Jellystone

After great feedback from friends, we decided to check out Jellystone Park for ourselves. http://www.campjellystone.com/  We stayed two nights in one of their "cabins".  There was plenty of room for Mimi, Grampy, myself and the boys.  It is my idea of camping...running water, electricity and lots of outdoor activities during the day. 

Before we left for Larkspur, the boys got their very own fishing poles from Grampy!

The Park is so big, you need a golf cart to get around.  Fun!

Our accommodations: the Lilac Cabin

Hanging out with Yogi was pretty cool!

This was taken outside the craft caboose, next to the area where they serve a daily pancake breakfast.

There were LOTS of trains that pass right by the park.

Playing at the playground.

We drove into town one night for dinner & found a yummy Italian restaurant.  There was a huge outdoor area that kept the boys busy while we waited for food.  Perfect!

The highlight of our cabin was the triple bunk beds.  What a fun surprise!

  Exploring the caboose was fun for all ages!

...even Mimi climbed up!

 The sandy beach at the swimming pond. (Does this count as a beach vacation?)

 The fishing pond was a HUGE hit!  The boys each caught three fish using hotdog bait.  

 Thanks, Grampy, for taking us fishing and helping us reel in the big ones!  

Getting the campfire set for making S'mores on our last night...

One last spin in the golf cart to go see the baby goats (not pictured).  Grampy even made a seatbelt for the boys using his belt.  :-)  We loved Jellystone & can't wait to go back again with Sean!

We Have A Deck!

...sort of.  The decking is down so we can walk outside and sit on it.  I didn't waste any time putting out my new patio dining set that I scored for $125 (originally $500) at the grocery store.  I got a deal on it because some of the tiles in the table were cracked (it was the display model).  Who cares about that?!  

Let me back up a bit.  Mimi & Grampy drove out last Sunday to stay for a week and help us build the deck. Aunt Sister joined us on Thursday.  She and Mimi took great care of the boys while Sean and Grampy were on deck-duty and I was at work.  What a team!  A BIG thanks to all of the Milnes for their help.  We truly couldn't have gotten this much done without them.  Sean still has some work to do out there, but the project is looking amazing so far and we are so close to having a nice outdoor space for the first time in two years!  

 Here's where Sean was at before Grampy got here.

 View from my bathtub window.

 We have had a bunch of rain lately which didn't help our work schedule.

 Almost at the end of Grampy's contract...

Deck builders extraordinaire! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!

Water/Museum Fun

We took a break from the pool routine this week to check out the new outdoor water exhibit at the Children's Museum.  We spent most of our time outside in the playground and then splashing around in "Add Water".  It was a FUN morning!

 The water tornado was a big hit!

 So was the endless supply of orange balls and the geyser that blew them up into the air.

 Carter loved this station where you could pump up a huge blast of water into the air. It took forever, but he stuck with it.

 Awww...

 We briefly made and launched rockets, then off to the ant hill play area (my personal favorite).

 These two creatures were right at home in the big nest.

 After all that, we were too pooped to party any more!  

No More Holes

My dad helped Sean fill the 3 foot holes with concrete so now we have this: 

More deck progress coming soon as Mimi & Grampy are coming on Sunday!  Grampy will help Sean for the better part of a week, while Mimi helps out with the boys.  Can't wait to see the progress!

Fourth Festivities with Grandad and Grandma

We had a great visit with Grandad and Grandma Nancy!  They are always so much help to us and the boys just love spending time with them.  Sean also reminded me that Grandad was an awesome construction worker on Saturday, pouring concrete for the deck supports with him.  Thank you, Dad!!  Here are some of the other highlights: 

Jumping with Grandad on the trampoline!

Doing puzzles with Grandma.

Sleeping in Grandad's arms at the Mexican restaurant. ;-) 

Swimming in the pool on a giant caterpillar!  

Not pictured is our fun BBQ on July 4th and the fireworks afterwards--what a great day!  I was able to stay home from work on Friday so we enjoyed a family movie night, watching "Oz the Great and Powerful".  Maybe it is fair to say that Carter did not enjoy it and was actually pretty traumatized by the scary witches in the movie, but the rest of us enjoyed it! 

Happy Birthday, America!

We started our patriotic celebration by riding bikes and scooters in our neighborhood's first annual 4th of July parade.  Later that day, Grandad and Grandma Nancy got here & spent the holiday weekend with us!  That evening, we had the Buyrns over for a BBQ and topped off the night by watching fireworks from a hilltop near our house.  We could see about eight fireworks shows going on simultaneously.  It was a great day!

Hope you had a great 4th of July!

Jump For Joy...

 ...literally.  Sean has started work on our deck out back.  YAY!!!!  It is going to be a big project, but he has a plan and will have some help this Summer to get the job done.  I am so excited to have this done because it will make our backyard much more usable.
To help keep the boys entertained during the construction (and beyond) we bought a trampoline.  That way they can jump and stay out of Sean's way, at least for a little while! So far it is tons of fun and was really fairly inexpensive at Wal-Mart.  Come on over and jump with us!

 Bouncing Beilman brothers

  Progress

Those holes are 3 feet deep and will be full of concrete soon.