The Summer of Visitors

I have affectionately named this past summer The Summer of Visitors. See why below.

GRANDMA & GRANDPA MORELLO
We started the summer with a quick visit from my parents. They bought a home in a retirement community in St George, so they were making the trip across the country from St Louis and stopped in for an evening. It was fun to see them, and they were excited for their new digs!

NANA WILLIAMS, AUNT SHAN & GRANDMA FOOKS
We spent our family vacation in Steamboat, meeting up with Ryan's mom, aunt and grandmother at the end. They came back to our home after the trip. We played lots of cards in the evenings, and Ryan and I even squeezed in a date to a live concert and ice cream in Old Town. One morning we took them to the famous Timnath Swetsville Zoo. And if you think we saw animals there, you need to come visit so we can show you this special "zoo."

BETHANY  + 4 KIDS
A few days later, my good friend from Madison stayed for a few days with her four children (approx the same ages as ours) while on her trek from Michigan to Utah for a family reunion. They all sprawled out on the play room floor in sleeping bags, and the boys are still asking when they are coming to visit again. We had a ton of fun, including playing at a huge splash pad on the other side of Fort Collins. We'd never been before, and it was amazing. The boys jumped on the tramp, threw rocks, and spilled their cereal. It was great fun... and totally crazy.

JAKE & LAURA
The next day our "adoptive" grandparents drove from Illinois to visit. They lived next door to us in Peoria, and they hadn't seen Ethan since he was a couple months old and obviously had never met Kate. We had a great time, especially when we borrowed a friend's paddle board and went to Horsetooth Reservoir for a morning.

KOKI
Just a few days later, we picked up our Japanese foreign exchange student. He stayed with us Friday evening through Monday morning. He was only 14, and came with 6 other students from Asahi City. We were supposed to only have him with us for breakfast, dinner and evenings, but he got sick so we also had him here all day Saturday. He was so good with the kids, and we really enjoyed his company. We did a bbq and bonfire one night, another night we played lots of card games, and on other night Koki taught us origami. It was crazy fun, and we hope to host another student next summer. I was definitely grateful for Ryan's Japanese language skills when he got sick; being a "mom" and getting him to take "yucky medicine" with a language barrier was a little difficult!

JESSICA + 3 BOYS
The following week a friend from Peoria was driving home to Illinois from California with her three teenage boys. They showed up after midnight and left before 10am, but it was fun to chat and catch up over breakfast's cold cereal. I'd become a pro by this point of washing and remaking the guest bed each day in record time!

INA & AMY
My cousin Ina was driving her car out to BYU from Iowa this year, and her friend Amy came with her to help drive and pass the time. They stayed with us Sunday through Tuesday of last week. They were both super wonderful with the boys. We did some short walks near Horsetooth and went to Old Town on Monday. They drew pictures with long stories, played Legos, and read lots of books. On Tuesday, we went to the temple open house before they finished their trek to the Y. It was super fun for the boys, especially since they both play the piano and sing. There's was lots of entertainment!

RON, KRISTIE + 2 BOYS
Ina's parents, my aunt and uncle, went to Colorado State here in Fort Collins many years ago for my uncle's PhD program. When they heard about the new temple, they arranged their schedules to come to the Open House. With only two teenage sons still at home, they had to work around their busy schedules, but they made it here for Labor Day weekend. It was great to have visitors, especially since Ryan had been gone for a week when they arrived. They were by far the most helpful in the kitchen, and the boys loved playing Legos and wrestling. We hope to enjoy many visits from them in the future.

And that's the summary of our Summer of Visitors. It was great fun to have so many people come, and I'm so grateful we have a dedicated bedroom and bathroom for visitors. I have learned to streamline breakfast and utilize the crock pot for dinner with large crowds. We've also used a lot of paper plates and plasticware. It got a little tedious there at the end of July, but I wouldn't have had it any other way! Thank you everyone for coming.

Come one, come all - The Williams Bed & Breakfast!

Kate is one!

Happy birthday, Princess Kate! 

It came. My baby is now one. What a bittersweet day for me. 

Here are some stats...

Height: 30.5 inches (90%)

Weight: 21 lbs 11 oz (78%)

And here are some facts...

Teeth: TONS! The eight front ones, top and bottom, plus 3 of the molars. 11 altogether! I love that she can chew just about everything now. 

Sleeping: 2 naps, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. They usually last about 1-1/2 hours each. I also gave her some tough love last week, and abruptly took away nighttime feedings. She cried a lot the first night (off and on for THREE hours), but the second and third nights were much easier. And now she is sleeping through the night... and so am I! Hooray. 

Too much pink? Never!

Eating: She is packing it away! She is still nursing three times per day (before each nap and at bedtime). She eats three meals of real food plus two snacks too. The last few days she's eaten FOUR chicken nuggets for lunch with a gogurt and some crackers. Yeah, she's huge! 

She loved playing with her new castle and princesses... 

... And her brothers thought it was pretty cool too

Mobility: She predominantly crawls, but she took a few steps between Ryan and I a week ago, and she is standing on her own in the middle of the floor. She is the classic prairie dog now - crawling to a location in order to stand up and look around and then doing it again and again. 

Activities: She is getting into lots of trouble now: rolling all the bottled water across the kitchen floor, emptying the Tupperware drawer, taking all the shoes out of the organizer in the Mud Room, pulling all the books off the shelf, and unrolling the toilet paper. It's funny how I don't get nearly as bent out of shape about it as I did with the older kids. 

I kinda did overkill on the girly colors with her cake - Neon Pink cupcakes with Electric Purple frosting

She's darling, and we love her to pieces! Happy bday, Kakie! 

First Day of School

Second Grade - August 22, 2016 - Mrs Beaven

Kindergarten - August 24, 2016 - Mrs Eddy

Family Photos

The Whole Crew

How do I have FOUR kids? 

Collin Daniel, age 7-1/2

Brennan Michael, age 5-1/2

Ethan Ryan, age 2-1/2

Katelyn Marie, 11 months

And some candids of the babies...because they are freakin' adorable!

Steamboat Springs

We pretty much live in the most awesome state, but we hardly ever get out to see it. When Ryan's mom said she could come to Colorado the week after the 4th of July, we canceled our Mount Rushmore trip (that I'd been planning since March) and scheduled a trip to the ski town of Steamboat Springs. I will admit I was pretty reluctant to visit a ski town in the summer, but Steamboat didn't disappoint. What a wonderful, beautiful, family-friendly place.

SATURDAY - Lake swimming & Balloon Glow
We left early Saturday morning and drove the almost four hours to Steamboat. We drove over the Rocky Mountains, and the view was amazing. The road was steep and winding as we followed the river. It was a pretty drive, but it seemed super long as we restricted the boys' screen time (car sickness worries) and couldn't use cruise-control.

We actually didn't head into town at first, but instead headed straight to Stagecoach State Park. There is a snow-fed mountain lake there, and we splashed in the water and played in the sand for a few hours. Brennan made "sand angels" and played tag with Dad. We ate a picnic lunch.

When we were entirely wasted, we headed to the hotel to check-in. We stayed in a Wyndham Vacation Rental. We had a 3-bedroom condo with a complete kitchen, dining area and family room. We couldn't have been more comfortable.

After a short time settling in, we headed to Old Town Steamboat. We wandered a short time, then got ice cream and taffy at a little shop and dinner at a small burger diner.

After some quick showers/baths, we put the kids to bed. We decided to be irresponsible (does anyone else ever do this?) and after we were certain everyone was asleep, Ryan and I walked to the "Balloon Glow." Seven hot air balloons were filled by their teams and lined up along a rocky creek bed.

Counting down over and over again, all the balloons would blast their fires, and since it was dusk, all the balloons would glow in unison. It was beautiful.

SUNDAY - Hot Air Balloons & Water Fall Hike
We woke up super early (4:45) and got ready to catch the hotel shuttle to the hot air balloon launch. A huge Mom-fail though: I packed jackets for everyone, but not long pants. We FROZE waiting for the shuttle and for the first 1/2 hour of the launch. Oops!

Ryan saved us when he bought us some hot chocolate, and I wrapped the boys in our picnic blanket.

First, they filled the Colorado balloon and the US flag balloon next to it. We stood and sang the National Anthem.

To call this part awesome would be an understatement. 

After the sun came up, it warmed up and the boys got to see an up-close filling of Smokey the Bear. 

And then all the balloons started filling. I love how there aren't tons of rules about where you can stand and what you can do. We all just wandered amid all the crews working. 

This balloon didn't have a basket. It was just a seat, with a flaming ball of fire and a huge container of flammable liquid over head. His legs just dangled over the great abyss below him. I think he was CRAZY!

It was perfect: my cute family, hot air balloon teams, sunrise over the mountains, hot air balloons filling and floating above us. Heaven.

The balloons were supposed to fill, launch and return to participate in a "rodeo" contest, dipping their baskets into the nearby lake. Unfortunately, the winds were unfavorable so most of the balloons didn't ever launch; they just filled for us to "ooo and ahhh."

Luckily, there were some people training for the ski jump into the lake instead, so we got to watch them for a while.

After another short rest at the hotel, we headed to Fish Creek Falls.

It was a super short walk (1/4 mile) to a beautiful, lush waterfall.

My very own Super Heroes

We let the boys splash in the water and throw in rocks.

Ethan terrified us when he decided to dive into the whitewater rapids, but luckily a lady sitting nearby (the one in the striped shirt behind Ryan in the pic) grabbed him before he even got pulled under. Thank you, Stranger! It all happened so fast, I never ever had a chance to freak out, but I've replayed all the worst-case scenarios in the following days, and I've been holding him close more.

After our hike, we had another little picnic, this time with a bunch of little chipmunks. We fed them, and it was super fun.

We rested a bit at the hotel again, then headed to the pool. It was windy so it was a little chilly, but it was so nice to be altogether and play and laugh. Brennan and I played in the hot tub after the pool too, while Ryan took everyone else up to the room to make a freezer meal we'd brought.

After getting everyone in bed, Ryan and I pressed our luck again and headed to the hot tub just outside our door. But when we got back 30 minutes later, Collin was crying on the couch. His nose was all stuffy, and he couldn't breathe. Another Parent-fail. He'd woken up too stuffed up to breathe and couldn't find us. We put him to sleep again propped up on the couch with a box of tissues nearby. Oops.

MONDAY - Trail Walk & Mini Golf
Monday was our slower day. We went to breakfast at a super cute little diner and shared the largest cinnamon roll I've ever seen. Afterwards, we walked a trail along the river that runs through town.

 Ryan had bought a fishing license, so we stopped at one point and tried some fishing.

We walked along the trail until we got to another ice cream shop, enjoyed our snack on a picnic bench by the river, and then turned back. It was a peaceful, calm morning.

After naps, we convinced the boys to try miniature golfing. They loved it! We were the only ones there (4 o'clock on a Monday - I wonder why?), and we let the boys play ahead. We decided not to keep score, since Ethan kept collecting our balls anyway.

As Ryan and I played on about Hole #12, Brennan ran over to us asking, "Where's Hole #19?" After we explained it was over at Hole #18, he announced, "I won! I won! I finished first!!!" Ooops, I guess we forgot to tell them the point. :-)

We picked up a pizza afterwards and headed back to our hotel. The boys were getting pretty excited (but were pretty wasted too!) because Ryan's mom was about to arrive. We let them stay up late to see Nana, Aunt Shan (Ryan's aunt) and Great-grandma Fooks. It was fun to have them with us for our last day.

TUESDAY - Gondola Ride

After getting packed up and checked out, we headed over to the neighboring resort to ride the gondola up the mountain. We'd been watching it all weekend, so we were excited to finally get to ride.

I am pretty afraid of heights, but it was smooth and such a gorgeous view.

We walked around up at the top, had lunch at the grill on the patio and rode down.

I think we'd worn the boys as thin as they've ever been. I was pretty wasted too, honestly! We started home a little after 1pm (the big boys had karate at 4:30 and I was hoping to get them back for it), but due to construction it took us forever to get back. Kate also got car-sick... over and over again. I've never had to manage a puking baby, and it was horrible. She couldn't tell us what was about to happen, but I did manage to catch one of the times in our ever-present ice-cream puking bucket. I felt so bad for her; she was so confused and had no idea what was happening to her. Poor Kakey. Luckily, she was fine after we got home. That night the boys were in bed by 6pm (after baths/showers and a dinner of toast). Nana, et al showed up shortly afterwards, and we enjoyed their company here until Friday morning.

It was quite a tiring week, but I really do love my little family. They are awesome, and we had such a great time together. Family vacations are expensive, but some of my fondest memories of growing up are of our vacations to the beach every other summer. We really want to create our own fond memories together. Steamboat will go down in history. It was a perfect long weekend.