Trip to ABQ for Kevin's Graduation

We drove out to Albuquerque to celebrate Kevin's graduation from High School. On our way out, I took some pics of the new bridge over Hoover Dam. It is almost done and ENORMOUS!!!Grandma Neilson spoiled Chance with another mini birthday party.

This time it was Spider Man cupcakes...YUMMY!He definitely got a little messier.

Gia waited patiently for a cupcake of her own. Ari got a Karaoke machine for her birthday and brought it up to Grandma Neilson's so everyone could try it out. The kids had a blast singing as loud as they could to all of the songs...it was hilarious!

We took the kiddos, their cousins and met up with Tanya and her kiddos at the mall to try the bungee/trampoline/jumpee-thing. The kids waited patiently for their chance to bounce.

After all the bouncing it was definitely time for a treat...off to Cinnabun's for smoothies and the hardest choice of all a Cinnabun or a Cupcake! Cole and Matthew...Chance and Mark...I absolutely love this picture! We were at Angelo's baseball game and I glance over and see Kadee and Micaela perched up on this block almost like they are runnin' the town! Had to get a picture of it. Notice Micaela with her hands on her hips (she ain't nothin like her momma :) !!)We spent one of the afternoon's at the park playing some fun games. One of my favorites, the splash ball. I love watching them freak out in anticipation of the water balloon breaking inside!

The worst part of our trips to ABQ is always when we have to say goodbye. Micaela was so sad when it was time to go. She started crying, Tanya finally convinced her to go, she headed to the car and then turned back and ran to give Kadee one last hug. It was so sad and I have to admit a tear escaped from my eye at that moment. Monday was Kevin's graduation from Rio Rancho High. Cole anxiously awaited to see his big cousin walk up on to the stage to receive his diploma.We are so proud of him! He is headed to NMSU to seek a degree in Professional Golf Management. Oh Kevin, the good times you will have!Grandma Neilson and Kev.After a fantastic dinner to celebrate Kevin's graduation we headed back to Grandma and Grandpa's for a little play time. The boys of course wanted to play a little baseball.Then we though it would be a good idea to take a picture of the grandkids. Well we tried! It really would take an act of God to get eight kiddos to all look in the same direction and sit still long enough to get a good pic. But we sure got some cute ones trying!Cindy and the newest addition to the family...adorable Ian.Also got a good pic of Charlie's mama and his sisters...We had a great trip celebrating such a good Kid's achievements and spending some good quality time with our friends and family.

Event Date: 05/17/2010

Family Visits

Charlie's sister Cindy and her family came to visit us for a few days. It was a very busy couple of days but we had a great time. We always enjoy their company and Kadence always loves playing with Ari. We went swimming, BBQ'd, went shopping and ate at lots of yummy places like my favorite, BJ's and Don Antonio's. We were sad to see them go and only wish they lived a little closer :(

Ari and Chance.

Monkey Mania

On our way to Albuquerque I called my friend Tanya. Her and her family were heading out to Denver on Thursday morning so we were only going to be able to see each other the Wednesday evening when we pulled into town. We didn't get out of Las Vegas until 9:45 am so we would not get into ABQ until late that evening which would cut into our visit even more. Well as we kept calling each other and expressing how bummed we were that we wouldn't be able to see each other I soon learned that I was in for a big surprise. Tanya and her hubby discussed this and decided to not leave for Denver until Friday morning so we would be able to spend Thursday together. I felt so bad that they changed their plans but I was so excited to get to spend time together and to get the kids together to play.

We made plans to meet in the morning at a new kids place called Monkey Mania. We invited our aunt Cindy and Robin and our cousins, Kevin, Ari, Angelo and Gia to join us. We had so much fun. What a great place for kids. It was not too big but had enough variety to make everyone happy. There were several entertainment rooms including a movie room, a toddler room, an arts and crafts room, a game room, a monkey gym, a bouncer room and my favorite was a stage with an attached dressing room full of fun clothes for both boys and girls to play dress up with and come strut their stuff on the stage. We spent two hours here having nothing but fun.

Tanya helping the girls get crafty!

Ari's work of art.

Aunt Cindy helping the the girls getting ready for the show...

Rockstars or what???

Cole getting ready to peg someone with the ball gun.

Pretty Gia.

The boys giving it their best at the games.

The whole crew at Monkey Mania.

After Monkey Mania, we were all hungry so we decided to head over to another kid-friendly joint called "Itz". This is also a very cool place for kids to hang out. It is a huge arcade filled with a spinning ride, a roller coaster, bumber cars and a mini-bowling alley. It also has a kid friendly buffet and separate themed eating rooms (cartoon room, movie theater room, etc...). This is where I realized how lucky I was to have Charlie as a hubby. We decided that we would also take our niece and nephew in addition to our three kiddos to Itz, so we had five kiddos to feed, keep track of and keep happy. He kept his cool the whole time and we all got a pretty good laugh out of the fact that we were easily overwhelmed with all of the kids...but it was a blast. He was a champ when he was left at the table alone and Tanya's little guy somehow got parmesan cheese in his eye.

We also were in for another special treat, our good friend from college, Erin was in town from Florida so she brought her nephew to Itz to meet us for lunch. It is always so good to see her. I wish we could have had more time to just sit down and talk but between us juggling 8 kids we did the best we could and were just happy to see each other.

Me and Charlie also were amazed at Tanya's patience. In our conversations about parenting she insisted to us that she was not the patient one in the family, her hubby was. Well all we have to say is she seemed amazingly patient to us. She was such a sport and chauffered five of the kiddos around in her car and kept up like no other.

After about three hours at Itz we decided the fun-meter had been pegged and it was time to head home. We dropped Charlie off at his parents so he could meet up with his old friend, Marc and me and Tanya decided we just hadn't had enough yet so off we were with all of the kids in tow to Tropical-Sno for some snowcones. I had my favorite, Tiger's Blood, Tanya had her favorite, Pink Grapefruit with a pucker pack (super sour powder you pour over your snowcone), the kids had Rainbows and we all enjoyed the sweet cool treat in the hot afternoon sun.

After that we went back to Charlie's parents where we all kind of collapsed from exhaustion. Before everyone left I got a great picture of the kids. It is funny how close they are in age and how we both had a girl, then a boy and then another boy! Baby Mark.

Our kiddos + Tanya's kiddos

Micaela with baby brother Mark.