Or at least, that was my idea. Every time I went outside, I wanted to go back in immediately. Kaitlyn had no idea what we were complaining about. She wanted to go swimming in my brother's pool. I laughed and told her to go see how cold it was out there, and she came back and reported that it was just fine, "let's go swimming!" When we mentioned that to Jackie, she laughed and told us that the pool is not heated right now, so she sent Kaitlyn outside to feel the 45 degree water and see what she thought. That also seemed fine to Kaitlyn. She was ready to change and hop in.
Thankfully, my accommodating family heated up the Jacuzzi so she could get her wish.
He even heated up the towels for us in the dryer! What service.
Kaityn also loved the playground just a couple of doors down from their house. But of course, the best way to get there is by roller skates. On wings.
Another day, we came on foot with her cousins. She told me she was pretending to be a lion . . .
. . . so she could get Maya and Sydney.
That was one of the best parts of the weekend. Tyler and Kaitlyn have a lot of really great cousins who honestly enjoyed playing with them, despite being much older. These girls carried them through Costco, took them to parks, and endured far too many games of hide and go seek.
Nicholas even took her "flying" around the house.
And Kaitlyn loved the pancakes my brother made one morning so much that she asked for them the next day . . . INSTEAD of cereal. To put this in context, I can't ever remember a breakfast that she didn't ask for cereal. It doesn't matter if I make German Pancake, waffles or even the day I made chocolate pancakes with chocolate sauce on them, she wants a bowl of cereal first.
I need to get that recipe.
Tyler's favorite part of the trip, I think, was the doggies. We stayed with Gary, who has energetic Lucy and calm Sam.
Jasmine wasn't as happy about the dogs as they were about her. As soon as I set her down to crawl, they would swarm on her to lick her face, and she would just panic.
Tyler also loved Mackay. He was a fun dog! He was totally docile and gentle with Jasmine, but as soon as you took the rope, he went crazy. You just had to yank it above your head as fast as you could and flinch while he lurched for it, and then throw it to see him skate down the hallway.
Tyler also loved the puzzle they brought out for him, though Jasmine loved crawling to the middle of it and triumphantly pulling up the pieces.
Tyler's other favorite of the week had to have been the Play-doh.
On the first day we were there, we made a Target run to get some carpet cleaner and Febreeze, since Tyler puked on the way down. (Kaitlyn puked in my car the next day. Ugh.) But the most amazing thing happened in Target that day: my kids behaved! I had never seen them that good before. Normally Tyler and Kaitlyn start wrestling and Tyler starts running laps up and down isles and I have to leave as quickly as possible. But this time, they just calmly walked beside my cart. I was able to try on clothes! So I told them we could head to the toy section. Since this particular store was being re-done, there was empty shelves and clearance all over the place. Kaitlyn got her wings for $4, and this little set was $3.11 cents. I think he spent at least 2-3 hours a day with it. That kid loves play-doh!
And my favorite is just spending time with my family. I got my neice a tutorial on making duct tape rings for her birthday, and so we made one before we left. I may or may not be a craft nut.
The only down side was that my poor sister-in-law got the flu, so we didn't get to spend nearly enough time with her. But she did make it the night everyone in the family went out to dinner together, and we had a great time.
We loved the hats one family made for everyone's birthdays!
Tyler loved the chopsticks so much that he used them on the french fries his cousins shared with him.
But everyone else at the kid table decided they were good for sword fights.
Funny side story: this is my dad's badge from a job he had in Salt Lake recently. We went up to go see him while he was in town, and Jasmine was in LOVE with this tag he was wearing. She would lunge from my arms to go attack it. So they included it with her Christmas present, and now it is in my diaper bag as a toy for her.
Kaitlyn had a lot of fun with Megan, who is only a few months older than her. The night we went over to their house, Kaitlyn showed up in her wings, and Megan came downstairs in her Princess dress, so it was an easy match.
I'm sorry, I have to include this picture. Somehow the night got to silly finger tricks and who could do them. It just made me shudder!
Does this count as Jasmine's first photobomb? I only meant to take a picture of how much Tyler loved snuggling with his cousin!
Happy birthday everyone!
And then, on our way home, we saw a plume of smoke from miles away.
A tanker had fallen over and burst into flames on the other side of the road. We could feel the heat from our side, and the fire looked about 40 feet into the air. The haze in the picture is from all of the snow evaporating, even though it was negative 10 degrees outside. Since the driver wasn't injured and we were able to drive quickly past before they locked down the freeway, I think we'll count that as just an amazing experience.
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