Monday, August 28, 2023

Des Moines "staycation" with family.

My whole family went to Des Moines for a few days for a little "staycation." We had a lot of fun together! It's always special when all my siblings can be there and all the cousins can hang out!

Ice cream date with Grandpa and Grandma.


Cousin picnic lunches outside.


All the cousins in their tie-dye shirts!


Morning at the zoo. Love these sweet sisters!



The girls thought seeing this giraffe bend over was funny.


Carousel rides with cousins.





Swimming at a family friend's pool. It was a great afternoon with both of our families all together!




Tie-dyeing shirts!





Thankful for quality time together! We also took family photos while we were there. My mom wants to save the whole group shots for Christmas cards, but here's a sweet one of my siblings and a family shot of the five of us. :)


Friday, August 25, 2023

Colorado with De Jongs 2023- part 3.

We went to Vail for a day and had the best time! We rode the gondola to the top of the mountain and they had some great activities at the top. The girls enjoyed ziplining!




The alpine slide was a trip highlight. Kley doesn't like rides and I love them, so this was a major win that I got to ride three times in a row with each of the girls. So fun to share it individually with them and hear their squeals of delight. So so fun!




The girls loved the tube slide too! Lucy and Ellory were too short for the big one, so all three went on the kid one- still fun though!




It was breathtaking at the top. So incredible.



We took some family pictures while we were there too. Love these sweet cousins!


And whole family shots are my absolute favorite!



All three were very brave and tried rock climbing by our hotel at the kids activities. Go girls!








They had a scavenger hunt around the hotel grounds and this was at the final clue.


One morning the girls got to ride a pony in the mountains! This was another trip highlight, all three loved it so much and talked about it a lot after. :)




One of my college roommates, Brittany, is from CO but is living in TX. She and her husband, Rob, happened to be in CO visiting family the same time we were and we got to meet for lunch one day. We had a great conversation!


Grateful to still stay in touch!


What a wonderful week we had and so glad we were able to go. Summer fun and family time is the best! Another thing that made this vacation special/more fun is that our girls are getting older, so eating at restaurants is more and more enjoyable- we actually got to sit for longer periods and have good conversations and enjoy our meals. Awesome!

Monday, August 21, 2023

Colorado with De Jongs 2023- part 2.

There were some super fun kids activities near our hotel that the girls truly loved! Watching your kids have fun is truly so special. They loved gem panning and collecting/sorting through their finds and trading with each other after.




This harness trampoline was a massive hit!







Will loved gem panning too!


Cousin mini golf went pretty well! The scoring wasn't 100% official, but we finished and everyone had a good time- a win!





One morning we rode the gondola to the top of the mountain that was right by our hotel. So beautiful!


Riding a gondola was a fun, new experience for the girls!






Wow, God is so good and beautifully creative!