Poor William ended up carrying Dane like this throughout half of the zoo. . . .and I think Dane may be close to the same weight as William.

Here is Dane with Libby and William. They were so sweet and patient with him--he adored them both!

The two rascals.

Last week, Darin's sister and her 3 children came to town for a visit. We had a busy week at the zoo, LegoLand and DisneyLand. Here are some pictures from our first outing to the zoo--always a fun time.

Dane and Ellery love to play on Nana and Papa's walkers.

In a battle with great Uncle Mike!

On Saturday, we celebrated Dane's 2nd birthday with a pirate party--arrggg!! His favorite part of the party were the "home made" pirate swords made by Darin. Darin bought long pieces of foam from the Home Depot and cut them to look like little swords. The beauty of this type of sword--it's almost impossible to hurt another child with them.

Tyler and Darin acting like children.

The Mitchell family.

O.k. So we have been home for a week and a half and I am just posting pictures from Steamboat. I don't know where the time has gone! Steamboat was awesome--perfect "spring" skiing weather(which the children and I love), great time with friends, and a visit to the hot springs. Our friends, Tyler and Sara, were gracious enough to let us use their parents home. They have two little boys which are the same age as our two--this always makes for an easier trip, as the children can help entertain one another. Ellery is definitely getting the hang of skiing and was much more adventurous this time around. Dane LOVED the magic carpet and spent an hour just riding it up and then running back down.

We had such a fun trip to Colorado. We began our journey at my sister's house where Ellery and her cousin, Kofi, had the best time together. The children went ice skating and took many nature walks/hikes where we saw prairie dogs, geese, and even a few wild turkeys! They are at such a fun age where they would stop and examine each print they saw in the mud, trying to figure out what time of animal it may have been--so cute! We were truly impressed at how well they got along and just loved to be together. My sister's new baby, Veda, is just beautiful. She has a TON of dark hair and big blue eyes. There is just something so special about holding a new baby. Unfortunately, I do not have many pictures of the first part of our trip, as Darin had the camera and arrived the day before we left for Steamboat. Many pictures from Steamboat to follow.