...of new found friends

So I cannot begin to fathom how long it would take me to weed through and post as many of the awesome pictures we have gotten while in the States as I would like to. We've done so much fun stuff in Colorado and Idaho so far and been surrounded by such wonderful (and photogenic) people that I just cannot post them all here.

But there are some that are just too cute. So I thought I'd share some photos of the kids and their "new found friends".

Our Joovy Caboose Ultralight Stroller:

Oh, my goodness how we love this thing. I did so much research on double strollers before Simon was born. My parents were willing to bring one over for us when they visited, so the world of strollers was (literally) at my disposal. I settled on this one and I am sure glad I did. I was deciding between it and the Peg Perego 60/40 Aria (which we had a version of before). I always liked the idea of a tandem better than a side by side, but hated how long they were. Like little limousines. But this one is technically a sit and stand that you can add a seat to so it's barely longer than many regular strollers. It's been so great. Simon's car seat is usually in the front and Selah sits in the back. It handles incredibly well and turns with one hand, even loaded down with kids and bags. I have to push it through the airport with Selah laying in Simon's car seat, Abram in the back, Simon strapped to me in the wrap with multiple bags hooked to the handle and I can still do it easily with one hand. The kids really like it too. So glad we have our little Joovy.

Well, enough about him...

The Slide:

This is Selah's favorite new friend. She is such a brave kid and will go down any slide she finds. The kids have been enjoying massive amounts of park time. Maybe we will wear them out on parks and they will be glad for the break when we go back to the steaming hot country we live in that doesn't even have any good parks anyway... 

But probably not.

Silas:

Boy, I wish we lived closer to this kid:

He and Abram have been inseparable. Silas is just the right amount of bossy for Abram. Enough that Abram is doing more new 5.5 year old things than he would ever think to do, but not too much that he doesn't want to do them :) Silas is such a sweet cousin. We will be sad to say good bye to him and the rest of Quinn's sister Hilary's family. 

Including Tessa, the awesome dog.

Theodore and Makiah:

Speaking of cousins... this sweet second cousin is just a few weeks younger than Simon. A few inches longer and a few pounds lighter, too. 

(The boys with Theo's Nana and Papa, Quinn's Uncle Bryan and Aunt Cindy)

And Abram would be all about this second cousin if we lived in Boise:

Bryan and Cindy's other grandson, Makiah. He's a few weeks younger than Abram and they had a great time playing with their favorite toys: massive amounts of cars.

Uncle Doug's Animals:

Quinn's uncle Doug is a hunter. I can't include all of the animals he has in his "Game Room" (which include a brown bear, polar bear, crocodile, moose, wolverine, hyena, tons of deer, buffalo, lion, and cheetah - to name a few). But we captured the kids with a couple of their favorites.

(You can see some of the other animals in the background of this one).

Each other:

I am daily reminded of how glad I am that these two are so close in age. Sometimes they don't care about each other much, but other times I find them playing outside in a pool with no water having a grand ol' time.

Or pretending to cook rocks or playing trains or Abram helping Selah up the stairs and it warms my heart. I think they have definitely held on to each other as a constant with all of this going from one house to the next and one state to the next. They are so sweet and I am so very thankful for them and their new found friends.