{Seven}

Today, my sweet little ladybug turned seven. I really cannot believe how fast the last seven years have flown. Seven. It just doesn't seem right. Tonight we celebrated with my mom and dad at the house. Alice asked for spaghetti and meatballs for dinner and I obliged. Happy birthday to my sweet girl Alice Margaret.

Camping

This post is going to be a post in pictures.

I am tired.

We have returned from a fun weekend of camping. We camped in a yurt in one of the many Colorado state parks. We love our tent camping but staying in a yurt really feels like a luxury. It has bunk beds, a table and chairs and a heater.
Yurt: a portable, felt-covered, wood lattice-framed dwelling structure traditionally used by nomads in the steppes of Central Asia. A yurt is more home-like in shape and build, with thicker walls than that of a tent. Thank you Wikipedia.

Everyone had a blast and got really dirty. Enjoy the pics. I am off to find my pillow and fall into bed.

Good night, sleep tight.

Swim Run

Sam completed his first duathlon today and he rocked it!!! He did awesome! I was one excited (and nervous) momma!!!! He finished his run with a huge smile on his face! Perfect.

Sam and his friend Clare before the race showing off their numbers. Very cool.

Checking out the competition :)

Waiting in line for the swim start.

Swim for your life!

Finally out of the pool and into transition.

Nearing the finish!

A great end to a great race. Watermelon. Doesn't get any better than that. Good thing he didn't know about the watermelon before the race...He might have skipped the swim and ran straight to the good stuff.

Congrats Sam! We are so proud of you!

What we have been up to....

Alternately titled {the longest blog post ever}
Monday, otherwise known as Art Monday around here, was busy with swimming, gymnastics and errands. For our art project, we made a garden stone for the yard. We are still trying to finish up our under the sea mural. More pics coming soon.

Tuesday (Field Trip Tuesday) was busy with swimming, tennis, gymnastics and then back to the pool for a swim team potluck. After lunch we managed to squeeze in a field trip to the Colorado Springs Xeriscape and Demonstration Gardens. Very beautiful and interesting.

Who knew pine cones could be so much fun? We used them to make towers, work on grouping and addition and subtraction.

This cement water pipe kept the kids busy for a long time. It spurred a ton of more good math conversation.

Today (Movie Wednesday) was busy with the older kids first swim meet. Alice was VERY nervous for her first race but did really well and won her races. Way to go! Sam also did really well and took 6 seconds off his 25 free. They were troopers this cold morning. The air temp was only 63 degrees with no sunshine.

Sam getting ready for the 25 backstroke.

Alice and Abby waiting for their heat to line up.

The 8 and under group waiting to swim. Alice and Sam are right in the middle. Not sure what they were talking about?!?!?

Mason and Paige had their annual well-checks today. They both did great until they had to get their shots. 4 for Paige and 2 for Mason. I tried the "as soon as you get these shots, you are officially a kindergartner" routine, but Paige wasn't buying it. Mason wasn't completely sure what was going on for the first shot but definitely didn't want the second. This fun visit to the doctor's office did not earn me my good mommy badge, that is a sure thing. The chocolate shakes gained me some love back, a little bit anyway. Now they are watching a movie and I am enjoying my snack and the quiet.

Okay, so I guess this wasn't the LONGEST post ever but it seems like it should be, what with all the stuff we have packed into the last three days. Who said summer vacation was suppose to be relaxing?!?!?!?

Tomorrow is Cinderella Thursday. That means that we clean. And after the week that we have had, this house needs it!

Fishing and Swimming

Just another Sunday in the life of the Colorado Wescotts....

Yesterday after church we took the kids to Quail Lake for a little fishing. We didn't catch anything but the kids had tons of fun.......and nobody got wet!! Even better :) After dinner we headed to the pool for an hour. This time everybody got wet (Except me...I took the pictures).

Cuteness Oh My!

Mason got a well needed hair cut this morning and he is looking oh-so cute!!!! Bless his heart, he is always up for an impromptu photo shoot. He LOVES the camera and always asks to see his picture after I have taken it. His response is usually, Awwww! It also helped that he got to play with the sprayer on the hose.

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We are having a really nice weekend. Friday we spent all afternoon and evening at the pool. Kent and Victoria made an awesome dinner on the grill to celebrate Scott's birthday. By awesome I mean cedar plank salmon, roasted potatoes, salad and strawberry shortcake. We ate well. The kids played in the pool non-stop and only got out to eat :) We are loving our fun start to the summer. Today, Scott worked a bit and then we walked to the park. It was nice to spend the day with the kids and just be without having to rush anywhere else. Scott and I both got in runs this afternoon as well. Looking forward to another warm day tomorrow. We are contemplating taking the kids fishing. That should make for some interesting moments, for sure.

I am really enjoying the relaxed nature of summer vacation. The kids and I are having a blast. Our radishes started coming up this weekend and everyone is excited about keeping our garden box watered and watching the veggies start to come up. On Monday we are going to make a garden stone for our yard and Tuesday we are taking a field trip to the xeroscape gardens near our home. Hopefully we will squeeze in a couple hikes as well.

The kids signed up for the summer reading program at our local library and are really motivated to get in all their reading minutes. Reading is not something that we have to prioritize. My kids love to read. If you can't find Samuel, he is either building with Lego's or reading. Alice also loves reading and is really interested in Magic Tree House books right now. Paige is right on the cusp of starting to read and is doing really well with her sight words. We have started working on the Kindergarten list and she is super excited to master those. Now she just has to master NOT sucking her thumb. I am always up for a good challenge :)

Scott is doing well. He works more than he would like to. He is looking forward to getting his bike out of the shop and hitting the trails. He is running more and still contemplating running the Denver Marathon with me in October. I told him he had better start training to run slow. He can run circles around me...

Have a great night.

Jennifer

June

We had a very nice, relaxing Memorial Day weekend. On Monday, we spent most of the day at Scott's cousin John's home just west of Denver. We got to visit with some family that we don't get to see much and had a great day! We enjoyed a yummy lunch and the kids swam in the pool. Thanks to John, Jen and Jackson for an awesome time!

This week has been pretty quiet so far. Yesterday, the kids and I made the trek up to Greeley for Mason's checkup on his feet. All is still well. Dr. Hatch says that his feet look great! Next visit- December! Sam and Alice started swimming full time yesterday morning and will continue this practice for the rest of the summer.

Today after swim team practice, we ran some errands and then the kids watched a movie. Movie Day Wednesday! Gotta love it!!!