Good Time

5 Years, 34 & 35 Weeks.


And it was!

We've been away for the holidays, looking for some reprieve from the heat and high temps, which made us crave for a white winter with family out west, to Denver, Colorado.

And we were due.  We hadn't been there since June of 2014, and it had been 2012 when we were last there for Christmas.  We were excited to see our family there, as I'm sure they couldn't wait for us to arrive.  And we had our fingers crossed to see some snow!

We had booked our flight in October, settling in on arriving Christmas Eve and leaving on the 6th of January, so essentially 2 weeks away.  The kids would miss 3 days of school to start off the 2nd semester, but we would be saving $200 per ticket x 5 people if we returned on that date, so it was worth missing a few days.

The night before was a flurry of activity, namely cleaning up the house, finishing up wrapping presents, and finalizing our packing.  Lolo and Lala were there, as Lolo was to take us to the airport in the morning, and then they would take Tux to stay with them in Avon Park while we were gone.  It was a nice gesture from them, considering we had originally planned on boarding him at our vet's and, at $35/day, spend a small fortune.  It was a very late night/early morning by they time we crawled into bed, with a 5:30 alarm 3 hours later.

The packing process started a week earlier!

Christmas 0.5 ~ we let them open a few select presents for the plane ride to Colorado.

The drive to the airport was quick, with the exception of a short 5 minute traffic jam due to an overturned car, which, from the looks of all the emergency vehicles there and an empty stretcher, was not good.  So sad, and especially right on Christmas Eve too.  We arrived and checked in our 9 pieces of luggage, including a box of citrus and tropical fruit for the Colorado grandparents from their compadres.  Security was also pretty quick and painless, again considering what a busy travel day it was.  A quick stop to get breakfast to go and we were ready to board, getting 5 seats all together near the back.

Saying goodbye to Lolo!  Thanks for dropping us off!  

Seasoned travelers following their mommy.

A little love before entering the plane.

And we're off!

The flight was pretty smooth for the most part, with about a 15 minute section over Mississippi with some pretty turbulent weather, as we flew through the clouds of a front that had produced tornados the day before.  After that it was uneventful until we landed in Denver, even arriving 30 minutes earlier than our scheduled time.  I sent Papa a text saying that we had landed; he told us to take our time as they hadn't left their house yet!  But it was good timing, since after we took potty breaks, rode the tram to the terminal, and recovered our luggage in baggage claim, they were there to pick us up after only a couple of minutes waiting…outside in the nice 34º weather!  It was 77º when we left Orlando, so almost a 50 point swing!  We had a nice parka for Kohl but Nana brought some for the girls, which was good because they needed it!

Happy to have Bearington with her.

Maddy had the window seat and was excited we were flying above the clouds.

A selfie I found on my phone.

Mommy and Kohl point to the stash of snacks the flight attendant gave them.  

Seeing some land!  And snow!!

Warm jacket, check!  Kohl ready to head out.

Braelyn super excited we had arrived.

As was Madelyn!  That's some pretty hard cheese right there.

After a quick lunch at Wahoo's for some fish tacos, we arrived at their home and unloaded our gear. We hadn't stayed in this new house since they had closed on it a month after we left back in 2014, so we got a grand tour and checked out all the newly remodeled areas and things they did to update the house.  It's closer to the rest of the family, less than a mile from Papa2 and Deeda, and only a couple blocks from Callen and Caylee's school.  We settled in nicely and I snuck in a nap while the kids played with all the cousins' toys, while Mommy went out for some last minute Christmas shopping.

Chatting with Papa at Wahoo's.

Christmas Eve is the big event at the Campbell residence, with Nana hosting the shindig for 19 guests this year.  We had some good food and caught up around the dinner table, playing a Christmas song game before rounding up all the kids for presents and unwrapping.  Papa and Nana outdid themselves this year, and they were soaking up all the joy and surprise from watching all 5 of their grandchildren together.   Nana was on cloud nine, and Papa just enjoyed observing and listening to the kids shout out with delight, saying "Christmas was made for children."  It was all chaos, but they wouldn't have had it any other way.

Nana's beautiful Christmas tree presentation.

The hosts with the mosts!

Group shot before the festivities begin.

Gathering of the clans.

Maddy enjoying some mint ice cream!

Patiently waiting to open up their presents!

A photo with their 5 grandkids.

Tangie with her cousins Jayme and Ryann, in town from California and Ohio, respectively.

The great grandparents settled to watch the action.

Let the mayhem begin!!

Maddy show off her new bathrobe!

His favorite part was ripping the wrapping paper!

The aftermath.

After the party died down and the guests were on their way, the kids got into their new Christmas jammies and played with their toys for a bit, the twins falling asleep by 11:00, which was 1:00 AM back home; Braelyn crashed at 12:30 AM but was the first one awake at 7 AM the following morning! It was nice and toasty, with the heat coming from the vents off setting the frigid conditions outside.  Thus ended Day #1.

Braelyn with her presents.

Maddy made out with lots of Frozen stuff!

Kohl and his action figures.

Friday was Christmas morning, and the kids woke up excited to see what Santa left them in their mailboxes by the fireplace; mailboxes were preferred by Santa instead of stockings.  They were full of small knick knacks like office supplies, kid sized staplers and pencil sharpeners, puzzles and gummy bears.  Fun stuff!  It was a lazy morning, having a light breakfast and watching the flurries of snowflakes fall, getting ready for our Christmas dinner get together at Deeda's by 3 PM.

Early morning collaboration meeting.

It was another fun gathering as we partook of the traditional Christmas turkey feast, with all the fixings like mashed potatoes, green beans, stuffing, cranberry marshmallow salad, and others, finished off with Nana's amazing pumpkin pie filling dessert.   Afterwards we gathered around and waited for our number to be called, as we opened our gifts from Papa2 and Deeda in numerical order.  We chatted until late, I think it was 7:00 PM by the time we left!  It had started snowing again, and the flakes were fairly thick.  We had a pretty relaxed evening, with the kids playing with their Christmas gifts and us getting ready for bed early; all the traveling and excitement and time change had caught up with us.

Getting our place seatings situated.

Group photo.

Kohl helps Deeda reach under the tree for presents!

Mommy and Kohl share a moment.

Papa2 and Deeda with their great grands.

Maddy cuddling with Papa Harold.

Brothers in law formal portrait.

We awoke to a fresh white blanket over the ground Sabbath morning; you could hear the street plows driving past through the night, trying to keep the streets clean.  We were headed to church, so we had a quick breakfast of toast and cereal before getting ready to go.  But not before taking a few minutes to brush the snow off the driveway, probably about 3 inches from the night before.  I had forgotten to pack dress socks, since I never wear socks to church in Florida, so I ended up getting cold feet!

Sweeping the snow.

I forgot socks!

We arrived at church and caught up with some friends we hadn't seen for a while, sharing in each family's adventures while the kids attended Sabbath school.  Church service was full of Christmas stories from Pastor Bob.  You'll remember that he is a good family friend of the Campbell's and was the one who officiated at our wedding.  We joined Papa2 and Deeda, along with Tadd and his kids to lunch at HuHot, a Mongolian grill where you pick the items you want them to cook for you at this large circular teppenyaki style grill.  The kids thought it was neat to see their food cooked for them, watching the workers go around in circles flipping the noodles.

Kids up front for story time.

Papa helping Kohl keep busy during the sermon.

Nana with the 5 year old girls.

A goofy shot of the 5.

Waiting to get their food cooked on the grill.

Maddy and Caylee playing smashface.

Saturday evening was low key, with Mommy and kids going with Papa and Nana to see the new Chipmunks movie.  I accompanied Tadd to a sports grill to watch the Redskins/Eagles game,  It was nice to just catch up and chill, and by chill I meant freeze, as it was down to 12º by the time we got home!  Plus the snow was falling a bit fatter and harder.  We'd get another inch or so overnight.

Sunday morning we were treated to breakfast by our personal chef:  Papa was in the kitchen making waffles and omelets while everyone stirred, taking their time getting out of bed.  The kids played a bit with their toys before we all got ready for the day.  We wanted to take advantage of the previous day's snowfall and do some sledding, so we got our gear on and headed out to the sledding hill, swinging by Tadd's house to pick up some sleds.

Breakfast, Papa and Braelyn going over toy ads in the paper.

Maddy learning chopsticks on the piano.

The kids had a blast, once they got their footing in the slick and icy snow.  Brae and Kohl were the brave ones, going from the top all the way down, while Maddy was a bit more cautious and only did the small runs.  Even Nana got in on the action, hitting a snow drift and getting airborne at one point.  Not bad for a 63 year old!  We played for a couple of hours, getting home just in time to see the Patriots elect to kick off in overtime and lose to the Jets!!

Maddy all suited up, ready to go.

She preferred the small hills.

Brae goes air borne!  

Taking a selfie, inadvertently caught Nana's sledding crash!

Kohl gets some air of his own!

A fun day was had by all.

I was feeling a bit achy, probably from all the falls from sledding, but mostly from being outside in the cold, so I fell asleep on the couch with a football game on.  Mommy did some work on her laptop while Maddy played with her toys.  Papa took Kohl and Brae to Target to exchange a couple of their Christmas gifts that they didn't want.  Afterwards we drove around town looking around for a restaurant that didn't have over an hour wait to get in; everyone eats out during the holidays.  We settled on Old Chicago Pizza, and then returned home, everyone was tuckered out.

Rare photo of the two of them so serious.

Monday's big event was the football game in the evening:  Monday Night Football against the 11-4 Cincinnati Bengals at home.  On Primetime.  But before that we had all day to do something, so we took the kids to the Children's Museum, which is right next to Sports Authority Field where the Broncos would be playing in a few hours.  I had had the opportunity to go to the game, but figured it was going to be too cold for me to sit there for 3+ hours, and especially if they lost, I'd be very upset I had spent all that money for nothing.  So I was surprisingly happy to decline.

I started capturing the temperature when I woke up in the mornings.

Driving by hallowed ground.

The Children's Museum was packed.  It always is on our visits this time of the year, again because everyone is on vacation and the kids are out of school.  I'm sure all the parents were looking for outlets for their kids to get out of the house and spend their energies elsewhere.  They had also remodeled some sections since we had been there in 2014, so it was nice to see some of the new exhibits and areas.  We had them play for 3 hours, and then headed back home before rush hour.  We met up with Papa, who had to work, and the great-grandparents for supper at The Garlic Knot, before heading back home for the game.

Nana sending them off to play.

Learning how to kayak.

Leaving her mark.

A fluffy bunny about to go down the hole.

Working with little hammers.

Maddy liked playing at the grocery store.

The girls creating things with clay.

He opted to painting on paper...

and somehow ended up painting his hand!

I was a nervous wreck all day.  The Bengals are a hot team and we had lost our previous two, and it looked like we were going to lose this one as well.  Who cares about losing the #1 seed to New England, we had the chance of not even making it to the playoffs at this point!  And the game couldn't have started any worse, the Bengals offense pushing us down the field, scoring 2 TD's early and putting us in a big deficit.  But then the 2nd half came, and with it, a whole different team.  We returned the two TD's, taking the lead with our defense doing their job and stopping them every time they had the ball, they only scoring a field goal to tie the game.  We had a chance to win with only 3 seconds left in regulation but our kicker muffed the FG attempt, so to overtime we went.  We scored a field goal and then it was the Bengals turn to score, either to tie or win outright, but then they fumbled a snap which the Broncos recovered and that's how we won!!  We're in the playoffs!!  What a relief!!

With Papa2 and Deeda at the restaurant.

Deeda's reaction seeing Nana's sledding crash on video!

Gangsters.  Game face.  Go Broncos.  Peace.

Tuesday we had planned on heading up to the mountains, to stay in the cabin in Silverthorne for a couple of nights.  We packed light, but we made sure to pack warm, as it was going to be high in the teens and down to negative digits at night.  We drove up with Nana and were joined by Tadd and his two for lunch.  Papa brought in the rear and joined us later in the evening.  We unloaded our gear and had about 30 minutes of daylight left to play in the backyard and attempt some sledding, which was difficult since the snow was knee deep out back!  Plus it was freezing cold!!  We had a quiet evening, Mommy cooking some pasta and us enjoying a nice, crackling fire.

In the hogback, leaving the flat behind.

Gaining elevation, snow capped mountains ahead.

Quick lunch at Which 'Wich.

Hanging out with Nana.

Trying to find warm headwear, wondered if it made me look like an Inuit.

Beautiful view off the back porch of the mountain house.

Untouched snow and more firewood to last a lifetime.

The deep snow made it hard to stand up!

Mommy helping the kids put together their Legos.

A nice fire to warm by.

Enjoying a nice pasta supper.

A very happy girl, she loves her pasta!

Papa playing Mexican Domino Train with all his grandkids.

Two sets of twins!  Well…sort of...

Wednesday morning we awoke to light snow, and really cold temperatures.  So what better way to spend the day than go swimming, right?  So after a yummy breakfast of Nana's world famous french toast we headed over to the recreation center to spend a few hours swimming and riding the water slides and using the steam rooms and sauna.

Wow.  Just wow.  Brrr!!

Breakfast activities.

Nana cooking up several pans of French Toast.

Can you tell which one of us is from Colorado?

Lined up and ready to head out!

Overcast as a small snow storm goes through the mountains.

Everyone was having a great time, until disaster struck.  And by disaster, I mean, there was an accident, which, of course, involved me, being accident prone.  I had ridden down a short but steep water slide into the 10 foot deep pool, and instead of surfacing right away, I dove down a bit to touch the bottom of the pool, which I did. Then I pushed myself up, not realizing how close I was to the side of the pool, because I had my eyes shut due to wearing contacts.  And contact I did with the side of the pool…with my head!  Wham!   And because the pool had the finishing of sand paper, I ended up with 2 nice big scrapes on my forehead, the whole first layer of skin completely off, as if I had crashed on my bike and suffered road rash.  Ouch!  Needless to say, my day of fun in the water was finished and I was a bit frustrated at myself for doing that.  Sometimes it doesn't pay to be silly.

Strawberry kisses…that hurt like h-e-double hockey sticks.

Remind me never to butt heads with a swimming pool.

The afternoon was spent back at the cabin, the kids went sledding with Mommy, Nana, and Uncle Tadd out in the front while I took a nap.  I felt like I had been hit by a Mack truck, maybe because of the altitude but definitely because of me hitting my head.  We ordered in Chinese take out after Mommy, Brae, and Nana did a little shopping at the outlets, and then settled in for the night.

Our crew sleeping arrangements.

Thursday was New Year's Eve, and we were to return back to Denver by the evening to join some friends and the rest of the family for dinner, to begin celebrations to usher in the new year.    Still very bitter cold outside up in the mountains, we did a couple of hours of sledding after Papa treated us to breakfast this time.  The sky was blue and the air crisp, and it made for a fun time sledding down the road that went in front of the house.  We had spotters at the bottom of the hill to make sure we didn't get tangled up with any oncoming traffic, and the kids had a blast.

Hmmm.  This doesn't look good.

Papa's turn!  Scrambled eggs and omelets.

Beautiful day with blue skies.

A quick stop to the outlets.  Mommy at checkout.

Braelyn getting postcards for her teacher and some classmates.

Driving through the mountaintops.

After packing our gear and cleaning up the house Mommy, Brae, and I made a quick stop at the outlets for a few minutes of shopping, while the twins rode back to Denver with Papa and Nana, where we would meet them and the rest for supper at Jose O'Shea's, the Mexican restaurant where Tangie and I had our rehearsal dinner 13 years ago.  This was the first time we had been back since then!  It was great catching up and sharing our adventures from the mountain house.  Afterwards we went back to Papa and Nana's and unloaded and unpacked, the kids played games and Monopoly with Papa until all were too tired and fell asleep.  Only Brae stayed up until midnight to watch the ball drop, 2 hours delayed on TV from New York City, and ring in 2016.

Table for 20.  The crew at Jose O'Shea's.

Pastor Bob a little too quick for my picture.

Midnight party revelers toasting the new year.

Friday morning we slept in somewhat, stirring when we heard the pitter patter of footsteps upstairs.   A nice breakfast from Papa, Tadd and I took all 5 kids out for the day, taking them shopping at Sports Authority to get some Broncos gear and then going to Dave & Buster's for them to play some arcade games and get some energy out, swinging by Pei Wei for a quick bite.  Mommy took some time to herself and went shopping while we were gone.  We all converged at Esther's house for supper with the crew, as they had postponed Christmas Adam for when we were here.

Doing the strong hammer game.

What a stylish kid!  

Dad's day out.  At Pei Wei.

They found a horse ride at the grocery store that took a penny per ride.

They rode it like 5 times.

Supper at Esther's, nice and cozy.

Deeda doing a rendition of something!

Papa giving the kids a bedtime story.  Or two.

On Sabbath we headed to church for the 2nd time during our visit, meeting with friends and fellowshipping together.  The crew all joined up with us for lunch at Casa Bonita, a favorite of the kids because of how big it is inside and all the nooks and crannies to explore, plus watching all the divers jump off the waterfall.   Later that evening Papa and Nana gave Tangie and I a date night, where we saw the movie "The Big Short" about the housing market crash, which was very good.   The place also allowed you to order food during the movie so we had dinner at the same time, 2 in 1 awesome!  Since we were done relatively early, we drove around, stopping by a couple of Walmarts to find more Broncos gear for the kids, capping the evening with some coffee and pie at the Village Inn.

Getting some breakfast treats in church kitchen.

Back up front for story time.

Maddy working on a coloring project.

Pastor Bob called me out with my head injury!

Playing the trap set after service.

The lights inside Casa Bonita.

Our crew took up an entire room!  Bob with his peace sign in the back.

The kids watching the activity below.

Maddy from behind the waterfall.

The 5 together at the waterfall.

On stage hamming it up.

They seemed inseparable.

In front of the famous landmark.

Seeing the lights in downtown Littleton.

Almost bought myself a new cap!

Night cap.

Sunday morning we had a nice omelette breakfast from Papa, and then we did various things:  Nana took the kids out to play at the park, Tangie went to DSW to add to her shoe collection, while I stayed behind to help install a brand new printer for the grandparents' home office.  The afternoon was the big game, and no, I don't mean the Super Bowl, but it had all the ramifications of potentially being the Super Bowl.  It was the last game of the regular season, and although we had secured a playoff berth after beating Cincinnati 6 days prior, we still needed to win against San Diego to get a higher seeding, or even become the 1st seed in the AFC if the Miami Dolphins could beat New England at home.  Seeing that chances of that happening was slim to none, all I could hope for was us winning and Kansas City losing so that we could at least win our division and get the #2 seed.  But wait, lo and behold, Miami came through and beat Tom Brady and the Pats!  What the what??  It was a miracle; they just handed us the #1 seed on a platter!!

The game started off great, a touchdown in the first 31 seconds of the game.  It was as if we had it in the bag.  We might have gotten a little cocky, which is why all of a sudden, our play became sloppy.  We couldn't score or even move down the field, having 5 turnovers in 3 quarters, with San Diego gaining confidence every minute.  It was like we didn't want the first seed at all!

And then, our head coach made the decision that turned the game around, by pulling Osweiller and putting in Peyton Manning back as the quarterback!  It was the spark we needed, both the players and fans alike.  The Sheriff to the rescue!!  We scored on the next 3 series, with our defense bolstering and providing an interception give the offense the chance to score the final touchdown and seal the deal, 27-20.  We had won the game and our division, and with it, the #1 seed in the AFC!  A first round bye and home field advantage throughout the playoffs!

Don't blow it Broncos!!

Maddy's hair all frizzy and poofy!

Bronco boys!

Who's going to quarterback, Manning or Osweiller??

Tadd made homemade pizzas for the game!

Immediately after the football game was over, Tangie and I took Braelyn out to her first ever basketball game, at the Pepsi Center downtown.  She had expressed really wanting to go to one, even putting that down as a gift on her wish list to Santa, so we thought it was a good opportunity to do so, us finding some decent half court seats that included food with the price, albeit the seats were up in the nosebleed section.  It was the Denver Nuggets against the Portland Trailblazers.  We had absolutely no idea who any of the players were but it didn't matter any at all, we were going to a game!

We decided to take the light rail downtown, because we didn't want to get stuck with traffic from the Broncos game, and then having to deal with the headache of trying to find a parking spot.  So Papa took us down to a local station, where we braved the wind and chill for a few minutes before the right tram arrived.  The route took us by the Sports Authority Field station, where hundreds had gathered from the game to take the light rail back home.  Braelyn was in awe to see so many people in their Broncos gear!  And you could feel the energy outside from the win!

Waiting for the train to arrive.

Enjoying the ride over.

We arrived at the Pepsi Center and hurried inside, taking some pictures before getting a hotdog and finding our seats.  It was great having Braelyn experience everything that you don't normally see in a basketball game on TV, like the National Anthem or all the cheerleaders or halftime show.  It was great entertainment and she enjoyed it all, especially since there was a huge screen directly in front of us that showed all the action from the basketball court below!   We were 3 rows from the top but the seats weren't at all bad, even in the nosebleed section.  Speaking of which, Tangie ended up getting one during the game, hence the reason why it's called that!  We all had a great time, even though the Nuggets ended up losing.  As long as the Broncos won, right??  We took the light rail back, with Papa waiting there to pick us up as we arrived at the station, perfect timing!  

What if I was really that tall??

The bandages on my forehead worked really well for the picture!

Excited to see the arena.

View from our seats.

Enjoying date night with our eldest.

Monday was back to work for most of the world, but we were still on vacation since we weren't leaving until Wednesday.  Nana took all 5 grandkids to the nearby park while Tadd took Tangie and I to Topgolf, a modern entertainment complex that was driving range meets darts meets bowling, with a top notch dining menu and other entertainment options.  It is a really neat concept but the best thing was the heaters above us, which allowed us to play outside with no heavy sweaters or coats although it was like 30º or something.  We had fun catching up and playing a couple of games.  I'm excited because there are plans of one being built in Orlando and now that we've gotten membership cards it'll be easy to get it and play.

Maddy working on homework early Monday morning.

Kohlden's turn!

What a view!!

Tangie taking a swing at her target.

Mushi:  Mexican sushi!  Yum!

That afternoon we took the kids to an indoor play area called JungleQuest, which was full of jumps, zip lines, and rope bridges/swings for the kids to get more energy out, but as well, we were trying to find indoor activities to keep us warm.   The kids had a blast, and didn't want to leave after our 1.5 hours of paid play was up.  We immediately headed over to Papa2 and Deeda's, as they were hosting supper; it was our last time to see them on this trip.

The place was a little dark, resembling a rain forest.  Brae doing the rope bridge.

Maddy climbing up to the fort.

She scaled the rock wall effortlessly!

They conquered it all!

These two enjoyed doing the zip line together.

Doing the splits!

Kohlden offered to say prayer for the table.

Sharing a meal with his great grandfather.  Priceless.

Saying goodbye.  Thank you for having us!

Nana working on Maddy's hair.

Tuesday was our last full day, so we spent some of the morning doing laundry and organizing our gear, including the kids' presents, and cleaning up the areas we had taken over for the past 2 weeks.  We had prepared space in the kids' luggage by not packing too much on the way to Denver because we knew we would be lugging back 100 lbs of gifts and toys from the grandparents!  The kids continued to play and learn chopsticks on Nana's pianos, as well as doing some homework so as to not be too left behind by their classmates who were already back in school since Monday.

Tangie checking work emails early.  She didn't even notice I took this photo!

Maddy slept with wet braids and woke up to this!

Kohlden cleaning up his mess on the Lego table.

We went to get Indian buffet for lunch, at this place we went to the last time we were there in 2014 so we didn't know if they were still in business but thankfully they were, much to our relief.  It was very good since we hadn't had Indian food in a while, and the prices for their lunch buffet is much better than at our usual place in Altamonte Springs.  Especially for the kids' prices:  $3 per kid vs. $7 at Kohinoor, which is outrageous!!  We enjoyed to our hearts' content.

Our table with some really happy people.

I mean, why wouldn't you be?

And apparently, a little bit too happy.

Tadd and his crew hooked up with us at Jumpstreet for the afternoon, an indoor trampoline center like the Rebounderz we have here in Orlando but bigger, with bounce houses, a laser room, a mechanical bull, and a whole separate area just for kids 7 and younger.  Since it was Tuesday, they had a $10/2 hour special that we took advantage of, and the kids all had a grand time.  Papa joined us for supper at Texas Roadhouse, where we had our Last Supper together, as we had a very early flight out the next morning.

Maddy trying to maneuver around the foam pit.

Girl Tarzan!

Kohl's turn, getting a nice trim from Nana.

Showing off his new Broncos tattoo!

We had the kids sit separately from the adults.  They did well and had a lot of fun!

Laughing because Kohlden took a picture of the adults table and forgot to include Uncle Tadd!

2nd try.  A little better.

Cousins say goodbye.  We had a lot of fun together!

Wednesday morning was harsh, Tangie and I waking up at 4 to shower and get ready, waking up the kids and loading up the Durango to be on our way to the airport by 5.  Thankfully we had done most, if not all, of the packing the day before, with last minute adjustments to make sure we weren't over our 50 lb limit per bag, with all the toys and gifts we were taking back.   I think we had crawled into bed close to midnight.  One note about our bed:  we had found out at supper at Texas Roadhouse that all this time we had been using a sleep number bed!  We had been complaining to each other that it was hard getting comfortable at night, and we were waking up with cricks in our backs and necks the entire vacation, only to be told that we had the best bed in the house and that we could've adjusted the softness/firmness any time we wanted!  So basically the best sleep we had was the last night we were there, and it only lasted 4 hours.  Shake my head.

Anyway, Papa took us to the airport where we said our goodbyes.  Check in was no problem and security was light, as it should be at 6 o'clock in the morning!  We picked up a little something for breakfast before boarding.  The first leg of our trip back was 1.5 hours; we had a short layover in St. Louis.  Two hours back in the air until touchdown in Orlando, where we were met with overcast weather and humidity.  Funny how you get used to seeing snow on the ground after 2 weeks!  The kids all did great, keeping busy and entertained on both plane rides without any fuss or trouble.  And surprisingly none of them fell asleep or took a nap, considering our very early morning!

Saying goodbye to Papa.  See you soon!

Taking the tram to the gate.

Waiting with Mommy under Daddy's scarf.

Getting some breakfast.

One last look at the mountains.

Mommy sneaking in a short nap.

The twins on their tablets.

It was a wide open plane:  68 customers for 175 seats!

Maddy's hair standing up with the dry static.

Landing in St. Louis, seeing all the flooding from the storms.

Boarding flight #2.

Kohl sits with Mommy while

I get the girls.

Taking off, seeing more flooding from an engorged Mississippi.

Maddy enjoying her beverage.

Mommy and Kohl going over flash cards.

Flying in over Lake Apopka!

Lolo picked us up and took us home, where Lala and Tux were anxiously awaiting our arrival.  Apparently Tux did fairly well for them during our absence, only destroying a couple of leashes and one of Lolo's athletic socks.  We had an early supper with them, before they headed back home to Avon Park, while we had a busy evening of unpacking and preparing the kids for school the following morning, but not before they had a chance to open up the presents waiting for them under the tree, hence Christmas 2.0

Palm trees and humidity!

Tux was so excited to see Brae!

You could tell they missed each other.

Lolo picked up some dinner for us to enjoy when we got home!

Lala missed the kids too!

They were so excited to open up more gifts!

Wrapping up and wrapping out.

The conclusion of another holiday season.

Randoms:  

A lot of work comes with the white stuff.

But makes for pretty settings!

Really?  Awesome!

Just a gorgeous view.

Callen grew some antlers!

Showed the kids the house Mommy grew up in.

Seriously, they have the best stuff there in Denver!!

Getting my redneck on!

Geese were all over the place, and flying in formation.

Travel in time.  Great grandfather Papa Harold as a boy.

Kids' great great grandparents.  Nana's grandparents.

Kids' great great great grandfather.  Papa's great grandfather.

Most cars are like this in the winter.  So dirty.

Kohl left me a nice selfie.

Random guy doing yoga at the airport early in the morning.

Quotes:

• Dinner with the family, Braelyn saw a basket ball game on the TV, she said, "Look!  It's the Denver McNuggets!"

• Maddy and Kohlden were playing indoor basketball.  Maddy didn't make a basket:

          Kohl:  "Maddy, don't you wish you are like me?  I'm taller than you.  I'm sure

                     you wish you are like me.  Also, do you want to poop the babies out, or, 

                     have them cut up on your tummy?"

• Finishing up security at Denver International Airport, putting back on my shoes and belt and sweater I had to remove, while the rest of the family watched from the benches after waiting for me over the past 10 minutes:

          Mommy:  [to Braelyn]  "Daddy's taking a long time at security."

          Braelyn:  "Yeah, he's getting fancy."

• Using the lavatory on the airplane:

          Kohl:  "Daddy, I think the pee drops outside the airplane, like a parachute."

• Tangie was picking up Braelyn's back-up and suddenly realized how crazy heavy it was:

          Mommy:  "Your bag is so heavy!  What did you do, bring some rocks home?"

          Braelyn:  "Actually, I did."

• Coming out of the ladies' room at the  Orlando International Airport, Kohlden saw Mommy had her hands full, holding both girls' backpacks, along with her own purse and computer bag, and immediately said to her, "Mommy, can you hold my bag for me…just kidding!"

We had a wonderful time with family and friends out west, and the past 2 weeks were a whirlwind of activity and adventures, as we continued to create and keep life long memories for us to share and look back on in the years to come.  We were truly blessed to spend the time we had together with everyone, and we look forward to seeing them all soon!

We all had a good time!

Have a great weekend!!