Colorado Part 1

We were excited to return to Colorado this summer!  It  had been 2 years since we'd enjoyed those Colorado summer days.  Our first stop was Denver this time.  Our 10 days there was packed with fun.  A few highlights - 

Cherry picking w/ Pa, then eating cherry cobbler a la Mimi

Cousin reunion!  Aubryn wanted to be very close to Noelle and tell her "hi" a lot.  It was so sweet and funny to hear her keep saying "Hi, Noelle!"  She was so excited to be with her big cousin!  Here she is standing as close to Noelle as possible while she brushes her teeth.  

These two really did have a great time together.  All 4 little girls played together really well.  It was so fun to see their little personalities as they chatted, played, and compromised.  

It was a treat to see the Fitzpatrick fam!!  They arrived in CO the same day we did.  What a delight to see them getting settled into their new house.  I'm so thankful for the way the Lord has provided for them and especially thankful that He provided a place in Littleton where we can see them often!!  

These kids picked up right where they left off, except 2 of them were now walking.  These are precious little friendships - 

Summer birthday celebration!  Dad made ribs, mom made chocolate cake, the summer bday folks got gifts.  Fun night!  Isaiah got a Darth Vader alarm clock which he really wants to wake him up.  I've had to re-set it so that it goes off later in the morning.

And the At-At Lego set from Mimi and Pa!  This was his biggest Lego set to date and he was super happy to build it over the course of the following few days. He's had enough Lego experience now that building isn't all consuming (ie he can take a break for lunch).  

"Let's take a girl cousin bubbly bath"

Yay!!

Noelle cries.

Lucy cries.

Annelise cries.

Aubryn watches and plays with bubbles.

Mimi/Shan/Holly do a quick wash and get these crying/screaming girls out.

The whole episode was maybe 4 minutes max.  

Post-bath cake watch.

The pantry floor has been a hot spot for play time for years!  

Happy Birthday, to these precious three!!!

The whole crew went to the Natural History Museum one morning.  

We got to have our first bloody trip to the ER with Miss Lucy!  While Pa and Isaiah were having their guys' day of breakfast, Dinosaur Ridge, hot dogs, and fishing, Shan and I had our girls at the park.  Lucy was on a spinning toy, let go, fell backwards, and sliced her little head.  I was so thankful to have Shan and a car there at the park (we'd walked there).  She and I scooped all the girls into the car, went home, and Luke and I took this sweet girl to the ER.  She was clearly shaken up, but she did very well.  At the ER, they were able to numb then glue her wound cut.  She was proud to show off her "forehead glue" for the next couple weeks.  Here we are afterwards - with some chicken nugget comfort.  

Our special big girl event was tea, of course!  This was Aubryn's first time to come to tea.  Both girls did great!

On our last evening, we realized we hadn't taken pics of the grandkids in their matching swim suits, so we dressed them up at 8pm and did a little photo shoot.  

In addition to all of these activities, we went swimming, played and ate and Shannon's house, went to Pirate's Cove, had breakfast w/ Liz, visited Liz and Charlie at their new house, went jewelry shopping w/ Mom, went to church, and went to Monte Turk's 80th bday party.  It was a great part 1 of Colorado time.  We were so thankful!!