Vail Getaway

My sister, Jordan, has been working like crazy as an OB doc resident. Last week she had a vacation and asked my other sister, Janelle and me if we wanted to get away on a mini vacation. We thought of a bunch of ideas, but ended up just wanting to head to the mountains for a few days.
So.... my sisters and I headed up to Vail, just the three of us on Sunday. We went out to a great dinner, stayed up late talking, slept in the next day, and hung out downtown. We had such a fun day together to get caught up and refreshed. I love that we're such great friends.
Then, later Monday afternoon, my mom and grandma brought the kids up to join us. We had the best few days just eating yummy food, playing, resting, etc. I want to do a girls (plus Zane) weekend again soon.

When Zane heard he was going to the mountains, he was set on packing his hat and scarf (and wanted to pack his whole snowsuit) because he was sure it was going to be cold and snowy. So, Zack compromised and sent some warm things for him and Emerson. He begged the whole drive up to hike up the mountains through the snow. So when they got up there, my mom took the two of them up the mountain to find snow.

I love this picture before they left to explore and search for snow...

Beautiful 75 degree sunny day, kids in shorts and T-shirts plus scarves and hats...
Zane and Nell snuggling...
We cooked and baked a bunch. The kids love to help with EVERYTHING! Here's Emmy stirring the oatmeal cookies.
And here's Emmy watching TV with an awesome diaper wedgie.

Emmy with her grandma
Jord and Zane
Zane drew a picture of Nellie and I think she imitated the expression well. The only difference is that in real life Janelle doesn't have her legs and arms sticking out of her head and only one patch of hair on the top of her head.
Unfortunately, the gondola wasn't open yet, the paddle boats at the lake weren't out, and then when we went to a really fun park, it was closed because of wet paint. We made the best of it and played on the smaller one, but were bummed.



Zane took a special hike with my mom, Jord, and Nell.

Snowball fight...







Then, we drove to Avon and hung out at the beautiful lake.





Investigating a roly-poly


My mom and Nell painted for an hour or so while the kids, Jordan, and I walked around the lake.

We made home-made ice cream and Zane and Emmy got to try it first. Here's their versions of an ice cream mustache
and beard
Rollers in her hair...
Thanks for a great time everyone!

Buddies

Love when Zane and Emmy get along!

Here they are singing the Gummy Bears theme song - Zack and I used to watch it when we were kids. This song is in my head every single day. Ugh.
They also sometimes watch Duck Tales, Rescue Rangers, and Darkwing Duck.

Untitled from Josie Weingartner on Vimeo.

Here they are eating Popsicles together and cracking each other up. I caught the very end on video, but before I walked in the room they were laughing harder than ever. I like how Em drops part of hers and acts like nothing even happened.

Untitled from Josie Weingartner on Vimeo.

Summertime Fun So Far...

We finally got some warm weather this past week and the kids and I have been loving it. They both like to pick out their own clothes each day and have been begging me for a while to wear shorts and short sleeves, so they finally got to.

We got our backyard all set up for playing. We got a new sprinkler, little pool with a slide, got our water table out, etc. They've spent a bunch of time back there already.
With this sprinkler, they just ran through it for a long time, like in this video. Then, they discovered that they could hold one part each and spray each other directly - then it became super fun!

Untitled from Josie Weingartner on Vimeo.

For Memorial Day, we grilled brats and had corn on the cob - I know, so typical. Zane and Emmy loved helping shuck the corn, even though it was a struggle for Emmy.

Untitled from Josie Weingartner on Vimeo.

For a while, Emmy was in her bee costume too but she took it off. They kept telling us they were best friends, and were watching TV, laughing, and playing together.
Playing Nintendo together. They both think they're the one in control, so they can both play at the same time no matter whose turn it really is. Emmy kept getting really close to the TV, hoping it would help her.
A few days ago, we went to the zoo with friends. We really do go a lot and the kids love it so much every time. This time they had their friends Charlie, Nathan, Isaac, Abhi, and Ella with them to explore. And I had my friends Katy and Tammy to talk and laugh with.

Here's the group - Katy took the picture, so she's not in it. But this is Tammy and me with all 7 kids (and we're both expecting another baby in October which will make 9!).


Here they are looking at the lions with Charlie.
I like how Emerson's face is smashed against the glass.
The crew
The polar bear was out and close, gnawing on a huge animal bone.
So happy to be with their buddies...


Yesterday, we went and got free donuts for "National Donut Day" and then went to a really fun park. We decided to ride bikes around the lake (1.2 miles) and we were off to a great start. Zane just got a new big bike with training wheels so he was so excited (early birthday present from Grandma and Grandpa). The path had gravel though, which made it pretty hard for him to ride.

Untitled from Josie Weingartner on Vimeo.

They rode for about 10 minutes and then both of them decided they'd rather walk/run the rest of the way so I took the bikes back and Zack took them the rest of the way around the lake - an hour trek all together!



Zane's fast!

They were pooped by the end.
They also had to keep emptying out their shoes since rocks were getting stuck in them. Next time, we'll wear tennis shoes!
Then, they got to play at the playground.




The crazy thing is that after all that exercise and being out in the sun, neither kid napped! Zane never naps, but I thought he'd at least act a little more worn out. Nope - he had as much energy as ever. Emmy was just wide awake in her crib and never fell asleep. Zack and I both napped though - haha.