Aspen in the summer.

We took an early anniversary trip and drove up to beautiful Aspen.

I mean, what says I love you for 16 years more than a trip with your children. ;)

We picked Bill up from work in Downtown,

armed with an iced venti white chocolate mocha

I took on the mountain with my little nissan

It was a "fun" little drive up to Independence Pass.

The Colorado Department of Transportation

must have decided it was easier to leave the guard rails off

the twisty, turny, windy road

than to have to replace them.

It was a beautiful afternoon at 12,095 feet.

The kids (and I) thought it was so cool

that there was still snow on the ground

at the end of July.

Aspen is an amazingly gorgeous mountain town.

The kiddos got a kick out of the winding stream through the middle of downtown.

The dogs kepts jumping all the way in to cool off.

We road the gondola up to Apen Mountain.

F-A-N-T-A-S-T-C

Nothing says summer vacation

like an ice cream bar on the top of a mountain.

Bungee Jumping for the kids.

James flipping out. :-)

Chair lifts in the summer.

Bill drove down the mountain, and thank goodness he did.

We were stuck in traffic for an hour and a half.

And if you are going to be "stuck" you might as well be coming down the mountain.

*Grant was with G&G Daniel this weekend

so we can't wait to be able to take him back to Aspen.

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

We went to bed with a 8 year old little girl and woke up to a 9 year old sweetheart!

We planned a super fun and busy day with your favorite people.

Your brothers:

Tigger:

Fairy GodMother:Chip:

Dancing with Max and James:

Showing us the map, (and your birthday autograph book).
You were our tour guide for the day!
Your sparkly pretty face painting!
A little snack in the afternoon before we took a cool dip in the pool!We finished the night off with a pizza party in the room.
Fireworks on the balcony
and a late night trip to Build-a-bear
to bring home your new (and first ever build-a-bear) bunny rabbit!

We love your sweet loving personality!
You are so kind to everyone even animals!
You love teaching James in your school.
You love swimming and racing Grant in the pool.
You love snuggling with Daddy on the couch every chance you get.
You love helping me cook and clean up
and
you love it when I tell you it is scrapbook time.
Your drawings and paintings are amazing.
You will be able to do what ever you set your heart and mind on!
We are so blessed to have you in our home
and
we love every minute of our Billie Girl!

Little Family Getaway

We decided to vacation close to home this year. With San Diego and So Cal so close...

I mean I used to drive 2 1/2 hours to go to target,
4 1/2 hours is nothing.
Plus we had some racked up Disney points that needed to get used up.
Disney was running an awesome promotion so we were able to get away,
for SUPER cheap.
Everyone here needed a vacation!
(Even the dogs, who get to reside at the doggie hotel and run wild.)

Here are the highlights:

We started the trip heading south west to go to San Diego.
We had never been there before.
The picture above is of all the sand dunes along the road.
It was really cool to see them. I wouldn't want to be driving here in a wind storm though. We also encountered several border patrol check points.
Another new experience.
Being so close to the border that you can see the wall is something else. I guess in my mind I pictured scores of people running wild across the desert.
We didn't see anything like that and I guess our vehicle didn't pose a threat.
We got waved through each time with out having to stop. The view of Mission Bay from the Sea Lion Show.
The weather was perfect and the view was amazing!
The walrus was invited to take part in the sea lion show. When it was done, he climbed out of the water and over the glass partition. He decided that he wanted to check out the rest of Sea World. They made everyone exit out the back of the show until they could get him to go back in. It was pretty funny to watch. That old Walrus wasn't going to go inside for anything. Even at Sea World the animals have a mind of their own.

I would have taken a picture of the Shamu Show, but the kids opted to sit on the second row, so my camera was tucked away safe in the plastic waterproof bag. It was pretty good from what I remember. We got soaked, I got salt water in my eyes and I couldn't see anymore and James had to go pee. So he and I ditched out early to find a bathroom.
I think I can say "a good time was had, by most."




We all got sun burnt! (Despite screening up at lunch time!)

And we stopped by a "Drive Inn, Diner and Dive" Diner. We looked one up before our trip so we could check it out! The food was awesome! The service was perfect! And it was lovely stop before heading up to Anaheim!