Yawn – Really 3am is much too early to get up to catch a 7am flight, but that’s what we did last Thursday — can you say yawn again!!
I went to wake Jeremiah up again and all it took was: “Jeremiah it’s time to go to Ka-Ka’s house”. His eyes flew open, he sat right up, and hopped out of bed! Both Carlos and Jeremiah were wide awake for the first 45 minutes of our hour-and-half trip to Greensboro. They were talking and laughing……crazy! All I wanted to do was go back to bed!!
All three kids did great! Natalie fell asleep for about an hour of the 2+ hour flight, which was nice and the boys watched a movie (thanks to my friend who loaned us their mini DVD player!). We arrived in Memphis with just enough time to get a bagel and run to catch our next flight! We were the last to board!! That was a little scary!!
Love the moving walk-way!
Natalie in her birth town — Memphis
On Friday we went to the Focus on the Family campus. They have a fun “kids zone” and the kids did have fun! Well I’m not sure who had more fun, Stephen or the kids! There was a puppet area and Stephen was having a blast entertaining himself and us!! I think Stephen missed his calling!!
After Focus on the Family we grabbed some lunch at Wendy’s and went to a really nice park. There were tons of fun slides and cool things to hang on! Carlos and Kaitlyn had a blast on these huge hanging “wheels”. They were so funny to watch!
The girls — Natalie, Courtney and Kaitlyn
Cute Cousins!
Sorry, just have to post this cute picture of Natalie
On Saturday morning we decided to go to the North Pole….yep long trip! Hehe, no the North Pole at the foot of Pikes Peak. 
My brother Lee arrived about 9:30 and we left the house a couple of hours later. Courtney could not come with us…sniff…. but the other kids had a wonderful time. The North Pole is a small very kid friendly theme park. We stayed until they closed at 5 and had a great time! I was really amazed at Jeremiah because he rode all the rides, even the Merry-go-round! Not a bit scared! When we went to Kings Dominion in the summer he was terrified of the horses! But Jeremiah’s favorite was the train! He loved that!! Carlos’ favorite ride was the Flying Eagles…..he begged to ride that one again. When Jeremiah got off that ride, Stephen asked him if he like it and he said yes. But it was an emphatic NO for riding again!! Carlos and Kaitlyn are so much a like it’s scary! They both loved all the rides, the crazier the better!! Lee was great riding with all the kids and hanging out with us! It was really fun to have him spend the day with us.
All the way to the North Pole Lee kept us laughing and kept Carlos entertained by telling stories of “when he was such and such age” (as Carlos would ask…..”tell me a story when you were my age”). There were a lot of things I had forgotten and it was fun remembering them again. We came to the conclusion that Lee and Elizabeth got into a lot of trouble when they were young…..trouble together! Well, about 2 minutes after we got into the van Carlos says, “Tio Lee, can you tell me a story, because you’ve had quite a long rest from telling stories!!”
On Sunday after church we went to the Garden of The Gods. Talk about beautiful! Wow. I think this was my and Stephen’s favorite part of the trip!! The rocks were so breathtaking! It’s amazing how God has created this world with such beauty. The kids had fun climbing around on the huge rocks…..ok, Stephen had more fun, but the kids did enjoy it too!!
Not the best quality picture, but here’s our crazy group!
Carlos and Kaitlyn
Jeremiah and Courtney
Sunday evening we packed up and drove to Denver. We had such a wonderful time visiting with Stephen’s sister Michelle, Doug, Courtney and Kaitlyn…..they were so gracious to let us invade their home for a few days! What good memories (and pictures) we have!!
I’ll post part II soon about our adventures in Denver, but here’s some great pictures (like you’ve not seen enough…..hehe):
Michelle — Just thought you might like to know……Carlos said his all time favorite part of our trip…..riding the quad bike!! 
House of Smooches 