Keeping it Real (in Colorado)

For those of you who got the impression from my last few posts that everything was "sunshine and roses" in Colorado, I thought I'd do a quick Keeping It Real post to show you that a vacation with 6 kids ages 5 and under isn't always easy.  Sure, there was a lot of laughter, fun and memories being made last week but there was also a lot of 1) tantrums, 2) multi media and 3) candy/suckers that we turned to in order to survive.
TANTRUMS
Sometimes when you are little, you have to have a meltdown to get your point across.  Some points that were made by the tantrum throwers last week were:

"I didn't like getting up at 3:30 in the morning and I don't want to sit by myself in this seat!"

"I don't want my face painted!"

"I don't want to take turns on the handicapped swing!"

"Me either!"

"I don't want to sit in my mommy's lap for one more minute!"

"I don't want to take turns pushing the buttons in the elevator!  I want to push every button, every time!"

(There are lots of smiles in this picture, but they didn't last long.  We finally had to start keeping track of who had already pushed an elevator button and who would get to push it next time. *sigh*)

MULTI MEDIA

Without any toys to keep the kids busy in the condo, they watched an insane amount of Toy Story 3, Tangled, and Dora last week.  They also stayed very busy with games on the iPhones, iPads and Wii.  I think Parker went into multi media withdrawal when we got back home on Sunday.

CANDY/SUCKERS

We also had to have a sugar detox when we got home due to the abnormal amounts of sugar the kids ate while we were in Colorado.  Anytime we needed a picture of the kids together, we used candy and suckers as bribes.  Anytime I needed to make someone happy in a car or plane, I used candy and suckers.  (I think one of my girls had 3 suckers on the short 1 hour and 25 minute flight to Denver.   At 6 o'clock in the morning.  It helps with ear popping, right?)  Anytime someone got fussy due to waking up too early and being off schedule, I shoved a sucker in their mouth. 

I can't count the number of times I've said, "No, we don't eat candy/suckers after breakfast" since we've been back this week!

Not every moment was ideal, but I wouldn't change anything about our week in Steamboat.  I'm so thankful for the chance to get away with my family and make fun memories with our kids.  Thanks again to the Ranelle's for making last week possible.