Great Wolf Lodge

 Remember at Thanksgiving when I said we wouldn't be driving anywhere for a long time...unless the family was getting together again? Well Brittany and Tiffany decided that they were going to get together at a Great Wolf Lodge in Colorado Springs and my strong fear of missing out kicked in. Tanner decided to come along and we made a trip of it. 

We decided to surprise the kids and I'm now convinced thats the best way to do a trip. I don't get all the questions weeks leading up to the trip and they didn't have any kind of expectations. We almost let it slip a few times. But the kids were pretty surprised. 

The drive down wasn't too bad but our first hotel stay was pretty miserable. Vivi did not sleep much at all. But it isn't a vacation if we aren't exhausted right? 

Chet claimed he didn't sleep at all on the drive so I had to show him this picture...

Hugging a gross bear at a gas station...

We immediately headed to the pool when we arrived at the lodge. 

When Cameron and Tiffany showed up, Cameron immediately went right up to Eliza and said her name in his unique way. She looked at him, jumped up, and ran away. She warmed back up to him eventually. I'm glad we have her trained well on how to handle suspicious strangers. 

Levi did not know what to think about Vivi. She was all over him the whole time, trying to take everything away from him. He has at least twenty pounds on her but he never fought back. 

Tiff's kids did not want to take a picture with this character so my kids were trying to show how cool it was. They weren't buying it though. 

The kids "panned for gold", did a ropes course, climbed a rock wall, played miniature golf and bowled. Great Wolf Lodge is the perfect place for our age of kids. They had so much fun. We only lost a few kids and none of them seemed too worried about it. No lasting trauma.  

The water park was a blast too. The older three were always on the move going down all the different slides and even had me go on them. It made me feel like a kid again. 

The next day I wasn't feeling too well so I hung out with the babies and relaxed. 

There was a dance party one night that Mariah, Benson, and Owen were most excited about. 

On our last morning there we decided to go to Garden of the Gods. The kids had a lot of fun climbing all over the rocks and looking for "rattlers". I loved the beautiful red rocks. 

We went back to the lodge so the kids could go on the ropes course one more time and then said goodbye to the cousins and headed out.

I love these sisters of mine, wish the other two could have been there. We talked as much as we could but it didn't feel like enough and it was way too short. 

Saying goodbye

I'm so grateful for time spent with family and can't wait for the next time we can be together. 

Double Digits

Have we really been parents for 10 years? And do we really have 5 kids? We couldn't have asked for a better kid to start with. Mariah was a hard baby but that just made us appreciate our other babies knowing it could always be harder. Now she's a super easy child and that just helps ease the burden of parenting. We are so grateful for this girl. 

And she's still willing to do a Birthday Interview! 

Mom: What is your favorite color?

Mariah: Purple and Blue

Mom: What is your favorite food?
Mariah: Hawaiian Haystacks

Mom: What is your favorite animal?
Mariah: A Dog

Right now she gets her animal fill with Sean and Callie who are not house cats, but sometimes the kids bring them in and I allow it if they are holding them and don't let them down. 

Mom: What is your favorite book?
Mariah: I like the Green Ember series (Birthday gift) Harry Potter and Poppy

Mom: What is your favorite movie?
Mariah: One that makes me laugh or giggle (I love watching funny movies with Mariah because her giggle is the best. Makes me happy every time I hear it.)

        

Mom: What is your favorite song?

Mariah: For church songs I like Love One Another and for just normal songs I like The Giving Tree

(Mariah loves to sing, play the piano and her ukulele. She comes up with her own music and lyrics and is always creating new songs. She likes to lead her siblings in rounds and is learning harmony.)

 

Mom: Who is your scripture hero?

Mariah: Abish, Esther and I like Nephi

Mom: What is your favorite dessert?

Mariah: Chocolate ice cream with chunks of chocolate bar and cookie dough in it. And it has to be creamy. 

Mom: What do you like to do for fun? 
Mariah: I like to read. 

This girl is always reading...sometimes I feel like the parents from Matilda, I have to make her stop reading and do something else. But she knows that I'm less likely to make her stop if she's reading to her siblings. 

Reading while I fix her hair

Mom: What is your favorite thing to do with Mom?

Mariah: I like just sitting and talking with you. 

This girl is so easy to talk to. Thats one of the best parts about your kids getting older. They are so fun to talk with. I love this girl's wisdom and humor. 

Mom: What is your favorite thing to do with Dad?

Mariah: I like when we go on daddy daughter dates, like going to the store, and I get to talk to him. (Tanner enjoys telling dad jokes to Mariah and knows he's doing something right when he gets the eye roll.) 

Mom: What is your favorite thing to do with Chet?
Mariah: I like to play board games, card games, and sports. (Chet was so excited when Mariah started basketball and wanted to play more often with him.)

Mom: What is your favorite thing to do with Austin?

Mariah: I like to play with him. Sometimes we wrestle and it's fun. (And usually when Mariah wrestles him it doesn't end in tears.)

Mom: What is your favorite thing to do with Eliza? 

Mariah: I like to paint her nails and fix her hair. 

She is such a good big sister to Eliza. She knows just how to work with her and can often get her to do things when I'm at a loss. 

Mom: What is your favorite thing to do with Vivi? 

Mariah: I like to carry her around the house and play with her. 

Vivi gets so excited when she sees Mariah. She especially loves it when Mariah takes her outside to see the chickens and cats. 

Mom: Who is your best friend?

Mariah: That's a hard question. I like my family, my family are my best friends.  (Mariah is a friend to everyone. I love watching her kindness as she interacts with others.)

Mom: What do you want to be when you grow up?
Mariah: A dog trainer or a Zoologist

Mariah loves creating things. This is a water color she did of a snake charmer with his cobra. 

I love when Eliza does things with Mariah. It gives me a moment without my little shadow, and they are just so sweet together. 

Mariah is very responsible. She usually gets all her chores done and does her school all by herself. She loves to practice piano and I don't have to ask her to do it. 

This year Mariah has started typing and one day she kept talking about her Wompoms. I was so confused until I realized she was talking about her "Words per Minute" or WPMs. I had a good laugh about that. 

One day the kids witnessed Tanner's Jr. High Boy style of flirting...

Mariah: Why'd you kick mom? 

Tanner: Because I love her

Mariah: (said with great disgust) There's better ways of showing your affection.

Tanner: like what? 

Chet: Well, you could say I love you and I want to marry you.

In Tanner's defense, the kick was more like a love-tap. I was fine. But I loved seeing Mariah's indignation. The girl knows whats right. 

After reading at night, Mariah usually comes out of her room to say goodnight and sees Tanner and I doing all kinds of "fun" stuff. So she told me what she plans to do at night when her kids are asleep: "First I'll eat chips and then I'll eat Triscuits and cheese. Then I'll eat Chex cereal and maybe even frosted flakes." Yes, Tanner and I really live it up after the kids go to bed. She then said, "And when I get engaged we're gonna have a party and have at least five different kinds of ice cream and I will make a cake and if my husband wants to he can help decorate it and we'll have cupcakes." And when I said I hoped I'll be invited she said, "Yes I'll invite you if you're still alive." 

Mariah likes to read to her siblings using different accents. It's really fun to hear. She also likes to make up skits for the kids to do and films them. 

One time while we were at Costco she walked into another aisle excitedly but then came back with a disappointed look on her face. "I saw a sign that said, Bud Light, and wanted to check out the light shaped like a flower bud, but it was just alcohol." It was a big letdown for her. 

She once said, "When I get married I want a husband who will leave me alone at night. I want it to be as if there's no one there." 

The other day during their online class they were asked to share who their most favorite character from abook or movie was. Some kids shared Lucy from the Narnia series and Samwise Gamgee from LOTR, inspiring characters. Mariah? She said Sid the Sloth and Chet? Gollum...yeah that's their most favorite characters...humor goes a long way in this family apparently. 

We love our Mariah girl and are just blown away at the beautiful, kind, smart girl she is becoming. She makes us look good as parents and it actually has nothing to do with us. Happy Birthday Mariah! 

The Crossley Week

 We did it, we survived the busiest week of the year for the Crossley family. I tried to make my life a little easier by having Mariah's party the Saturday before, but she woke up the morning of the party with the stomach flu. So I wrapped the cake up in saran wrap and tinfoil and put it in the freezer and changed the party to the next Saturday. 

We got to have Aunt Nattie here for a few days. 

Vivi Kay with her namesake. 

Natalie was doing watercolor and one by one each of the kids would stop to watch her. All the kids were mesmerized by it. I had to get a picture. 

On April Fools the kids woke up to mustaches. It was all I could muster but the oldest three thought it was funny. Eliza is not a morning person and this picture doesn't accurately capture how she felt about the mustache. 

We scrubbed the mustaches off in time to head to a Jiu Jitsu homeschool activity. 

Vivi wanted to be right in the middle of all the big kids throwing each other around. 

Heather watched the kids that night so Tanner and I could celebrate our 11 year anniversary by going out to eat and then running lots and lots of errands. I can't ever get a normal picture of Tanner but by this point I don't even care anymore. I'm so grateful I have him by my side on this journey called life. I love how we are ever changing and growing in our relationship. 

The next day I made biscuits and gravy and strawberry shortcake for Tanner's birthday breakfast. Natalie went with me to my bible study and Tanner and Baydon went on a birthday bike ride and then we watched the first session of conference. 

In between sessions Mariah decorated her birthday cake. She came up with the flavor and design all her own but the lopsided cake and horrible ganache drip was my handiwork. 

Mariah decided she wanted a tea party birthday and planned everything out. She wanted it to be a girl party and she made it clear that she wanted gifts for each of the girls and was so excited to give them out. We made flower hats for the party and the girls seemed to really love them. 

Aunt Heather did the decorating...and Dad and Uncle Baydon kept the boys entertained outside playing basketball. 

We had "proper" tea party conversation, complete with horrible British accents. They played a dance game and Uno and then Mariah opened her gifts and we finished off with cake. Mariah wanted a cookie themed cake and it was delicious. Maybe I should freeze all my assembled cakes. 

The next morning we had the Hilton tradition of waffles and ice cream. We loved listening to conference with family. We are so grateful for the guidance given every six months from the leaders of the church. 

This picture makes me happy. Nothing like a conference nap... 

The next day was Mariah's birthday but because she already had a party it was pretty low key. We did sourdough pancakes for breakfast, homemade mac and cheese for lunch, and Tikka Masala for dinner.