4 Year Pictures..finally!

We finally had AJ's 4 year pictures taken a few weeks ago... Yes, he was 4 in June. It's now August. With our lovely Colorado weather, we had to reschedule 3 times and trying to get all of us together plus the photographer (who has a family and a hectic schedule herself!) was tough. But, we finally did it. I was really happy that Jason joined us this year. We had planned to do mostly just AJ pictures, and then some with he and Jason and some with he and I. While we were there, I asked Kimberly, our photographer, to take a few of us all together. I thought it would be a great thing for AJ. And really, let's face it, we're still a family. Just not a traditional one! I'm SO happy with the way these turned out. I LOVE my happy boy SO much!

 

Perfect Weekend in Breckenridge!

AJ and I had a weekend getaway to Breckenridge this weekend and it was AMAZING. For so many reasons we needed this. I've been really stressed out about many things- work, school, parenting, etc.. .and he has been extra whiny and testing me a lot lately. My patience has been very thin and he's tested me over and over. We needed a fun few days with very little stress and that's exactly what we got. It was perfect! I can honestly say, there in not one thing I would change.

Friday night, after work, I picked AJ up and we headed to Breck. It's typically about a 2 hour drive. This time it was more like 3. I kept seeing signs along the way saying the Eisenhower tunnel was closed, but I hoped the signs were wrong. They weren't. That meant, about 20 minutes from our exit we came to a dead stop. It took about 30 minutes to get to an exit that would take us up Loveland Pass. Basically we had to go over the mountains, rather than through them. It wasn't THAT bad. In fact, it was beautiful. We were at treeline and it was amazing! It made for great discussion about what treeline was and AJ was an amazing traveler. No complaints. He just wanted to rock out to Def Leopard and other much too old music and we had a great time doing it.

We finally got to town about 8:30 Friday night and before we even checked into our hotel, we went straight to dinner. I told AJ about all Eric's- or Downstairs at Eric's as it's formally known (and that's what AJ insists we call it) in the car and he was excited! They had an awesome arcade and great pizza. We hung out there for over and hour playing tic-tack-tow, playing arcade games and eating pizza. We finally left and went to find our condo. We found the place without any problems, but finding our room was challenging. AJ was really scared because our condo was in the forest and it was dark, he was tired and it was cold. We made it though and we both passed out around 10:30.

Saturday morning, we woke up late (8:30 is late for us) and we're just so happy to not HAVE to get moving. We Skype'd with Grandma and Papa for a bit, had breakfast, washed up and got moving. I really wanted to balance out doing some fun things without the pressure of having to do it all. I wanted to go with the flow- and that isn't always easy for me.

Around 10:30, we found the gondola downtown that would take us up to Peak 8. This is where the Summer Fun Park was. I read all about it and knew it would be a blast! AJ and I loved the gondola ride. It was SO beautiful! All weekend we talked about how beautiful our state is. When we got to the top, we were both so excited by all the fun things they offered! I got AJ an all day pass which meant he could do everything they offered all day.

Our first stop.. The Alpine Slide. I tried to explain to him what it was, but I don't think he really understood until he saw it. It was AWESOME! It's a slide that is built into the mountain. We had to take a chairlift up to the top of the mountain, get into a slide (no helmet, no seat belt and lot's of YOU CAN GET HURT warnings...) and you go for it! There's a lever which is your accelerator and brake- and that's it. I was pretty nervous because I've had friends tell me stories of getting hurt, so we went down pretty slowly the first time.

After the slide, we went to the roller coaster. This was similar to the slide, but it was above the mountain and MUCH faster! We were buckled in and also had brakes, but this was on rails. We went pretty fast the first time. Honestly, I loved this so much (AJ loved it too!) that I knew we had to do it again.

After both the slide and coaster, we went back down and AJ played in the bounce house, did the maze and mined for gemstones. We had lunch, took some pictures and then it was back the Alpine slide. This time we went faster and it was still a great time. THEN... back to the roller coaster and this time FULL SPEED AHEAD! We didn't use the brakes at all! It was hilarious! In fact, if the line wasn't so long, we would have easily done it a few more times. We had a blast!

By this time, it was probably 3pm and we were exhausted. We headed down the mountain and decided to walk around Main Street for a while. AJ had been SUCH a good boy (listening, no whining and just all around awesome) and I told him we'd go to the toy store. Then, we went to the river and he played at the park and threw rocks in the water.

Finally around 4:30 we went  back to our room and relaxed for an hour. I need to just sit and he watched a movie and played with his new truck. Then, it was dinner time and guess where we went? Yep, back to Eric's. I wasn't thinking and didn't realize the Bronco's were playing so Eric's was packed, but AJ didn't mind the 30 minute wait because he got to play more arcade games:) Finally, around 9pm, we were dead asleep. WHAT A DAY! (or as AJ and I like to say "what a day, what a day") It was probably the best day I've had in years. Truly fun, no stress, just perfect. AJ and I had a blast, the weather was perfect, the scenery was amazing, people were nice, it all worked.

Sunday, we woke up around 7 and as much as I tried not to be all "go go go!" we were showered and ready to go around 8:30. I didn't want to stay in Breck too late and endure massive horrible traffic, but I also wanted to enjoy our day. So, we headed back to Main St. and stopped by the Cool River Cafe to pick up breakfast. AJ got a chocolate croissant and we went to the river to eat. Again, BEAUTIFUL! We hung there for a bit and then walked back down by the park and he played for about 2 hours. Back and forth from the park to the river. Again, I was so torn. I just wanted to stay another day. If I had an extra few hundred bucks and didn't have to work on Monday, I would have. It was THAT good.

After an almost 3 hour drive to Breckenridge, we arrived! First stop was dinner at Downstairs at Erics. AJ was THRILLED to get there because we'd been talking about the arcade they have the entire drive.

He got his own pizza

And he crashed HARD! He slept from 10:30pm- 8:30am.

Saturday morning we headed up the gondola to the Summer Fun Park

We had a blast on the gondola!

Summer Fun Park!

This is the Alpine Slide. You have to take the chair lift up, then slide down

Here's our slide!

The view just before you slide down!

Next we went on the rollercoaster. HOLY MOLY that was fun!

We went on this twice. The 2nd time we never used the brakes! Just went as fast as we could! HE LOVED IT!

Then, the pony ride...

The bounce house was a hit!

AJ went mining...

And he found a lot of gems!

Back down the mountain, we checked out the play ground and river. It was SO beautiful!

I'd been telling AJ about the funny hat store for weeks. Every time I go to Breck, I have to go to this store. I never buy anything, but I always try on funny hats :)

Sunday morning, we got breakfast and at by the creek. What a perfect day!

Here's a video before our 2nd time on the roller coaster :)

Video From the Past Week

Here are some random, cute, video's of AJ from the last week:

=

Soccer started tonight! He had a great time, but running around for an hour after a full day of school is a lot of work!



Here's another:

My soccer star!

Water break!



The Jaguars!

Annual Camping Trip

This past weekend AJ and I went on our annual family camping trip and we had a GREAT time! He's at the perfect age for this. Plus, he camps all the time with Jason. He's a pro! I, on the other hand, was freaking out about all the possibilities. Bears, bad weather, losing AJ, etc.... Everything went as planned and we had a blast!

There were 6 families total and that meant tons of kids! We went to Leadville, about 3 hours away and stayed walking distance from Tourquise Lake. It was incredible. The pictures don't do it justice.

All packed and ready to head out of town!



The car was so packed, I joked we'd have to tie AJ to the roof!

AJ's great buddy Riley drove with us for the first half- they laughed and played the entire time.

After lunch, Maddy jumped in. Such great kids!

We finally arrived!



Our campsite!

Setting up!

Tourquise Lake!

All the ladies!

Throwing rocks with the kids- he did this ALL weekend! (Blue Gatorade mustache!)

The Group!

Silly Faces!

The first morning sitting by the fire warming up- it was in the 40's at night!

Sunday, after we packed up, we headed into town for the annual Boom Day's festival- So fun!

He was pretty thrilled to get a bow and arrow :)

We sure had fun!


Here is a video of him with his bow and arrow: