Road Trips

So here are some pictures from the last portion of our roadtrip.  We headed up to Aspen to see Papa and Molly.  Ellie absolutely loved it up there.  The horses were her favorite part by far.  Below she is singing in the the microphone.  She loved that too.  In face we just bought her a T-ball set so Kelly can teach her how to play and she picks up the bat and sings into it.

 

When we were in Aspen we rode the gondola all the way to the top of the mountain.  Ellie thought it was interesting.  We asked dad to take a picture and he took about 15 of them but he never told us when he was taking them.  This is the best one by far! 

Day Two at the horses.  This time she has her hat.  We tried to get her boots but she wouldn't put them on her feet.  We'll try again next year.  After spending a wonderful three days in Aspen we headed home.  We spent over 40 hours in our car and put about 5,000 miles on it.  It was a wonderful road trip and we all had a blast!

We got home on a Friday.  The house was great to come back to.  We picked up Po Po on Saturday and I started my new job on Tuesday.  It was a crazy week trying to get everything put back together and then on top of that we left for San Diego on Friday.

We stayed with John and Sheryl (Kelly's cousins) and had a blast.  John and Sheryl were great hosts.  We went to the Zoo on Saturday and the beach on Sunday.  The beach was definitely the highlight of the trip for both Kelly and Ellie.  Here she is taking a break because trying to refill the holes that Mark and Kelly and Julie dug was exhausting work!

 

The Final Product  Ellie touched my lens at some point so its a little foggy.

We are finally back home for a while now.  Po Po and I just celebrated our birthdays and Kelly celebrated food poisoning.  Ellie loves being back home and in her space.  She asks daily to swim - most days we do.  She is getting much braver in her swimming and now just takes off assuming one of us will catch her in the water.

She can count to 13 which amazes me.  She just started counting to me one day!  She talks all the time and is even stringing words together.  Singing and dancing are still her favorite activities. 

New job is going well.  Its a little chaotic but I'm learning a lot!  Loving having the camp going still.  We are working hard and it is more fun now that I have a partner in crime to help.

Kelly started a new job with Tobias Bodyworks (not sure if that's the actual name).  He goes in a few hours a week to help with books and payroll!  He starts school on September 6th.

So that's what we've been up to in the last few weeks.  Miss you all!

Mulhern Family Roadtrip

After spending three weeks in Okoboji we headed off on our first family roadtrip.  Up to date we have spent almost 30 hours in the car.  We wanted to take some time to spend together and with family and friends along the way before we got back to Phoenix and had to work and start school again.  Here are just a few pictures...more are on Facebook so check there if you can!

We started our journey heading to Rapid City. 

 

After driving through the Badlands we made our way to Rapid City.  We spent two days there and went to Bear Country, Reptile Gardens, and drove through Custer National Park.  Ellie LOVED Bear Country.  She got to sit in the front seat with mama and see all the animals.  Bear Country added a new section since we remember being there for baby animals that is outside.  It is always nice when things are still as fun as you remember them being as a kid.  Reptile Gardens was a different story...it didn't help that we were there during a hail storm which didn't feel safe at all.  We also went to Old MacDonald's Farm which was a lot of fun.  Ellie loved the birds most of all and thought the goats were pretty funny.

It took Ellie a little bit but eventually she warmed up to the bear at Bear Country.

 

After the Black Hills we headed to Fort Collins.  We were going to spend a few days with Tabs, Jentri and Bucky and company.  We arrived on Friday and just relaxed.  Saturday we went to Rocky Mountain National Park and did a hike and had lunch in Estes.  It is beautiful out there.  We wanted to enjoy the weather before we get back to HOT Arizona.  She loved the gushing water of the river and waterfall.  Kelly carried her on his back for over two hours!!!

Don't we all look so happy!

 

Today we had breakfast with Bucky and headed to the Aquarium downtown.  Then we went to lunch at the Rio - which I forgot I missed - and are now relaxing at Tabby's on our last night in town.  Tomorrow we head to Aspen to spend some time with "Papa" (aka Grandpa Tom).  

We are having a blast and Ellie is being a little angel (most of the time).  She is putting more words together everyday and we are constantly asking each other, "what does that mean?"  

As I said above...check Facebook for more picture from our trip.  We love and miss you all!