Family Visit

We had so much fun when Darin and Sarah came to visit us from Ohio. Darin had an orthodontic conference here he had to attend, so he brought the whole family and enjoyed a few days with us. Their little boy Roman is only about 10 weeks younger than Dylan so we were excited for their first official 'out of the womb' meeting. Sarah always posts top ten lists on her blog, so in honor of her visit I am going to steal her idea for this post. :) Here are my top ten highlights from their visit. . .just to warn you this is a long post for my own memory's sake.

1. Sarah and I spent a day with the kids at the Children's Museum. I had never been there before and was so impressed by all the fun things they had there. My nieces are both very creative and artistic and they had the perfect activites for them. They spent the day painting pictures, putting on a puppet show, dressing up and dancing in a 'dance studio' type room, putting on bunny and squirrel costumes and playing in the 'forest' and lots of other activites. They had so much fun. I will definitely be going back there when Dylan gets old enough to enjoy it.

2. While Darin was in meetings Paul, Sarah and I took the kids to the pool. The temperature was only in the 70's and there was a little bit of wind (it was in May) so it was a little too cool for my taste, but the kids had a blast. It always amazes me that even if they are covered in goose bumps and their lips are turning blue, they still want to go back in the water for more! Allie braved the big water slide with Uncle Paul and was so proud of herself. This was the first pool experience for both Dylan and Roman. It was really funny to watch them explore the water.

3. I don't know about you, but I usually throw my good eating and exercise habits out the window whenever I go somewhere out of town or have company here. I always use it as an excuse to be lazy and eat whatever I want. Sarah was a great motivator though, and she 'inspired' me to exercise with her almost everyday that she was here. She did better than I did with the eating part. . .but at least we worked out right?

4. Despite Sarah trying to eat right, we did splurge and go out one night for Costa Vida and Cold Stone. And I almost forgot we also had take out Cheesecake Factory cheesecake and Krispy Kreme doughnuts another day. Need I say more?? Our bellies were full and we were happy at the end of their visit (even though I had probably gained 10 lbs).

5. I have lost a little bit of weight over the past few months and most of my clothes were not fitting me anymore. Paul and I had made a deal that if I got to my goal weight by the time they came to visit I would be able to go shopping for some new clothes with Sarah. She is a personal stylist back in Ohio, and I was lucky enough to spend a little time as her 'client' enjoying her expertise while she was here. She helped me find some really cute clothes and we even made it through several hours in the mall with 4 kids with no MAJOR mishaps.

6. Darin and Paul had a boys night and went to a Rockies game. They are both huge baseball fans and were excited to get to do that together. The weather was perfect and they had a great time eating Rockie-dogs and watching baseball. They also took one afternoon and played a round of golf. Any activity involving baseball or golf and Paul is a happy man, so he had a great time.

7. Allie and Kate wanted to ride the light rail so bad while they were here. That is what gave us our bargaining power while we were doing our shopping at the mall. If they were good, they would get to ride the train after. On our way out of the mall we stopped at a bakery and got them each a cookie, I dropped them off with Sarah at the light rail station, and they got on and took a short ride. The babies were sleeping so I took them in the car down to the next stop and picked the girls up there. It was a short 2 minute ride but they were so excited to get to eat their cookies on the train. I love the funny little things that make kids happy.

8. Dylan and Roman were sooooo cute together. They are going to be such good little buddies as they grow up. They both already love the same things - playing with toys, eating, sleeping, and bathtime. :) Honestly they were both so good while they were here. And we learned that they both have the same weird habit of liking to rub their face in a burp rag or blanket or something soft like that when they go to sleep.

9. Darin is a great cook and made us a really yummy Sunday dinner of roast and mashed potatoes. Most of you know that I have the LOWEST maintenence husband ever when it comes to food, and we have a standing menu of either grilled cheese sandwiches or cheese crisps with chips and salsa for our Sunday dinner - unless of course we have company. So I am not that great at cooking the big, traditional, fancy meat and potato Sunday meals. So Darin did most of the cooking and it turned out sooo good. So if anyone wants to come over for a Sunday dinner, I now know how to cook a really good roast.

10. We had so much fun just hanging out. We were reminded again that we have the best family in the world. We love where we live, but we definitely miss having them around. I would love to someday live close enough to someone so that Dylan can grow up knowing his cousins, aunts and uncles. Thanks for the visit guys-it was a blast!! And the rest of you that haven't been to see us in a while, the invitation is open!