Camping

This weekend we took the kids camping for the first time. We would have done this sooner, but with Jonathan's feeding setup at night and feeding issues we had to wait a little bit longer. We drove about three hours into the mountains outside of Buena Vista. Over Cottonwood Pass lies Taylor Park Reservoir, and that's where we drove the back roads until we found a nice place to pitch our tent. 

The nights were freezing cold but we managed. The kids really liked the campfire and gathering sticks for it, s'mores, and walking up the balance beam tree that had fallen over nearby. We stayed Friday and Saturday night and drove back home on Sunday.

We enjoyed the area.  It was really pretty.  Since this was our first time we didn't do much other than hang out, play cards, eat food and goof around. I'm sure we'll do it again.

Various Pictures

Julia at Cheer Camp, Jonathan's new threads from Great Oma, and face painting at the zoo with Grandma.

The Open Road

Chauffeur Jonathan

Here's a really funny video of Jonathan driving Stacey around the neighborhood.  Yes, she barely meets the weight limit for this children's toy.  Jonathan looks as cool as a cucumber.

After this video was taken a landscaping truck pulled onto our street. Although the truck was very far away, Jonathan swerved off the road and went four-wheeling over the neighbor's yard to get off the street. Both of them were cracking up when the landscaping truck passed...and the guys inside were cracking up too...

Kids Run

Julia had a slumber party over at Grandpa's and Grandma's house last night. She and Grandma ran the mile long kids race after Grandpa ran in the main event the next day.  She ran the entire distance! It must have been the new running clothes that Stacey bought her the day before...

Mountain Monsters

We're planning on taking the kids camping in a few weeks for the first time. The other night around the dinner table we were talking about going and a few specifics about what it will be like.  Julia wasn't so sure about the idea, mainly because she was really tired. I asked her several questions, trying to figure out why she didn't really want to go. At one point I brought up the subject of wild animals, to which Jonathan nodded, leaned over to me and whispered in all seriousness,

"Yes, I think it's because Sissy is afraid of sharks."

Jonathan's Fourth Birthday

Happy 4th Birthday Jonathan!

Matt and both sets of grandparents joined us in celebrating Jonathan's birthday this year. He wanted to go to Chuck E. Cheese's again, so we had a small family party there on Saturday. We opened presents there after we had played games and ate some food.

Afterwards we came back to our house and unveiled Jonathan's (and partly Julia's) big present.  We really hadn't given the kids a large gift like this before, so it was just as much fun for us and it was for the kids. They were very excited and drove the car around until it ran out of batteries.  My parents included a hilarious driving hat for him to wear while driving.

The kids are actually pretty good drivers. It was really cute and fun to see them zipping around the neighborhood in their new convertible sports car, especially now that we've discovered how to put it in "fast mode"!

Cute Video of Jonathan at the Park

Last Day of Kindergarten Performance

Here's the video from Julia's last day of school.  She's towards the right side of the stage in the second row, right behind the girls in the pink and black/white striped dresses.

Last Day of Kindergarten

Today was Julia's last day of kindergarten.  We can't believe that her first year of school is already over.  She's officially a first grader now. We looked at the pictures of both of them from the first day of school, and it was amazing to see how much each of the kids have grown. They look a lot more like little kids nine months ago.

Julia had a great first year.  She really liked her class, school, and teacher Mrs. Miller (picture below). Obviously, she learned a lot but also grew more independent than before.  Next year she begins full day class, so it will be interesting to see what she thinks about that.  It will be a big change for all of us having her out of the house until 3:45 each day.

The last day of school consisted of all the kindergarten classes performing some songs, an ice cream party, and then a pool party with some of her classmates.  After school the kids were playing around in the front of the school, picking wildflowers. Jonathan picked two flowers.  He gave one to his sister and then decided to sprint 50 yards over to Mrs. Miller who was talking to a couple of other teachers.  He ran right up to her and handed her a flower.  The teachers thought it was so cute and hilarious.

She has about two and half months until school starts, so we have only a little time to fit in everything this summer!

What a Cat

The other day I was doing some work in the backyard and cracked up when I looked inside and saw Stacey trying to work.  The kids were napping but then kid number three showed up.  She first sat in between Stacey and her monitor, then decided to lay down on Stacey's arm and take a nap.  A little while later I came back inside and she transitioned to my lap. What a cuddle bug.

Gas, Coffee, and Bunnies

Before the Air Force Academy flyover, Jonathan helped me fill up my tank and then skimmed a little off the top from Mom's coffee.  A few days later, Julia and Jonathan enjoyed snack (and giggle) time while watching a baby bunny in the back yard. We have a few bunnies that like to munch on the grass and leaves.