Mike and Jana Came to Visit!

My brother Mike and his wife Jana and their five kids came to visit us during their Spring Break (April 12-15). 

We were so excited to have them and the first night they arrived, we had a homemade pizza feast. We make homemade pizza every other week or so and love making it when we have friends over for dinner. My friend Emily gave me the best crust recipe which we love. If you want it, let me know and I'll send it to you. It's so easy, doesn't take long at all, and cooks quickly and all the way through, which is something we always struggled with making other homemade dough. 

Jana dressing up her pizza

Me, Abby, and Madelyn getting the crust ready for toppings

We went to the CU Natural History Museum on Wednesday and on Thursday, everyone came to the music class I teach for Family Housing. Once my class was over, we headed in to Denver. Thanks to a wonderful woman from church, we all got in free at the museum. This lady, Megan, drove all the way down to the museum to meet us and renewed her membership so she could give us all free passes. I still can't believe that she so willingly sacrificed so much for us. Thank you, Megan!

In the Space Odyssey exhibit, there was a water table with sand that helped the kids learn about how a canyon (like the Valles Marineris) was formed on Mars. Sam sat and played here for nearly an hour and got completely soaked and covered in sand. He was so happy, though. If only he liked water this much when it's time for a bath.

Camille had fun making craters on the surface of the moon...

There was a little room where the kids could pretend they were astronauts on the moon collecting moon rocks. Sam (and Logan and Madelyn) absolutely loved it. Sam sat and played here for ages and was so sad when we had to move on. 

The gems and minerals are always a favorite for me. Abby, Camille, and Sammy stopped for a millisecond while running through the "mine shaft" and I snapped this picture. Abby is so good with kids. Sam was refusing to be herded by me, but he would follow Abby and hold her hand. It was really sweet. I was so glad she was there; she was a huge help.

Abby wrangling the Sammer. Camille really liked riding in Sam's stroller and Sam refused to ride in it so I'm glad it was useful to someone. 

This was how we transported the kids when we moved from exhibit to exhibit. Elyse was in her stroller, Camille was in Sam's (and Sam rode in front) and the other three kids would help push the kids along.

Cute!

I love the Expedition Health exhibit! We got to see a woman dissect a pig lung and got to learn all about our bodies. It is such a neat, hands on experience. I think I loved it as much as the kids did and I've been there several times already.

After we finished up at the museum (we were there for five hours!) we went back to Boulder and got some delicious Indian take-out. It was Mike and Jana's first time having Indian food! Luckily, they both liked it a lot. Mike and Jana were staying in a family housing apartment about a mile from our apartment and the toilet flooded, so they had a little adventure getting it cleaned up and having maintenance in to bleach everything.  Don and I really wanted to hang out with M&J so we got all the kids to bed (in two different apartments), set up the baby monitor, and played games in the apartment Sammy was sleeping in (just down the hall from M&J's kids). We always have such a good time with them. We wish we all lived closer.

On Friday before Mike, Jana, and the kiddos headed home, we went to the Hammond Candy Factory in Denver. It was fun to see the candy made and we all got to wear cool hats. 

Here the kids are in front of the room where they make candy canes and other hard candy.

It was fascinating watching this woman crook each candy cane by hand. 

This man had just pulled these hot batches of candy off the stretching machine and was combining the two colors on the granite slab into swirly candy ropes for candy canes. That candy must have been so hot! He kept juggling it from hand to hand to try not to burn himself.

We got our free samples...

And took a few pictures in front of the cool sign...

Elyse was sleeping in the stroller. I didn't mean to cut her out of the picture. 

I love these last few pictures of Sam with his little hat on. 

Like a kid in a candy store...

After we toured Hammonds, we went to the Cherry Cricket in Cherry Creek and Mike and Jana treated us to lunch. The Cherry Cricket has the best burgers I've ever tasted, but the place itself is kind of divey. The food is well worth the long wait and nasty bar-like atmosphere. I don't know what makes the burgers so amazing; they just are. You have to taste them to understand.

Thanks so much for coming to visit, Mike and Jana! We loved having you here!