Road Trip Anyone?

On Tuesday my Dad called my sisters and I late in the afternoon and said we should all take a road trip with him and Sharon out to San Diego, CA to go to the Chargers Stadium for a football game on Saturday.  We would leave on Thursday.. after he got off work...just pack up and go.  We would first drive to Tuscon, AZ and pick up Tiffany and then head straight to CA.  We would then drive back to Colorado on Sunday.

HUH?!  Are you crazy?  Drive 17 hours starting on Thursday night, go to a football game and then drive back 17 hours on Sunday.

Do you know how impossible that would be, I asked him??  The kids have school, Paul and I have an adoption class in Denver on Saturday, Colton has a soccer game, I have to work on Monday etc. etc. ect.  I could think of a million reasons why it would be crazy to drive all that way for a few days.  But I could also think of a million reasons why living in the moment and creating great memories is way more important than the inconvenience of planning a mini-vacation in 1 day.

We decided to go!!

The kids and I left the very next day and headed to Arizona  by ourselves.  We figured we might as well make a little vacation out of it.  Leaving early allowed us to have a little time to hang out at Tiffany's house and be in the wonderful hot AZ sunshine for a few days.  We had a great time basking in the sun and playing in their beautiful pool. 



 

 Dad, Sharon and Jennifer picked us up in AZ on Friday and we headed to California in my Dad's truck.  The kids got to stay in AZ with their cousins and Uncle Eric and play for a few days while we went on our way.  Ma and Pa were in AZ at that time also so they all got to hang out together.  They had a great time.

In California I got to enjoy my first IN and OUT Burger!!  Oh my was that a treat!  We all stayed with a friend of my dad's in a beautiful 90210 type house.  It was gorgeous.  We had time to relax and chill out before we went to a great restaurant and had a little reunion dinner party with some of my dad's California friends.  We had breakfast at a ocean side restaurant on Saturday morning and toured around the ocean side towns during the day.  The football game was that night and we all have a fun time.  The next morning we headed back to AZ where they dropped Tiffany and I off and they headed back to CO.  I stayed for another day in AZ and the kids and I left the next day.  Whew...what a whirlwind.

                          
I can't tell you how many times we laughed until our sides felt like they would burst.  Hanging out with my sisters and dad was so much fun.  I know the memories we created were so worth every second of our road trip!

Random pictures

Could she be any cuter!!

Caitlyn and "Rocky"
She has loved this bird since she was a baby.  He unfortunately does not have the same feelings toward Caitlyn.  This day though was a good day!!  He finally let her hold him and she was so.very.happy!!  Rocky gets to come stay at our house from time to time when my Dad goes on vacation.  He talks all day long and says some of the funniest things.   

This is Caitlyn and a friend at the Olympic Training Center.   We had a fun field trip there and the weather was beautiful. 

Colton had a great month

Colton turned 9 on September 12th.  I can hardly believe he is already that old.  I vividly remember being scared out of my mind watching those towers fall on that infamous 9/11/2001 and going into labor.  9/11 was my due date but thankfully I got to enjoy 17 hours of labor with him and he wasn't born until September 12th.  :)   

Colton was completely embarrassed when his grandparents, aunt, cousin, Mom and Carson showed up with lunch and cookies for his class.  His principle made him stand up on top of the table and the whole school sang happy birthday to him.  It was great.   Colton loves being the center of attention...NOT! 

                  

He and Caitlyn ran track with the Land Sharks Running Club.  They both did great and won a lot of their races.  It is fun for them to be able to compete in sports together.  This was the first year that they were  not able to play on the same soccer team.  That was a huge bummer, 2 different fields and 2 different teams is a lot to manage.    











Colton was awarded the MVP of his soccer team this year.  He was pretty excited about that.  He is a great little athlete and really gives his all when he is competing.  It is very important to Colton to always try his hardest in all that he does.  His school work is no different and I know that quality will benefit him all throughout his life.  He does not like to procrastinate and hardly ever has homework because he likes to get it done at school.  If he doesn't get it done at school he will finish it in the car on the drive home.  (this is definitely NOT a quality he got from me :) !! ) 

One of my favorite parts of the month was when Colton did the incline with me.  I love, love, love doing things like this with the kids.  It was the first time he ever did it and he did awesome.  We got a pretty late start and came down Barr trail in the rain and with it almost fully dark outside.  He loved it and is excited to do it again.