Welcome to our World

The family enjoyed our trip to St. George in February of 2015 so much the clan wanted to join together again for another, bigger vacation.    Our sister-in-law, Stacie, was put in charge and chose Lincoln City, Oregon the second week of August, 2016. Even though the school calendar hadn't come out yet, I figured we would be flying home the day before school started so Hubby and I decided to fly out early and see some other Oregon sights before meeting up with the family.   Day 1 in Oregon: Grateful for raincoats! Multnomah Falls and our Mirror Lake hike.  I was the only one of the 6 of us who had been to Oregon before and was happy to see it again after 20 years through their eyes.  Green everywhere! Day 2: Madras WWII Air Base, Timberline Lodge, and hiking around Smith Rock.  Imagine our surprise when we saw skiers and snowboards on the mountain in August!  Turns out Timberline has the longest ski season in the country.  Next ...

We began August by crossing more items off our summer bucket list.  The county fair with free horse show tickets from the library's summer reading program, Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors with my favorite man (our double date took the picture for us), and my mom and I took the children to the DAM for the first time.  I had been there about 10 years ago and so much has changed!  More kid friendly now and we had a wonderful day of it.  That trip also meant K and M finished earning their GS painting badge.  Below are lots of pictures of the Brownie pool party with K's new troop.  She's all signed up and excited to begin hanging out with some of her favorite friends.  We are going to have 4 scout troops to keep track of this school year!  K's, D's, M's(the one I'm a leader of) and Hubby has been asked to help with the Cubs at church.  We are definitely a scouting family now!

baking soda volcanos curtesy of another M family day camp friends at the park concert hosted by the city reorganization of the mechanical room.  now we can see everything! M was the first one to finish a summer workbook.  She was awarded with $5, which really helped K and D work a little harder on theirs. plenty of play dough creativity around here! so much fun jumping on the W family's new trampoline it wouldn't be summer if we didn't make special treats! K and M's doll house was impressive, to say the least.  There were many different and detailed versions this summer. When our neighbors moved to France we bought some of their artwork to help out the basement and staircase look a little nicer.  We also came home with a blender, sewing machine, fabric, books, etc.  It was like Christmas in July and I felt like I was helping a friend too.  They invited us to stay with them at their rental overlooking the Med ...

As I looked at our calendar on 7/27, I realized that if we didn't use the Lakeside Amusement Park tickets from the library's summer reading program soon, we would have to battle the long lines that come with the last week of free tickets.  So, we arranged to kidnap Daddy a little early from work and eat at Casa Bonita's before heading to Lakeside.  I guess everyone in Denver had the same idea because that line was loooong!  The longest line ever led to the best seats in the house we've ever enjoyed, so we walked out happy after all.  N was super impressed because she could never remember being here before.  I think we are beginning to grow out of kiddie land!  Of course we had a blast but K and D were super happy when I said we could go off and ride the Cyclone.  I love that ride too!  Next year we may have to buy those two grown up tickets instead.  Can't complain about the $0 price tag for kiddie land, though! ...

When I heard Girl Scouts of Colorado set up a special 100 year anniversary weekend for entire families to participate in, I convinced my husband we should spend that weekend in Colorado Springs.  The children were begging to return to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and we had a great day there on Friday after setting up camp on Thursday night in Falcon.  Of course the giraffes were the biggest draw.  N didn't remember that part and really didn't like it at first, but eventually, after seeing her siblings smile and laugh, she began to giggle too.  M showed once again that birds love her and she is really wanting a parakeet but I confirmed we are maxed out on pets right now.  The good news is, a family membership only cost $30 more than a one day entry fee, so we can look forward to another wonderful trip before next July.  Our membership materials say CMZ is ranked in the top 10 zoos in the United State and we completely agree!   That night we had hot dogs...

This summer K has really wanted to be older than she is. I was listening to the audiobook "All Joy and No Fun" and when it described the characteristics of adolescence, I felt like it was perfectly describing my newly minted 9-year-old. No, you're not old enough to get rid of your Barbies!  She was ready to give them all away, but it was decided they could move into the play room for N's sake. Good news is, now that she sneaks playing with them, she isn't forcing M to play Barbies anymore.  (Turns out K was bribing M to play and M didn't really like them.) For her birthday, K opted, like D, to have friends over to watch the movie Maleficent instead of having a full fledged birthday party. She had many wonderful friends to help celebrate her special day. We went through a lot of popcorn, soda, and cake but it was so fun to have all those nice girls around. Half of them even bought her presents even though I had said they weren't expected. So sweet. ...