The dog days of summer...

With all the kids in our neighborhood our boys are outside almost all day long. The ABC club can usually be found riding their bikes in the dirt lots as well as in a loop through our cul-de-sacs. (Unfortunately we have about 2 months left to enjoy our empty lots. The lot next-door to us just sold to, surprise, surprise another Californian. Coloradoans either just laugh at the thought of another Californian inundating their beautiful state or shake their head in dismay.)

Anyway, Chase's dad (one of the ABC club members) started weed-wacking the lower area of some dirt lots to expand the BMX trail the ABC Club as well as some older boys created. It's pretty cool. They have various trails as well as jumps. When the older boys come out to ride the ABC club along with Kellen and a couple of other younger neighorhood kids sit down to watch them ride and jump off ramps.

It's a lot of fun to watch and see how excited my boys get watching them. Thankfully I have one boy who's very cautious and doesn't really care to jump off the ramps and another boy who can't ride a bike yet so our trips to the ER are on hold for a few years....at least I hope so.

Ice cream truck aftermath

The ice cream truck came by our neighborhood while the boys were out playing and here's the result:


Gotta love summer!

What a cutie patootie!

Yep, that's right Aidan now has glasses and doesn't he look great in them? About a month ago his kindergarten teacher informed me she noticed while working one on one with him that he was having a hard time focusing on things close up. I had taken him to the optometrist a year ago, but I decided we better have his eyes checked again. Sure enough poor little guy has been working his eyes really hard and definitely needed glasses. He was really excited to get them. I'm terrified he'll lose them! We're trying to get him used to them by having him wear them while in the house. Unfortunately the nose thingies bug him a bit.

So a little plug for optometrists...take your kids to get their eyes checked. You never know if they are having problems with their eyesight. I'm so thankful we caught this because knowing Aidan's little personality, he'd get really frustrated by his school work (if he couldn't see it well enough) and would ultimately stop trying very hard.

Tiny Town

Yesterday I met my friend Jen (a friend from high school who lives in Denver with her family) and her son Rohan at a little cute tourist trap called Tiny Town. It was built back in the early 1900's by a father whose daughter was sick. Don't remember the whole story behind it, but I remember going to Tiny Town as a kid and wanted to take my kids to it too. It's really very cute and was especially fun for Kellen who got a kick out of seeing buildings that were actually his size.





They also have a train you can ride on which reminds me a bit of the Wildcat train in Los Gatos. Although the place isn't huge, it was a fun day and good to catch up on the latest happenings with Jen. Congrats. on being accepted to law school, Jen!

Don't attempt an all day zoo trip while 33 weeks pregnant!

Last week Aidan was in a zoo camp with his friend Brennan. Thursday was my day to drive both ways so I thought it would be a great day for Kellen and I to spend the day at the zoo. (Aidan's zoo camp was from 9-4pm.) Usually when we go to the zoo we end up spending the day there no problem, but I forgot one important component...I was 33 weeks pregnant. I forgot how painful it is to walk around (even with tennis shoes) for any length of time. My feet and back started killing me.

Kellen and I did go to the zoo with our neighbors and still had a great time. Kellen and our neighbor Memphis just love to play together and usually his mom and I spend most afternoons outside while Kellen, Memphis, Aidan and his buddies all play and ride bikes outside.

Anyway, back to our zoo trip. Kellen and I only lasted until 1:30pm or so and I decided we'd head somewhere to get some ice cream. I'd barely left the parking lot when Kellen was fast asleep. So I just parked the car and hung out for about 45 minutes to an hour and then we enjoyed an ice cream at Cold Stone. It was so nice to just sit in the car and rest my feet and back for a while. By the time we got back from Cold Stone it was time to pick up Aidan and his buddies.

Of course next week, I have plans to hit the zoo in CO Springs with a friend. This one is also very hilly. What am I thinking? Although, I don't have to stay there all day like I did at the Denver Zoo.

Aidan with his zoo camp group (not a great picture, but I was trying to be discreet)

Memphis and Kellen

A time for good-byes

I just hate it when you meet someone whom you really connect with and they have great kids your kids get along with and then they have to move! Well that just happened recently with one family. Luke was in Aidan's kindergarten class and they really became good friends. I also became good friends with his mom and was really looking forward to building up a stronger friendship when her husband just had to get a great job in Seattle. (It was really a no-brainer on whether or not he'd accept the offer. It was too good to pass up.)

A couple of weeks ago they had a going away dinner we attended. Here are some pictures from that event. Even though it's a good-bye for now, I can't wait to fly out to Seattle to see them as well as one of my friends from high school whom I also haven't seen in who knows how long. (I'll just have to wait until the baby is a little older.)




Aidan and Luke


Tanya and I

Aidan, Luke and Brennan (thankfully Brennan is still around)

Hee, hee, I still get a chuckle out of this story...

Yesterday we were outside enjoying the nice (well for me HOT) weather chatting it up with our neighbors while the boys ran around a bit. All of sudden we look over to the dirt lot and see our neighbor's son Memphis pull down his shorts to pee! We started laughing so hard while his dad ran over to help pull his shorts up quickly. (He'd just gone camping with his dad over the weekend so going potty camping-wise was still fresh in his mind...he's only 4.)

Us adults got back to talking again when a few minutes later we look over again and see Kellen pull down his shorts in the exact same place and pee! All of us couldn't stop laughing it was so funny! I just wish I had my camcorder handy. I'm sure we would've won $10,000 from America's Funniest Home videos. (Oh and did I mention our home teacher had stopped by to visit for a few minutes?)

So classic and typical of boys...gotta love them! Thankfully Aidan is old enough to know better, but I wouldn't have put it past him to join in on the fun!

The day has FINALLY arrived...

This little monkey:

is POTTY TRAINED!!!!!!

Yippee! It's a happy day in our house and one I wasn't sure was going to arrive before the baby, but it has. That's not to say I don't expect some accidents, but Kellen has consistently been going potty on the toilet. Whew! We are officially diaper-free...at least for another 2 months. Can you see me jumping for joy?

Memorial Day and early summer fun

Still playing catch up on that last couple of weeks. Don't know why, but I haven't been motivated to blog, plus the days are just zipping by faster than I can keep count. (I'm not complaining. That just means less days I'm prego.)

Anyway, our Memorial Day weekend was a lot of fun. We went hiking behind our house with some friends of ours, the Lurz family (whom we've known since Aidan's Tae kwon do days) and the Jones family (who live down the street from us and are in our same ward. I didn't get a picture of them since their son was too excited for hiking and wanted to keep going.)


The Lurz family

The Meadows (the neighborhood we live in) recently opened up some trails literally walking/running distance from our house. Rick goes running or riding there all the time. It's great it's so close.

Our house is down below, but you can't see it in this picture. Great view, huh?


Our little hikers


Monday we had the Jones' family over for a BBQ and joined our other neighbors along the cul-de-sac for a group pow wow. It was a neighborhood BBQ, but it was freezing that day so we decided to eat inside and then join in on the action after dinner. Have I mentioned how much I love our new neighborhood? Everyone is always very friendly, chatty and outside playing with their kids and visiting with each other. We really lucked out. Our old neighborhood was nice and we had great neighbors, but it sure makes a huge difference when all your neighbors are just as friendly as the next.

Which leads into my next picture; the ABC and K club enjoying a little baseball out back. So fun! They ride bikes, play baseball, play a little basketball, skateboarding and then lately with the weather so warm spraying each other with their super soakers.




Last Sunday we drove up to the trailhead for Devil's Head. We can see it from our house and it's supposed to be an awesome hike with a lookout that's absolutely phenomenal! It's the last fire lookout at least in the state of Colorado maybe even in the whole country, not sure. On a fine day you have 360 degree views. Can't beat that. Of course we didn't hike it. Not in my current state, but it's on my to-do list for next year, if not sooner. I think it's pretty cool to have these attractions so close to us. Especially being an outdoor lover.


A little background info on Devil's Head from wikipedia:
Devil's Head Lookout is a U.S. Forest Service fire lookout tower located in Douglas County, Colorado. The tower is accessed by hiking on the Devils Head National Recreation Trail. The original tower was built in 1912 on a large pinnacle of Pikes Peak granite and is used as a fire lookout point in the Pike National Forest. The view from the tower extends at least 100 miles in every direction on clear days. [1]
In 2003, Devil's Head Lookout was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Happy Birthday Ricky!

Okay, okay so I'm a day late, but it's the thought that counts right? Besides, knowing Rick as well as I do he'll hate that I'm even acknowledging his birthday.

It's amazing to think we've been together for over 17 years! Wow, that makes me feel old until you realize I was still a senior in high school. I couldn't imagine being with anyone else.

So here's to you, honey, happy 30-something (hee, hee) birthday!

(This is pathetic...I had to go back to 2004 to get a decent picture of the two of us. We're never in pictures together.)