If you haven't noticed a pattern already, I seem to have arranged for somebody to visit us each month for the past few months, because, not only does it give me some much needed company, but it also gives me something to look forward to.  During Lily and Derek's second week of Spring Break, when they were in their drama camp all day, each day, I flew out my brother Preston's girls for the week.

It was so much fun to have Mikeena and Eden here, and although it took a little bit to get them here, it was wonderful. You see, I had planned it so they would fly straight from Salt Lake to Denver, so they wouldn't have to change planes or anything tricky. However, first their flight was delayed two hours, and second, I hadn't been to the Denver airport in so long (20 years I think), that I had no idea how big it was. And when they got off their plane, they immediately got turned around and lost.

I was standing there, right where they should have come out for about 45 minutes, calling them on their phones and texting back and forth. Somebody gave them bad directions, and they ended up on the oppposite side of the airport. It was crazy. Finally, getting very nervous, I went to a security guard and told him that my nieces were lost somewhere in the airport, and could he please help me find them.

Luckily, after I talked to him, they were with me in about 5 minutes. He got out a map, had me call them, and talked them through where they should go. It was such an amazing relief when I finally got to hold them in my arms!!  We spent the drive home and that evening catching up, and then planned our fun for the next day :).

The first place I took them was the zoo.  I sure do love our zoo.  Eden was in heaven feeding and petting the giraffes, although I think Mikeena preferred watching from a distance :).

I am glad they love zoos just as much as I do, because we had a blast.  They loved getting to see all the animals, and we were lucky enough to see the hippos during their feeding time :).

And the gorillas and orangutans were being fed also, and so they were especially active.  And of course, we had to use the scale to see how many of us it took to make a gorilla :).

We saw a ton of the animals out and about, probably because the weather was gorgeous!  It was in the low 70's and sunny – like we had ordered it :).  My favorite thing of the day was the leopard.   It kept growling hello to the snow leopard  that happened to be in the cage next door temporarily.  I guess they never see each other, and watching them say hello was pretty cool.

And I guess there was also when the bird landed on my shoulder!  It completely took me by surprise.  And hey, somehow we got it to walk from my shoulder to Eden's, and so she got to have the same experience, except that he didn't fly at her first :).

After the zoo, we ate our picnic lunch, and then I drove them over to Garden of the Gods.  We were too tired to hike, and so we just drove through the park and stopped to take a picture.

After that, the girls got their second wind, and we went to one of the malls so they could go shopping.  It was pretty fun, and so much different shopping with two teenage girls, instead of my kids :).  We finished off the day by eating popcorn and watching an old movie together.

The next day, they decided to help me with a project.  I told them a few things I was thinking about, and they chose painting the wall with me :).  So after we dropped Lily and Derek at thrie camp, we stopped at Home Depot and bought some paint.  Then we went to work.  They were so awesome to help me, and we had a blast listening to music and laughing the whole time. 

And hey, look at the finished product.  I love it, and it would have been so hard to do alone.  In fact, I am sure I never would hve gotten around to it without those awesome girls :).

That evening, they asked if I could do some portraits of them, and so we had even more fun.  You know how I love to take pictures.  Aren't they gorgeous girls?

We took the pictures right around the corner from my house, and Lily and Derek entertained themselves the whole time by playing in the irrigation ditch next to us.  Luckily there was almost no water in it, because Derek managed to get himself soaked anyway :).

And the last day, we played and took care of last minute things we hadn't had time for on the other days.  Like playing Wipeout on the Kinnect, which they loved.  (And since I forgot to take a picture while they were playing, Lily and Eden reenacted it for me – pretty fun.)  I also took them to see Lily and Derek's theater performance from their camp, which was very fun.

All week, the kids had been playing outside every day with Eden.  The weather was so beautiful, and so the three of them would head outside to play, while Mikeena kept me company and read the first Hunger Games book.  Eden even taught Lily how to hang upside down on the monkey bars!  And they used their imaginations so well while they played – they loved playing with Eden!

Both girls also liked to play games with Lily and Derek.  It was such a huge thing for them to get to have attention from somebody besides me, and I don't think that Keena and Eden will ever know how much they really did for them.

It was such a wonderful week, and over way too soon.  We had to drop them back at the Denver airport on Saturday morning before dawn, and it was so sad to see them go.  I love those girls and am so grateful for the wonderful time we had together, and that they were willing to spend their break playing with me in Colorado.

They are welcome back any time :).