4th of July Week Recap

4th of July Week in Colorado was lots fun though. Here is the onslaught of photos and hopefully good details about the week.  Mom and Dad are in the middle of moving so we spent some time packing up things and moving and rearranging and we had a lot of fun too.  We had a fancy dinner made by a chef who was very particular (in some respects, I felt like we were in 'Hell's Kitchen') and made some delicious food.  I learned some tricks of the trade too.  He didn't really want the kids to eat the food (why waste such good food on palates that like mac 'n cheese, I guess) but we sneaked them some appetizers.  Grayson will tell you that he didn't get to eat the rest though...he feels a little slighted;)

Grayson spent a day at Elitch's with his cousin Nicholas.  I promised Matalley a trip to the American Girl Doll store so we could get Addy's hair done since she didn't get to go to Elitch's.  We went swimming one day and to a fun park with my college roommate and one of her boys on another day.  It had a little stream to play in.   

 

 

Grayson and Matalley went to Meeker a few hours earlier than Lola and me (we picked Matt up from the airport) and Lola was sad she missed out on the big kid stuff.  She didn't cry though, just buried her head in my leg.

 Meeker was filled with fun activities.  I woke up in time for the 5k before the Lion's Club breakfast and parade.  Poor Matalley got sunscreen in her eye so watched the parade one-eyed.

 Lola liked all the candy at the parade.

Grayson and Nick participated in the Watermelon eating contest and Nick got 2nd place!!

Grayson ate a lot though.Then we watched Matt, Andy, Brady, and Mike play in the 3 on 3 basketball tournament against kids 15 years younger.  They played pretty well but were exhausted afterwards (nothing like being on blacktop at 1 in the afternoon).

We watched the fireworks which Lola did not love but she never fussed.  It started raining and sweet Lola just ran to a random person to pick her up.

And then got up the next morning to go on a fishing trip, Janie (and the rest of the kids' first fishing adventure).

 

 There was lots of playing in the creek.

And throwing rocks.  At one point Grayson was dunked:)

 ProYiaYia had a cute hat!

 Grayson was excited to try fly fishing.

It included lots of waiting and not so many fish so Matalley and I headed back to camp in case we were the reason the fish weren't biting.

 Lola thought camp was AMAZING...running around in circles and drinking orange pop were certainly highlights.  The little girls played Ring Around the Rosie any chance they had....they like saying "ashes."

 

Happy Birthday to Me!

 

Grayson's first catch...

  

Family photo opp...

 

My brother and his family

 

 All the girls but missing ProYiaYia...

 

The whole lot of us...

  

The kids thought this was the coolest thing ever...

 

The scenery was so gorgeous.  I loved the view of the valley.

And after 10 days of no routine and little sleep, it really has taken us a week to recover.  Just in time for Grayson and I to go to Honduras on a mission trip.  I hope we can keep a little better schedule there...no sleep can really affect us both!