Our Summer Begins!

With the close of the school year comes a summer full of fun, right? :) Well, we've been trying to keep ourselves busy to alleviate some of the bickering and "What can I doooooo?" that comes with everyone being home together ALL day, EVERY day! We've made our list of field trips around the area and we're excited to get out and see/do it all!



Our first outing was to the Denver Zoo. We went with the Buffington family - Landon (7 yrs.), Blake (5 yrs.) and Savannah (2 yrs.) - our kids have such fun together and Becca (mom) and I have a great time as well! The zoo has lots to see - in fact, we only made it through about 2/3 before we were all ready for air conditioning, naps and snacks on the ride home.

The next day we ventured over to a nearby water park called "The Bay." It is designed for kids ages 13 and under, so it was a perfect fit for our family. Adyson loved the water slides and we had many races. I seemed to always come in 2nd - darn! Blake was a fish and loved splashing and playing on the small slide. Drew was as happy as can be sitting in 6 inches of water watching all of the action around her. We are looking forward to visiting again this summer - the kids ask every day "Are we going to the water park today?" Too bad it's not free!




Once again, we made it to the Children's Museum. It's so great having a family pass - we can go often and leave when we're tired! This was my first time alone with the kids and I was so proud of them for sticking by me and playing so well together.

Adyson has been taking group tennis lessons through the city's rec. dept. She's really enjoying it and will have another 3 weeks of lessons in July. Blake & Drew get to play on a nearby playground while Adyson wears herself out on the court. Next week we begin swimming lessons. Summer fun has begun!

El Dorado State Park adventure!

Last Saturday we decided to get out and enjoy the mountains! We drove only 35 minutes to this fabulous state park. It's known for its rock climbing, so we we were able to watch many rock climbers on their treks to the top of these boulders - truly amazing to watch! The kids loved running up the trail, which at times put their mom into a panic as I could picture them falling off the side of the trail into the rocks! Everyone survived, enjoyed the fresh air, and had a wonderful time in the great outdoors!

We packed a picnic lunch and ate it half way (only about .5 miles each way) - we tried to teach the kids trail and hiking etiquette - don't know how much they'll retain, but it was fun to try. We saw some prickly pear cactus and a large variety of wildflowers - very beautiful country. We're excited to get out more to explore Colorado!

Waiting to start our hike - so much fun to climb and sit on rocks!

Climbing up to the trailhead - Drew was in the backpack for a total of about 10 minutes!

There are 2 rock climbers in this picture - the one in the lower right-hand corner is just above the white part of the rock and the other is in the middle left-hand section straight below the trees. Crazy!! Both are wearing white shirts - hopefully you can spot them!

Mamma Mia!

This week I went with a group of 10 incredibly fun and fabulous women to see the musical, Mamma Mia! It was so much fun - a great musical production. We went to a delicious Italian restaurant before the show, walked downtown to the theater (my first time in the city) and then enjoyed the show together - laughing, singing along and dancing to ABBA! If you have a chance, go see it! I took the place of a friend who came down with strep that morning, so I was lucky enough to have a good husband and neighbor to take care of the kids so I could go last minute :)