Preschool - Here we go

Oh man. Today is the day.  The day that starts me getting less and less time with my babies.  It starts with 2 days a week from 8-1 and then they will only spend more time away as the years go by.  So here we go.  I'm sending them off to gain independence from me.  They will gain their own stories to tell me.  New friends that I wont know.  They will learn things that I'm not teaching them.  It's going to be great for them.  They will learn and grow so much.  It will be great for me too.  I will definitely enjoy the break.  I haven't had me time for awhile now so I will definitely not take it for granted.  I will miss them so so much and it will be okay.  It will.  This marks a passage into a new phase of life.  As Kahlan said once "we are growing and it makes mommy sad".  Yes baby girl it does but it also makes me happy.  You and Noah may not understand why mommy cries sometimes like at the first day of school but someday you guys will get it and I'll be there to hug you and tell you I understand.

Summer recap Part 2 (Colorado Vacation)

We started out our vacation on June 13th at 5am. Both cars were packed the night before (my dads and ours) and we were on our way bright and early.  We were hoping to get some miles in before the kids woke up and it seemed to work pretty well.  The kids did really great driving.  We had to stop a lot because they needed to go potty or so we could grab some food but they did awesome!

sleeping in the back seat. You can see they each have a bag of fun stuff packed and we bought a dvd player for the car!

 

 



When we got to Denver we checked in to our hotel which was very nice and in a great location.  So glad that my dad had points to use on our hotel because he got us a good one.  When we were mostly settled we walked down to the Hard rock café and had dinner.

 

 

The next day we went to the Denver zoo.  I have a love of zoos and always try to go to the zoo in every new city I go to.  I thought the zoo was really nice and pretty big.  The kids had a blast.

 

 

That night we ended up eating at Casa Bonita.  I had read about this place on a blog of things to do with kids in Denver and when reading the description on the website it sounded like a very unique place.  It is a Mexican restaurant that has wild west shows, gorilla shows, cliff divers, a scary cave, arcades, puppet shows, and so much more.  Sounds interesting and fun right.  Well the place was indescribable.  So so strange.  It felt like the twilight zone.  Also, turns out that this place was featured in a South park episode which can be found on youtube if you are interested.  I wish I would have recalled this episode before we went but then again maybe it was just so weird that I'm glad I have the experience to talk about.  haha

Noah playing a video game.  You can see J holding a piece of piñata in the background and this was when we were lost in the basement.  Pretty much sums up our experience and why I don't have any more pictures.  I think I was in shock.

 





The next day we went to the children's museum.  It reminded me a lot of the Omaha children's museum and it was great.  They had an awesome outdoor area that the kids loved. We met up with my cousin Ryan who lives in Denver, his wife Megan and their son Walter and we went to lunch after the museum.  Our last night in Denver we went to a restaurant featured on Diners, drive-ins and Dives Sam's No. 3. 

Fire station room

 Pretend Kitchen

Bubble room

 Outdoor Creek area

 He loved his hat!



The next day we drove up to Estes Park and on the way we stopped at the Coors brewery.  This may have been J's favorite party of the trip. I didn't get any pictures but I know my dad and J took some so I may add some in later.

 

We had such a fantastic time up in Estes Park.  The downtown area is so cool.  With Ice cream and candy shops galore and tons of fun restaurants, there is lots to do.  Hiking up in Rocky Mountain National park is so beautiful.  We also drove the nations highest continuous highway up to the ranger station at the top.  There was some beautiful views but driving on the side of a mountain with no guardrail is extremely nerve wracking for me.  The kids played in the snow when it was 80 degrees out, we saw lots of elk, and we took a sky tram up a mountain.  It was a fantastic vacation and the kids loved hiking way more then I thought they would!

Hanging out at Nymph Lake

Playing in the snow at Bear Lake

One of the beautiful views driving up in the mountains

They have all these pullouts you can stop your car and take pictures

Herd of Elk

Elk right on the road

 Ice wall at the very top

Taking the tram up!





Summer Recap Part 1

We have had so much fun this summer!  This summer the kids had their first snow cone, went to their first Royals game, went to a water park for the first time and went bowling for the first time.  We went to the splash pad, our neighborhood pool and spent many weekends at Grandma and Baba's pool!  We got the kids a playset for the backyard which they have spent lots of evenings after dinner playing on.  We used our passes to enjoy LEGOLAND, Union Station (includes science city and the planetarium!), paradise park and the zoo!  We had playdates at friends houses and we had movie days at home with popcorn and other treats.  We spent Saturday mornings at the farmers market getting homemade cinnamon rolls and lots of yummy fruits and vegetables and we enjoyed fireworks on the 4th of July.  It was definitely a summer that childhood memories are built on but also a summer that I will cherish the memories of.  There is nothing better then the excitement of a child enjoying all the things summer has to offer.  Priceless!

playing in the driveway 

Getting ready to watch daddy and Baba set off fireworks! 

 

First Royals Game (July 11th) 

Splash park 

Splash Park 

Science City 

Summit Waves 

First time bowling (July 20th) 

Summit waves 

 

Neighborhood pool
 

New playset! 

3rd Birthday!

Before the birthday celebrations could start the kids needed haircuts.  This was K's very first haircut so of course we got some pictures.  She loved it.

before picture

after picture

 

The kids birthday was on a Monday this year but we still wanted to do something special so we went to the Chinese buffet because that is their favorite place to eat!  Grandpa, Baba, Grandma, Aunt Mandy, Uncle Justin, and cousins Augustin, Amelia, and Alistair all came to celebrate.

Birthday fruit plate (with imitation crab decorations. Hahaha)

 

 

The kids 3rd birthday was held on the following Saturday.  This was the first time we did a party outside our house and it was a blast.  We held it at Debbie Howards Gym and it was so worth the drive to have it there.  Everyone that was at the Chinese buffet was also at the gym plus Aunt Helen and Michaela and the kids friends Colwyn (and baby brother Liev), Jack, Gretchen, Mia, and Lincoln.  We did a very cute little jungle theme and all the kids had fun running, jumping and playing.  It was a rainy day so I was very glad we had it at an indoor place and didn't try to have it in our house again!  I highly recommend not having parties in your house when you can help it.  It made the day so much less stressful for me!