we're back.

Since Jared had a guys weekend in Colorado, I decided I'd pack up the kiddos and take them home to visit my parents. We had a fun trip, and Gavin was the best little passenger I could've asked for.

Entering Montana, you'd be surprised how hard this is to do while driving at 80 m.p.h. I wanted to take more pictures of the mountains, but it was a little too scary to do.

While we were there the museum had an open house, and since it was free and would entertain the kids for more than a few minutes, we decided to check it out.

Maddie made a puffy quilt block. I decided it looked more like a Barbie pillow.

Kate had a donut.

Maddie and Kate experiencing an old-time school house.

The whole gang. My nephew Logan and niece Anne got to spend the whole weekend with us. We were happy to have them around. We don't get to see them enough.

The kids also got to swim everyday, and set off a few fireworks. It was a nice vacation.

4th of July.

So we had a nice weekend. I love getting together with family, a break in the routine, good food, good laughs, good times. We had all of this over the 4th.

On Thursday, we went to Warm River and camped. The kids floated the river a few times, Jared made some yummy dutch oven potatoes and steaks, and then we broke out the s'mores.

Colin roasting a marshmallow.

My camera didn't like all the smoke from the fire, but these three sure did. It was making them a little loopy.

This is my favorite picture. We were all full on dinner, and as you can see in the background Kate hadn't had enough. She snuck into the breakfast muffins. A few minutes later she brought it to Gavin to share.

Maddie lost another tooth right before we left. I told her I didn't think the tooth fairy would find her tooth in a big tent, in the woods, in the dark. She opted to wait until we got home to put it under her pillow.

And on Friday we came home, cleaned the camping grease off of us, and then loaded everyone in the van for a trip to Red Robin, and then to Transformers. Gavin and Kate weren't too impressed with loud robots, but the older kids had a good time.

Kate kept whispering, "Is is enough?" My translation, she'd had enough.

And on Saturday we went to the parade, and then to Grandma and Grandpa Stoddard's house to have pizza and flood the back yard for a little water badmitton.

Gavin had front row seats in his little pool. He was loving it.

I'm not sure what to do with his hair. Any suggestions?

I thought he was getting pretty chubby, but at his last appointment he was only in the 30th percentile. Huh, who knew?

The kids love it when Grandpa pulls the plug on the canal.

Even with a fever Kate enjoyed the water. Motrin helped keep the fever down enough for her to enjoy the weekend. I did however keep her home from church just in case it was something contagious.

After our water adventures we headed home to set off fireworks. Jared told the kids to run inside the house and get their jackets. Colin added, "sure dad, and I'll grab a glass of water and my fireman hat in case one gets out of control!" I had a good laugh at that one.

And on Sunday we decided to just relax. This cute little man also turned 10 months old on Sunday. He is all over the place trying new things, and making new messes.

All in all we had a good weekend, and I'm so thankful we live in a country where we can have the freedom to choose how we want to spend our time, and to have a great family to spend it with.

We are truly blessed.

more in a nutshell.

Day five: The beach and swimming at the hotel.

Our hotel in San Diego had three waterslides. Too bad the sun didn't join us. The kids were brave enough to hop in though.

Day six, seven, and eight: We traveled to Anaheim . We spent the next three days at Disneyland and Disney California. I thought our kids would get tired of all the walking,

but they had a ton of fun.

Maddie got to dance with the High School Musical dancers.

Somehow I was roped into taking the kids on all the spinning rides, and we had a good laugh.

You can't go to Disneyland without flying with Dumbo.

Gavin enjoyed a few saltines while waiting.

They had Jedi training experience, which we were too late to get in for, but the kids had the best seat in the house. Darth Vader even came up to Maddie and took a swipe with his light saber.

We saw Winnie the Pooh and Tigger too. Gavin was in awe with Tigger.


And on our last night we couldn't resist getting the princess Mickey ears for Kate. This picture sums up the experience. We were a little tired, well fed with burgers and chocolate shakes (which ended up on her shirt), but we totally loved the trip.
I'd do it again in a heartbeat, well maybe in a few years.