Camping!

Well the Saint family took their first camping trip this last weekend. I am happy to report it was a success! We went up Friday morning and spent the whole day doing some fishing and setting up camp. Saturday was spent fishing, hiking, riding four wheelers and eating lots of good camping food. Plus a little alcohol consumption for the adults. We camped with some friends of ours who had friends and family of theirs there, plus more of Stephen's co-workers, so camp was fun and hectic! There were about 15 kids, 8 dogs and a million BUGS.




Unfortunately, while trying to remember all the food, clothes, cooking supplies, fishing supplies and everything else under the sun I forgot my camera. But we are going up again later next week, so I will get pics of our HUGE new tent (love it!) and the amount of crap it takes for 6 people to camp for two days.


Mary and Stephen caught two really big trout (especially for creek fishing) on Saturday. Both of them were very proud of themselves! Especially Mary, who really did catch it all by herself, because her mother didn't believe she was actually reeling in a "HUGE ONE MOM!" She didn't actually end up reeling,(she just kept backing up until the fish was out of the water) because she was too busy trying not to drop her little Micky Mouse fishing pole and promptly fell right on her butt when she got the fish up the bank. It was a classic moment :) Gabe caught two decent sized trout, and we all caught lots of tiny ones. The next time we go up, we will have lots of trout to eat! Sophie and Sara didn't fish much but they did enjoy annoying the people who were trying to fish by being loud giggling girls. I didn't fish much either, I was too busy keeping track of kids, baiting hooks and taking hooks out of fish.

We got pics of the fish as soon as we got home though!
Check back next week, we are going to have a very busy week ahead. Stephen's dad is coming, a trip to Worland for the Saint side of the family then off to Ten Sleep for his moms side of the family only to come back home and get ready to go camp some more! I am sure I will have lots to post about!

Fishing!!!

Today we went up to the Laramie Peak area to do some fishing and hiking. Great time had by all ...except for Sophie who does not love fish we learned today. Evidence below..

Other than that little freak out we had a GREAT time. All of us got a ton of fish and we had a really fun (about 5 miles!) hike up Laramie peak trail. Stephen and I were talking today about how nice it is to finally have all of our kids be old enough that they are truly enjoyable to take places. Not that they haven't always been fun, but it sure is a lot less work now.

All in all it was a great Family day trip!!

Update...after a year!!

Ok so I have been seriously slacking on the whole blog thing. But a few people have asked me to start doing it again, so I am going to give it a try.

I guess the most exciting thing that has happened recently is that we moved to Douglas. It's much smaller then Casper, but still close enough that we can zip over there in an hour to shop and of course see family! So far the kids are really enjoying it. Sophie is over the moon since she got her own room, and Gabe is excited to have a room big enough to turn around in. The little girls are just rolling with the flow for the most part. After the initial shock of not having Sophie to help them clean their room up anymore, they have gotten much better about not making HUGE messes in there LOL. Stephen and I are enjoying our huge master room and bath, not to mention the walk in closet. The biggest adjustment for all of us has been the fact that we have neighbors. While we are loving our new little home, it is very odd having people so darn close. My kids have no comprehension that they make enormous amounts of noise! Hopefully we will eventually find a different lot or a little piece of land in future. But for now we feel blessed with what we have!

Sophie's Room still in need of some curtains and Wall decor....

Gabe's Room. He is very excited about his new camo bedding!

For the most part we just enjoying the lazy days of summer. We have been playing lots of cards, spending time walking the river, and going to the parks. None of us are really sure what to do without all of the activities the kids are usually involved in. But that will change soon enough. Gabe starts football in August (which we are told is sort of a REALLY big deal here.), Sophie is going to give Girl Scouts a try and Mary is going to start Gymnastics hopefully. I'm not sure if Sara is going to do anything, we'll have to see how it goes. She might have enough on her plate adjusting to pre-school 3 days a week. One day she is really excited about it, the next she doesn't want to go. So her and I are like two pea's in a pod, because one day I am SO excited she is going to preschool and the next I am ready to bawl my eyes out because she is going! We are praying, that we can find a church we like with an AWANA program. All of my kids love it so much and even Sara can be involved which is Awesome!

The kids at Natural Bridge Park

May Madness! 2010 Edition...

Well, our house redecorating has pretty much been put on hold. I have not been home much this month with all of the end of school activities. So far this month we have had Sara's 3rd birthday, Mary's end of the year BBQ at the park, Sophie's Kindergarten Graduation, a trip to Rapid City for a weekend, Gabriel's end of the year reading program and the list goes on. This next week we have Track Day and field trip to the movies and then we are DONE! YAY! So I just thought I would share a couple of pics....

Sara Age 3



Sara at the park for Mary's BBQ\


Mary



Sophie at graduation

Gabe at his reading program

House Remodel!

We have been very, very busy this last few weeks! We decided that since we were going to be in this house for the next few years at least, it was time to fix it up. So after a quick call to my landlord we got after it. We got the girls' nasty wall painted and the bathroom done a few weekends ago. I still need to get curtains for the bathroom and take down the girls closet doors and put a curtain up there.

Since then we (and by we I mean mostly Stephen) have mudded ALL of the wood panelling and textured the whole living room and got it painted. I am working on getting all of the new trim we got primed and painted so Stephen can get it hung up on his next day off. And to complete the new look Stephen decided to buy "for me" a 52 inch flat screen TV with a new stand! Out of all of us, I think Gabriel is the most excited about the TV! After all of that is completed we are moving on to the our bedroom and then the kitchen/hallway. I am very excited to get all of the walls and ceilings finished so that we can move on to new flooring.

Happy Easter!

We had a fabulous Easter. My grandparents came from MT and the whole weekend got spent visiting with them at the ranch. Gabriel thought his Papa Mou was the funniest guy ever! All of the kids enjoyed seeing them very much, as did I.

The kids had a great time with their Easter baskets and hunting for eggs. Sara was a little stressed about some random bunny sneaking into her house in the middle of the night though. She is such a chicken! The whole time we were hunting for eggs she just kept saying "that bunny is so silly."

Papa and Mama Mou with their Wyoming Great Grand Kids!

Random Happenings

Last week was a super busy one for us. We had the Awana's Grand Prix which is a wooden pine box car derby. This was the first time we have ever participated in one and it was interesting to say the least. Gabe is way to competitive to enjoy anything like that, and it took every ounce of will power he had not to melt down when his car was eliminated. Sophie's car made it for quite a few rounds, but she could of cared less....

Sophie watching her car

Sophie had her last basketball game to cheer for this last weekend. She was sad to see the season end! We all had a lot of fun watching her cheer and have so much fun, but I am very glad that is one less activity that I have to worry about for the time being! So now she is back in Tae Kwon Do full time with her brother and is working hard to catch up with him!



Gabriel, tested for his orange belt the same weekend and passed with flying colors. While he is not big on competitive sports, he absolutely eats up Karate. He loves everything about it, but especially sparing. He is a quick little bugger! Now he is just working hard to get to green belt so he can start breaking boards with kicks!

Look at that balance! Just toes on the ground! (Second one from the right)

L

Mary is trying her hardest to be patient until a spot opens up for her in Tiny Tigers at the Karate Studio. EVERY single day she asks the instructors if it is her turn yet and EVERY single day they tell her pretty soon! I am hoping that she doesn't have a complete meltdown when they give her a white belt, because she is quick to inform everyone that she already knows how to kick and punch so she should be "wellow belt." She has been on a real dress kick lately and keeps asking when she can where her pretty dresses and "frip frops." She is just all about the accessories!

Sara is just busy getting hauled around non stop when her dad isn't home to watch her. For the most part she is a trooper, but some days she has just had enough. Even though I don't want her to grow up anymore, I am somewhat looking forward to her being old enough to participate just so I don't have to listen to her tell me "I NOT a baby, I want to do it too!"

She is looking forward to her 3rd birthday and really really wants a "fishy." I am on the fence about this as I am pretty sure she would kill it within hours of having it. The kid can not stay out of anything! But maybe she would surprise me...



That's pretty much all that is new for now. I am praying that it quits snowing and the temperature rises above 40 for Easter or my girls are going to freeze! So more pics of Easter egg dyeing and more to come soon!

Busy days and Spring Fever!

We have been going non stop here for weeks now it seems like! This week alone, we have Karate every night since Gabe is testing for his orange belt on Saturday, Sophie has her last week of cheerleading (thank goodness!)so we have practice, a game that happens to overlap with Gabe's testing on Saturday (thank goodness for Aunts to help haul kids!) and an awards ceremony, the 3 older ones have a BBQ/wooden car derby for Awanas on Wednesday and Stephen started his volleyball league this months. Sara is just along for the ride :)

I keep thinking of all these things that I need to get done, and I am just not sure I am going to fit it all in. My kids NEED a picture taken, it has been 2 year since they had them professionally done, I am sure I will kick myself for that 10 years down the road. I would really like to get them done in their Easter clothes, but no promises that you will receive them anytime near Easter, my Christmas cards never even made it out this year!

I am very much looking forward to things starting to wind down. To top it off the weather keeps teasing us. Today it is 50 degrees, tomorrow more snow :( I truly hate spring I just want it to get nice and hot! I am just itching to pack up the mountain of snow boots, gloves, hats, snow pants and winter coats!


After this busy week I will have lots of new pics to post!

Mary's Birthday

I can't believe our little Mary is already 4 year's old! While I can't believe how fast time flies, I am very glad the birthday is finally past us. She literally has been waiting to be four since the day she turned 3! For the last 365 days I have probably been asked a million times, "mom, when is my next birthday?"

We had a little party at the ranch. She loved all of her presents, I have not seen her for more then 20 minutes she has been so busy playing with her new barbie house! On Monday Stephen and I took them all swimming at the Aquatics Center here in town. We had never been there and as most of you know I don't particularly enjoy water, so I was having some anxiety about it! But it was fantastic other then the constant chore of counting " One, two, three...Stephen where is Sophie!" They have so much there, I was shocked! There is a little "lazy river" current that the kids can float on in inner tubes, a small slide in the 1 foot section and two large water slides (one slower one and a super fast one!) for the bigger kids over in the 3.5 feet section. Mary loved going down the huge water slide with her dad, Gabe was brave enough to go on his own, Sophie went once, that was enough for her! Sara didn't love the water, but that is not surprising since she is pretty much afraid of anything and everything. I sure hope we have the chance to spend more time there this summer.

Nothing like a roadtrip!

We just got home a from a little trip to Nevada for my cousin's wedding. We had a fabulous time and a much needed break from real life! The kids traveled wonderfully, even the sick ones and who can ask for more then that? Of course traveling with my family is always an adventure, so the trip was not without a few bumps along the way. We got a flat tire on the van in Utah and had to purchase a few new ones. I learned that if the van is driving funny for a week or two that it might NOT be mud caked in my tires, but the actual tires and that I should let my husband know of these issues so he can double check it :) oops!

One vehicle in the caravan from Wyoming broke down along the way, but it was all good. Dad needed to buy a new flat bed trailer anyways and it is obvious that Winnemucca Nevada was the logical place to do that hehe!

All in all we had a great time, like we always do with my family! The wedding was beautiful (especially the flower girls :D) and the reception was a good time had by all. Gabe rocked out like normal, Stephen entertained us with a line dance, Sophie flitted around like the social butterfly that she is, and Mary and Sara finally passed out under the table.

I can not wait until June, when we get to do it again! But this time it will be Minnesota. My kids have never been there so we are very excited to take them. They are already counting down the days till they get to play with their cousins!

Happy New Year!

Wow, I haven't posted in a long time. I am sure this is because, just like people warned me, life gets crazier the older your kids get.

We had a great Christmas (well a few actually!). It was such a busy Christmas season that my Christmas cards are still sitting on my desk on top of my broken printer, that I have no desire to fix or replace at the moment. The kids had a really long Christmas break this year, they just went back to school on the 11th. I LOVED having them home, life was peaceful, (other then the screaming, bickering and the constant plague of them being hungry ALL the time!), laundry was mostly caught up, and real meals were cooked. It was fabulous!

Of course now they are back in school and activities are in full swing once again. Our weeks are pretty much jam packed, and I am sure Stephen will end up thinking I am trying to starve him to death with my crock pot meals. But hey, when you don't get home till 7 o'clock at night and still need to feed, bathe and read to kids, dinner needs to be already done at the very least!

Gabe is back in Tae Kwon Do 2 days a week, Sophie is cheerleading, and of course the older three are in Awana's on Wednesdays. Thankfully cheerleading is done in April and then we can go back to Gabe and Sophie both doing Karate 4 days a week *sigh*

Sara is doing well, with the potty thing as long as we aren't home or at Grandmas. Thankfully, as you read above we are not home much. And thankfully after having potty trained 3 kids, I am not nearly as stressed about it as I would of been 7 years ago.

Mary is having a harder time getting back into the swing of things as far as school goes. She loves to socialize with her friends, but is not at all impressed with having to try and write her name. She keeps telling me she doesn't need to put her name on anything, everyone knows she is Mary Beth! She is however very excited about turning 4 in a few months. At the moment she is trying to decide whether she wants to be in Karate with Gabe and Sophie or give soccer a try. I am trying to subtly encourage Karate for a few reasons.
1. It is indoors and warm
2. We already have Karate on the schedule anyways
3. Did I mention warm?

Now off to go put something in the crock pot!

Trip to Texas/New Mexico/Mexico!

Well we have finally gotten home. We are so glad to be back! It was a good trip and it was really nice spending so much time with my wonderful husband alone! But by the time it was over, I was just really, really, ready to see my kids :)

Most of our time was spent at the Dentist down in Juarez, Mexico. 10 hours the first day, 7 the second and then 3 more 2-4 hour trips down there. Juarez was actually a lot cleaner then I expected and the people we did talk to were very friendly and helpful. It is a huge city, much larger then El Paso and apparently speed limits and staying in your own lane is optional. If they can fit in between two cars, they will try, whether there is a lane there or not!. We didn't get to see much of they city, since it is so dangerous down there. The streets (other then right at the border) are pretty deserted. No one walks around unless necessary. So we saw the dentist office, the huge Mexican flag flying in the city and a little convenience store.

Just a little FYI: In Mexico if they tell you just a few minutes this can mean 2 minutes or 4 hours!

I got eleven crowns put on my top teeth and 7 teeth pulled all together. My gums are still very sore and full of stitches, but in about 3 months they will be healed completely and I can get a really good partial denture here in Casper. I am looking forward to that! Every time I look in the mirror though, it was all so worth it!

We spent most of our spare time in New Mexico. We aren't big city people one bit and the smell was horrendous! So any chance we got we headed for the country! One day was spent driving through little towns and seeing the New Mexican Scenery. We checked out some HUGE pecan orchards, a few wineries (though sadly not a lot of drinking, since I could barely open my mouth lol) and some neat shops full of Mexican trinkets.

Another day we went to Carlsbad Caverns. If you are ever in the area I highly recommend it. The pictures I took just don't do it justice. It was enormous!
Stephen in the Caverns!

My new teeth!

Halloween

The kids had a great time Trick or Treating and dressing up. Gabriel was a U.S. Marine, Sophie was the Cat in the Hat and Mary and Sara were Thing 1 and Thing 2. We went down town during the day, but ended up going that evening too. Mary and Sara were a huge hit! They had their picture taken multiple times by business owners and even by some people we trick or treated!


Only 1 more week and then Stephen and I leave for our trip to get some of my teeth fixed. I am super excited, but also getting a little nervous. More on that when we get back!

Swine Flu!

On Tuesday night I went to check on the kids before bed just like every night and found Sara burning a fever. So I took her temp, which I rarely do unless it feels super hot and she was almost a 104. It just kept going up and up and I was loading her up with Tylenol and Motrin like there was no tomorrow. I stuck her in the bath, which she did not enjoy one bit at midnight!

The next morning she was still burning a fever but it was staying around 101 with medicine, so I wasn't super concerned. Gabe and Sophie had both been sick about week ago, so I knew it was just the same bug they had. But Heidi convinced me to take her in, after she heard that one of her co-workers grandchildren had the same symptoms with Swine Flu. So I did and yep, tested positive for H1N1! Luckily, Gabe and Sophie got over it without any need for Tami Flu, but the doctor decided he would prescribe it for Sara since she is so little still and maybe to help prevent it from spreading. Then he couldn't find it anywhere! He had to call 6 different pharmacies, just to get a hold of some. The whole situation is quite disturbing actually.

Mary still hasn't shown any symptoms and the doctor thinks that maybe she won't since she just finished some antibiotics for an abscess on her tonsil. Who knows, so we are just waiting and watching her! I have already come down with it, but am feeling a little better today. So hopefully I will be able to get over it too without a visit to the doctor and no searching this town for a prescription!

Stephen isn't sick yet either, because he just got back from St. Louis for some drag line training for work. He had a good time and it sounds like he learned a little anyways :) But it was a long week for both of us. He was ready to be home, and believe me I was more then ready for him to be home! So here is pic he took of the arches on driving through St. Louis!\

Mary, Mary quite contrary!

Well, Miss Mary as some of you might know can actually be quite contrary at times. She is so incredibly stubborn but at the same time she is so honest it really just cracks me up! You never know what is going to come out of her mouth at any given moment.

On Friday when I picked her up from pre school, the teacher pulled me aside and said, "I need to talk to you for just a minute." The most dreaded words a parent can hear from a teacher.....

Apparently, Mary stuck her tongue out at one of her "friends" at school. The little boy was asked to tell Mary that it hurt his feelings and then Mary was asked if she was sorry. She promptly gave a very frank, "no!" Then the teacher asked if she would like to apologize and again the answer was, "no!"

Ugh. I went and made her apologize and on the way home from school as we were talking about how important it is to be nice to all of her friends and not make faces she says, " Mom I was just teasing him, I think he needed to just dry up!" Meaning of course that he was acting like a baby. Oh yes, she is her fathers daughter!

Today at the ranch she was playing outside and when she came in I noticed that her pants were muddy. It is actually pretty dry here at the moment so I asked her where she found the mud. She told me and then I asked her if she was supposed to play in mud. "No," she says, "but mom mud makes me happy." As I am looking at her innocent blue eyes, I am thinking to myself, well fair enough and at least I only have one child with muddy shoes and not four!

This morning we took Stephen to the airport for his trip to St. Louis. After he got in line for security me and kids headed up to the observation deck so that they could watch the plane take off. As we are waiting, and waiting and waiting, Sophie observes that this it "taking too long" (actually true for once) and Mary pipes up in a really loud voice, "Ya I bet daddy is getting crabby, he probably needs a cigarette!" Once again very honest, yet not really crucial information at that moment for the whole room to hear!

Crossing my fingers that nothing too embarrassing comes out of her mouth tomorrow!

Just a quick update!

Not much new here other then the tons of rain/snow we have been getting. The kids are enjoying Awana's and we have started attending the church in town that the kids go to. We love our church in Powder River, but the kids are getting old enough that they need more then our little country church can provide. So far we have really enjoyed it and the congregation has been very welcoming!
Sophie is going to be 6 on Friday! Every time one of the kids has a birthday, it always amazes me how fast time goes by! We aren't planning on do much, Stephen is on nights, the weather is icky and school keeps us buys. She assures me that she is ok with not having a party as long as Heidi and I will take her to get her nails painted. I suppose I can swing that!
Stephen and I are busy planning our trip to El Paso TX/Mexico to get some of my teeth fixed. My head is starting to spin, with all the details that I need to keep track of on our end and then of course stressing out about leaving the kids for over a week. I know that my mom and Heidi will take excellent care of them, I am more worried about their stress level then the kids :)
I guess that's all for now, here's a few random shots of the last few weeks.
Mary and Sara actually being nice!

Gabe and Sophie waiting for the bus....

First Bibles and Awanas

Gabriel, Sophia and Mary all started Awanas last week. In case you don't know Awanas is a non denominational Christian program for kids. Every week the kids have a new memory verse and a lesson to go along with it. Part of Gabe and Sophie's lesson is learning how to use the bible by finding their memory verses in it. So of course this led to their first grown up bibles! They were super excited. Sophie of course wanted a pink one with a fuzzy pink bible cover. Gabe wanted a bible with camo, but settled for a green one with a camo bible cover. They are both pretty sure that this means they are old enough to attend bible study with me in the summers, and that they don't need to go to Sunday school now since they have a bible like the grown ups :)

Sophie spent all evening trying to decide what color bible marker she would use to highlight John 3:16, her and Gabes memory verse for the week. Gabriel read about 3 chapters in John to me and then looked at me and said, "wow mom, God is busier then I thought. He teaches us about everything!"

Mary's memory verse is 1 John 4:8 ....God is love. So Sara and Mary have both been running around all week, "god is love, god is love.!" They make up songs to it etc. It really has been quite amusing.

Are we almost out of the Two year old stage yet?

Yes, almost! That is what I keep telling myself. Only 7 more months and Sara will be three, and although some of my kids were worse at three, I am holding out hope that Sara won't be! Just today she has

*Gotten into my mascara. Actually this is usually a few times a week occurrence. It doesn't seem to matter where I put it the little monkey finds some way to get into it!

* Spilled half a box of Special K cereal because she "can do it." She didn't even ask for help!

and

* Had three meltdowns. 1st because I put my shoes on to go put Gabe and Sophie on the bus. We go through this every morning. I literally only step off my porch and stick them in and come right back. Meanwhile Sara is sitting in the window, "DON'T LEAVE ME!"
2nd because I walked out of the living room. I even had a laundry basket in my hand, and she starts running around frantically looking for her shoes, yelling, "don't leave mama, where you going mama." When I tell her just to get the laundry she sniffles her way right behind me and back to the living room.
and lastly because Mary is home sick today and is really just messing with our routine! She had a fit all morning because Mary wanted to watch one episode of Dora before Sara got to watch Barney. Even after she was actually watching Barney she would look at Mary and say in a not so nice voice, " I watch Barney, not Dora!"


Needless to say, Sara spends a lot of time in the naughty corner and in my lap. If she is not in one of the two places then she is either A. sleeping (like right now) or B. into something she shouldn't be!


I know that logically she will eventually get through this phase, so I try to enjoy the clinging to me as much as possible and keep trying to drill it into her head to stay out of stuff! After all Psalms 127:3 says Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him.

Mary's First day of school and some weekend fishing

Stephen got promoted this last week, so we decided we would celebrate by taking the kids fishing. First we went to the river, but that only lasted an hour or two. We were having no luck and I was sick of worrying one of the kids was going to fall in. So after a quick stop for some lunch we went to the little fish pond here in Casper. It is really the nicest little place to let the kids run around without to0 much to worry about. We all had fun and everyone caught a fish....except Gabe. That did not go over real well, but we explained to him that is just the way it goes with fishing! We learned that Mary is deathly afraid of fish, wouldn't get near them after she touched the one that Sophie caught. Sara is a little to young but loved guarding the worms ( even tried out sucking on one!) and that Sophie is quite the little caster. She had it down in no time and caught two within about half an hour!



Mary had her first day of pre school today. She was super excited and had a great time! She is my most outgoing one, so there was zero shyness and not one ounce of nervousness. She was very excited to meet all of her new friends. Sara had a melt down as soon as we left Mary, sobbing that "we forgetted Mary." Thankfully Aunt Heidi was waiting outside with Hadleigh, so she calmed down a little when she figured she could "pay with Hadee Paige."

Gabriel's Birthday Trip to Denver

Oh my goodness, I really don't even know where to begin! This was probably the most interesting road trip I have ever taken. We left on Friday afternoon and things were going really well until we got to Fort Collins. Heidi and I were very excited to eat at Olive Garden, so we got all settled at our table and come find out Hadleigh and Gabe are both burning fevers. Being the prepared mom that Heidi is, she just whips out her infants Tylenol. Being the experienced Unprepared mother that I am, I eat really fast and tell Gabe to put his sweatshirt on if he is cold and then run to Walgreen's! I should mention here that Megan loaned us a GPS navigator that Gabriel named Miss Map and we would of been lost without her! She quickly got us to a Walgreen's in about five minutes.

Things went pretty smoothly the rest of the night, we got to the hotel, and the kids slept really good! The morning however was a different story. Hadleigh spent the first two hours in the hotel, projectile vomiting, but the fevers seemed to be well in check for the moment, so off to the zoo we went! The Denver Zoo is pretty awesome, with lots to do besides seeing the animals. We rode a train and a merry-go-round and got a nice big Icee! We saw every animal I think, with the exception of the bird building, which we slyly did not mention to Gabe, since neither Heidi or I are big bird people.

Gabriel seeing how tall he was compared to a polar bear


Gabe and I on the train in the zoo

From there we went on to Tiny Town( after another dose of meds for both the kids, since the fevers had returned!). I must say it is well worth the 30 minutes it takes from Denver to get there! It is a town built of miniature buildings, with a nice 10 minute ride on a miniature train with a real steam engine and caboose!
The Library in Tiny Town

Hadleigh at the hair salon

By the time we were done there, Heidi and I decided it was time for some grown up fun, so off to Cherry Creek Mall we went. After a fun trip to the candy store, Gymboree, and The Children's Place, we were all ready to go to the hotel and order some food.

The next day is where it got really interesting! The game plan was to head up to the Idaho Springs/Blackhawk area and tour a gold mine and show Gabe where he used to live when he was a baby. About 10 miles from the Idaho Springs exit off the interstate, the power steering goes out of the car and it starts dinging at me that the charging system has failed. Please understand this not a flat interstate, nor one where people are content to drive the speed limit. Cars doing 80 on a 60 mile an hour highway are zooming around me up and down a very large mountains. I take the next exit, trying to remain calm and not panic that it is taking every ounce of strength I have to steer the damn car around tight corners. We get parked, Gabe is in the back seat pretty much convinced that we are going to be stuck in Colorado forever, while Heidi and I get out and pop the hood trying to convince ourselves that it might be a really obvious problem or that maybe the half ass owners manuals that cars come with will give us a really easy solution. Ya right! So after staring at the engine for about 5 minutes, we figure maybe we should call Stephen. Of course he tells me right off the bat that we probably broke a belt (ahh, to have the knowledge that men have about cars!), and to look and see if we see any broken or missing. So me being the helpful person that I am, tell him I think I see one missing on the left side of the long shiny silver thing. He of course tells me I am completely clueless and that does not help him at all, but that we should be ok to drive down into town to see if we can find a mechanic. As soon as we hang up, a very nice young man pulls up to see if we need help. His name was Mark, I have never met one I didn't like! He tells us he agrees with Stephen that we should be ok to drive into town, and that he used to work with at a Jiffy Lube in Evergreen that is only about 2 miles away and that they should be able to help us. We get to Jiffy Lube and they tell us sure no problem, then tell us oh wait no we can't. Your tensioner (whatever that is) locked up and that is why your belt broke, you need to go somewhere else. Oh and that we can't drive the car at all! The very nice man calls us a tow truck and he tows us to Firestone 4 miles away. Firestone man tell us no problem, should only be a little while. Soooo an hour later the nice man comes back and says they can't find a part anywhere in Colorado, but not to worry they would think of something! We then decided maybe there was no point in worrying, so we should go for a walk, feed the kids and chain smoke so that it would appear like we weren't worrying. All the while we are making back up plans like

1. We could have Megan and Lewis come get us. He has a big truck and trailer and just tow the car back to Casper.

2. We could ask Lewis to just bring us the part from Casper, though I don't think that would of probably went over well.

3. We could call our cousin Trevor, have him come rescue us and live with him until someone could fix our car.

4. We could hope to find a hotel room, during tourist season, and pray that would not cost and arm and a leg to have the car fixed.

But by the time we had returned from our brainstorming session, the wonderful mechanic had figured out how to just fix the bearing in the tensioner and that we were good to go!

Waiting for the Tow Truck at Jiffy Lube

The Tow Truck. Come to find out this was Gabe's favorite part of the trip, getting to ride in it!

So on top of the world and 5 hours behind schedule, we headed to Estes Park, skipping the mine tour, but still cruising through Blackhawk. Estes Park was beautiful, as was the drive to get there, well worth the detour!
A tiny lake in Estes Park, where we stopped to let Gabe run around and gather pine cones, that he wants to plant at his grandmas so she can have trees.

Then we were off to Loveland praying that the outlets would still be open since it was Sunday. We arrived and decided to hit up Osh Kosh first, then to the Gymboree outlet (this is seriously what I had been looking forward to the whole trip) only to find that we only had 20 minutes to shop before they closed! So I am almost literally running through the store, grabbing everything in sight that is in a size 3T, 4T and 7. Thankfully I was able to find everything I really wanted for the girls and the ladies in the store didn't kick us out right at 6 on the dot. I could spend hours in there!

So, the moral of the story is never travel without a Miss Map in case you have to make random stops like Walgreens, Walmart, Starbucks, a mechanic etc, medicine, lots of blankets (at least 6) in case your baby decides to puke non stop, and always have a sense of adventure because it will be funny as soon as its over!