Road trip to Colorado for Thanksgiving

We are ready to go...

Rest stop for lunch...we found a great rest area where we stopped for lunch the first day.
This was the only drawback, but thankfully we saw no rattlesnakes.
Awesome playground!

Lunch

We chose hotels with indoor pools which worked out perfectly.

We all enjoyed the hot tubs!

Eating dinner in Colorado Springs in our hotel room

And swimming in the pool in Colorado Springs.

The kids had some outside time while we packed the car at the Radisson hotel.

They took turns running and jumping for the camara...so fun!

LOVE these pics!!!

We visited Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs...the kids had a blast! It was the perfect place for them to have a fun play day, especially after two days sitting in the car.

D is walking through the wardrobe into Narnia and below he and I are in front of Aslan. Last year we read the whole Narnia series so we enjoyed this part of Focus on the Family.

There was also a three story slide that the big kids did over and over again!

And puppets....

We finally made it to the cousins and enjoyed some cousin time at their house in Denver.

Then it was off to the mountians! Wow!! God is totally amazing and His creation is astounding. We so enjoyed the beauty of the mountains!

SNOW!!!

We splurged and got the kids snow boots, which turned out to be a huge blessing. E making a snow angel.

Snow fights.

More cousin time!

Our yummy turkey!

Thanksgiving!!

This was the reading on the car when we left...it was cold!!!

Another great rest area on our way home!

We had a great trip!!!

Halloween

The kids had fun dressing up and going to two different churches for their activities!!

Ballerina
Another Ballerina

Soccer player

Carving the Pumpkin

Ready to work

Papi pulls off the lid...
E digs in

L is next

Mommy helps out some

This cracks me up...Mommy carved the pumpkin but Papi had to add the finishing touches.

And here is our.....

DOGGY PUMPKIN!!

October fun at preschool

E had a costume parade at school. She is dressing as a ballerina this year.

I got to stay for her parade.
Posing for mommy!

This little girl with her is very talked about in our home. She often has a "bad attitude" at school, according to E. We always get the full report.

Then in the afternoon E had a fall party.

She enjoyed her food very much!

And had fun making a bat.

Her only complaint was that the party was too little. She wanted a big party!

Annual Pumpkin Patch Trip

We took our annual trip out to the Pumpkin Patch. I'm not sure how many more years the kids will be interested but we have decided to enjoy all the trips that we can until they outgrow our tradition!

Family pictures...thankfully the kiddos cooperated although they would have rather skipped the whole affair.
Lunch time!

Girls chose the little table and D joined us at the adult table.

So many cut-out photo props!

Hay Ride

Posing silly

Can you tell my littlest is related to me?!?! Poor thing!

E conquers the world

Girls and Papi flying high

I love this pic of L!

Such a fun tradition!

Camping

Ready to go!!! We have the mini van just as full as can be...for a 20 min ride to the campsite.

First morning...
Girls bundled up waiting for hot chocolate.

D on his bike waiting for hot chocolate (notice his covered hands...it was chilly!) D rode his bike the entire weekend!

Grandma and I making donuts for breakfast...a super special treat!

Breakfast!

D helps Grandpa wash.

E helps Grandpa wash. Each child took a turn helping Grandpa with the dish washing.

Kids watch as Grandpa roasts a marshmellow

Mmmmmm....E eats her s'more

Everyone enjoys their s'more!

One of our hikes.

E on her bike! She is so ready to get rid of her training wheels!

D aiming at Grandpa with his marshmallow shooter. We all had a battle. It was so much fun!

Girls working on crafts.

Sitting with Grandpa.

Clean up!