Life as a Yowler

Let me just start by saying that no one and I mean no one can clear out a pool quite like we can. After spending a couple days with family in Colorado Springs, we are now making our way home. After a long day of traveling today, we went for a swim when we got to the campground. There were some others in the pool. That’s where we come in. Joah was touching his foot into the water trying to work up the courage to get in to the cold water. Just then Brandon sneaks up behind Joah and launches him accross the pool into the water. Joah cries because it took him by surprise. Brandon moves onto his next target, Caed. Caed is terrified of water so brandon keeps trying to get him comfortable with it. He forces him to get in and face his fears, so he learns to swim. Brandon lifted Caed into the water. Caed screams and screams non stop the entire time. Brandon moves onto his next target, me. He all the sudden comes and body slams me under the water. Water went all up my nose and I didn’t have time to shut my eyes. I chose not to react and give brandon the satisfaction of getting a rise out of me. Plus I know better than to draw extra attention by being obnoxious. By this time, I take a look around and the entire pool is empty other than us. I guess that’s one way to claim the pool. We are a zoo that’s for sure. From the oldest child, Brandon, all the way to the youngest, Isla, we love to cause scenes.

We had a long long day of traveling today. I was going to make goulash for dinner, but we are out of noodles. Since that’s one of the main ingredients we had to think of a plan B. Our plan B was to take the easy route and order pizza. We got the kids, mainly Caed, all excited for pizza. We called to order it only to find out all pizza places are closed. It’s Memorial Day….duh! 40 days of the road will throw your mind into all kinds of forgetful craziness. Yesterday brandon asked me if it was 2018 or 2019. I said, “hello it’s 2018. Wait…is it 2018? Hmmm.” Literally we googled “what year is it?” Going back to dinner tonight…guess what. This campground makes food. We were so so thankful. We ordered a pizza from them. Caed ate 4 pieces.

We had the greatest weekend in Colorado Springs. My mom’s sister, Brenda lives there with her husband and kids. It was great reconnecting with my cousins. We don’t see each other often, but I love that we can just pick up where we left off. My cousins now have kids of their own. It was really sweet to see our kids interact. The kids played very well together.  We had some late nights playing games together and making a campfire. We told stories and laughed and laughed.  We had a ton of great food and great hospitality.

Brielle really got to know my cousin Josh’s little girl, Taylor.

My cousin Dawn’s little girl, Everly, was so adorable and so sweet.

The boys had a blast playing outside and riding around.

We learned a new game called Mouse that my mom and her sisters used to play together when they were growing up.

The person who is it, rolls the dice. If they roll a 1 they quick slam the lid down on everyone’s Mouse. Everyone tries to pull their Mouse back and not get trapped, or they lose a button. Brielle was getting so upset every time she lost a button, because she picked the beautiful sparkly buttons. She ended up quitting because she just couldn’t handle the loss.

My aunt and uncle, Brenda and Mike, have the most beautiful property. They have ducks and geese in their pond. The kids went for a duck egg hunt and found a bucket full. We spent a lot of time outside. Joah helped my cousin David plant and weed the flower beds. David wanted to keep him busy, so he told him the more he watered the flowers the taller they would grow. Joah told me the flowers were going to be as tall as the house because he watered them at least 50 times.

We took the kids up to Focus on the Family headquarters. One of their favorite shows to watch and Cd’s to listen to is Adventures in Odyssey. They have a whole kids area dedicated to Odyssey.

We got shakes at Whit’s soda shop.

We explored the kids area. It was decorated in all the Odyssey characters. There was a costume room with a stage, puppets, and recording studio. The kids had a blast. There isn’t anything shy about my kids. They were putting on shows and watching themselves on the TV screen. They have been talking about it ever since.

We had a great weekend. Sunday we went to church with my cousins and aunt and uncle. We went out to eat with them afterwards. After eating, we started heading for home. We have a long drive and we are going to break it up by stopping at a few campgrounds. It’s been a great trip. We are thankful for all the memories made!