sweet home colorado: Spring Break Week 1

Here are a bunch of fun photos from our week with Grandma & Grandpa!

We always have to bake sugar cookies! The boys have loved this tradition with Grandma ever since they were very little! They love picking out the cookie cutters, rolling out the dough, cutting the shapes, and using different colored sprinkles. And of course, they love eating them too! This is my favorite cookie recipe- perhaps just for the memories I have when eating them!

Grandma & Grandpa got to come to Heath's baseball practice! Grandpa even hit up the Hawks shop beforehand!

Nolan during practice! Oh the random pics I find on my phone. But I LOVE this one!

Grandma & Brooksie played at the park during practice.

We hit up The Donut one morning. This is the shop that Oma & Opa take the boys to all the time. And Heath is always raving about their Fritters! King Soopers fritters apparently are NOT real fritters. So we had to check it out and have the real deal.

And boy, oh boy, their fritters did not disappoint!

Then we headed to Boulder to the Celestial Seasonings tour!

The boys trying some iced tea.

Waiting for the tour to begin.

The Johnson Family LOOOOOOVES a good tour!

My Mom, Mark, and I had taken this tour many years ago, before kids, but the tasting room was under construction. We (being my Mom & I…not Mark…ha!) always wanted to come back when we would actually be able to sample the teas.

Before the factory tour, we watched a short video on the history of Celestial Seasonings, then Brooks and I had to go wait outside. You had to be 5 to go on the tour. So sad to have missed out on this...

Hair Nets! Heath was NOT a fan! My Dad even had to wear a beard net inside. But they enjoyed their tour and told me all about the big machines and the Peppermint Room afterwards.

Brooks and I played outside while they were touring! Here he is being a tiger!

The next day, we were surprised with LOTS of snow! I got a SNOW DAY! My 4th one this year!

Nolan warmed up with a bubble bath!

Grandpa played basement hockey with the boys.

Grandma read lots of books! Look at her expression. Ha! She was really getting into the character "Anger"!

Mark worked from home and shoveled! Dad helped out too- even without gloves on. He claims, his Dad, my Grandpa Charles, never wore gloves when shoveling- so he doesn't either. Crazy man!

The following day, we were treated to another SNOW DAY! 5 Snow Days in one year is just unheard of out here! It's crazy, but I loved the timing! So we stayed inside and played a lot!

Grandma and Brooksie working on shapes!

One of many, many Easter Egg hunts!

The boys love hiding the eggs so the adults have to find them and they love the adults hiding the eggs so they have to find them. We have 50 some eggs, so they had a blast playing Easter Egg hunts all week!

We also dyed eggs...

The colors were vibrant! And, YES, there is a Cupcake Carl egg. My Dad always says the most random things. Cupcake Carl is the name of a character from the game Candy Crush. For some reason, Grandpa would just say his name every once in awhile and the boys would crack up! They thought it was hilarious when Grandpa would say it and so then they started blurting it out randomly too. Oh man…then he taught them about some guy from Whitehall named Carl Meal. So then they were shouting his name out as well. I was surrounded by 3 little Randys for the week. Anyone who knows my Dad well, knows this funny little fact about him. He can go on and on for hours making us laugh with random names, places, stories, and memories.

The boys actually liked eating the hard boiled eggs this year! My Mom made egg salad too, which was super yummy!

Grandpa loves to go out and about every morning. He drives and hits up local spots- gas stations, King Soopers, the Post Office, and of course, Mc Donalds!

One morning, he brought Nolan home a Mc Griddle surprise! The boy pounded it in record speed! Thanks Grandpa!

Our 2nd Snow Day was beautiful!

We spent a long time playing outside!

Throughout the week, the boys had dates, of course!

Brooks chose McDonalds-

Heath chose McDonalds too-

And Nolan chose Panera-

Thanks Grandma & Grandpa for spending this special alone time with our boys! They treasure these memories.

And a few other random pictures from our week together-

Making our own Easter Candy Necklaces.

I found this little craft and thought it would be the perfect activity to do while Grandma was in town.

Puzzling...

Grandma, Mommy, and the boys love puzzles! We do them on our iPads too!

We spent plenty of time just chillin'.

Enjoying down time and every day life together is a treat!

Wish we could do it more often! (and p.s. I have no ideas what Heath is doing in this picture…but Brooks looks cute!)

Wrestling around with Grandpa!

On Grandpa's last night, we decided to have an early Easter Dinner since he would leave before the real Easter.

We broke out the fine china and crystal.

And we made pork tenderloin, mashed potatoes, corn, rolls, and Jello.

Thankful for family that plays hard and loves hard. (Mallory and Bob must REALLY love each other- they even wear matching Mickey World shirts! Hee hee hee!)

Mal made her famous Lamb Cake as well- following in V.E.E.H.M.M.S's footsteps.

It looked beautiful, however, unfortunate events led to it's untimely devise.

But the boys had no problem with that- it still tasted great!

The next day, it was time to take Grandpa back to the train station. We drove down to Union Station to have dinner with him there before his train departed.