It Is a Pretty "Grand" Lake...

Two weeks ago, our little family of three took our first ever vacation (with just the three of us, that is) and it couldn't have gone any better!

My Aunt Millie has a gorgeous cabin up in Grand Lake, which we FINALLY decided to take advantage of. The drive from Denver to Grand Lake is maybe 2 hours and 15 minutes -- I can't count the number of times Brandon and I looked at each other and asked "why didn't we do this sooner?" We arrived in GL late Thursday afternoon and got settled into the cabin before heading into town to enjoy dinner and drinks at the Sagebrush, run around the playground with Jackson, and indulge in some delicious homemade ice cream at one of the local creameries.

We pack lightly. 

The cabin has the coolest loft area with twin beds for the kids -- Jax wasn't too sure what to think.. Maybe next time!

If you ever visit Grand Lake, you MUST go to Sagebrush (Jackson got a kick out of throwing peanut shells on the floor) -- SO good!

All tuckered out after a fun day of traveling and exploring!

We woke up early Friday morning and ate a big breakfast (prepared by Brandon) before heading out to Granby Lake to try our luck at fishing. Brandon tested the waters for nearly 2 hours and didn't get a single nibble, but we still had a fun time enjoying the quiet and watching Jax throw rocks into the water. Friday afternoon consisted mostly of resting, writing (for me), and eating way too much yummy food. 

He LOVES the mountains!

Jackson was taking selfies as Brandon buckled him into his car seat.

The infamous "dad is wiping my nose" selfie. 

These two melt my heart.

It doesn't get better than having a hot guy cook for you.

Made from scratch chicken fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, and corn -- OMG SO DELISH!

Pure heaven.

Saturday morning was spent mostly cleaning and eating another huge breakfast (thanks babe!) -- around nap time, we started to head back down the mountain, making a pit stop in Idaho Springs for Brandon & Jackson's first Beau Jo's pizza. 

I thought for sure that Jax would nap the entire way home, but he kept himself occupied with a good book and a few of his cars :)

He had a blast on vacation but was sure excited to come home and see his friends again!

Some of my favorite childhood memories took place at the cabin and I'm so excited to be able to share this special place with my own family! Our first vacation with just the three of us was a smashing success and I can't wait to return to the mountains again (hopefully) very soon! 

Final, mushy thought: I feel so incredibly blessed to call Colorado my "home" -- this state really has the best of everything with its beautiful cities, majestic mountains, and rolling plains. I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss Kansas, but I guess Colorado is just as pretty :)

Cracker Jacks(on)

Yesterday, Brandon and I took Jackson to his 3rd Rockies game! 

It was a very, very hot day, so we didn't watch much of the game (we saw maybe 2 innings; the rest of the time was spent walking around in the shade), but had a great time exploring the Field, watching Jax run around, and spending time together as a family. Brandon's work actually gave us the tickets and the section we sat in was reserved for people from his company -- it was virtually empty, so we were able to take up five seats and let Jax run up and down the row without disturbing anyone. 

I used to never really like this time of year, but I gotta admit that 2015 is changing that for me. 

Have a great weekend!

Mamma Nancy's Surprise Bachelorette Party!

Last weekend, my MIL (commonly known around these parts as "Mamma Nancy"), sister-in-law, and her family came to CO for a short visit and we had a wonderful time catching up with everyone, shopping, and showing off our new home.

Jackson LOVED spending time with his cousins--he and little Sara got along perfectly (he kept wanting to give her kisses and she loved holding "Baby")!

Nana's boy :)

One of the highlights of the weekend for me was getting to surprise Mamma Nanc with a little bachelorette party/girls evening! Nancy and her fiance are engaged and plan to be married by the end of this year so Britney (my SIL) and I wanted to make sure we got one last single lady shindig in before she tied the knot. 

Can you guess where we went/what you did?

If you answered strip club, you're wrong (though that would have been hilarious--I think Nancy was a little worried, ha!). 

We went and painted pottery at "Ceramics in the City" in LoDo!!

Our guest of honor getting her ID checked.

After we finished painting our masterpieces, we all signed the bottom of each others ceramics as a little keepsake to remember this special day. Congratulations to Mamma Nancy & Russell--we're so excited for you guys and love you very much!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

The Great Tornado of 2014

As mentioned in Monday's post, The Sand Clan just returned home from a week and a half long vacation around Kansas and Missouri.

Vacation began after Brandon left work on Wednesday night (June 4th)--we packed the car, picked up some fast food, and hit the road for my parent's house (they were going to Missouri with us and we planned to caravan together that next morning).

"It's like a giant game of Tetris," -Brandon (and yes, we got this in and out of our car trunk each time we stopped)

Right as we were leaving Denver, I received a text from my aunt warning us of possible tornadoes out by my parent's house. It was looking pretty dark out east so I texted my mom to see if anything was happening; she told us it looked dark and rainy up north but they weren't having any problems.. so on we trekked. 

That's when the torrential downpour began.

Brandon managed to drive through the storm while I said multiple Hail Marys (I don't do storms; I once hydroplaned on the interstate in my little Impala and have been terrified to drive in the rain or snow ever since) and we eventually made it to my parent's house.

Whew! 

We unpacked what we needed for the night, visited, (mom and I) downloaded a walkie talkie app onto our phones so we could act like truck drivers during the drive, played with Jax, and waited for my brother to arrive. At around 10, my dad's phone began to ring--it was the gal who works for my parents asking if we were watching the news.

We were not.

She notified my dad of possible baseball sized hail headed straight toward our house.. in about ten minutes. Brandon and my dad walked outside to see which direction the storm coming from and whether or not we should move our car--it was really dark out and hard to tell, so dad and Brandon quickly cleared out a space in the garage (their garage was packed so I'm still not sure how they managed to make a spot in a matter of minutes..) and pulled it in.

That's when both Brandon's and my phones began to go crazy..

The NWS sent out an alert that there was a tornado in the area and that we needed to take cover. Right as my dad began closing the garage door and Brandon walked inside the house, we heard it. Hail began pounding against the house..

..Louder.

..Louder.

..LOUDER.

I grabbed Jax and ran downstairs with my family. My mom and I both kept trying to call my brother to tell him to stop wherever he was but we couldn't reach him. The hail continued getting even louder and more aggressive. The house was shaking. I can't remember what we were all talking about (we literally had to yell to talk to each other) but we froze when we heard the sound of shattering glass coming from upstairs. My dad rushed upstairs (the eastern Colorado farm kid came out of him right then) and Brandon ran after him, yelling for him to come back.

Neither of them came back.

Being the level headed person I am, I immediately assumed they had been sucked up by the tornado and began to bawl. I handed Jackson to my mom and slowly walked up the stairs.. I was greeted by broken glass, hail in the living room, my dad holding a blanket over the broken window, and Brandon running things into the other room. As quickly as the storm began, it let up and I raced back downstairs to check on Jax and my mom.

Jax was quiet (with huge eyes) and mom was frantic--we'd been trying to reach my brother for over 20 minutes now with no luck.

God was definitely looking out for us that night; my parents had only one broken window (ironically, it was the window that didn't break during the big storm in 2010), some minor damage on the older work vehicles, tree damage, and exterior/roof damage. It could have been much, much worse. Brandon, mom, and dad began cleaning up the glass, hail, and broken blinds around the house while I stayed downstairs, nursed Jax, and continued calling my brother. After 45 minutes of trying, he finally called me back (he'd been driving and didn't hear his phone)--he was fine and hadn't hit any bad weather.

It was a very late night and an even earlier morning (we were all up by 6 so we could get on the road) but Joey made it home, we were all safe (which is a miracle since we kept running upstairs to see what was happening), and that's all that mattered. A nearby town clocked in the winds at 111 MPH--I'm positive that it was the same at our house.

Our vacation got one "whirlwind" of start and I'm happy to report that the rest of the trip was pretty low key in comparison. I will have part two of our vacation (visiting Aunt Judy/Turin's wedding) hopefully written later this week!

Is the anticipation killing you?!

Baby's 1st Baseball Game

Last Friday during nap time, I started feeling a little summer feverish.. do you ever feel that way?

Yes?

Do you know what the cure for summer fever is?

It's baseball!

Once I got the itch, I knew what needed to be done..

..Stubhub.com*. Pronto.

I was able to score some pretty decent seats for Saturday's game for $14 a pop and couldn't be more excited--our little Jackson was going to attend his first sporting event!

I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

We packed for every single scenario possible.. after all, this is Colorado (and Jax)!

We had a nice police officer take a family picture for us (Jax was too busy people watching to look at the camera).

That helmet was actually my brother's when he was a baby!

Jax pretty much wanted nothing to do with the game--I think all of the people, sounds, smells, etc., was a little overwhelming for him so we didn't stay for the whole game. Brandon and I took turns walking around the field with him.

I hardly drink anymore but decided to get a beer at the game--I had a pretty good buzz going after just one and had to ask Brandon if I was hallucinating or if Sasquatch was really sitting behind us. Luckily, he was (they were doing a promo for Jack Link's Beef Jerky).

Jax and I decided to go stand in line to meet Dinger, the Rockies mascot. Dinger had to be on the field during the 4th inning (right as we got to the front of the line) but they still let us get our picture and autograph! Dinger was very nice and allowed Jax to continue napping :)

Memory box souvenirs!

Besides the torrential downpour during the first pitch, it was the perfect night for a game!

It was a little stressful and overwhelming but I'm glad we got to go and take Jax (though we will probably wait until he's a little older to go again)! We had such a fun time and even bumped into one of my friends who I haven't seen in a few years. Attending the game was definitely the cure I needed for my summer fever! 

*Stubhub has no idea who I am and is not sponsoring this post in any way.. I buy from them because their Ticket Oak commercials are my fave.