Amie and Talia come to visit (September)

Knowing we only have 1 more year here (or less) I tried to guilt my siblings into coming to visit me.  Jenna has been several times, and Courtney and Peter finally made it here in May.  Amie booked a trip for September, which fell on a week Hyrum was away training.  So it worked out perfectly to have day after day of girl outings.  (And our kids mostly slept/napped on the same schedule.)

Our first priority was brunch.  Twice.  (Different days.)  The first spot was nearby these Humpty Dumpty statues that Siena is obsessed with (to put it mildly.)  She asks to see these pictures regularly. (You can see two in the top left background.)

We took them on a walking tour of the base, at least the highlights.  (Tiago was in school every  morning they were visiting, so he missed out on a lot.)

We visited an apple orchard and a nearby pumpkin patch.  Both were pretty small (and completely empty on a Thursday afternoon.)  But it meant the kids could wander around without bugging anyone. 

We went to Manitou Springs again (this is a fun place to take anyone with kids.)  Talia's face was completely neutral about the experience, but whenever a ride ended she immediately wanted to do it again.  Deep down, there was some excitement.  When trying to decide between the town's ice cream or fudge, we picked both.  Amie (especially when pregnant) is fun to have around.  I also realized that house guests rub off on me.  When Jenna or my mom visit, I wear normal clothes and at least put on mascara.  I don't think I put on make up the entire time Amie was here, and she spent much of the week in yoga pants.  So overall, we were quite relaxed and comfortable.  And ate a lot.  

Before they left on Friday night we all went to Dunkin Donuts, one of my kids favorite spots.  

Not pictured is the most touristy place in Colorado Springs: Garden of the Gods.  When we were driving down the road we both realized we'd left our phones home.  So no pictures!  That's just the kind of week it was.  But the kids had a great time playing in the dirt and 'hiking'. 

Also not pictured:  Talia got pink eye from Mila (again.)  It seems that Mila has pink eye a lot, but it's mild and doesn't really affect her.  And Talia catches it immediately and gets really sick.  So there was a trip to the instacare so she could get medicine to open her eyes.  Meanwhile, Mila was completely fine.  And Siena and Tiago were completely fine.