Rocky Mountain National Park

Another one of our favorite days from our Colorado trip was going to Rocky Mountain National Park with Nana and Uncle Stuart. We got to take the shuttle from the parking lot up to Bear Lake (where we hiked), to the great delight of both kiddos. We all loved the hike and looking at the lake and the mountains. What a fun day!

Makes my heart happy.

The kids didn't hike so much as run most of the way.

Snack break!

Climbing rocks with Uncle Stuart

Sometimes, even Elijah has to take a rest.

The Denver Zoo

Of course we had to go to the Denver Zoo! The kids had fun seeing lots of animals and spending the morning with Nana and Uncle Stuart. Many of the animals were out and active, which was a lot of fun. We saw a serval, two types of african crowned crane, and even the maned wolf, which I have not seen awake ever in my whole lifetime of visiting the zoo!

The lions were not out, but we had to get a picture with the sign!

The baby giraffe was only a few weeks old.

The sea lion show

Looking for animals with Uncle Stuart

The map! Both of the kids LOVE zoo maps!

Snack break!

Both the black bears and the grizzlies were up and about - it was so fun to watch!

Part 2 - The Wedding!

(photo taken by Samantha Sorbello)

The wedding was beautiful. It was a very pretty day (a little hot) at a very pretty place. The bride was so beautiful, the groom was handsome in his uniform, and they were so happy! Elijah did a great job - he even carried the real rings without mishap! He and Piper marched down the aisle like old pros. Tallie walked down as well, and Molly went part-way ... and then turned around and to come back to me. So I ended up carrying her down, which was fine.

Our handsome guys

Almost all the groomsmen (missing Ty on the end)

John and Patrick managed to play daddy and groomsman quite well through the ceremony.

The kids all sat with Mom and Dad in turns, too.

Linde, reading scripture

with Miss Tallie

Me, reading scripture, with Molly screaming behind me. She only lasted a few minutes into the ceremony before I had to take her out.

Piper had a great time being a flower girl. She spent most of the ceremony gathering up petals to refill her basket, then tossing them all again. It was so cute!

The happy couple

Big kiss!

Cameron built the cross in the background for the wedding.

Married!

The wedding party (except we cut Justin off this time)

Waiting for more pictures

My cousin Jen and her family

The little cousins had a great time together at the reception. They played and danced together for hours! (Except for Molly, who spent the entire night in my arms.)

Wedding day, part 1

Sunday was the big day - wedding day! Patrick slept in a little bit (to recover from guys' night the night before) while the kids and I got up and went to breakfast with Nana & Grandpa, Aunt Louise and Uncle Stuart, and lots of other wedding folk. After breakfast, Patrick joined us and we met John & Linde and the girls at the pool. We had lots of fun swimming, as always. All four of these kids love the water. I've always thought that Elijah loved being in the water, but that's nothing compared to the girls - they are all three just FISH. I was worn out long before Elijah and Molly were ready to get out, but our mission was accomplished: swim until they had no choice but to take HUGE naps. We ate lunch, visited my cousin Loey and her family (my kids just loved playing with Anna and James) and put the kids down for naps.

After swimming - tired and happy!

The kids took great naps, and the grown ups ate lunch and got ready to go. I did my mom's hair and spent too much time avoiding going into our hotel room (I didn't want to wake the kids rummaging around in there) and didn't give myself enough time to do a good job on my own hair. (Big mistake #1) Oh well. Sorry about the pictures, Cameron & Amanda ...

We woke the kids (oops - big mistake #2 of the day - should've put them down super early so they could sleep until they woke up) and hurried off to the vineyard. (Beautiful - if you're ever near there, go see it.) Patrick was a groomsman, and he joined the rest of the guys for their pictures. Linde and I got all four kids ready to go (Elijah was the ring bearer, Piper, Tallie and Molly were the flower girls) and then spend the rest of the waiting period bribing them with snacks to keep them clean and somewhat calm. Molly did not take kindly to being woken from her nap, and her bad mood only got worse as we tried to get her dressed. A blister on one of her heels from earlier in the week did not help things - she was not at all interested in wearing shoes! But then it was wedding time, and we were all ready to go.

Pretty Tallie

Dancing! Those dresses were just so much fun to twirl in - so cute!

All dressed up ... and waiting. Snacks to the rescue!

Handsome little man.

Rehearsal (or, the pre-party)

The day after graduation, we got up in the wee hours of the morning and started the drive down to North Carolina for the BIG event of the weekend - Cameron's wedding.

We had a little car trouble on the way down, and spent a couple of hours at a rest stop trying to figure it out, but we made it eventually. Saturday afternoon was the rehearsal (which we just missed - sorry dude), and then the rehearsal dinner. It was a pretty big party, and it was great to see so many fun people. The dinner was at a another vineyard near the wedding vineyard. It was a very pretty place. The kids had had a very long day, so I left pretty early to put them to bed. It was still a late night for them though (they're usually in bed around 7:00).

Patrick and the other guys got to stay up and enjoy some tasty beverages and quality time with Cameron and each other, which was great since there was no time for any sort of bachelor party. I thought it was cool to see all the various groups of people from different times in Cam's life all together and having a great time with each other. His brothers (and brother-in-law), life-long best friends, his high school guys, fellow Marines, and guys from the Academy were all there, along with some of their families.

I didn't take many pictures, but here are a few.

The groom!

Miss Molly - I didn't get a picture of her with Tallie in their matching dresses, but they sure were cute!

Elijah and Piper spent most of the evening wandering around the grounds with Uncle Stuart - they had a great time together.

Pretty.