Rule #121: Cousins are better than airplanes

Last week we went to visit my sister in Colorado. I failed to join the caravan in the summer, and when Southwest had a killer deal on airfare, that sealed the deal. All four of us flew out for a week, and we had a great time!

I wish that we had taken some pictures on the plane, but the flight to Colorado...was well, awful. We were separated, and Evan freaked out for the first ten minutes, "I want to get off, I want to get off!!!" Over and over. Thankfully he did calm down once we leveled out in the air, and I was able to turn on sword and the stone. :) DVD players are magic. Because we were separated, Alex and I were trying to pass toys and such across the aisle and up one to keep Graham entertained. But we also had to make sure that Graham didn't see me, or else he would have realized that he NEEDED me, and only me. It was a stressful hour. Luckily Annie no longer lives in Oklahoma, we might not have made it. :)

Once we got to Annie's house, things were great. We mostly just relaxed and played at home. I loved it. Once we finally got the kids settled down for the night, we'd play games all night, and keep Mark up way past his bedtime. Thanks for indulging us!

We had packed half a suitcase full of games. As much as I love having family close, I kind of wish that everyone lived farther away, so we could justify spending a weekend, or week, with them. Playing games night after night, getting quality adult time that is so hard to come by at sunday dinners. Ah well, I guess I'll have to live with so much family and support in my neighborhood. ;)

We did venture out with the six kids a few times. We went to a farm, the children's museum, the park and the Denver Temple.Evan at the children's museum, inside a nest.



They had the coolest bubble room at the museum. Evan could have stayed in there for hours, if not days. He loved it! He jumped around and laughed! It was great to see.
This was taken at the park. It was a fantastic park. There were three different playgrounds, with such a variety of slides, for all ages too! I wish we had a park like this at home. Evan kept avoiding Annie and her camera. She finally succeeded, she's sneaky like that. :)

The Denver temple was undergoing some renovations/landscaping, so we walked around with the kids, and tried to explain what a special place we were visiting. All the kids wanted to do was play with the water. Go figure.

The rest of the week was spent playing at home. Graham mastered going up and down stairs while we were there. It's his favorite past time. Anytime he sees the gate being closed at our house he screams in protest. He's still not good enough to do it unsupervised, but he's getting close. He enjoyed all the attention from all of the kids, and generally had a great time. He slept in a closet in the girls room, and with the exception of one night, did very well.
Evan had a great time with his cousins. In fact, once we returned home, for the next few days he asked to go to Annie's house multiple times. If that's not a sign of a successful vacation, I don't know what is.

He took a moment to warm up to the kids, but I think it was more typical of a shy kid vs social anxiety that he's had in the past. (Yea!) He played really well with Brenner and Davis. More Davis toward the end of the week, but he's always been more comfortable around younger kids anyway. He and Davis would close themselves in a room and get into trouble. Piling every book they can find on the bed, Playing in the sink and toothpaste. Playing in the sandbox together. I think Evan taught Davis some bad habits unfortunately. The night we left I went to bring Evan inside. I found Evan and Davis on the side of the house....dumping any toy in the yard into the window well. (Sorry about that Annie) That's a typical "Evan activity"...pretty sure it didn't start with Davis.

We had to buy a door knob for the room Evan was sleeping in. One with a lock. I think that just about sums up how Evan did sleeping. :)

The rest is just us chilling at home. The kids watched some Sesame Street Videos.
They put on a piano concert for us. Graham clapped for every song. Evan did not participate. Truthfully, it was probably just too loud. :)




Annie also whipped out their bounce house for the kids.

Thanks for having us Mark and Annie!