Bedtime

Good night.

Sleep tight.

 

Holy Spirit

J:  I asked God to put the Holy Spirit in my heart.

E:  Did he hafta poke it to get it in there?

VBS

It's vacation bible school (VBS) week around here!

On the very first night, J volunteered to recite the verse he had already committed to memory...in front of the entire group...with a microphone.

Nice work, J!  You nailed it!

It's Been a Long Week Already

...as evidenced by my dietary intake this evening:

three chicken nuggets leftover on my child's plate 

and

a handful of gummy Life Savers for supper

followed by a nighttime snack of

 Funyuns

and a

raspberry flavored Mike's Hard Lemonade.

It's only Tuesday.

This has me wondering (and fearing) what in the heck Friday's menu is going to look like.

A Girl Can Dream

E:  Can I have my own car?

Me:  No.  You have to be sixteen.

E:  Oh.

Me:  What kind of car do you want?

E:  A pink one.  With purple on it.  And fireworks.  But not the loud ones.

All Good Things Must Come to an End

I’ve experienced many family vacations at this familiar place, so I had a fun, somewhat nostalgic feeling watching our kids exploring the condo in much of the same way I did the first time many, many years ago. 

We seem to leave a trail everywhere we go, but I do believe that all of our belongings that made it to the condo in Colorado actually arrived home with us as well.  That might be a first.  That doesn’t mean we didn’t leave our mark though. 

(The note we found in the cabinet above the dryer.)

(The note we left behind.)

 

Then we packed up, cleaned, hit the road, and made one last vacation stop.

I don't think I've ever made a road trip to Colorado without stopping here.

And then it was time to reluctantly call it quits on our...

Snow Much Fun

 Playing in the snow...

 on a clear, sunny, and quite warm summer day...

in a noticeably outgrown shirt... 

 instead of traditional snow gear...

is all fun and games until...

it's your turn...

to be the target.

Super Fast

We had such a great time taking in all of the family friendly fun that Breckenridge had to offer.  The lines were minimal, the weather was absolutely gorgeous, and the activities were plentiful. 

Another slow picture taking day because I was too busy having a blast with my family. Although I don't always heed my own advice, sometimes it's much more important to live in the moment instead of capturing it.

The best part was that even E could participate in the super fun alpine slides

and super fast new coaster. 

I thought that she might be terrified, but our adventurous girl was thrilled with the speed.  I must admit, however, that her initial reaction made me a litte nervous as I was trying to decipher two-year-old speak. 

What?

What?!?

Oh my!  What did you just say?!?  What's super fast?

Oh!  That bridge is super fast.

Whew! She thought it was a bridge. 

You're right!  That bridge is super fast.

Snow Day

 One morning we woke up to snow!

I generally despise snow, but since it was June I wasn't as irritated by it. 

Plus, it made for a beautiful morning run.

The cold day led us to an indoor swimming pool with a large water slide.

The phone picture is the only one for the day.  We were too busy having fun and making sure everyone was safe.  By the end of the day, E was speeding down the slide solo, as in all by herself, so we needed all four adult eyes on her at all times.  Unbelievable to us, this place had very few slide rules, so we took full advantage and had a blast.  We had so much fun that we even returned in the evening following a fantastic afternoon snooze.  I love vacation!  We had the slide completely to ourselves during our second visit, and J climbed the three flights of steps and slid down over fifty times in one hour.  We definitely got our money's worth at this place, and the slide was one of the highlights of the trip.

Nothing like ice cream to top off an active day of swimming.

I love vacation!

(Did I already mention that?)

Father's Day

As J said, "This was the best Father's Day ever!"

We started the day off praising our Almighty Father with this view...

and an equally fantastic message about the importance of a father's presence.

I love our church and church family, but I could seriously get used to worshiping here.

We stopped at the park afterward to burn off a little energy

and practice American Ninja Warrior skills.

Then it was off to picnicking, exploring,  

and hiking.

We made sure that our leftovers did not go to waste,

and, of course, snapped a few more photos.

 Since it was his day of honor, Daddy chose the next activity.

Not everyone was thrilled, but we'll do anything once for our daddy.

Panning for gold is a tedious job, but vacations aren't cheap so you better listen up boys!

That a girl.

Eureka!!

That speck won't get us too far, but we had already struck gold long before this vacation.

We love you, Daddy!