Last week of summer

We're headed into our last week of "summer", thanks to the start of school.  Justin's job at Iliff is going well and he's learning a lot.  The boys love their gymnastics class, and Morgan declared that he and Jacoby had won the gold medal this week when the class finished!  As part of the class, the teacher sets up an obstacle course with various gymnastics equipment.  Morgan watched Jacoby's class do handstands against the wall and declared that he couldn't do that until he was 10 (holding up his ten fingers).  But, with a little encouragement from his teacher, he too was doing handstands like a pro.  It's been a good class for them so far.  We like how it works on their balance and gross motor skills.

I have been busy staining our deck furniture, organizing more areas around the house, and slowly getting ready for the start of school next week (insert a heap of emotions here).  I'm leaving for a quick trip to Spokane, WA tomorrow afternoon.  WSU is the likely host of our May 2013 board meeting, so I'll be touring the campus and a couple of hotels on Monday.  I went to a huge community garage sale this morning and scored some really cheap treasures.  My project list for this house keeps getting longer and longer.  Good thing we're going to be here for a while!  (:  I'm just about ready to start putting up a few things on the walls.  We don't have as much wall space here (thanks to our lovely windows), so there will be a lot less going up.

Jacoby requested that we visit the school playground one last time before school started, so we spent most of the morning there today.  We have a meet-and-greet with the principal on Wednesday and then school starts on Thursday.  Jacoby will be in his class from 9 am - 3 pm.  I think he's excited and ready.  We'll be talking with school staff early in the week to make sure we're all on the same page with his food allergies.  My emotions swing from excited, hopeful, and proud to nauseous (if that's really a feeling, probably not), anxious, and fearful.  But we're going to give it a go and work on making it a great first school year for Jacoby.

5 days and counting until this boy is our Kindergartener!

Busy on the playground

Here's where it all goes down on Thursday...

Camping Adventures

We had a great time camping this weekend.  We set up camp in an undeveloped site on Guanella Pass.  The elevation was around 10,500 ft, so it was cool during the day and the nights were really chilly.  We haven't spent any time in the mountains this summer, so it was wonderful to be outside in the fresh air.  The boys had an awesome time and were very happy campers. 

We were 98% prepared to camp in an undeveloped site...the only thing I really missed was a table.  But I'll take free camping over a picnic table any time!

Eating dinner by the fire

Roasting marshmallows

Jacoby really got into the fire-building with Justin.  He also liked to roast his own food.

Delicious!

The boys enjoying a sunset by the stream

Morgan woke up warm and toasty the first morning.  Note his Berenstein Bears "Bad Dreams" book was kept close at hand...just in case.

Jacoby waking up chipper and ready to go

Our tent served us very well.  We had a great spot in the trees, right by a stream

Morgan and Mommy trying to get warm in the morning

This boy spent most of his time by the stream, throwing rocks, floating sticks, and doing whatever boys do when they're near water

We drove up to the top of Guanella Pass.  A long, long time ago Uncle Jared, Justin, and I climbed the peak on the right (Mt. Bierstadt).  Mt. Evans is on the left.

A beautiful view

Just a few visitors also enjoying the view...we actually didn't see many, since they were all trying to get to the summit.

No summit-seeking for us, but we did hike down to the lake and enjoyed the pretty scenery

Boys by the stream, where they spent most of their time

View from our tent

Helping Daddy with the fire

Daddy's two helpers

We set out to stay one night, and then we let the boys decide if we should stay another night.  They of course wanted to stay longer, so we did.  

Roasting hot dogs and corn on the cob

I'd say it was a very successful camping trip and I'm glad we got to spend some time outdoors as a family.  We were back home by 10 am this morning so we could get unpacked and ready for the week ahead.  Morgan asked if we could set up the tent so they could sleep in it tonight.  They definitely loved living outdoors for a few days.

Bye Bye July

July went by so fast!  August here we come!

We've had a good week.  The boys started a gymnastics class at the rec center and are having a good time perfecting their tumbling skills.  Justin started his new job at Iliff today.  He also met with his adviser on his dissertation proposal.  I'm enjoying working from home two days a week now until the end of August when the boys get started in school.  They play so well together while I'm working in the morning.  Then we go to the library and do some school activities.  I love having extra time at home with them.  We're enjoying the Olympics, and we're looking forward to camping next weekend in the great outdoors.

Here are some pics from the week:

We made "brownies-in-a-mug" during the opening ceremony of the Olympics

 One of my troublesome areas in the new house, affectionately known as "the cave"

My first attempt at filling the cave.  (:

Jacoby painting

Enjoying popsicles on the patio

Summer Fun

Now that we're moved and mostly settled, we've been able to get out and do some fun summer things.  The community down the road from us shows movies outside on a big screen every Friday evening, so the boys and I went and saw The Wizard of Oz.  They were completely enthralled with the story and the stars that appeared once it got really dark.

We also had our friends M. and A. over for a sleepover.  It was a fun night of popsicles, Twister, glow-in-the-dark bracelets, and sleeping bags.  The boys have really mastered riding their bikes in our neighborhood, since the sidewalks are wide and flat.  They love going to get the mail and venturing over to the park.  They've also been spending plenty of time in the sprinklers.

Grandmanette, Grandpa Michael, and Great Grandma Marilyn visited last weekend.  It was fun having them here, and we enjoyed good food and conversation.  The grandmas and I ventured out to two great indoor flea markets and enjoyed strolling through the aisles, scoping out treasures.  Marilyn found a great set of books for the boys, and they spend quite a bit of their time each day reading them.

I'm working on getting the few remaining boxes unpacked and some "troublesome" areas reorganized.  I love this house and just feel so blessed to be here.  Our old rental house was put up for sale on Friday and is already under contract.  We're not surprised, but the new owners sure have a lot of work cut out for them to get that place updated and repaired!

We've been heart broken for the families and victims of the Aurora shooting.  It was such a senseless thing.  I hug my boys tighter each day and hope and pray for a safer tomorrow for them.

Getting all twisted up!

Lighting up their glow-in-the-dark bracelets

A. showing off her new treasure

Watching the Laurie Berkner Band in their sleeping bags

All wet from the sprinklers and watering our poor, dying flowers

iPad time with Grandmanette

Books with Great Grandma Marilyn

Watching their boats float down the stream at the park

They love this mini bike park

Morgan on the rim

Jacoby on the rim

Riding across the field towards our neighborhood

 

Our view of Longs Peak

The Great Move of 2012

We are officially moved and getting settled into our new home.  The move last week was hot, smokey, and tons of work.  I'm so glad it's over!  We couldn't have done it without wonderful help from Grandmanette and Grandpa Michael.  And the boys were excellent troopers who spent a lot of unsupervised time playing in one house or the other and really only resurfaced for food and drink.

We've spent most of this past week getting the old house tidied up.  We left our keys there yesterday, said good-bye, and are now down to one household.  I'm looking forward to spending time this weekend getting things unpacked and settled.  We love the new house and I think it's going to suit us well for many, many years (hope so because I don't plan on moving again...ever).  The neighbors we've met so far are very friendly and a welcome committee stopped by with cookies this week.  We've been exploring the parks and new running trails (which sometimes means longer runs when one misjudges the distances on the new trails).  Next up on our list is a visit to the new library, a new activity for the boys (like karate or swimming), and possibly a camping trip before school starts (since the fires are back under control and the ban has been lifted). 

Here are some pictures from the past week:

 The boys enjoyed a picnic dinner in the new house the first night we were there

 Over the course of nearly 11 years of marriage, Justin and I have moved 5 times (2 interstate, 3 local).  This move took 2 Uhauls...sigh.

 The boys loved the big truck

 We celebrated the 4th of July with a yummy dinner and then watched the DC fireworks program in the comfort of our air-conditioned basement

During the moving chaos, Morgan had some allergy testing done and we have officially added tuna, salmon, and shrimp to our menu.  Our first salmon dinner was delicious!

 You can see what filled a majority of the boxes we moved!