for two whole days each week but doesn't come with the parents, the grading, the homework, the drama, the lesson plans or even the classroom! What is this dream job you might ask??? I am...(ready for it)...a lunch lady! Their school is so small that Mom's have always run the cafeteria. This year one of my close friends is taking it over and asked me to help...I immediately jumped on it! Brian is overjoyed that he no longer has to eat cold sandwiches as I can bring him warm leftovers, Matt could care less either way but my little Luke thinks I walk on water! He is so beyond proud that his Mommy is a lunch lady and tells everyone he meets this big news! Craig on the other hand tells him to quit telling people and is wishing I was making better use of the Masters degree he paid for!!! I am thrilled to be at their school every week, spending a lot of time with them both in the cafeteria and their classrooms helping out and getting paid to do one of my all time favorite hobbies...cooking!

Summer 2014

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We had such a FUN Summer...it makes me physically ill that it is over! While we didn't really go anywhere, and we really didn't do anything, WE HAD SO MUCH FUN DOING IT! After the beach, our Summer consisted of a very messy house due to our nonstop playing, everyone switching bedrooms and redecorating them, endless wrestling and fighting, swimteam, lots of daytrips with friends, lots of bowling, tons of swimming, Sea World, Six Flags, Schlitterbahn with Papa, RR Express baseball game and sleepover on the field, a couple visits to Top Golf, endless hours of video games, a few days at the lake, movies, fireworks, dirtbikes and Polaris with friends, football camp, a few trips to the aquarium, lots of ice cream, backyard fun, bikes and go-karts, boating & knee boarding, a few trips to the Doctor (and even a call to poison control), and the very best part was time with our cousins!

Kerry & her girls came out to spend most of July in Texas (sadly Uncle Jerms had to work!). This gave us the perfect opportunity to spend time at Gaga & Papa's with the O'Brein clan... Aunts, Uncles and cousins galore! We celebrated Maggie's 1'st Birthday, made fun use of our waterproof camera, went to Bluebell Ice Cream Factory, went out on the boat, went to Incredible Pizza and even attempted a group photo! We also managed to take KK to Sea World to see her beloved Elmo, had fun taking the girls bowling, watching Michael & Macy get Baptized and just spending time with everyone.

Brian & Matt got another surprise when they were chosen (again!!) by Six Flags to come be a part of "media day" in which they were filming for their commercials, media print and brochures advertising their new waterslide...Bahama Blaster! Its crazy steep, ridiculously fast, sky high and my two fools rode it at least 25 times in a row!!! Matt got to make an appearance on Telemundo (yep, the Spanish TV network!) and Brian was interviewed live for a local radio station!! It was another once in a lifetime experience giving them the privilege to ride a brand new ride before it opens as much as they wanted and something they'll remember forever!

South Padre Island

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Another Summer has arrived and that means another trip to the beach! This year we headed back to South Padre Island for 4 days of fun in the sun and were joined by our close friend's...The Rinn Family! We went immediately after school got out, leaving Memorial Day weekend for the beach. We got there as the crowds were leaving, most of the state was still in school and it was PERFECT! The entire town was virtually empty! What fun all these kids had playing in the waves, the sand, the pool, visiting the sea turtle rescue center, a night of mini golf, late night Dairy Queen and swimming, crab hunting in the dark and doing all of these things with no crowds :) What a great start to summer!

End of School year...LOTS of Random Fun :)

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The end of April & all of May brought about a bunch of random fun! With school winding down there was LOTS of field trips with the boys! Luke & I took an Amtrak ride, went to Ronald McDonald House and went to a play. Matt & I went on a 3 mile hike and went to a peacock farm for ice cream making and scavenger hunts! Brian & I went to an indoor trampoline park and a pizza buffet! (Can you tell Brian's teacher is a 23 year old guy?!?!) With all of that fun, the boys and I obviously needed a ditch day :) We spent one really fun day back at the indoor trampoline park, lunch and the Austin Touch Aquarium playing with starfish and stingrays! Brian & Matt ended their football season taking third place overall in the league after a hard fought battle to the end! We ran Smiles4Sammy 5k as a family again in honor of Sammy :) Matt finished his phase 1 (yes there will sadly be a phase 2 in a few years!) of orthodontic treatment and got his braces OFF after 2 years.  Luke lost his first tooth after praying for over a year for this milestone and was delighted when just a few weeks later he lost a second one! All 3 boys took part in their school musical (Luke has been anxiously awaiting this after being in the audience for so many years while Brian sees it as punishment!), Matt & Luke, along with their 2 best friends (who also happen to be brothers) won 2'nd place in the school talent show for their rendition of "The Worst Ballerinas EVER!"! We got to meet the 2 newest members of the family, Macy & Michael, as well as I got the honor of taking Emma & Abby along with my Mom to see Disney Princesses on Ice!!! The boys had another fantastic water day getting soaked and messy at school! Brian & Matt received the highest academic honor for the year at the awards assembly; high honor roll all 4 quarters, meaning they got nothing short of a " High A" (94% or above) this year! My big news is I finished up a 7 year stretch as a PTA officer and will be a parent on the sidelines for the first time next year rather than a parent behind the scenes :) I'm not quite sure what I am going to do with all of this free time! Craig & I celebrated our 12th Anniversary with a solo trip to Jamaica for 5 days, leaving the kids with Gaga & Papa who kindly stepped in to fill our shoes while we were away and did a GREAT job! Luke kicked off Summer into high gear with what I can only describe as a true "Goose egg"...ugh! The ninja never stops...an hour later, with this giant thing coming off of his forehead, he is trying to jump over stools in the kitchen!

Summer is fully underway and we are loving our days of being lazy, swim team, a couple sports camps, lots of video games and endless fun! Throw in a few trips and life doesn't get much better!

Easter?!?! :)

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Funny enough, I went to finally offload the beach from my camera and imagine my surprise when I found Easter there as well!!! Looking back we clearly had a very uneventful Easter which is probably why I wasn't very motivated to blog about it :) If memory serves me (which is not doing the job very well these days!), we had an extremely low key Easter! The night before we dyed eggs and did haircuts :) I was sad this year as Luke was the only one willing to go see the bunny. He asked to go while the other two flat out refused! While Matt has not yet admitted to us to not believing...I think he is afraid to discuss it for fear of what might happen if his doubts are wrong ;) Luke was delighted to wake up Easter morning to a ninja course left for him by EB! He had to conquer it to leave his room and find his basket :) After baskets were found it was time to head outside for the egg hunt! In our house this is always a favorite as the eggs contain not only candy but money!! Coins in most but cash in a few :) Like I said...not too much went on but all around happy memories made in our house.

Double Digits!!!

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The dreaded double digits has arrived...Brian is officially 10! This Birthday bothered me more than any Birthday so far...I do not like having any of my kids with two digits! Single digits means they are still little...double digits means they are closer to leaving me! I will say that my guy had a FABULOUS Birthday!!! Him & I went on a field trip the Friday before his big day and decided to0 bring his Birthday treat with us. In true luck...it was crazy windy this day and our picnic turned into lunch in the parking garage lobby! So yes...Brian celebrated with his class in the parking garage :) He was a great sport about it though!

We went to my parents for the weekend so Brian could celebrate with them. Gaga surprised him with a UA themed party, complete with decorations and a cake! He had a fun weekend riding his new bike and watching basketball. Sunday was his real Birthday and we had to head home. Uncle Johnny, Aunt Christy and Walker surprised us by stopping by before we had to leave and enjoyed a quick lunch with us (Brian's choice...Phillies!) before we had to head home. We decided to save Brian's Birthday dinner for the next night as we were all plain old done by the time we got home :) Monday night we took Brian, Luke and Matt to Dave & Buster's for three hours of dinner and FUN! Lots of games, lots of tickets and lots of $$!!!

Brian is my crazy, will try anything child and is as strong as an ox! He wanted an extreme party to go along with his extreme attitude :) We rented the Rocks & Ropes Adventure Course at the YMCA for his party and oh what FUN this turned out to be! A 55ft. structure that the kids got harnessed up and climbed their way to the top...once there they got to zipline down!!! Such a cool party and Matt/Luke are chomping at the bit to turn 10 now!!!

Are you ready for some football???

  

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My guys appear to be leaving baseball for football on a more permanent basis...even Luke joined in this season! Brian & Matt are playing with their same team in the Extreme Flag league and loving it more than ever! This group of kids has been together for quite a few seasons now and really work together as a team. They are having Friday night, under the lights games which makes it feel like real football and is so much more fun! Last season we were completely defeated...didn't win a single game until playoffs! This season is a whole new game...our team is unstoppable and crushing the other teams! We have even had to put the Mercy Rule into effect for us rather than against us!!! Watching my boys get better and better, and seeing them having so much fun makes me one proud Momma!

Little man is officially in football as well! He is in regular Flag where his brothers started and played 5 seasons but something tells me he's not gonna make it in this league very long! He is an animal! The kid is like a crazy man on the field! He is a flag pulling machine, gets yellow flags for tackling, called for flag protection and rushing the line! Luke is truly a product of older brothers and it is very apparent to anyone watching him play! Watching him is absolutely hilarious...he is playing with kids that are inexperienced and learning the game while he is out there calling plays and getting flags thrown on him! I see Extreme Flag in his very near future!!!

Dixie!!!

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It's official...we have another member of the family! Dixie is a pure (yes this means the most expensive dog we've ever had!) bloodhound! We have been a one dog family for 1.5 years since losing Ally. In that time Wilbur has gone slowly downhill. His face is aging, he sleeps 20 hours/day and seems to have lost his zest for life. Every time he is with my Mom's dogs he perks up so we figured it was time to get him a permanent companion of his own! I fully admit I was completely against another puppy but the kids constant begging wore me down. I have always had a thing for bloodhounds since watching Fox & the Hound as a kid...I am a giant sucker for those ears, the wrinkles and howl! I took one look at Dixie and knew there was no way she wasn't joining our family!

The kids went to my parents for 5 days over Spring break and that is when Craig & I got Dixie. We did NOT tell the kids we were even considering a puppy much less buying one! On the night before they came home we Skyped with them. They were beyond excited when I turned my chair around and had this tiny puppy in my arms! Needless to say this made them very excited to get home rather than the usual protests of "Do we have to come home?" :)

Dixie is now 10 weeks old and a GIANT handful! She is special ed. when it comes to potty training (still working on  it!) but a genius in learning her name...less than 3 days! She is busy, into everything and LOVES those 3 boys with every ounce of her! She has doubled in size in the 1 month we have had her and is expected to be around 100lbs. like her Momma. We took the boys to meet her parents and they loved getting to see what Dixie will look like in a few months! She is working on her howl and goes into a crazy "witching hour mode" every night around 8pm practicing! It is hilarious to listen to :) The best news is Wilbur loves her too! He adjusted to her right away and now wags her tail whenever she comes up to him! He is so much more active and seems happier as well! If we could just get her potty trained....

Happy Birthday Dad, Mom & Matt!!!

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Another year and another Birthday for Craig, me and Matt! Craig is 36, I am 35 this year...I feel like I am losing my memory so apparently I am officially getting old! And let's not forget...I got called middle-aged by Matt's young, good looking, single orthodontist! Special...just special! Craig had a very low key Birthday playing video games with the kids and enjoying the biggest steak I have cooked for him thus far!  Mr. Matt had the best Birthday this year! It kicked off with a double Birthday party with his best friend Cason! The two of them share a Birthday so a double party is the way to go! We rented campsites at Georgetown Lake and invited their whole class for a camping adventure! We pitched tents, kayaked, shot bows/arrows, cooked our own dinners, made s'mores, did a scavenger hunt, spent 6 hours running through the woods and hiking up/down the hill to lake, warrior painted ourselves and had an absolute ball! The girls all headed home at bedtime while the boys camped out! I consider this the best party ever...left Craig to spend the night with kids and came home to sleep in my own comfy bed solo!!! I met back up with party the next am to do breakfast and clean-up! SO MUCH FUN!!!

On our actual Birthday Gaga & Papa came to celebrate with us! Matt woke up to his cinnamon roll "9", opened his family presents and went off to school. Gaga, Papa and I took him lunch and his cookie cakes and then I went to lunch solo with my parents! What fun! I truly do not remember the last time the 3 of us went out to eat by ourselves! I was given free shots by our waiter and at the encouragement of my parents downed them! After school we opened the rest of our presents and went to my favorite restaurant for dinner (where I had a giant margarita...gotta celebrate being middle-aged correctly!). Such a fun, laid-back Birthday!!!

A few weeks of random fun :)

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We have had a busy couple weeks complete with crazy sports schedules, Birthdays, parties, hanging out with our close friends, random days off school, Matt was in a fishing derby, crazy days at school, our school field day and of course some plain old fun! We also got to go to the BAM Academy, a ninja warrior like training course right here in Austin! As you can imagine, Luke was beyond delighted with this adventure and the other two were equally as excited! We went and spent the afternoon climbing, hanging, flipping, tumbling, balancing, darting, jumping, falling and just having a ton of fun! Thanks Aunt Key & Uncle Jerms for the AWESOME gift!!! We can't wait to go back!!! Here is a glimpse of our last few weeks :)

Another Basketball Season...

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Another basketball season, another year of Craig being the great Dad he is and coaching all 3 boys, another year of Mom in the bleachers week after week with her camera and another year of watching tremendous growth by all 3 of my guys!  Luke has officially "clicked", making him a force to be reckoned with on the court. He is playing his last season of the 5yr-Kinder league, having started 3 seasons ago playing up and is clearly one of the more skilled kids on the court in his age group. He is so fun to watch as he is out there making passes, baskets, free throws and fully grasping the game! Brian and Matt played on their team together again this season. We also had 5 kids from their football team play with us and watching this group of kids that all really know each other and their strengths/weaknesses play together is an intense, super fun game! Brian and Matt clearly practice together at home and it is so neat to watch them play together. They make passes that no one even sees coming, know "secret" moves that they just make eyes at each other to perform and really enjoy playing together. Sadly Brian suffered concussion #4 during this season and had to miss a few weeks of play. Rather than let it discourage him...he became Craig's wingman helping coach his team! I have found that my role in life on the sidelines suits me well and I am usually hoarse every Monday morning after spending each weekend cheering on my guys!!!

Rock Climbing

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What's a Mom to do on a lazy Sunday with 3 crazy boys, 1 of which is a Ninja that have a TON of energy to burn?!?! (thank you weather this week for cooping us up!) Rock Climbing of course! Craig & I took the boys indoor rock climbing today and boy did they have a BLAST! This really neat facility is less than 45 minutes from our house! It was a little boys dream world....every wall ceiling, wall and even floor surface was meant to be climbed on! Craig and I even got our workout harnessing and tethering them all afternoon! This will definitely be a come back place!!!

December...

The month of December held so many fun things that I am condensing it all into one GIANT post! We really tried to do as many Christmas things with the kids as we could. Our elf Zippy showed up sending us on treasure hunts nightly and even had a few tricks up his sleeve! Matt & I went to a Christmas Tree Farm on a fieldtrip! Matt got to see his pride & joy OU (still no clue why he loves them!!!) play football against Baylor! We took my parents to Dallas with us for a weekend of fun at Six Flags and Great Wolf Lodge! (Of course we picked the coldest weekend in 5 years to do this and made Six Flags Christmas Festival seem like we were truly at the North Pole!!) We got back from Dallas and all got the Flu (and yikes...Kerry was on her way with the girls and we were terrified of getting them sick!!!) Kerry, Jeremy and the girls made it to Austin enabling Kerry to tackle all of the boys Christmas parties at school with me while Craig & Jeremy babysat the girls!!! Kerry's clan arrived with Rotovirus in all 5 of them!!! (guess my flu worries weren't such a big deal after all!) We all headed to Houston for the Baptisms of Maggie & Walker together! So stinkin precious!!! They looked like a mini bride and groom! Kelly's clan didn't make it as yes, we also gave Mom & Dad the flu! With Kelly being pregnant it was best for them to keep their distance from this diseased group! Craig & I are Maggie's Godparents and spent the entire time on the altar focusing on not showing everyone what was in our stomachs! Yep...making out with the girls after missing them so much backfired BIG time and we were the next victims of Rotovirus! Luke on the other hand has no self control and threw up all over the entrance to the church! In our defense, Christy's whole guest list also bailed due to flu and other sicknesses too! With all of this going around, three of us literally unable to hold it in, we bagged on the party plans and went back to my parents where the bathrooms and beds are plentiful! We literally were too sick to make the drive home to Austin!  Good thing we stayed...Brian & Matt were up next! The rest of the night was spent cleaning people and toilets ;) Seriously...whatever plague Kerry brought from Vegas was spreading faster than a fire!!! Her poor girls went for round 2 just for extra fun! Sunday morning...Gaga & Papa were the next victims!  Since Craig & I were feeling somewhat human again, we scrapped our plans of taking the kids to Sea World and just went home! The next few days were spent lying low and Christmas Eve was about as low key as you could get!
Christmas morning...Santa came in full force! Go-karts all around!!! The boys were ecstatic!!! We went out to drive before opening any other gifts! After the rest of Santa's loot was open and a few hours of fun, we packed up and headed back to Houston for Christmas part 2! We spent the evening opening an abundance of amazing presents and just playing with all the kids! Sadly we missed Kelly's family again as they came over Christmas Eve and spent Christmas Day with her in-laws. The next few days were spent playing, playing, playing. Friday night it was time to say goodbye to Kerry's people and head back home. But not for long! Sunday we spent the day at Sea World with the kids and then took Brian's teacher & his fiancé with us to see the Spurs vs. the Kings game. Aaron got traded recently to the Kings and happened to be in San Antonio! The next day Craig took my Dad, Brian and Matt to Shreveport to watch UA play in the bowl game! Brian was over the moon to see his team play for the first time live! Luke & I spent New Years solo and had the best day ever! The rest of Christmas break was spent playing with our new toys, trying out the ninja gym Aunt Key sent us to (Luke thought he dies and went to heaven!), checking out the new Austin Aquarium, going to a wedding and catching up on rest after a whirlwind 2 weeks! Enjoy all the pics! I managed to condense the 1250 Kerry & I took down to 360!!!

Star of the Week Movies

3'rd grade at our school has a Star of the Week setup that allows the parents to be involved every day of the week with a different activity. Last year for Brian I made a video surprising him about his life. He loved it and watches it all the time on his touchpad. Matt is up this week so I spent 6 hours today making another movie. (Oh how I miss those fat little cheeks!!!) Going back and watching Brian's, and spending all day making Matt's makes me so anxious for Luke to get to 3'rd grade so I can sit and have a treasure of him as well. I thought I'd upload the two I currently have...if you are lame like me you will sit here and watch with a slight tear in your eye and a weight on your heart...over and over and over... :)  :)

 

 

Another spontaneous vacation...Colorado!!!

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Craig's company has a site in Denver and wanted him to come for two weeks for training and to meet his new employees/clients. Being that he has traveled so much since September, I was not looking forward to this two weeks on my own again. Fortunately for awesome deals I didn't have too! I found a flight deal for the boys and I for a whopping $237 total charge to my cc!!! We were able to fly in right smack in the middle of his trip and enjoy the weekend with him.

Holy cow what FUN we had on this trip! Craig left on Sunday and headed to Colorado Springs. We flew into Denver on Wednesday (after a four hour flight delay spent sitting in airport!) and spent the night there as Thursday was going to be a busy day. Fortunately I did my research and found a beyond cool restaurant for dinner...it had live cliff diving shows going on while we ate! They had this really neat pool with waterfalls set up right in the center of restaurant and we literally watched people diving off of them throughout our whole meal!

Thursday- First up we had an 8:30am tour of the US Mint to watch money be made. Brian and Matt both have been studying this in various levels and were so excited to se it in person! Luke was just excited to see money being made and the fact that he was missing school!!!  Our tour was awesome and we headed to our next stop...Bronco Stadium! From there we headed to Colorado Springs to meet up with Craig. Along the way we had another stop...the US Air Force Academy. The boys really liked this one...seeing the planes flying overhead, watching a video about how hard it is to be in the Academy and touring the campus was super neat and makes you so thankful for those who do this. Next stop was a ridiculously fun soda fountain for lunch with a 3 story slide attached to side of building and a whole lower floor designed to resemble a children's museum. We had a blast exploring, playing and eating :) Our final destination for Thursday was one of my favorites...the Olympic Training Facility. We had a complete tour of the campus, played on actual Olympic "toys", watched a movie that made us really excited for February, learned how the athletes are invited to stay on the campus and even saw the US men's and women's (I find this to be a weird sport for women!) wrestling teams in training, as well as the current silver medal holder in shooting practicing!

Friday was another day full of adventures...Craig had to work in the am so the kids and I were off to Garden of the Gods, a national park with the neatest rock (ok...giant boulder) formations! My guys were in heaven exploring, climbing trails, climbing rocks and pretending to be ninja warriors! Lunch was at yet another ridiculously fun restaurant...this time an old warplane converted into a restaurant! The kids were over the moon playing in the cockpit, pushing buttons and using the controls while we waited for food! After lunch we met up with Daddy at Cave of the Winds. This is a preserved cave that we took an hour and a half tour of carved right into the side of Pike's Peak! The cave was at 7500ft and it was freezing outside when we arrived but inside was a cozy 54 degrees! All of us enjoyed learning the history behind the cave, the peaks and exploring ourselves through narrow paths, low ceilings and tight curves!!! (And yes, I was the one who called ahead to verify that there in fact NO bats in this cave (much to Craig's embarrassment!!) before we paid for my admission ticket!)

Saturday was another early start...we had a train up the side of Pike's Peak to catch! This was one of our more anticipated events as it is something my Mom did as a kid and still talks about to this day. It did not disappoint!!! We bundled ourselves up well as the top of the peak is at over 14000ft and was expected to be -11 degrees!!! Yep, I said negative!!! Poor Luke literally had on 5 layers, starting with long johns and ending with his ski coat! We made it just shy of the full ride and took our train as high as we could go thanks to 70mph winds at the very top! The only thing we missed seeing was the gift shop/restaurant but both were closed thanks to the insane winds!!! The ride itself was incredible...we had the "good" side of the train and had the neatest views! The kids particularly enjoyed the frozen in midstream waterfalls with icicles over 5ft long! Our train let us out to play for 40 minutes (which was plenty of time in those temperatures!!!) and my guys had a ball cracking ice to touch actual water in the frozen over streams, throwing snowballs and ice at primarily me (the favorite target!) and running through the woods in the snow!  Once we made it back to the bottom we spent a few hours shopping for treasures in the little city below and enjoying a yummy lunch before Saturday's final stop...The North Pole! Yes...you read correct...we went to North Pole, Colorado...a Christmas-themed theme park on the side of the mountain!!! It was 34 degrees out giving us that Christmas feeling and we all loved exploring this adorable park full of rides and entertainment...all Christmas themed!

Sunday was our last day and we had one last adventure...going to the bottom of the Mollie Kathleen gold mine! The kids were so happy...this was only open weather permitting in the winter months and we got lucky! We put on our hardhats, climbed into a 3ftx3ft metal cage, and were lowered 1000ft into the ground (swinging the whole way!) into the mine. It was damp, dreary and the guys in my family loved it! (I would've been happy skipping this one but sadly was not offered the choice!!) Again...there was a bat inquiry made prior to my being locked in a cage!!! After the mine, we headed back down the mountain to North Pole to use the 2'nd day on our tickets.

What a fun, amazing, spontaneous trip we were fortunate enough to have taken! When I look back at how much we have traveled this year with the kids I am truly in shock...we went from coast to coast and a whole lot in between in a very short amount of time!!!

Football...Part 2

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Football finally came to an end today (after 7 hours and three games!). The boys team entered playoff this morning as the "Undefeated Losers" of the season...aka...they had not won a game yet :(  Playoffs was single elimination...the odds of us making it past round 1 were not good. Fortunately their team played their little hearts out and WON!!! Those boys were on cloud 9!!! The smiles on all 14 of them could've lit the sky! Round 2 was a nail biter and in overtime...we pulled out ANOTHER win!!! I swear these kids were flying on pride at this point!!! Round 3 was a tough loss, and only by one touchdown. The team we played had entered playoffs at round 3 (yes, they were that good!) and we kept them working the whole game. Our guys were literally exhausted at this point and fought hard the whole game. What a fantastic 1'st season at this extreme version of flag football! As a Mom I loved watching each game and cheering for my guys. The pictures I took are proof of the bond the two of them have...they are together in almost every shot. Matt was always blocking Brian so Brian could make the throw/handoff, they were always chasing down a guy together and you really are hard pressed to find one without the other in these pics. I cannot wait to watch them grow together in a sport they so dearly love! We can't wait for Spring season!!!

Halloween 2013

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 Halloween kinda snuck up on us this year. With putting our house on the market I didn't decorate this year, and have been so consumed with school, sports and keeping the house clean... it was Halloween before I realized it! We made a quick daytrip to Six Flags to get in the Halloween Spirit this year. The boys always LOVE the creepy, well decorated park and it did not disappoint!

We had two sets of close friends join us for dinner and trick or treating this year and the boys were giddy at having them over! Both families have girls in their classes and all of the kids get along great! It was perfect in my opinion...Dads were on beggar duty and took all the kids trick or treating while Moms stayed here and sat in driveway passing out candy and enjoying sangria ;)

This year Luke was on a man on a mission. He knew just wanted he wanted to be and wouldn't stop till we found it...snake eyes (from GI Joe!). He was giddy with his big muscle costume and face paint. Brian and Matt had ninja costumes that they had picked out and purchased...until they found out the girls were gonna be cheerleaders! My two stooges actually changed their costumes and went as football players!!! Lordy...I thought I had a few years before we were impressing girls!!! All in all we had a great Halloween...friends, food and begging for candy...what more could you ask for?!?!

Finally!!!

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After 5 cancellations and rescheduling's...we FINALLY made it back to Jellystone! I swear the trip is not meant to be! We started off the long weekend with Walker being born! Hooray for Aunt Christy and her good timing...we all got to meet our new little man on the way to the park Friday morning! He is absolutely perfect and we are all completely in love with the newest member of the family! Walker's birth meant Gaga & Papa only being able to come with us to Jellystone for one day but we changed plans easily and are so happy Walker is finally here!

We were fortunate enough to get one of the brand new cabins and it did not disappoint! Fans and working a/c in every room, a nice big shower, a huge loft and even a leather couch! This is my kind of camping!!! After checking in we hit the pool, mini golf and bikes. The kids had an absolute ball enjoying the very uncrowded park!! Luke was elated to be tall enough for all of the waterslides this time around and we finished off our first night with fishing, a campfire dinner and smores!

Saturday Gaga & Papa joined us for a full day of fun! They brought Luke all of his birthday gifts as well as an awesome Star Wars cake! We spent the first part of the day enjoying the pool and slides...and then the rain came! Holy cow did it come...we were absolutely poured on! All said and done we got almost 7 inches of rain in 20 hours! Gaga & Papa headed home and left us in mudville USA! Packing the car in the pouring rain Sunday am was not my idea of fun but the kids haven't stopped talking about Jellystone so I'm gonna say it was a success!!!