Mark & Mandy

Ok the final batch of photos… On Sunday we did more of the same, hanging out, having drinks and enjoying the backyard. Niko quickly found the three little pigs house (aka doghouse) which was a huge hit.

Perfect size for a little boy. After our naps we got dressed up again in some cute outfits …

and hunted for golf balls

Niko found a green sand strainer which was the perfect size for a golf ball

And Elsie practiced putting the ball in the strainer (a new form of carry the egg on a spoon and don’t drop it – much cleaner!)

Later we used the strainer as a lollypop

The next game was for Niko to run around with the lifelike stuffed rabbit and Elsie to try and catch him

Its hard to run as fast as Niko! Fortunately Sumo was there to rescue elsie if she fell…

Later in the afternoon, Saffie, Josh and Amy came over for some grass time (more cute outfits!!)

I was happy to see that Saffie also did not like Julie to hold her (I was beginning to take it personally – but now realize that Saffie is a momma’s girl)

Niko had more fun in the house

We all had a lovely dinner (cooked entirely by Me – which is  amazing because I totally suck at cooking!)

We had such a fabulous time with Niko and crew (yes, Scott, Jul and Sumo you are now just Crew and Niko is the main attraction! ) – we loved seeing the kids start to really interact with each other.

Cheers to great friends!

Ok, I took way too many photos so I am breaking the Johnston visit into three posts – filled to the brim with photos of the kids

On Saturday we woke up and had some play time

and a little Sesame Street

The Richau’s showed up and we all went on a walk … here are the cousin’s in their matching strollers

We then spent much of the day outside playing …

The dad’s played some cornhole…

there were lots of helpers

It was a fabulous day … lots of sun. After putting the kids to bed, we got a babysitter and all went out for a fantastic dinner at Frasca.

Niko, Scott, Jul and Sumo came to Colorado for memorial weekend … we had so much fun. Friday afternoon we headed to the airport to pick up the crew …

Elsie was all decked out in her pig tails and ready to see Niko…

She even made a sign (with some of my help) to make sure Niko found us

the welcoming … Elsie is enamored with Niko (older boys are sooo cool)

We packed us all into the MDX and headed for home, the chilin’s watched some baby einstein to pass the travel time

Immediately Elsie showed Niko and Saffie one of her favorite toys

Elsie showed Niko her new hat

They shared bath toys, and soap mohawks

The kids headed off to bed and the adults sat down for some yummy dinner …

More of our mother’s day weekend in Montana … Pat and Shelley hosted a fabulous dinner for us on Saturday so we could spend some more time relaxing and hanging out …

here is grammie with Elsie and Finley doing some reading

The next day we hosted a brunch for the Mom’s … Mark and my dad did most of the cooking, but my mom and I were big helps! Elsie also got another chance to meet her cousin Adrick (ben and crimson’s son) – he is 3 months younger than elsie and quite a big boy!

It was great to see the red heads unite!

Elsie had lots of fun with Grammie in the grass

We headed home Sunday afternoon – it was a quick trip, but my parents have completely set up the house for Elsie so we get to travel light (well as light as you can with a baby!).

We headed up to Montana for Mother’s day weekend – Grammie, Elsie and I did the Montana Women’s Run – well it was more of a walk with tons and tons of strollers.

We walked with Heather, Shelley, Riley and Finley … and thousand more walkers!

Here are the grammies!

Elsie rode in the front of a double stroller with Finley

Sadly Elsie wasn’t too sure about the cold weather and all of the people … Grammie had lots of friends that were excited to meet Elsie, but didn’t get to see her on her top game.

We finished the race and headed back to the car where Elsie instantly was back to her normal self … turns out she might just be a bit introverted liker her dad!

When we got home Elsie tried on her own Women’s Run Shirt (the smallest size they had):

And then she and grammie had some fun playing in the pond

The walk was a ton of fun – especially with three generations!

A few weeks ago (slacker poster here!) there was a Tulip Fairy Parade in Boulder. Mark wasn’t feeling well so we ended up not making the parade … but I did make Elsie some wings and parade her around our yard.

Josh and Saffie stopped over for a visit…

so we went into the yard for the parade

We positioned the girls in front of the Tulips, Saffie did not like her legs touching the grass and let out a big WAIL … Elsie, kindly joined in

Fairies do not like to be bossed around … but they do like to fly!

the spruill’s hosted a Zinfandel Tasting on Saturday and I offered to do some collateral for the event.

There were 10 participants tasting 7 wines so I created color coded wine tags and tasting notes. This time I added a colored tag to the notes (after 7 tastings I didn’t want you to forget your color)

Amy has started a play group and this month they met at the Golden Community Center in Golden. This was our first time attending but we couldn’t pass up swimming and social time with other babies.

The pool was awesome – it had a walk in entry for the toddlers and was filled with all sorts of water features.

The water was very warm which was perfect for the babies…

On this day there were 4 families – Asher (18m), Elsie (12m), Kai(10m) and Saffie (7m).

Elsie was very interested in the bubbling and shooting water. She even went down the big girl slide on mark’s lap (josh has a video of this)

Elsie loves her uncle Josh – she doesn’t quite love that Josh has his own baby. When Josh is there, Elsie is pulling at his legs to pick her up

she is learning to share with her cousin

Swimming is sooo fun!

Elsie got a fabulous Tea Set and Tea hat from the Johnston’s for her birthday. She is still learning how to be a lady who sips tea, and doesn’t destroy the nice tea settings mom has put out…

We invited Pink elephant and the Orange Ant Eater to afternoon tea… complete with some delicious pastries.

Elsie headed in to pick out some books because who doesn’t like to read stories while they have tea.

Elsie thought pink elephant should wear the hat

Isn’t she beautiful!

Elsie has started to make a shhhh sound as she pretends to pour the tea … she still holds the pot by the spout and pours out of the handle, but its a start!

We are having so much fun with the non-breakable tea set!