Fun Outside

As I mentioned in my bio, we try to play outside as much as possible. In Colorado that is pretty easy to do. My kids pretty much start climbing the walls if they are inside for too long. I think that is the reason summer has become my favorite season- they can be outside all day long. We also eat outside for most meals in the summer. It just makes sense to me....

Anyway, here are my three very dirty but happy children playing on the Slip n' Slide. It could also be called by other names at our house....Run next to it n' accidentally Slip.....Slip n' Slide n' Water the dead Grass too.....

We finished the evening yesterday with dinner on the deck (where else?!?). Papa Jerry~ I took the last picture for you. All the kids love corn, but Paige thought it was too yummy. She didn't like eating it with the holders (that might be too clean) so she took those off and dug in.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Jennifer

Stay tuned for more posts. We have a busy weekend planned!

Father's Day

Sorry, I am sort of posting out of order but I forgot to send out a note about Father's Day!

Before we were blessed with our three angels, Scott and I actually spent quality time together. One of the things that we loved was disc golfing. Needless to say, the last time we disc golfed together was in 2004 with a 2 year old in the backpack and a 1 year old in the Baby Bjorn. We haven't been back since....

For Father's Day, we bought Scott a mini-disc golf catch. We all had lots of fun trying to make shots into the basket in the back yard. I couldn't resist it when I saw it at REI. It now resides on the edge of our computer desk, ready for golfing. Without our three precious kids, there would be no Father's Day at our house and a lot less fun. Happy Father's Day, Scott, we love you!!!

Breckenridge Fun!

Well, we are finally home from our week at Breckenridge. I know that the grandparents were having blog withdrawals while we were gone so I decided I had better get blogging. If you weren't aware, I took the kids to Breckenridge for the week and Scott met us on Friday for the weekend. Thanks Mom and Dad for the condo, we really enjoyed it. The days would have been really long without the indoor, outdoor pools! Paige really enjoyed the little hot pools (hot tubs). She thought that they were made just for her. Had we stayed one more day, Sam and Alice might have turned into fish. Lucky for us, the room that we had was a stone's throw from the pool, playground, restaurant and grills. Here is a quick summary of our adventures in Breckenridge. I know that you are wondering what I did with three kids for a week. We actually stayed very busy....
Monday- Happy arrival. After listening to VBS songs and "Are we there yet?" for the entire ride, I was more than ready to bolt from the car. We pretty much relaxed for the day. The kids were so excited to see cable that they didn't care to leave the room.
Tuesday- We walked downtown, played at the fun toy store and had lunch at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. After a quick nap in the afternoon, we hit the pool.
Wednesday- The weather was beautiful so we drove to Dillon and walked part of the trail around the lake, checked out the boats at the marina and went to the playground by the amphitheater.
Thursday- Every time we are in Breck, we hope to hit our wallets...oops, I mean the children's museum. I decided this was the perfect occasion so we arrived when they opened and stayed for 2 hours. A little pricey but definitely worth it! We had a quick lunch downtown and then headed back to the pool.
Friday- Can you believe it? We have made it this far! The kids are still happy and I haven't flung myself off the balcony yet! Nevertheless, we are still grateful to see Scott arrive. A new face, a refreshed parent to take the helm. Yeah!!
Saturday- Scott made an early morning run to Daylight Donuts for sausage rolls and you guessed it, donuts. We went to the pool for the entire morning. At noon, we dragged the kids out of the water. We walked downtown for lunch. A bike race was just finishing so there was tons going on around town. We stopped for a bit to watch a bike trial demo. Very cool! After a quick rest/nap, we headed to Mi Casa to celebrate Alice's birthday.
Sunday- A full day of hiking, fishing and stone throwing. The pictures tell it all! We headed for home after a nutritious lunch at Wendy's. Lucky for me, the kids all slept and I drove home in silence.

Enjoy the pictures, I am still trying to figure out this slide show thing. It is a bit fuzzy and the pictures are out of order. If you have any advice, please let me know!
Have a great week.
Jennifer

Vacation Bible School

Sam, Alice and Paige attended vacation bible school at our church this past week. They sang, danced, snacked, worshipped, crafted and generally enjoyed themselves all week. I thoroughly enjoyed my alone time...I ran, hiked, enjoyed chai's, shopped and had a great week! Sorry, Laura, but somebody had to do it! One of the VBS crafts was Tye-dying t-shirts. The kids stamped VBS 2008 on the back and wore them for the performance on the last day where they sang a couple songs for all the parents. Afterwards, the church served a picnic lunch. As you can see from the pictures, my kids definitely loved the dessert...Popsicles. Paige was a little unsure about my leaving every morning but warmed up quickly and had a blast. She had great teachers that kept her engaged (distracted) as I left. Singing was her favorite part of VBS! That did not surprise me. Enjoy the pics!!

Dance, Dance, Dance

Alice and Paige had their first ballet class on Wednesday evening. They have been wanting to start ballet for a while now and I finally found a class at a studio close to our home. It is really nice because they can be in the same class. Scott snapped these pictures before they left for their first class. For the most part, they are such good friends and play really well together. Enjoy the slide show, I am still trying to figure out this movie making thing!!

Put me in coach....

Tonight, Sam had his first baseball game. His team is called the Discovery Twins. He did great and we are so proud of him! He got up to bat twice and hit the ball both times. Way to go Sam!!!!! He really liked batting but thought it was a little boring in the outfield. It is easy to get distracted out in left field....

Weekend Fun

We had another great weekend. Scott ran at Waldo Canyon yesterday morning and then we went to the zoo. In the afternoon, Jesse (our dog) got out of the house and we spent the better part of the day looking for her. She gets so excited when she gets out of the house that we have a really hard time getting her to come back. She usually stays pretty close but won't actually come to us. It drives us crazy!!!

Today, I got up and went for a run on Barr Trail with one of my running buddies, Kim. I am training for a race up to Barr Camp, the halfway point on Pike's Peak, and then back down again. It ends up being about 14 miles. I made it home just in time to change and get to church. This afternoon, we had a neighborhood ice-cream social in our driveway. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't really cooperating so we ended up all in the garage. The kids didn't mind the rain, they all played in the yard. We have a great neighborhood and get together a few times a year for socials.

Tonight while we were eating dinner, we were talking about how the kids behaved when they were younger. We were telling Alice that she used to scream every time we went to a restaurant. Here is our cute conversation:

Scott: Alice, do you know what we used to call you?

Alice: Yeah! Screamalicious!!!

Scott: Actually, we called you SIREN but that is a pretty good guess!

If you know Alice, you can definitely describe her with any word ending in -licious!

The kids are really excited to start VBS tomorrow, especially Paige. She knows that she has to be a big girl to attend and she is thrilled about that!

Have a funalicious week!

Jennifer

Go Wings!!!

We moved the Colorado 9 1/2 years ago, we still love our Detroit Red Wings hockey. If you don't follow hockey, they won the Stanley Cup last night. I was watching the third period of the game with great excitement (jumping up and down on the couch, screaming!). Scott had a ultimate Frisbee game last night so he missed all of the game but still so excited that they had won. We know that as soon as our kids realize there is actually a Colorado hockey team, they might become Avalanche fans. We are going to keep that info from them for as long as possible! We love everything about Colorado except for hockey...oh, and maybe football.

Sam, Alice and Paige all got haircuts yesterday. Alice's cut is the most dramatic. Daddy says that she looks like a 10 year old. I think that they will all have a cooler summer with less hair to haul around. I need to do the same.

I look forward to next week when the kids are at Vacation Bible School all week. Boy, that didn't sound very nice, did it? I will be able to get some mommy activities done, like haircuts, eye doctor appointments, etc. The things that are nearly impossible with three kids along for the ride. VBS has a beach theme this year and they are going to have a blast. This is the first year in many that I am not working so I am so so geared up to get some alone time.

Have a good day!

A Tale of Two Pools

Well, finally, we made it to the pool. This summer we decided to join a neighborhood pool a couple miles from our house. We are just renting a membership to make sure that we use and enjoy it before we jump in feet first and buy one! The weather has been warm but definitely not hot, so I have been reluctant to go to the pool. I did promise the kids that no matter the weather we would go swimming on Saturday. That way, if it was cold, Scott could get in with them. Ha ha. The weather did cooperate and we had a great time. The smaller kiddie pool was perfect for Alice and Paige and Sam ventured into the bigger pool. The water was still pretty chilly (second hand knowledge from Scott) in the big pool but Sam didn't seem to mind. He spent most of his time playing with his friend Clare. Paige had a really great time taking her water wings and goggles on and off a million times. Alice is a really great swimmer and I know that she will be swimming circles around all of us in the big pool very soon. I got lucky and sat on the edge of the small pool keeping my eye on Paige. What with water wings and only 2 1/2 feet of water, I doubt there was much to fear! It was a really fun day and we can't wait to get back. As I mentioned there are two pools, a slide, diving board, playground and beach volleyball court (aka sandbox). Plenty to keep my three busy for the summer!

Today, the kids and I went to church and Scott went out for a quick 4 hour run. He is training for a 50 miler so he likes to go out and get in a really long run on the weekend. This morning he decided to skip church and become one with nature. Run Forrest, Run!
We had beautiful weather again today and the kids played outside for most of the afternoon. I filled up the little pool on the driveway and set up the sprinkler in the yard. By 6 o'clock we were all wet and hungry. Our yard and driveway looked like a colorful plastic bomb had gone off but man did they have fun... By the time we cleaned up and got around to dinner, all three kids were falling asleep in their pizza. That is the sign of a great weekend. We hope you had a great weekend too!!!