goat dairy

My mom came to visit last weekend and we took a little day trip (well, afternoon trip) to a goat dairy in a town a little over an hour away from our town.  Ryan and I have passed by it several times on our travels and we finally got the chance to stop by. 

 



The goats were hilarious.  They followed us all around (one even joined us in the store).  It took the kids (ours...not the baby goats) a little while to warm up to them being so close. 

 We took the milking tour, which was a lot of fun.  We got to see all the animals, play with the kids, go into their cheese cave and milk some goats. 

 After that we visited their cute little county store and stocked up on some goat yogurts and cheeses. There was plenty to sample and we all left with a few goodies to enjoy on our dinner-picnic.

We will definitely be visiting again.  Until we get our own goats and learn how to make our own tasty treats.  Maybe someday :)

In other news, Emma is officially potty trained.  This trip was one of our first longer drives without diapers and she did great.  We had to stop three times because she "had to go!" All false alarms.  But I'll take that over having accidents.  Sleeping through the night has been no problem.  So, a big farewell to the diapers and a way to go, Emma girl!

steamboat

We made it back from a fun little vacation to Steamboat Springs on Wednesday.  It was so fun to chill out with the cousins and my mom and sister.  I was a little nervous about doing the almost five hour drive with just me and the kiddos, but they did amazing!  We enjoyed the beautiful drive, sang songs, they played with magnets and dry erase boards, and counted trains and windmills. 

 

 

I actually didn't take too many pictures, but I love all their smiling faces in these.  

 

 We hiked to Fish Creek Falls the first full day we were there.  Mason really loved the waterfall.  We saw a bunch of small "waterfalls" on both sides of the trail on the way up and he would get so excited for each one.  Him and Nana also were on the lookout for all the different flowers they could see.  My sister and I got major workout points for pushing the double strollers after already going for a run that morning.  Hello sore legs. 

 We spent most of the time swimming.  All four kids loved the pools.  We loved the hot tub!  We had our own hot tub on our deck so we soaked and soaked after the kids were tucked in for the night.  And during nap time. 

Such a relaxing trip.  No huge plans.  Just family time and sunny weather! 

pocket purse

We found ourselves making a couple trips to Oklahoma City over the past two weeks as Ryan bought some surplus sleeping bags and military cold weather gear from an auction.  The first time I got to go with him for a little mini-roadtrip (think lots of snacks and time to talk without being interrupted by the littles as we travelled there and back in 22 hours).  The second time he went by himself and got a hotel (think of me getting the kids and myself ready for school and daycare with a little boy who was unwilling to get dressed, chicken water leaking ALL over the kitchen floor,  a little girl screaming in her carseat where I parked her while I attempted to stop the flooding in the kitchen and arriving to school a bit late--thank goodness for my student teacher!) 

 

So, our house and garage has turned into a bit of a surplus store with phone calls and emails coming in from the ads on Craigslist and more and more of the gear going out.  And a little extra spending money.

 

And new purses and bags. 

 

As Ryan and I were going through and sorting all the clothes we came across a few pairs of coveralls that were in really bad shape.  I didn't want to just throw them away though.  So, I ripped out all the zippers and cut off all the pockets because I thought surely I could make something with them.

 

At the same time I was doing a little knitting and found myself getting annnoyed at my ziplick bag of knitting notions.  I pulled it out and found that it was full of holes.  Again.  It's a little bag where I keep some crochet hooks, extra knitting needles, scissors, etc.  And it's constantly getting holes poked through.  

 

This is where I got the idea to take one of the pockets and turn it into a bag to keep all my knitting stuff in.  I had a little helper (of course!) so I decided to make her one too and turn it into a little purse by adding some ribbon.  

 See my old ziplock bag?  And my new bag with the heart?  I put an E on Emma's purse.  So easy.  And so free.   I literally just cut around the pocket and fused some fabric on.  The velcro closing was already done for me.  I love using old things and making them new. 

Emma loves her purse.  Lately she has been wearing it around the house, keeping it full of all her horses.  And I don't have any holes in my knitting bag! Sweet.

family reunion

We spent this past weekend in Glenwood Springs for a little family reunion. It's a nice way to spend Father's  Day.  We gathered together last year and met up again this year.  My Papa is in a nursing home there, so we all got to spend time with him, which was wonderful.  He loved watching the little ones playing on the grass outside.  

Lots of cousin time, which is some of my favorite time!  The little cousins enjoyed splashing in the pool, reading books, playing at the park, running around the back yard and eating ice cream.  

 The big cousins enjoyed taking walks, talking about life, love, and our family and just hanging out together. 

A crazy game of ring-around-the-rosie! If it was up to those little guys it would have never ended.  It was so fun watching their eyes light up each time we stood back up to play again. 

We also had round two of Mason's birthday party.  Complete with lots of fun toys, rootbeer floats and ice cream sundeas.  Mason plopped himself down in the middle of everyone and said, "Can you sing to me now?" 

I am so thankful for my family.  I love that we can get everyone together once in a while and just enjoy each other's company.  So many blessings! 

Hawaii

We just got home from one of our best vacations ever.  We spent a week in Hawaii on the island of Kauai with my dear mama, sister, brother-in-law, and nephew, Jackson.  We left our bambinos in the care of Grammie and Grandpa.  Even though our week was jam packed with lots of sightseeing and adventures it was also so very relaxing. The island is totally laid back and the weather was simply beautiful.  

 Ryan and I hiked the Kalalau trail to the Hanakapi'ai falls which was only 8 miles roundtrip.  The first few miles were along the coast which was so pretty and then we were in a tropical forest full of fruit and delicious smelling plants.  The waterfall was huge!  And hiking at sea level was pretty much awesome, considering most of our hiking is at about 9,000-12,000 feet. 

 Ryan and I also hiked to the Secret Lava Pools where we soaked in a fairly deep pool watching the waves roll in.

 Some of my favorite things were hanging out with the fam, trying as much local food as we could stand, and shopping in all the fun towns along the coast.  And of course hanging at the beach.

During our stay there we were able to travel all the way from the north end of the island to the south end.  We were staying on the north shore, which was lush, green, and beautiful.  The landscape kept changing as you went farther south.  Down at the south shore we visited the Waimea Canyon, the Kalalau Valley, Po'ipu and the Spouting Horn Beach. 

We also went on a sunset sail and watched the sun set over the ocean and attended a garden tour and lu'au.  I loved both of these. So many pretty sights and good food!

We spent a ton of time on the various beaches.  Some were so peaceful and vast and others had crashing waves that you could watch for hours.  We snorkled (for my first time) at Ke'e, Tunnels, and Hideaways.  The sea life was incredible.  We swam and enjoyed the sunshine at Hanalei Bay, 'Anini, Secret Beach, Waipouli, Maha'ulepu, and Po'ipu Beach Park. 

My sister and I were trying to decide what was our favorite and we just couldn't.  I loved laughing and making memories with my family. And I love going new places with Ryan and trying new things. But, it's also so nice to be home.  

upgrade

Ryan and I cashed in one of our Christmas presents: a night at the Mt. Princeton Hot Springs, complete with a night of babysitting from the grandparents.  We had a wonderful time.  We spent all morning hiking near the Chalk Cliffs.  We had picnic lunch and just kept on going, with no particular path or trail in mind.  It was a beautiful day.  Of course I left the sunscreen in the car and got just a little fried.

After our hike we headed to the hot springs to enjoy the warm weather and soak for a bit.  Our room wasn't ready yet, so we just headed to the spa and sat for a couple hours in one of the cooler pools.  When they finally gave us our room key we were in for a bit of a surprise when we walked in....it was somebody's else's room.   At least that's what we thought from the looks of it. The beds weren't made and there were pillows and blankets all over. Turns out there was a little miscommunication between housekeeping and the front desk which translated to a poolside cabin upgrade for me and the hubby! 

It was pretty funny really, but we weren't  complaining.  It made the trip just that much nicer.  We unloaded all our gear and headed into town for dinner.  We went to one of our favorite pizza places (actually we like the salads there almost more than the pizza!), called Amicas.  Then we picked up some items from a bakery on main street for breakfast the next day.  By then the hot springs were calling our name again.

We found ourselves in the company of a really sweet couple for a majority of the evening.  We talked about kids, parenting, school, and small-town living.  They headed off for dinner and we stayed long enough to watch the stars come out.

After sleeping in until eight (I really don't know the last time that happened!) we hit up the hot springs for one last dip.  Then we went to our favorite coffee shop, Bongo Billy's, and spent the rest of the day at some antique shops.  We found a lot of fun items and actually have a few more things hanging on our walls now.  We are so thankful for that thoughtful gift from Ryan's parents. 

travels

We've done a little bit of traveling this summer. About a month ago we headed off to a family weekend in Glenwood Springs. I don't think I've laughed so hard in a long time! I get to see my sister and my cousins quite a bit, but there is just something about going on a trip together! We got to see my other aunt and uncle, cousins, and my papa.

We had an ongoing water fight...so we spent lots of time "drying" off in the sun.
We also spent lots of time lounging in the hammock.

We went to the Strawberry Days Festival while we were there as well. But, mostly we hung out as a family. It was pretty sweet.

Then a few weeks later I headed off to New York for my friend Anita's wedding. There were five of us girls that went: me, emma, a friend from school and her two grandaughters. We had quite the adventure. We got lost numerous times and barely made it to the wedding on time. We also went to Niagra Falls, Hamlin Beach, and picked strawberries and cherries. We also had just about the best burger and buffalo wings that I've ever had.

It was a whirlwind trip, but I'm so glad I got to share in the celebration of my friends.
Emma was a great traveler. We spent many hours on an airplane and saw four different airports (lots of layovers!) but she just took it all in as she usually does.

The wedding was at a family pond and it was just beautiful! The next day we went back for brunch and to help clean up. We also did a little paddle-boating. This reminded me of a cabin on a lake that my family went to every summer when we were growing up. Back then paddling a paddle boat seemed so hard! It's funny how your perspective changes.

I also got to meet up with an old friend, kim, from my junior high and high school days. I haven't seen her since my wedding over 7 years ago. She was only three hours away so we met at Hamlin Beach and spent the afternoon and evening together. My goodness, it was so fun to get together. We laughed, talked about motherhood, watched the kids play, remembered funny stories from long ago, and laughed some more. I'm so glad it worked out to see her.

That's a quick recap of our latest adventures. I am so blessed by my friends and family!