Final Vacation Post.....I promise!

Warning.....this is a long post..... :)

Well, I thought I would finally show you what Donnie and the big kids did while out in Colorado since you have seen everything Zach and I did. My brother-in-law Paul loves to do photography stuff as a hobby. He took his camera up on the mountain and took some great pics of the scenery as well as the kids and Donnie.

They went to Loveland for 2 of the days we were there. The kids all snowboarded while Donnie and Paul went skiing. Treyton and Autumn had been before about 3-4 years ago when we went. They took 1/2 day lessons to get a refresher. Justin had never been before, so he took the class too. All 3 did great from what I hear. Although Autumn was pretty bruised by the end of the 2nd day and Treyton twisted his knee funny getting off the lift early on the 2nd day so he was hobbling too. Justin hardly fell at all from what I hear.

They had great skiing conditions. Here's what their world looked like for a few days......I think these were all taken at the top of the mountain after they got off the lift, but I could be wrong since I wasn't there and Donnie's gone to bed so can't tell me! :) The second picture you can see 2 other ski resorts in the background. If I got it right, Keyston is on the left and Breckenridge is in the far back right corner (not sure you can see it very well in this small of a pic)......very pretty up there. Zach and I didn't make the trek up the mountain with them....he needs a few more years before he's ready for that kind of playing!





And their day begins.....



Donnie's action photos.....the last pic was apparently at the bottom of the area where Donnie and Paul both had a major wipeout! My brother-in-law rarely wipes out, so I'm guessing it was pretty difficult. I'm sure I would've breezed right threw it! :)





Justin's action photos.....he had never been snowboarding before and did wonderful! He's very into skateboarding so I'm sure that has something to do with it. The second photo looks like he was turning a corner sharply, but really in was mid-crash when Paul snapped his pic. But since you can't really tell, we'll just say he was skilled in his turn.....




Autumn's action photos.....that last one Paul caught as she crashed! That's Justin beside her.....




Here's Treyton's action photos.....




These were taken at the end of the day. Justin and Donnie had already gone down all the stairs to go to the parking lot and Donnie said he wasn't about to climb those stairs again in his skiboots just for a picture....he clearly wasn't thinking about my blog now was he!



On the way down the mountain, they took a little scenic detour and went to Loveland Pass. Justin had never been up in the mountains before and there was a tunnel that went through the mountain Donnie wanted to take Justin through. They got out at Loveland's Pass for some photos......too bad Zach and I weren't there! That last picture would've been a neat photo of the 6 of us. How do you think it would look if we photoshopped us in? :)




Before loading up in the car to go home, I realized I hadn't really gotten a family photo of all us. So we posed on my sister's front porch. This was the best pic of the 6 of us....but my brother-in-law wanted in on the Jones Family Photo action too.


So this was the best one of us, minus Paul!


The car ride home went smoother (is that a word? Barb?) than the ride to Colorado. Could have something to do with the fact that I think I medicated my child with drowsy meds....oops! He came down with a sinus infection while at my sister's...so did Donnie and I. Anyhow, borrowed some over the counter meds to try to help him breathe a bit better and then he slept for the first 4 hours of the trip! I started to get a little worried cuz he NEVER sleeps that long ever....even at night! I told Donnie we were going to pull over if he didn't wake up soon. He did, but didn't want much to do with us. This is the reaction I got from him when I tried to interact with him.......that is his prized "taggie" that apparently also can be used as a shield!


Then when I tried a little harder he hollered at me and then pulled the blanket ALL the way over his head! Guess he was upset with me for the medicatin thing....sorry buddy! He rode like this for a while and eventually forgave me and came out from hiding.....


So that was the Jones Family Vacation......looking forward to another vacation some time over the summer. Hopefully we can find a time that works for all 6 of us to go again! I had a great time and I love spending time away from home with the kids so we get them all to ourselves since they have nowhere else they can go! It was good to reconnect with them as well as spend some time with my sister and her family.

Thanks for housing and entertaining us Michelle and Paul.....

My dancing boy....

I thought I would do a quick short post before the last vacation post. I don't know what my husband did with the picture disk of them skiing so I can't do the post til he is cooperative! :) Plus, I thought this was absolutely adorable. At Christmas, I bought some gift card holders that play music when you open them. Zach LOVED them so I kept one. He still carries it around and thankfully can now open it himself and his figured out how to get it to replay on his own. It was getting quite old to have to assist him every 20 seconds with the dang thing! Anyhow, it plays Joy to the World and he has now added a VERY impressive dance routine with the song. He got a bit out of control and came close to an injury! Too cute! Sorry but it loaded sideways and I'm not smart enough apparently to know how to flip it....so watch it sideways...you'll get the picture it's still adorable!



I just love that boy.....I'm thinking he's got some real talent and may be able to do something dance related one day!

Zachy's proud mama!

Casa Bonita's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here it is......Casa Bonita's!!!!!!


This was one of my most favorite places to come and eat when we went to Colorado EVERY year for vacation! I haven't been there since I was like 12 or 13 so I begged my brother-in-law to make an exception and let us go (not his favorite place to eat!). It literally has not changed a bit since I was there.....except for one minor thing. The swimmer guy is now a young blond haired kid that wears long board shorts. Very different from the Mexican stallion type guy with long hair that sported a speedo that I remember from my childhood! For those that have never been there, you should put it on your list of things to try at least once! Make sure you request to sit near the water, otherwise you miss the good stuff! There are skits and divers and waterfalls and music and all kinds of things to entertain the kids! Zach did great cuz there was always a distraction. Although he came flying out of his highchair during one skit as it has a gorilla in it! My nephew Dawson also had a little gorilla fear when he came flying over our railing and leaped over him....came very close to landing on him. I think I saw Autumn and Treyton jump too as it was totally unexpected and he landed on the railing right next to Autumn. I don't know about everyone else, but I had a great time. Felt like I was 10 again for a bit.....except for the whole having kids thing....that brought me back really quick!


The famous fountain out front. My dad was always so cranky about us getting wet before we went in for dinner. Guess that must have been passed down generationally cuz I kept getting after Zach for the same thing! He though was literally trying to get IN the fountain area.....I NEVER would've even thought of doing that as a child so I'm sure my dad was just overreacting! :)


Everyone being a good sport while I revert back to my childhood! :)


Treyton creating his own fun during dinner....must have been during a break from one of the exciting skits!


Michelle and I pretending we are kids again posing next to where the skits are done....if you can't tell, it's at a scary part with Bad Bart and the Sheriff! :)


Watching the last skit I didn't get to see during dinner of Bad Bart and the Sheriff. That crazy Bart ends up over the edge and in the water every time I have seen it! :) The big kids were acting like it was all lame, yet look at their concentration!



During dinner, my sister thought it would be funny to tell the waiter that it was Autumn's birthday despite it actually being in November. Towards the end of our meal, the mairachi band came to the table and asked for her and then sang. I didn't think to tape it until about half way through. Plus I was laughing so hard I couldn't think of much else! I thought it was hillarious! Not sure Autumn did though. It was a definate favorite among everyone though cuz the rest of the weekend at random times one of us would break into the Autumn birthday song. I have no idea if I will actually be able to load the video cuz I've never tried to do that before!


Can you see the excitement in Autumn???? She was a bit embarrassed, but a great sport about it! Makes me laugh every time I watch it....and now that dang happy birthday part is stuck in my head again!

Thanks for being a good sport Paul....I had a great time!
The last part of the vacation pics is coming soon. Then on to other things....like Zach's dance video!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Vacation Day 3....for Zach and me anyway...

When we got up Sunday morning, the big kids, Donnie and my brother-in-law Paul were gone already to go skiing/snowboarding. So Zach hung with the next group of big kids (to him anyway).....my 2 nephews Dawson and Dylan. Dawson and Dylan are very into their Ninetindo DS's and Zach joined them by stealing bubba Treyton's (don't tell Treyton!). It was very cute. He sat there and pushed buttons and acted like he knew what was going on.



We lounged around all morning and waited until after Zach took a nap to venture out of the house. My sister and I took the boys to the Denver Children's Museum. There was LOTS of fun there! There were areas for dress up....which my nephews were in to. Zach not so much. Lots of make believe areas. Zach's favorites were probably the 0-4 area, the train room and the grocery store area. Here some pics from our day......








This is the train area.....Zach did really well at first. In the 2nd picture, Zach is hoarding the trains. A little had come in and was trying to play with him. He quickly scrambled around to all the tables and grabbed as many trains as he could and was holding them just staring at her. He then came and dumped them all right in front of me while he ran to get more.....like I would protect his stash or something! Guess we need to work on sharing!









In the evening, we went met up with all the big kids and went to one of my favorite childhood places to eat. I'll do a post all on that next! Then some GREAT pics from the skiing/snowboarding adventure that my brother-in-law took.

Dannon