California BABY!

Back in mid-November I took a trip to San Jose to visit Rob, Ariana and the boys.  I was in desperate need of a "get-a-away" and what could be more PERFECT then escaping to sunny California!

It was perfect.

Rob and Ariana have a beautiful house in such a Pretty area - I was very impressed and completely amazed.  What I had in my mind was completely different then the reality of where they live - it was gorgeous!

I flew in on Wednesday afternoon and we spent the rest the day hanging out with the boys at their house.

The boys are getting so big and little Ryan just steals my heart every time I see him.  I could not get enough of that little man!  On Thursday, I went with Ariana to one of her play dates with the boys.  Ariana has made a ton of friends out there and it was so nice to meet some of them  The weirdest was meeting Laura with a son named Blake - seriously?  I thought I was back home...

The house the play date was hosted at was GORGEOUS - I could have moved right in! 

After the play date we headed home to put the boys down for nap and then Ariana and I snuck away for some pedicures and manicures.  Ariana also found an AWESOME Nanny who watched the boys alot so we could hang out - just the two of us! 

After getting pampered for a couple hours we headed to Santana Row to meet Rob at a restaurant to have dinner and watch the Broncos game!  I couldn't believe how many Bronco fans there were!  I always have FUN when I go out with Rob and Ariana and this night was no different.  We ate, drank beer, laughed and watch the Donkeys win!

 After dinner, Ariana and I walked Santana Row!  Again, this place was amazing and so beautiful.  It makes Cherry Creek look like Greeley - haha!

I could have definitely spent more time down there - shopping and hitting up the tequila bar (Next time Ariana!).  We turned in early that night, because 1) Ariana's kids get up at the crack of dawn and 2) Friday was "Ariana and Jenn's Day of FUN!"

Again, Ariana had her nanny stay with the boys all day Friday so we could go to San Francisco for the day.

Before heading to San Francisco we made a quick trip to the beach, Santa Cruz.  I had to see the beach before going back to Colorado.

Hands down, visiting Santa Cruz was my favorite.  I think I could have spent all day there.  It was a tiny little surfer town, with cute shops, and of course a huge beach!  When we visit again I so want to take the kids there for the day or a couple days, maybe rent a beach house! 

We sat and had lunch with of course a margarita on the beach - now that is perfect!

I didn't want to leave, but I only had so much time and San Francisco was still a place I wanted to visit... 

 On our way to San Francisco we stopped in Los Gatos - another favorite of mine.  Again just absolutely gorgeous and so CUTE!  Ariana took me to her favorite cupcake shop, which we then enjoyed on our trip into San Francisco. 

We got to San Francisco late that afternoon. San Francisco is BEAUTIFUL!  I can see why people fall in love with it.  Sometimes I wish I could be twenty years old again, and live in a cool city like San Fran!

Oh well, but I did get to enjoy the city for a quick 24 hours!

 As soon as we checked into out hotel and stepped outside to start exploring - Boom a RAINSTORM!  Why is it every time I visit a city it rains - New York, Nashville and now San Francisco!  But no worries, we still had a great time!  That's what I love about Ariana, she just goes with the flow and makes it fun no matter what!

Since it was raining we hopped on the old Cable Cars, so we could see the city and stay somewhat dry.  I don't think I really ever understood what a cable car was or how cool they are.  I just always saw them in the TV show "Full House" and wanted to ride one!

They operate on no power - just gears!  So the conductor would have to crank us up and down the hills - it was crazy and totally felt like a roller coaster - the hills are HUGE in that city!

 WEEEEE - down the hill!

 We took the cable car to Union Square - which was so cool!

I could have literally spent an entire day in Union Square - SHOPPING!

 They had every store you could possibly imagine!  Again, when I return this is on the agenda - TO DO!

The weather cleared up for a bit, so we walked around and saw as much as could before it got dark and we started to freeze to death,  Public transportation in San Fran is awesome!  As soon as it started raining again we hopped on a bus and headed to Fisherman's Wharf.  By now it was dark and we were cold, but we still walked the Pier at Fisherman's Wharf.  My favorite were the sea lions just hanging out and talking up a storm!

We stopped and had dinner and tried to warm up a bit!

After dinner, we headed to some fun restaurants for drinks.  We ended up at a place called The Buena Vista, which is where all the locals hang out - Again, this was one of my favorites.  It was so cute and perfect to spend a rainy evening drinking and gossiping with my sister!  I had my first Irish Cream Coffee which was delicious and warmed me right up!  If we weren't so excited to sleep in our own beds with no kids, we probably would have stayed out all night!

We turned in around 10:30 and slept soundly until 9am the next morning.  I think we would both agree that was the best part!  We visited a local breakfast place which again was so cute and had great food, before Ariana took me to the airport!

It was a very quick trip, but SO fun!  I feel like I got to see a ton of stuff, thanks to Ariana who knows how to get around and finds out about the coolest places! 

The best part though was getting to see Rob, Ariana and the boys, and to see just how great they are doing.  Moving to a new place and away from family is not the easiest thing to do, but they have totally made it work!  I think they really love living there and are soaking up every minute of this great opportunity they have been given.  We miss them so much, but seeing them so happy and comfortable in their new world gives me peace!  I think California suits them quite well - Robbie already looks like a surfer!  And plus, it is the most fantastic place to go visit - way better then Minnesota (Not sure I would want to go there - JK!)  I will for sure be back - Ariana and I already have the itinerary planned...

Thank you so much Ariana for having me visit and for taking me all over the place!  I could have not asked for a better trip or tour guide.  I loved every minute of hanging out with you!

You are the best sister EVER and I can't wait for my next trip!

Give the boys kisses, Uncle Bob a high five and we will see you at Christmas!

Love ya!

Keystone

Earlier in November we took a trip up to Keystone to hangout with the Harm's family at their condo.  We always LOVE making the trip up their and spending some time enjoying the beautiful mountains and relaxing with our friends.

I am not going to lie - this trip was a little rough...

Most of it was due to the fact that Eli and Ashtyn were getting head colds which made for super whiny kids and we all know how much fun that is and what made it even worse is the idea that Shannon and I headed up to Keystone on Thursday night with the kids, by ourselves - no husbands.  When we first planned the trip I imagined this earlier departure being much different - it goes something like this...

We would load our cute, healthy kids up and make the beautiful drive up to Keystone, where we would grab some pizza, head to the condo, get in our pjs and watch movies with the kids till they went to bed and then Shannon and I would have "girl" time and catch up on gossip and maybe have a pillow fight - jk!  Then the next day we would wake up, have breakfast and go shopping at the Outlets until our adorable husbands joined us for dinner and drinks. 

Sounds great right?

Well that is FAR from what happened, and let's just say we spent a two hour car ride with screaming, whiny, sneezing kids.  We finally got to the condo and there were no husbands there to unload our car, so I unloaded while Eli screamed his head off.  Finally after the mounds of crap we brought were unloaded we got the kids ready for bed, but they didn't want to go to bed, so we were up till ten getting them settled down and by then us girls were pooped!

Praying for a better day on Friday...

Well again, my kids woke up with head colds, making them extremely whiny and clingy.  Ashtyn broke her elephant at the grocery store that morning which then put her in a bad mood the rest of the day...so lunch and shopping were NOT fun!

At several times throughout the day I admit I completely lost my patience. 

Probably the icing on the cake was when I decided to go to the grocery store with my kids...

Let's just say the Dillion City Market is the busiest grocery store I have ever been too.  I could barely think about what I needed to get and of course I was the idiot pushing the big cart with the car on the front around annoying everyone in the packed isles while Eli hung out the side pulling items off the shelves.  It was a horrible shopping trip and the worst of it all is I managed to lose two pacifiers - TWO!

On my way out I grabbed a Starbucks to calm my nerves, and prayed the kids would just fall asleep in the car and hoped Matt would soon arrive to save me...

The wonderful husbands did soon arrive and the trip immediately got better.  We headed to Breckenridge for the night to enjoy pizza and drinks with the Pierce's.

I never knew or appreciated how great my husband is and how much help he is with our kids - seriously I would have never survived the weekend by myself.

And for the record, next time, Shannon and I will be heading up to Keystone alone while Matt and Kole handle the kids - not getting the short end of the stick two times in a row...

 I woke up in a much better mood Saturday, and even though the kids were still feeling yucky we stayed cooped up all day in our pjs relaxing and snuggling in the condo - which I think is a perfect way to spend a cold, winter day.  It was even snowing on Saturday which made the atmosphere that much better.  I made some yummy Tortilla Soup for dinner and we watched movies the rest of the evening!

 This picture pretty much sums up Eli's time at Keystone...

 Even though the trip started out ROUGH it ended great.  I think our kids are just at the age where it's going to be alot of work to do anything and not every trip is going to go perfect.

So this trip will be one I will never forget and hopefully one day it will no longer be a reality for me and I can just laugh at it all...

Thanks Harms for a weekend away - sorry we weren't better company.

Until next time...

Lake of the Ozarks

Instead of going to Lake Powell this year

(because our house boat was out of commission again)

 we headed east to Missouri to stay for a week in a house on Lake of the Ozarks. 

I was not looking forward to the 13 hour drive, and to be honest it was brutal.  By the time we got to Hays, Kansas Eli had had enough and was screaming and even Ashtyn was a little antsy and we still had another 3 hours until Topeka where we would stop for the night.  I don't know how we did it, but we made it and we were definitely ready to have some fun on the Lake! 

I had no idea what to expect, and you really can't explain it until you see it for yourself, but I will try...

The Lake was gorgeous, but so the EXACT opposite of what Lake Powell is.  Tons of tress, tons of houses, and HUGE bugs - I have never seen such enormous bugs!  Very humid and hot, but absouletly gorgeous.  We stayed in a friends house right on the lake with a huge dock - very nice!

 After spending 2 long days traveling we were so ready for some fun on the Lake come Monday morning...well much to our surprise it was pouring rain when we woke up, and a huge lighting storm had taken out the cable and Internet - SO we were a little bummed, sitting around was the last thing we wanted to do...

El Capitan is where we spent our afternoon enjoying good food, lots of beer and margs and getting to at least look at the lake!  It was fun and we made the most of what we could do for that afternoon...

 On our way back home the sun showed her pretty little face, so we wasted no time, loaded up in the boat for a cruise and started exploring our new playground...

 I could not believe how many homes there were and not tiny little cabins either - MANSIONS!  It was quite a site. 

We had a great night sleep and woke up to the sun shining - YES, now we could have some fun!  The coolest thing about the lake is that there are restaurants, bars and these little resorts all over the place you can drive to with your boat and dock - basically a city on water.  So Tuesday we headed to our now most favorite place ever...COCONUTS!

 Here is where we spent most of our week...

 Coconuts is basically an island resort on a lake.  They have a sandy beach, play area for kids, a swimming pool with a bar and the best drinks ever!  Eli could not wait to get his hands in the sand...

 He also loved swimming in the Lake with Uncle Kevers...

 practicing his back floats - he is a natural...

 Ashtyn loved jumping on the trampoline - never into the water though...

 We hung out by the pool which was surprisingly colder then the lake water, so it was perfect for cooling off and of course enjoying cocktails...

 After a very fun, relaxing day at Coconuts we headed back home to refresh and relax before dinner.  On our way home we stopped by the Carnival house and helped ourselves to some drinks from their refrigerator and Ashtyn played on the swing.  She loved the Carnival house so much more than ours...I think because it had a huge yard to play in.  Thanks Carnivals for the drink! 

Eli enjoyed several naps in the boat throughout the week, and this was his favorite spot...

We went to Osage Beach Tuesday night to play putt-putt and have some ice cream.  I actually got three holes in one, but still managed to lose!  Ashtyn had lots of fun...

 On Wednesday we thought we would try another resort on the lake, Frankie and Louie's...

 It was no Coconuts!  They had a sandy beach which was nice, but the water was dirty and smelly and the drinks were awful, so we hung out for awhile but then headed back to Coconuts...

 Ashtyn managed to catch a tadpole, which she just fell in love with, so we had to cart it around in a plastic cup the rest of the week...

 Another boat nap...

 On our drive, the whole way, to the Lake Ashtyn kept asking Matt if she could ride the jet skis, so we made sure to make that happen and she loved every minute of it...

Matt said when they were going fast she would scream

"This is the best day EVERRRRRR!"

 On Thursday we took a long boat ride into the National Park Area.  It was really cool to see more of the Lake and the beautiful houses that are on the shore line.  I wouldn't mind having a vacation home there...The water was pretty rough though, so after bouncing around for a couple hours we headed back to Coconuts, to spend the rest of the afternoon relaxing...

 There were so many butterflies at this lake - it was pretty neat!  Eli loved to chase them on the pool deck.  It was quite humorous to watch...

 Technically, kids are not supposed to be in the pool at Coconuts - adults only, but on this day there was hardly anybody there, so we let Ashtyn swim around - she LOVED it!

 MONKEY boy...

 Eli started to take steps by himself this week.  We are up to about 5 before he falls....getting so close!

 Every night we would go to dinner on the Lake in our boat - it was so fun!  For our last night we went to Shady Gators which was tons of fun.  They have live music and great food and drinks!  If I didn't have kids with me, I could have partied all night long!

 It was really cool to be on the lake at night!  All the houses are lit up - just like driving down a street!

We really enjoyed our time at Lake of the Ozarks.  It was so relaxing and I feel like I got to spend some much needed quality time with my kids - who by the way were wonderful!  We had no whining, no fits - nothing!  I still LOVE Lake Powell and prefer to spend my week there, but I will always be up for a trip to the Lake of the Ozarks - but I will fly next time!

Thanks Mom and Dad for a great week - we enjoyed it so much!