1st Ever #5 Vacation

I can't call it "Young Family" vacation, since there are so many Youngs, so we stick to #5, which is Christian place in the line-up of kids. :)  Since the rest of all our extended family ditched us this year for going back to being missionaries, having babies, or grumpy husbands, we decided to take our own vacation this year! We've been wanting to head up to Colorado to visit some friends up near Ouray for several years now and with the twins "fully"* potty-trained, we thought this summer was a great time. I kind of envisioned me being the frenzied mom whining, "Raaaaaandyyyyy" in Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss.

And while there were some moments of that, for the most part Bilbo Baggins and his company kept us occupied as we listened to the 11.25 hours audio book of The Hobbit (it took us into the return trip as well). The kids did really great over all, and we took a nice break in Cortez for a picnic lunch at a park. The kids had a great time running around, playing, climbing trees.

After another 2+ hours of driving in the beautiful mountains, we finally made it to our friends' place! Better than camping, they let us use an almost-finished cottage which I failed to capture a picture of. For those of you who remember the cottage we lived in when Peter was a baby, it's the exact same thing, except about half the size! I think it was under 300 sq. ft. But much better than a tent! :)

*I think "potty-trained" does not include times when almost-3 year olds have eaten a plethora of cherries, pits and all. Note to remember: either don't let them eat cherries, or else bring a cherry pitter.