This is Josh and his Opa playing a nice, quiet, uninterrupted game of pool.

Seconds later…

… the kids…

… had taken over.

I tried to take pictures of the natives.

They made it difficult.

Oma and Opa have a pool.  We enjoyed their pool.

I learned that stinkerness is an inherited genetic trait. (Opa is squirting Benjamin with a hose.)

Good thing that squirt gun doesn’t work.

Three generations of boys together.  If only Pop Pop had been there, it would have been four!

We went out to see the sights one day.  Can you find the elephant?  Levi now thinks all mountains are called elephants.  We’ve thoroughly confused him.

We got to see a museum and play in a little pueblo hut.

Aw, look at my little natives.

Grinding corn to make dinner.

I may be biased. But she’s gorgeous.

A big drum.

They enjoyed the big drum.

Outside the museum, we enjoyed the strange beautiful plants El Paso has to offer.

On a big rock, looking pretty.

On a big rock, being silly.

On a little rock, being pouty and tired.

Sister will cheer you up.

Well, you’re up, anyway!

Oma loved reading to Olivia and Olivia couldn’t get enough!

Oh, look, we’re back in the pool.  And, what’s this?  All three floating by themselves?!

Our most accomplished swimmer.  She’s not afraid to jump right in!  She even dog paddles!

Look at Levi go!  Little motor boat.  :-)

Adorable.

Well, we had to hit the road again, but we stopped for this awesome cactus!

And we made it!  In San Diego, safe and sound.  We made sure to go to the beach that first day, too.

And use our buckets!

Here we are!

Going…

Going…

Gone.

Laughing hysterically at the ducks.

Extremely pleased that he is allowed to throw rocks.

Oh, boys.  :-)

Tinkerbell turns for a smile while Peter Pan waits his turn behind Johnny Depp, er, I mean, an anonymous member of Captain Hook’s crew, who is holding an especially cuddly crocodile.

Getting more independent.  And picky.

Argh.

What an assortment of family.  We’re already brainstorming what our theme should be for next year…

Does anyone else dress thematically for Halloween?  This was our first year to do so and it was so much fun!

Pretty  much as soon as we got there, they saw this tree stump.  They then proceeded to climb up on it.  And dance.

And then we picnicked.  Forethought is not our strong point, but ingenuity is!  Note the cardboard plates we sported!  And Olivia’s using a frisbee!

And no matter whether Levi sat by himself…

Or on Daddy’s lap…

The result was always the same…

And he’s off.

Olivia wouldn’t let me take a picture of her.  So I did the reasonable thing and snuck one.

Benjamin was being a cutie, though!  Look at that grin!

And then it was off to the trails! (Finally).

Look at those beautiful fall colors!

Lucy ran full speed ahead The. Whole. Time. Props to Olivia for handling her!

“Okay, everyone, time for a family picture…. wait… Where’d you all go?!” (Note that even the dog was being obstinate!)

But I suppose I was the fool for not expecting this:
(They’re about three feet up on a rock wall here.)

Finally, they settled down enough to recognize the awesome beauty of the place:

And we got our family picture:

And then it was back to civilization!

Two things to note here:

1) The extra set of feet

2) Benjamin, who had missed his nap, was not cooperating…

Until we gave him a piece of candy:

Here he is, showing me how he makes his candy last for hours (by holding it on his thumb and licking it):

Levi enjoyed the statue of a fox.  (Look at that curl coming off the side of his head!!)

And Olivia finally started hamming it up for the camera.

The end.

Fast forward 3 hours, 40 minutes, and a few seconds:

Approaching the finish line, I knew I didn’t have a lot of time to spare.

If I was going to qualify for Boston, I had to make 3:40:59 or faster.

When I turned the corner and saw the clock, I sprinted.

I knew I had to subtract around 2 minutes 25 seconds.  Give or take.

I made 3:40:48.

Here’s the vlog I recorded on the three hour drive back to Illinois that same day.

(Yeah, a three hour drive on the same day as a marathon may lead to muscle stiffness.)

(No, the vlog is not 3 hours long.)

Reflections on My First Marathon, Part Two from The Natural Mommy on Vimeo.

I’m slowly catching up on pictures.  :-\ Thank you for being patient.  Next up will hopefully be some Fun Fall pictures at a state park.  Then maybe some Christmas Tree Cutting Down pictures.  Followed by Christmas pictures.  And perhaps some Snow Day pictures.  If I may be so bold as to organize my life like that.

Have you posted any pictures lately?  Can I see?  Please?

Olivia, winding her way through a gourd maze.

All three kids developed very special and unique relationships with Grandpa during our three month stay at his house.  It was fun to watch.

Benjamin’s favorite part of the orchard.

They love these things.

“I don’t have anything for you!”

*Sits down on the ground.  Picks up discarded food pellets.  Feeds goats.*

“Ooooh.  I can do that.”

This is our second orchard experience:

You’ve heard of sand boxes?  Well, meet it’s cousin – the corn pit.  It was love at first sight.  And I was still finding corn weeks later.

Being nice to the goats.

Banging the goats’ heads together.

Sadly, this is the only picture I got of our family pumpkin before my camera battery died.  It was so heavy, all three boys were needed in carrying it.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures!  I have lots more to share.  Do you have any pictures of your families?  I’m so out of touch with you all; do share!

Tinkerbell

My mom picked out the pattern and fabric.  But she wasn’t able to start it.  So I took over.  The wings were $0.50 at a garage sale last summer.

The Crocodile

Pieced together from Goodwill.  Foam board for teeth and eyes from Hobby Lobby.

Peter Pan

I must have forgotten to take a picture of him last night.  Classic Middle Child Syndrom (MCS).  Sorry buddy.  If it helps at all, I was the middle child.  Anyway, this picture was from awhile ago, before his hat and sword were made.  (That’s a Priority Mail box stuck in his belt right there, can you tell?)

His outfit is 100% Goodwill finds in this picture: shirt, pants, shoes, and belt (which had to be shortened).

Nana

Yeah, I got a picture of the dog, but not my middle child.  Mother of the Year.

Family Portrait

Now you can see his hat (felt and feather from Hobby Lobby, sword from leftover wood Daddy found in the garage).  And yes, he is wearing Crocs instead of the brown shoes.  Actually, the crocodile is wearing Crocs, too.  But that’s just appropriate.

Trick-or-Treating at the firestation.  I think they may have liked this more than candy.  Which is fine by me.  I’ll eat the candy.

Have you posted pics of Cute Costumed Children?  I’d love to see them!!

However.

Instead of our usual habit of Josh dropping me, the children, and the luggage off at the front doors, we decided to go with him to economy parking and take the train back.

And, in case you were wondering, this is how our family of five packs for a week:

(Notice the orange glow of the sunrise on his face. T’was early.)

And let’s not forget this precious cargo:

What we didn’t realize was that dragging that much baggage from parking to bag check takes twice as long as does one lone man sans children.  Because of the two baggage carts and double jogging stroller, every time we encountered an escalator (um, which was A LOT), we had to take the elevator.  And we didn’t all fit in the elevator.  So it took two trips.  Every time.

But we finally made it to the check-in area.  Josh went to check us all in using those Handy Dandy Computers.  But those Handy Dandy Computers only accepted his ticket and refused the other four.  So we stood in line for half an hour to talk to a Real, Live, Handy, Dandy Person.

But we finally made it to a Real Live, Handy, Dandy Person.  And handed her our tickets.  And something beeped.  And she frowned.  And she told us we were too late.  Even though it was still 40 minutes until our plane would take off, we had just missed the deadline for checked luggage.  And, ahem, we had too much for all carry-on.  But!  She said we could go stand in That Line Over There to talk to someone about possibly checking our baggage anyway.

So we went and stood in That Line Over There.  Twenty minutes later, we discussed our problem with another Real Live Handy Dandy Person Who Had Slightly More Pull Than The Last One.  And she said it was too late.

We kinda figured by that point.

But she told us we could fly stand-by.  Which would mean going from gate to gate trying to squeeze onto any plane flying to Denver that day.  And possibly flying separately.  She told us that our chances were excellent for flying out that day.  However, the best odds were with the flight taking off at 8pm that night.

Hmmm.

Well, we checked our baggage and gave it a shot.

We didn’t fit on the first one.

And one of the smiling children in the above photograph had already had a toy thrown away (yes, thrown away) for repeatedly hitting his sister with it.  (It was just a Happy Meal Toy.  Relax.)  And another one of those smiling children was going absolutely berserk with excess energy from riding in a stroller all morning [slash] severe nap denial.  When I put him down, he would run screeching through innocent by-standers legs.  When I picked him up, he would crawl over my shoulder and I would have to grab him by his foot to keep him from falling on his head.  And then he would giggle gleefully while dangling upside down in that position.

And in that position, I carried him to the closest Starbucks.

Mama needed a latte.

And we headed for the second gate.  Praying all the way.

And we got on!  All of us!  Praise be to God.  Even better, Levi and I got economy plus seating!  Perfectly spacious enough for me to nurse the little crazling (Pronunciation: CRAYZ-ling.  Definition: Crazy child.)  into a coma that lasted until we touched down in Denver a few hours later.

We managed to make it with all our luggage and all our children to the rental car place:

(Which is more than we can say for the return trip….)

(I can see you’re not going to let that one go until I give more detail.  Don’t worry, we didn’t forget any children.  Just that pink bag with all Olivia’s clothes in it.  And all our movies.  Every.Single.Movie.  And it was all our fault, too.  When we got off the train to return to economy parking, we left it in that little building.  When we called about it upon our return to our house, nobody had found it.   We figured it was a lost cause.  But when we called a week later, they had it in lost and found!!  We just got it back yesterday.  Again, praise be to God!)

So!  We were finally in Colorado.  And ready to tackle the mountains.  And not in a minivan:

Oh yeah.  Into the mountains!  We made a couple impulse iTunes purchases in the name of John Denver and we were OFF.

One stop to the grocery store and three hours later, we had doubled our elevation from the Mile High City and rolled into heaven, just in time for the sunset:

Bonus Picture:  Josh is confused why the bag would vacuum seal itself.  Apparently elevation is supposed to have the opposite effect?  Any answers?

Able to destroy a dehumidifier with a single screwdriver.

Able to leap onto desk lamps in a single bound.

Able to Puppy Dog Look his way into coming home with toys when I just went in for groceries, children, GROCERIES!!

He could give other babies lessons on that look.

Making his mad getaway.

Hmm, should probably post a picture of the other two.  This is how they keep busy nowadays:

(Playing two-player Tap Tap on Aunt Shannie’s iPod touch.

I am so on top of things.

Probably shouldn’t be starting with my favorite picture.  The rest is just going to seem so drab after this.

But yeah, he’s mobile.

Oh, boy, is he.

(His favorite past time is climbing.  He can get up onto, and off of, the coffee table, the dining room table, the kids’ desk, and the kids’ beds.  He can also go down the stairs into the garage, and off the front porch.  So if you’re ever visiting, PLEASE MAKE SURE THE DOORS ARE LATCHED.

Not that we’ve ever had him escape while we were watching him.  Nah, we’d never be so inattentive that we wouldn’t realize he was gone ’til he was in the front yard.

Never….

Speaking of never, I’d never let my boy eat sand, just for the sake of the picture.

Not even if he was being extra cute and daintily tasting this particular variety to see how it compares to Hawaii Sand, Upland Sand, and Missouri Sand.

This is the image I meditate on when they’re at each other’s throats, er, not feeling quite the camaraderie pictured here.

“They do still love each other.”

“They do still love each other.”

“This too shall pass.”

“They do still love each other.

Someone, please, put that face into words for me.  All words vanish from my mind when I look at it, as I dissolve into hysterical giggles.

An itty bitty big boy bike for his itty bitty big boy legs.

Our little helper monkey.

Aw, I guess he’s not so little.

He used to fit so nicely, too!

(Photo credit goes to Joanna at Keeping Feet.)

I guess that’s the difference a year makes!

I know you weren’t prepared for me to post a Meet-and-Greet.  But if you want to play along at the last minute, I’d really enjoy that!  Post pictures of your family and link up below.  Can’t wait to meet up with everyone!

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A creative shot in H-O-R-S-E.

(No one made it.)

(I love it when they use my baby as a prop.)

One gorgeous cheerleader.

And her sister/dog sitter.

(Also gorgeous.)

(Both her and the dog.)

(But her moreso than the dog.)

Catch o’ the day.

Hmm. They must be watching something amazing.

Ah.  Yes.

Now that’s pretty amazing, if you ask me.

But you’re pretty good, too, guys.

Very dainty.

(Not makin’ fun.)

(You should see me try to make a … what’s this shot called?)

Now this is my scene.  Sitting.  I’m a pro at sitting.

Oh, Family.

People say I look like her.

(We’re not related through blood.)

(Which is a good thing.)

(Cuz then I wouldn’t have been allowed to marry her cousin.)

People say I act like her.

(Which is probably not good.)

(As she’s a freshman in college and I’m a mother of three.)

(She’s very mature for her age.)

I have a long tongue.

(No parenthetical interruption necessary.)