Our fabulous trip to Denver!

We got to squeeze one last trip into the summer and made it over to Denver to celebrate my grandma Tutu's 86th birthday. We were all really excited to go on the airplane and the kids were wonderful, thank heavens, because I was alone with them on the way there! Here they are - all smiles, minus Claire who wasn't happy to be strapped in her stroller.

 We arrived in town just in time for the party Sunday night where everyone gathered at Heather's. After so many years away from my dad's family it was wonderful to be near them again! Aunt Debbie made a monster chocolate cake...

 And Tutu came dressed for the occasion!

 All the boy cousins had no problem getting to know each other. Before long they were buddies playing tag and baseball all over the back yard.

We were lucky to get a great-grandkids picture with Tutu and Frank.

 The next day we went over to Uncle Brad's house to see his beehives and try his delicious honey! Wow.

 The bees were for the boys. The American Girl store was for the girls!! And how lucky are we that Aunt Debbie works there?! Ashley was thrilled to let her doll Emily get her ears pierced and loved looking at the store so much she couldn't take her eyes off the merchandise even for a picture!

 We went across the way to the restaurant and had a little dessert with Ashley and Kate and their dolls. What a fun treat.

 Before long Heather and I got down to business crafting and shopping. We had a great time preparing my family to take family photos - and boy did they turn out nice! Heather, THANK YOU!!

 The weather?... oh the weather, what a treat to get away from Phoenix in August. We enjoyed cooler sunny days with afternoon rain storms nearly every day. And I encouraged my kids to soak them up - literally.

 One of my favorite stops was Bellevue Park. The day was beautiful and the kids had a ball on the train, in the petting zoo and wading through the creek looking for craw-dads. Which meant Heather and I had a few good hours of chatting together.

 We kept going... hitting Littleton museum the next day

 and Casa Bonita (and old favorite and good memory from my childhood) that night.

 Thank heavens Daddy came into town Thursday - we were missing him!  And I was exhausted! ;)  First stop as a family, the gorgeous Denver Temple.

 Then a visit to see Tutu again and get a few more photos.

 We went to downtown Denver Saturday 16th street mall to eat and window shop.

 And Jake pulled up a seat by the hobos playing instruments. No problem there, just had himself a seat...  They looked so surprised, they handed him a shaker to play along and we just smiled and took pictures.

 And when all was said and done we were wiped out. It was a week jam packed with fun and memories with family. And we made it home just in time to start a new school year the very next day. Wow.