Girl Party in July!

We got to spend an entire week in Omaha again this summer.  My girls look forward to it so much!  It’s cousin mania while we’re there which is so cool!  They love it so much! No one tell them that it’s not a “real” vacation.  They have no idea that other kids don’t care to go to Nebraska.  They are completely under the impression it’s a super cool, vacationy, hip place to go!  :)

Speaking of cousins, we were able to attend my cousin, Joanna’s, wedding while we were there.  Again, the first time I’ve seen these crazies in 6 years!  I spent a lot of time with them as a kid and I was really starting to feel an ache because I missed them so much!  These guys… I love them!

We enjoyed the 3rd of July doing fireworks in Omaha…

Then…          

We packed up the 6 kids and headed home.  Yes, 6!  I wish they were my own, but my nieces came to Colorado for a week and Jason and I got to pretend we had the family of 8 that we wish we could! You might think I’m kidding… nope… we would love this if we had a ton of money!  Stopping at Runza was $60.   But having 6 kids for a week was super fun!

Some people might wonder how Clapper kept it together being the only boy on an 9 hour drive with 7 girls…

And then even more cousin fun in Colorado.  Parks, river, mountain house, palisade peaches! 

At the end of July the girls went to a YMCA day camp at Snow Mountain Ranch up in Winter Park.  Jason and I used the time they were at camp to do some work/cleaning at the mountain house.  Since we took possession in October, this was really our first time being able to do this kind of stuff!   And day camp was super cool… like REAL camp stuff… campfires, canoes, hiking, biking, pony riding… fun and exhausting!

Jason and I even got a night by ourselves!  Our old nanny, Patti, came to visit.  There’s not many people I would leave my 8 month old with overnight.  But she is one of them! Jason and I got to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary!  If I could change anything I would make it so we met sooner and got married sooner so we could be together longer (and have more babies)!

I also got to have a weekend in the mountains with all my besties from college!  This is an absolute amazing feat!  We coordinated schedules for all 8 of us to be here at the same time!  We even had some bonus visitors who didn’t get to stay for the weekend but we got to see them!  This was something else my heart was aching for!  I needed my girls.  I needed the laughs that come along with them!  I was head-down, focused on Lily for three years when she was having seizures.  Even if I got to see my friends, I couldn’t relax or spend a night away. I had responsibilities that didn’t allow for breaks.  But to let it go for a weekend and laugh until my belly hurts and not worry about eating at 12:00 noon and taking as long as we want at a restaurant and doing yoga and massages.  Seriously… it filled my soul! I only hope my girls find girls like these at college!