Stock Show-ing

One of our favorite annual Denver experiences, the National Western Stock Show didn't disappoint this year.  We had our usual awesome time visiting the animals.  But this year we were able to cover more ground and really explore some exhibits (Since the kids are bigger and easier to handle!).

The kids enjoyed the pony rides so much - we had to do it twice.  It won't be long til they want a pony ride that does more than just go round in circles.

Feeding the goats, sheep and pigs was awesome.  It's like these animals are starving!

Quite possibly my favorite family photo - I like it even better than our latest one with Santa!

It was nice to meet up with our good Maryland friends Kelli, Adam and Nora too!

 Sweet Treat!

 The Western-Aires!

The Luksis' Come to Colorado!

Old friends are the best friends!  It always amazes me when I reconnect face-to-face with my East Coast friends, how easily the time between visits disappears.  Instantly, Amanda and I are little girls again, chatting away, catching up on various friends and family and rehashing old memories.  It was so fun to get our little ones together.  The first morning we hit the Nature & Science Museum.  The Discovery Room was conducting a drumming session that captivated all three kiddos for quite sometime.

Lillian ran into her friend Olivia from the Wooden Shoe.  They had a great time playing with the dress up clothes and running around together. Then we took a break for lunch in the cafeteria. 

And dropped a few coins in the "tornado" bowl. 

It was Mike's birthday while they were here, and he FINALLY got his "man chair" we've been talking about purchasing for years now. 

 The kids already know and respect the rules:

1. No sitting in Daddy's chair if he's home and wants to sit and enjoy it.

2.  No shoes on in Daddy's chair.

3. No food or drinks in Daddy's chair, unless it's a sippy cup.

4. (My favorite rule) If you fight over Daddy's chair, neither of you get to sit in it.

So far they're sharing it well...

The next day we hit the next must see stop in the Denver Kid-world, the Denver Zoo.  The weather was sunny but chilly so we focused on some indoor sights. 

 

 That evening, we headed over to the Burns Household for their "Gender Reveal" party.  Here's Aunt Casey 14 Weeks pregnant with Baby ??? (coming in July).

 All guests were invited to "vote" on whether a baby girl or a baby boy is hiding in Aunt Casey's cute belly. 

The majority guessed BOY. 

 And the majority was wrong!

Keira is going to be a great big sister! 

I'm not sure why my smiley happy boy is pouting in this picture, his team just beat the Steelers and we're heading to the Division Playoffs against the Patriots!  The Luksis Family (big Steelers fans) should be the ones frowning!

Putting Our Christmas Gifts To Use

The Wii is more fun than I thought it was going to be.  At 3 and 4 years old, these kids can work that controller better than I would have expected.  Daddy never had video games when he was growing up and he's enjoying the Wii more than he expected too.  He and Lillian have been learning to Bass Fish - prepping for next years camping experiences!!!  Lillian went from bowling a 120 with help (a lot of help!) to bowling 165/170 by herself in a matter of days. 

 Knockin' it outta the ball park.

The Joys of Little Boys

Jak is exercising his right to bring us to the brink of insanity these days!  And just like this quote suggests, nothing improves his mood more than an accidental fart.  Thank god Jak can talk (and boy does he talk!), because there are so many times where Mike and I have no idea what he wants.  And even when he articulates what he wants - it rarely makes sense to us.  The other morning, he wouldn't get dressed.  He insisted that he would only wear clothes that swish when he walks.  We settled on a pair of 5/6 running pants that Everett had handed-down to Jak. They were about 8 inches too long, but what can you do?  The school understood and Jak was happy - that's really all that matters right?

Jak has been sleeping on a mattress on the floor for over a year now.  Don't judge - it is safer, and we were hoping to pass along Lillian's bunk beds to him.  But Jak didn't want bunk beds.  He wanted a race car bed.  Thank God for Craigslist....cause we got a deal on this one and hopefully we'll be able to re-sell it to the next 3 year old in a couple of years!