More Pics From Our Trip to Colorado

Every time we go to Denver, my in-laws talk about going to a Mexican restaurant called "Casa Bonita". They have always maintained that the food was nothing to write home about, but the experience is worth doing at least once. We have had it on our list of things to do several times, but somehow never got around to it...until this trip. The food was, as predicted, not great, but we had a lot of fun there! There were cliff divers and entertainers that performed throughout dinner, a Mariachi band that walked around taking requests and multiple rooms filled with arcade games.

At the entrance to Casa Bonita---the way it looks on the outside is so deceiving---it is HUGE on the inside!

Our party was too big, so we had to split. Grandma Wilkinson, Riley and Kaiya took one table and Grandpa, the quints and I took the other table.

Kyndall, Kaydence, and Kassidy. We asked the Mariachi band to sing a birthday song for the quints since they had recently turned three. They weren't quite sure what to think about the performance.

Ryder and Rustin with the band in the background.

All the kids watching the cliff divers

In the maze of rooms in the restaurant, we found a banquet room (unused at the time) with a stage. The quints immediately got up and started to perform.

Dynamite Dancers

Ski-ball was one of the few games that the quints could actually play, only they didn't quite get the concept of keeping the balls in their own lanes.

Grandma Wilkinson, Kassidy, Ryder, Rustin and Kaydence

Grandma Wilkinson with Riley--they managed to play the game just right to win 50 tickets.

Jayson's brother, Joel, and his family recently moved from Texas to Colorado Springs. Joel has since been deployed to Afghanistan, but we went down to Ft. Carson to visit my sister-in-law, Tobi, and her kids Alec and Cora. While we were there, we took a walk in the magnificent nearby "Garden of the Gods".

Rustin, Kaydence, Kassidy, Kyndall, Kaiya, Riley, Cora, Ryder and Alec

Garden of the Gods

Ryder, Kassidy, Rustin and Kaydence

And they're off!

All the kids at the heart rock: Riley, Kaiya, Alec, Cora, Kaydence, Ryder, Kassidy, Rustin and Kyndall

Kaydence, Rustin, Kyndall, Ryder, and Kassidy

The Whole Gang (minus me): Kaydence, Ryder, Cora, Grandma W, Alec, Grandpa W, Kaiya, Tobi, Rustin (hard to see), Riley, Kyndall, and Kassidy

Another project we took on while in Colorado was tie-dying shirts. I have never done that before. It was fun, and easier than I thought!

Grandpa W, Riley, Grandma W, and Kaiya dying shirts.

The final product: Jayson, Grandpa W, Kaiya, Grandma W, Cora (who just wanted to be in our picture), Rachelle and Riley

The night before we left, Jayson's aunt Linda invited all the relatives in the area over for dinner. Aunt Linda was one of "the Aunts" that flew out to our house for a week the summer that I had the babies. I was stuck in Arizona and Jayson had moved into our new house by himself. The Aunts came out, unpacked and decorated the house all in a week's time. They were amazing!

The Quint Table

Riley and Kaiya

Fun with the wagon

All the kids--we got to see several of Jayson's cousins and their children, whom we haven't seen in many years. The kids had such a fun time getting to know their second cousins.

Kaydence

Rustin

Kassidy---I love this picture of her!

Kyndall, Ryder and Kassidy

The Whole Group!

***Today marks one week since we began Potty Training Boot Camp, and I am still alive to tell about it....I will have another update tomorrow!***

More Pics From Our Trip to Colorado

Packing for a Party of Nine

Getting ready for a road trip with seven kids can be a little overwhelming. It is amazing how much STUFF you need to take for five three-year-olds, not to mention the rest of us! Although it feels like I drive a bus, our 12-passenger van really doesn’t hold a lot, once you get all the people in. So, we are forced to get creative to fill every ounce of available space. Here’s how it went down…by the numbers:

5 pack-n-plays
5 suitcases
1 duffel bag
1 travel bag
1 camera bag
1 purse
1 netbook computer
5 car seats
1 booster seat
2 DVD player screens
1 portable DVD player
1 GPS
2 iPods
9 sets of headphones
1 box of diapers
5 Puddle Jumper life vests
5 blankets
5 nuggies
4 pillows
1 stroller (would be more but I left a couple in Arizona that my mom is bringing)
1 large cooler
4 packages of baby wipes
8 16 qt storage containers with quint clothes
1 shoebox-size storage container with kids hair supplies
2 backpacks
1 bag with “rewards” for not fighting in the car (for Riley and Kaiya)
2 cell phones
84 Children’s DVD’s (Don’t ask me why I brought so many since the only ones the quints wanted to watch were Dora!)
1 large box containing snack food
50 plastic cups for holding snacks
1 roll of paper towels
10 grocery bags to use for trash
2 adults
7 children

Plastic Storage Bins for the Quints clothes. My mom used to pack the kids clothes this way when we went on road trips growing up. It works out great---not only can these containers fit in small spaces, there is no need to unpack when we get to our destination---the containers act as "drawers" for the quints stuff.

Front seat of the van---every inch of under bench storage was utilized. Fortunately, the quints still have really short legs, so we could put things underneath their feet also.

Middle Row--we also had two suitcases on the floor in front of the bench (you can see one suitcase, but the other one isn't there yet)

Back Row---this one is a little tricky---it doesn't have as large of a storage area so I stuffed diapers and wipes in the smaller openings.

The Back (this was the night before, so it is still missing a suitcase, life-vests and the smaller bags)

We also have a small cargo carrier that attaches to the trailer hitch on the back. It was great for sticking pack-n-plays and strollers.

Kyndall, Rustin, Kaydence, Ryder and Kassidy---After a short (ha, ha) 15.5 hour drive, we made it to Grandma's House! The quints were quick to find the porch swing the next morning.

Strike a pose--Grandma and Grandpa gave the quints their birthday presents---the girls got princess "tippy toes" skirts and ruffle bottom shirts, matching scarfs and purses.

Kaydence, Kassidy and Kyndall

The boys got Batman capes and shirts and a Batman car.

From behind

Ryder and Rustin

Packing for a Party of Nine