Colorado Springs or BUST!

We had a fun "staycation" in Colorado Springs again this year.  There really is so much to do there!  We took the kids to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo to feed the giraffes because they were begging to go.  They also got to pet a baby Wallaby, which they thought was pretty awesome! 

This year we went to the Olympic Training Center, which was really neat to see.  Douglas ran into the USA wrestling team and said they were HUGE!  I ran into a wrestler from the Czech Republic and I have to agree that those are some big boys!  I certainly wouldn't want to get one their bad side. 

We also went to The North Pole for the first time.  The kids thought it was the coolest place ever because there are over 2 dozen rides and they can ride ALL of them!  Plus, they got to see Santa and make sure he's keeping track of what they want for Christmas ;o).   We only had a couple of rides left to go on when it started pouring rain though so we left but we'll catch those rides next time.  We were absolutely soaked by the time we got to the car.  We were almost dry by the time we got home 2-1/2 hours later. 

The kids loved going miniature golfing too.  But I'm not so sure that everyone else at the golf course loved my kids' golfing...turns out they're kind of dangerous when they all have golf clubs in their hands. 














I think one of the best parts of our trip was the fact that our hotel had a water slide in it!  We had to spend a couple of hours at the pool everyday.  I think Douglas liked it even more than the kids did.  He threw himself down the slide so many times he came home with whip lash and slide burns on the tops of his feet.  Maybe he'll learn to not be quite so crazy next time...but probably not.  All in all it was a great trip!  Next year I think we're going to try to do Disney!  YAY!

Emmy's Pinkalicious Party!

My sweet little Emmy turned 6!  I can't believe it has already been 6 years since she joined our family.  I ended up having an emergency C-section at 37 weeks with her because my uterus was going to rupture but thankfully everyone was just fine.  She was by far my easiest baby, which was a good thing since we found out I was pregnant with Katie when Emmy was only 5 months old.  She is my quiet child who is very emotional and puts her whole heart into everything.  I love how she wants to be the next Hannah Montana while being a princess, a teacher, and a mermaid.  She brings so much joy to our family!  We LOVE you Emily!

Emmy's favorite books are the Pinkalicious series so she wanted to have a Pinkalicious party.  I thought that was a great idea.  We had to have pink decorations, pink food, a pinkalicious dress, and I made the cake and cupcakes to look like the ones in the book.  It was great and all of the kids had a really good time.  Between playing pin the cherry on the cupcake, doing a scavenger hunt for glow-in-the-dark bracelets, and getting candy from a pinata, they were quite happy!  Emily said it was the "best birthday ever."  

By the way, if your girls like Pinkalicious make sure they have checked out www.thinkpinkalicious.com for fun games and you can print out fun activity sheets.  

Here is the cake and cupcakes to go along with the Pinkalicious theme.  They were easier to make than the huge castle cake I had to make for her last year!

Enough kids for ya?  There were only 18 kids in my house :o)

YAY for getting Silverlicious!  Now Pinkalicious, Purplicious, and Goldilicious have a new family member.

Oh my gosh!  Were they really all sitting quietly for just a minute???

Grandma and Grandpa got her the Pinkalicious doll to cuddle with while we read the books.

For our "pinkalicious" treats we had watermelon, pink popcorn, strawberry wafer cookies, and marshmallows, pretzels, and animal crackers dipped in pink candy coating.  YUM!  Pinkalicious deliciousness!

What a cutie!  LOVE that girl!