and a good time was had by all

We've had way too much fun recently. Seriously, my body hurts! But it's been worth it.

First off, we had a blind playdate with the daughter of a childcare worker from Texas that used to watch our kiddos at church. She was always telling me how well her daughter and I would get along. She lives in Denver and looked me up when we moved here. She contacted me last week, inviting us to join her and her 8 year old daughter in Boulder for some running around, and we met. It was such fun. We really enjoyed meeting them and playing. We let our kids run through the fountains on Pearl St., then whipped out our cameras and headed for these gorgeous doors of some local churches to snap some pictures of our kids. Here's one of my favorite shots from that shoot.

Then this Tuesday, my mom and stepdad flew into Colorado to celebrate their anniversary. They come here every year because it's their favorite place to be. They were able to be in the room when I was having my ultrasound, so they were among the first to know that we're having a boy. The next day, I took them to Boulder Falls, these gorgeous waterfalls just off the road in Boulder. It was really chilly, and the winds picked up and the temperature dropped dramatically while we were there. As soon as we were out of the mountains, it was warm and dry again. Silly mountains. Here are some pics from that.

Do you see my stepdad's legs? That's right, he's a runner. And not just your average run around the block to stay fit runner. He's run in multiple marathons, been invited to run in the Boston Marathon and to run with the torch during the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. I brought him to show and tell when I was in the third grade, and if my memory serves me (and it rarely does), he lit the torch in the classroom and nearly gave my teacher a heart attack. :)

After our trip to the falls, we spend the rest of the afternoon in our backyard playing baseball. My stepdad was a little league coach for years and to this day umpires for a little fun. So he bought us a decent tee, a good bat and glove, some balls and some bases. It was soooo awesome to watch him showing my kids how to hold a bat and run the bases. I could almost smell the big dill pickles, hot dogs, and pixie sticks from the concession stands that I frequented all during my childhood.

Yup, that's my prissy daughter slamming the ball. She's a natural.

and all ball players need to learn how to take care of their equipment. Here's Josh taking his glove and bat indoors so it doesn't get ruined in the yard.

After that, we walked over to the school where Gillian will be attending in the fall. Josh got a ride. I'm sure his little legs were killing him at this point, so Papaw carried him on his shoulders.

As you've probably seen, Josh was carried a lot during Papaw's visit. He really adores his Gramie and Papaw.

We went out to dinner after we got back from walking to the school, and since it was way past the kids' bedtimes, I had figured that my folks would just head to their hotel rooms so we could all get some good rest. Nope. They followed us home and asked if it was alright if they came in to play a game with the kids. And like any sensible person, I said, "What are you thinking? We're exhausted. Go home!" Well, actually it came out more like "Of course!" So we got out the Disney Princess version of Monopoly and played for another hour and a half. During which time, Josh was getting nutty and had to be removed from the group to get a bath and relax. Funny thing is, he still beat the pants off of everyone else. :)

The next day, they met us for lunch, and then we walked around some lakes just to get in a few extra moments with them before they headed off to their anniversary destination. They're going hiking near Estes Park and staying there for the duration of their vacation. After they left, I just wasn't ready to leave the large bodies of water, so I found a reservoir nearby, got all the shovels, pails, and outdoor toys that I could fit into our trunk, and we went to the lake. This one had a beach around it, and my kids really loved that. Even though it was late and the sun was going down, we still stayed out there for about an hour, wading in the water, collected 'seaweed' and digging holes in the sand to then be filled with water. It was so nice and relaxing. See for yourself.

And that's not all folks. Today, my sister in law brought her four kids over for a playdate. We got out the waterguns and filled the pool up with water and just let the kids get soaked. It was warm enough that even I braved the really cold water by dipping my feet in the pool and letting the kids spray my hair with the water guns so they could make spikes on my head. I told them that they need to come do my hair before church on Sunday. I would totally wear it however they fixed it. I was too exhausted to get out the camera for their visit, but you can trust me, it was fun, and we thoroughly enjoyed their visit.

With Sunday being Father's Day, I'm sure we'll be getting together with Ben's mom for some celebrating. Seriously folks, the fun never stops around here. We are simply awesome. And if you don't believe me, you should come visit and let us show you how to enjoy your days. Consider yourselves invited. :)