San Fran

Ugh! Am I seriously this behind? And I was doing so well there for a while. When I get this far behind I really debate just picking up now and skipping the last 5 months, but seeing that I kind of use this for a little online journal (which I'm seriously considering making private for friends and family VERY soon - as a heads up :) ) I want to make sure I try to document everything. SO, they might be short and sweet, but I'm starting my attempt to catch up with - Our vacation to San Fransisco :)
So, Kevin and I, all 3 kids (remember aged 5,3, and 1) at the time, Poppy and Mammy all decided that we wanted to take a train ride somewhere. After a LOT of debating and going back and forth about times and prices we decided on San Fransisco, CA. Surprisingly, taking a train from Denver to San Fran wasn't that much more expensive than taking it a couple hours to Grand Junction. The thing is - the train ride was 33 1/2 hours - ONE WAY! We all had reservations about it, because that is a REALLY long time, and thought about only taking train one way and getting a plane back - but in an effort to save money, we stuck with the train. Also, we knew we'd be spending the night on the train, but to add a sleeper car it was an additional $1,000ish for that one night and it wouldn't even sleep all of us, we'd have to take turns, so I just couldn't justify getting one. In the end - the train was a lot of fun, but 33 1/2 hours seemed like 33 1/2 hours, we could have gotten the fun experience in 2 hours and been done :) The kids did AMAZING, they were very good about playing with all the things we brought and really were pretty good about sleeping in the seats, Sammie was tougher because we had to hold her the whole time for sleeping, so I think other than Bradley and Gracie the rest of us did NOT get a good night sleep. BUT now we can say we went on a train (and as soon as we got to the hotel we cancelled the train ride back and booked one way plane tickets :) ) Also in an effort to save money, we stayed across the bay in Emeryville and took the BART into San Fran which didn't seem like it would be a big deal - but it was a pain in the butt. And on top of it all, we only had 2 days to spend there before we had to come back. In conclusion, we had fun but the biggest thing I took away from this vacation is that my kids are AMAZING! I know most parents would say this, but seriously - 5 whole days of telling them "Hurry, we have to catch the train, bus, tram, trolley, boat, plane!" and I think we - the adults - definitely complained more than they did. This was definitely not a 'kid friendly' trip. We wanted to see the sights and didn't have a whole lot of time to do it, so we were running everywhere trying to cram everything in. We didn't even have time to go to the hotel pool :( I loved spending time with my family and was super super impressed with my kids. And now they can say they went there and have been on a train, bus, tram, trolley, boat, and plane :) And I can't tell you how many times they have mentioned our vacation and wanted to go on vacation again, so they obviously had fun and we made good memories :) I will say this - next vacation is going to be a relaxing one!!! :)

The Fair

The kids had so much fun at the fair last year, so we had to go again :) Even though it's just so ridiculously expensive!! I mean I know when you're little you don't really know the value of money - you just want everything and it doesn't matter how much it is. BUT I remember not too long ago going to a fair, or Elitch's or something, where those carnival games were like $3, or 3 for $5. Because I remember getting to try several times and failing before I realized how hard they really were. They are now $7, or 2 for $10! To try to throw one ball in a bucket, or one dart at a balloon - that's just ridiculous - and you never win, or else you spend $50 and get a little dollar store stuffed animal. The rides aren't AS expensive luckily, seeing that that's mainly what my kids wanted to do anyway :) And I know funnel cakes are like $7 a piece now, but somehow that's still worth it (priorities) :)

Pony Rides

I finally got Bradley signed up for a class at the Farm. I did my internship there in college and taught those classes, so I knew how much fun they were and I have always wanted to get them in there, but the fill up super quickly. He liked it a lot, and really enjoyed the last class when they did pony rides. I'll have to get on the ball and get Gracie in there for a class soon :)

 

Zoo

We took a day trip to the Zoo with Tammy and Ayden in late July. It was a nicer day than last time we went, which also meant it was a lot more busy (I'd rather the colder day), but we had a lot of fun! Since I had a nice BIG car that would fit all of us, we were able to fit all together and put Ayden in the back seat next to Sammie, and she was in heaven :) She was petting his arm for the first 30 minutes of the car ride. She sure loves that boy :) (but who doesn't? :) )

100%

Bradley got his cast off 2 days before July 4th. He was pretty scared going into the dr but it came off really easily. He was so scared to hurt it again though and was holding it close to his chest the whole time we were at the dr and the whole ride home. The dr had told me that he could do that for hours or days, but eventually he will be ok using it again. We were home for about 5 minutes and he was sitting at the table eating - holding up his arm,

then he said, "Hmm.. I wonder if I can swing the bat..." and that did it :) He went outside and played baseball for an hour and was back to normal :) He got 3 more games in without the cast and LOVED being able to play 100% - with glove and all! He had been wanting to play catcher all season and finally got the chance and played 1st base a lot too, since now he had the ability to catch the ball :) On the very last game, we was playing short stop, got a grounder and threw it to first and first caught it!! (First time all season!) And that was the last out of the game, it was very exciting! (I swear I video-taped every play except for that one, typical).

 

4th of July

Kevin's favorite day of the year, and one of mine as well. Fire danger was high again this year, but luckily not as bad as last year. A lot of cities cancelled fireworks again, but City Park was a go. We did the norm - BBQ at home, then over to Mom's to walk over. We found a great spot on the grass this year and sat down with about 45 min to wait until start time. It was hard to keep all the kids occupied and in the same spot, but with the promise of fireworks coming soon, it was manageable. Then start time came... and went. They sent off a warning firework, and everyone sat there waiting, staring at the sky, and nothing happened... for a LONG time. For 45 min we kept telling the kids, "ANY minute now!" but they were starting to doubt us, and the longer we waited the more I thought it wasn't going to happen. There was no word going through the crowd, which was frustrating and people started to leave. We just started to get up to pack up our things when it finally started - almost an hour late. It was a good show, but it was LATE and the kids were tired from the long wait, and it was definitely time to go home :) I guess the delay was for wind, and the city got a lot of complaints about the lack of communication, to which they said they'll do better next time :)