Grammy Kerschen Comes to Visit!

We've seen Grammy Kerschen a whole bunch of times in the last year; she came to Colorado last October with Johnny, Layla and Cathy, we went to Michigan for Thanksgiving, and we were in Michigan again in June for Michael and Annie's wedding.  But having Grammy come visit us alone was SUCH a special treat!  The kids loved having her all to themselves.

 We sprung the kids out of daycare early Friday afternoon and hit the pool, of course!

 It turns out, Grammy is an excellent sidewalk chalk drawer.

After-dinner we took a stroll down to the BIG lake,

 and captured a few awesome shots of Grammy by the shore.

 We knew it wouldn't be long til this happened...

 Saturday morning, we took a picnic lunch to Lair O' the Bear.  Again we enjoyed the fresh air and Colorado beauty.

 Lillian and I mastered the selfie technique while riding around in the backseat together!

 Saturday evening we took in a Rockies game, of course, there was very little game watching!

 Sunday morning, Grammy and Lillian curled their hair.

 Lillian and mommy took another selfie...

 And we met several members of the Hughes family at the zoo!

 Sunday evening, we met Casey, Keira, Ian, Kim, Holden and Everett back at the pool.  It was a lovely end to a lovely weekend.  We were sad to see Grammy go...but can't wait til February when we see her again on our Disney Cruise!

A Grand Time in Grand Lake!

Severin, Colleen and Carolyn had a friend get married in Colorado last weekend.  Since the wedding was in Winter Park, the Hanou's decided to tag along, and get in some mountain time!  Grammy and Opa rented a great cabin in Frasier that had plenty of room for the Hanou clan.  It was a great location and had fun games for the kids and adults alike!  We played horseshoes, bean bag toss and ladders.  We hot tubbed, went fishing and "hiked".  Uncle Rob got to go for a short bike ride, Uncle Ian got to go for a mountain jog and Opa, Uncle Severin and Daddy (Mike) got to take a fly fishing lesson.  A whole lotta relaxing occurred over the 4 day weekend as well!
We began the visit with a dip in the neighborhood pool.  The summer's coming to an end far too quickly, so we squeezed in a quick swim before heading west!

When we arrived at the cabin, we had to test out all the beds....for quality control purposes of course!

What's a hike with little ones without several potty stops and some wild flower collecting?

We enjoyed a nice picnic lunch in the backyard, because food always tastes better outside.

And we discovered the game of horseshoes!

This squeaky old swing was a kid favorite all weekend long. 

I never did get a turn!

All three of the Fly Fishing Fellows caught fish and look forward to next visit so they can practice some of the skills they learned!

Aunt Courtney tricked the kids into looking for a deer - just to get them all to face the same direction for a picture! Too bad Carolyn was at the wedding - we missed her in this picture.

Once a teacher, always a teacher!  Grammy enjoyed orchestrating some drawing time in between activities.

And Aunt Kim showed off her hairdressing skills with some fancy braids.

We took a morning trip to Grand Lake to do some fishing - kid style.  All of us mom's must have lost our minds temporarily, cause not one of us thought to pack snacks, drinks or swim suits!  Good thing Uncle Mike / Daddy picked up juice boxes and pretzels at the store when we stopped for bait.  And it's a really good thing the kids don't mind swimming in their skivvies! 

Kids love to play with worms!

Uncle Ian took the time to teach Jak how to throw the golf ball rope in "ladders".

The "lifeguards" guarded the hot tubbers well.

A little post-hot-tub game playing anyone?

We had such a nice weekend, we decided to take a drive through Rocky Mountain National Park on the way home.  The long drive was worth it, great wildlife and nature viewing all throughout the park. 

Too bad the wind kicked sand in Jak's face - this would have been a great shot!

It turns out Uncle Severin is as good a story reader as Opa.  He holds their interest well!  Another great Hanou family get-together!