all is well

we have made it through day 15 without ben.  we miss him terribly and will be so glad when we are all together again...whenever that may be.   life is not nearly as fun without him around.   the girls thankfully are handling all this change well.  in fact, better than i ever could have imagined.

they (we) love it here....in the place i grew up.  my home has again become my home.

we keep busy (my mom is my calendar keeper and likes to make sure we get out and do things).  i usually obey her and go on outings but i am a major homebody and never mind staying put.

caroline crawls everywhere, prefers to stand up and puts EVERYTHING in her mouth.  i've never seen anything like it.  even with all of us on "safety patrol" she still manages to find things to eat.   here is a sample of some items swept from either her grip or inside of her mouth: small light bulb, twigs, rock, dime and a paperclip---which got her some x-rays at urgent care.  the little babe has made my heart stop more than once.

sarah and baby brennan came to visit for several days.  i fell for her when i got her all to myself after my kids went to bed.  i was overcome with love love love.

cousin (2nd cousin) max came to play.  i wish these pictures could capture the monstrous laughter coming from the kids and the spectators.

i love this...hallie's deep concentration.  kinsley laughing in the background.  and max--full of joy.

my dad joined us for a day at the denver aquarium.   great day.

i grew up here.  beginning in elementary school i met my friends at this pond everyday.  we would climb trees, hunt for frogs/crawdads/salamanders and explore.   the very things my own kids love to do there.   just about everyday we have made the short walk down and the girls have had such fun.

it was magical

we planned this trip in october 2010.  at the time, we had no idea what god had in store for our family and that his plans included charlotte, north carolina.  the timing of this trip was nothing short of divine.  we did not choose any of the following dates and i smile at how perfectly it came together.

house closed on may 6th

left for disney may 8th

returned may 13th

ben left for charlotte may 14th

disney gave us a chance to celebrate making it through the past few months and most importantly gave us concentrated time together before we are separated for the next month.  

before suitcases were unpacked, swimsuits were on and the fun began.  

i had big expectations of disney and the details and charm did not disappoint.   we walked onto many rides and even found ourselves grumbling when a wait entered the 25 minute mark.  we were rather spoiled.  no complaints.

how many moms ask their kids if they want a certain character's autograph then turn to their husband and ask the same question?

 walking up the swiss family robinson treehouse.  mental note to have a movie night.  kinsley loved this place.

 the jungle cruise is a classic.  it was my favorite as a child and i LOVED watching the expressions of the girls.

hallie shed a couple tears on her first ride on pirates of the caribbean.  after 3 times she was a pro and now sings, yo ho yo ho a pirates life for me.  

 near this little nook is a baby care center that i was able to escape to for nursing...hello air conditioning.

the curls drew comments from strangers and made my heart pitter pat.  lovely lovely curls.

thank heavens she is not too big to do her classic crazy grin.  she can't do it without clenching her fists and bringing them to her chest.

hallie has a bladder the size of a walnut.  that is probably an exaggeration...it is more like a bean.  this was a common scene.  many many many trips to the potty.

cooling off in a sprinkler.  can you see the joy?

caroline became a speedy little crawler on this trip.  she also got two bottom teeth.  she was an amazing travel companion.

i'm impressed with the form of these jumpers.  (each square was a different instrument)

hallie has always had sensitive ears.  this is how she watched the fireworks.

"it's a small world" gets a bad rep.  we were going to skip it but when there was no wait how could we refuse. (however,  ben sacrificially volunteered to wait with caroline while she napped so he missed out).  surprisingly, it stands out as one of my favorite memories.  riding on the boat hearing the girls point out all the sights was special and the details were amazing!

we realized we were snobby when we were waiting 30 minutes for peter pan and felt annoyed.  at least it gave hallie time for a tiny nap.  hello sweaty curls.

a million thanks to my wonderful in-laws!  the attention and love they gave the girls was priceless.

tom was constantly carrying someone and was always on the lookout for characters/princesses/anything the girls would like.  i loved listening to jane's conversations with the girls.  they giggled and shared many sacred moments.

they also gave ben and i a chance to sneak away on several occasions.  we went on rides together and also went out at night.  by ourselves.  it will be a long long time before that happens again and we relished every minute of our time.  we played in the pool, soaked in the hot tub, and enjoyed late night dinners.   thanks so much!