First Family Road Trip

Unfortunately, our first ever family road trip was not a success, but it wasn't a complete failure.  The trip got off to a poor start before we even left the house.  The night before we were going to leave (Wednesday night), Emily had a rough night of sleep (we suspect she's cutting another tooth).  She was fairly cranky most of the day Thursday, but Mommy and Daddy thought they'd give the trip a go anyway.

So, Thursday afternoon we drove down to Colorado Springs, checked into the hotel, and went almost straight to the pool for a swim.  Kara had a good time, but Emily wasn't really into it.  We then headed out for dinner, but Emily was pretty done.  Mommy and Daddy figured that Emily would pass out pretty quickly once we all got settled at the hotel.  Well, we were wrong.  The hotel supplied a Pack-n-Play for babies to sleep in, and Emily was not happy about it!  She screamed for about half an hour before Mommy and Daddy thought Emily might sleep better in the bed with them.  She went to sleep within a couple of minutes, which was great.  Unfortunately, Emily decided that it was time to get up at midnight after a few hours sleep.  She kept hitting Mommy and Daddy and saying "Up!"  She eventually passed again, but Emily, Mommy, and Daddy did not get a great night's sleep.  Fortunately, Kara was in the adjoining room and slept!

We got up and going early on Friday and got to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo shortly after they opened.  Kara got to feed the giraffes, a black rhino (see the video), and lots of birds.  She even got to pet a wallaby! There were plenty of animals to check out and even Emily had moments of interest and enjoyment.  She also screamed a bunch and eventually passed out and took a catnap in the stroller.

By this time, we had made up our minds to just head back home and skip our original Saturday plans.  After the zoo, both girls conked out car.  We took this time to swing by Garden of the Gods (which was very close to our hotel).  We walked around a bit and stopped by the trading post.  After that, it was time to pack up and head to Edelwiess German Restaurant for dinner.  Mommy and Daddy remember this restaurant fondly from when Mimi and Papa lived in the Springs.  The food and ambiance were just as they remembered, but of course the girls were tired and antsy by this point, so it was a bit of an ordeal....

Finally, we enjoyed a car ride home that involved a ten minute pit stop at McDonald's for the 4-year old and a screaming 1-year old for about an hour before she passed out. Ugh.  In the future, we will thinking twice about any overnight trips, prepare better, and hope for the best!

Summer Fun 2014

This summer has just flown by!  Unfortunately, Daddy hasn't been great at keeping up with the blog, so we'll just hit some of the highlights from the first half of the summer.

The last weekend in June and the first couple of weekends of July were spent picking cherries from our sour cherry tree.  They're not great to eat right off the tree (Emily and Kara would both disagree with that statement), but they make great pies.  We collected enough cherries to make about 4 pies.  Kara got into the action for the first time this year and helped pick a lot of cherries.  Emily grabbed every one she could grab (didn't matter if it was half eaten by a bird and rotting on the ground) and stuck it in her mouth, so picking cherries was a little tricky with her around.

Kara had Vacation Bible School (VBS) the week of June 16th through June 20th.  She had an absolute blast interacting with the other kids and learning new songs.  Mommy and Kara went to the church the Sunday after the camp, so Kara could participate in the "concert" the kids had.  All the other kids stood up with their age group and sang their songs, except for Kara.  She was up there singing with every age group.  Wish we'd gotten that one on video.  Kara had Farm Camp every Tuesday, which was the highlight of every week.  She talked non-stop about the zipline and the goats. She also got to interact with pigs, horses, peacocks, cows, and chickens.  Kara also started swim lessons every Wednesday and Thursday.  She improved a little bit every class.  As if that wasn't enough, Kara took ice skating lessons at a nearby rink every Thursday.  It was mostly just learning how to fall and get back up on your skates without getting hurt, but she enjoyed it!

Emily's summer was much more mellow than Kara's.  She's been working on running (which is currently a fairly quick walk).  She's also been working on talking.  She surprised Daddy one day when he took her to get the mail and she started saying, "Happy, happy" over and over with a big grin on her face.  She's such a sweet girl!

Link to pictures