Moving Right Along...

I can't believe school starts in just a couple of weeks!  I'm for the most part looking forward to First Grade.  We've heard nothing but good things about all of the teachers, and we learned a ton (about managing food allergies) in Kindergarten so I don't have near the anxiety I did a year ago at this time.  I think Jacoby is looking forward to getting back to see his friends at school.

We've had a great summer, and we're topping it off with a trip to Yellowstone and Montana later this week.  We're very excited!  We trek to Cody, WY and Yellowstone on Friday and Saturday.  And then we plan to meet the grandparents in Bozeman on Sunday for a visit at the Museum of the Rockies before we head over to Billings for a week.

We've been busy with summer fun.  The boys finished up the summer reading program at the library.  I was very impressed with the program, and the boys really enjoyed their rewards (new books, coupon to the bookstore, special treasures, tickets to the amusement park, etc).  Jacoby finished up the Mercy Watson series, and is now reading Frog and Toad to us.  It's a great next step for him--chapters are longer, the conversations are more complex, etc.  And you can't help but love Frog and Toad!  (:

Morgan is a counting machine right now.  We've been doing flash cards with Jacoby this summer, and it soon became apparent that the youngest child needed his own set as well.  They are both crazy about Legos and have built almost every ship in the Star Wars fleet.  I love that they use their imaginations and just build to their hearts content (or when they run out of Legos, most often the case).  Morgan also decided it was time to start riding his pedal bike, so he hopped on that Sunday morning and took off with only a few assists from Daddy.  His favorite part about this is that he can jam on the breaks and leave skid marks on the sidewalk.  (: 

Justin is busy reading for his dissertation and working.  I'm up to seven miles on my runs now.  The days are already getting shorter and the mornings are dark when I'm out at 5 am.

Here are a few pics from our weeks:

 Morgan finished up soccer.  He was very proud of his medal.

 Captain UnderDog to the rescue!  UnderDog was briefly introduced at preschool while they were learning all about the letter U.

 The boys visited Rope World last week and had a great time.

  Here's Morgan on his pedal bike going to town.  I'm going to miss the little strider bike!

Hope you all have a good week and we'll be back with an update when we're back from Montana!

Camping at Pearl Lake

We had a great time camping at Pearl Lake this weekend.  I'll let the pictures tell the story:

 We were fortunate to see quite a bit of wildlife:  elk, deer, moose antlers (on a sleeping moose), a snake, fish, and ducklings.

 Pearl Lake is located outside of Steamboat Springs.  It's one of our most favorite areas in Colorado.

 Camp Barber

 Justin made this lovely fire just before the heavens opened and we experienced a tremendous mountain thunderstorm and a deluge of rain.  Needless to say, we scavenged through the coolers for dinner and spent time playing cards in the tent, since it was a very soggy evening.  The boys are really good campers though, and they just kind of roll with whatever comes our way.

 They love their headlamps.

 There was a balloon festival in Steamboat Springs so we got up really early to go to the balloon launch.  The weather wasn't entirely cooperative, but we got to see a few go up.

 This guy pilots without a basket

 The balloons were very pretty

 Northwest Colorado is dotted with beautiful ranches, so we suddenly found ourselves in the middle of a cattle drive.  Lots of mamas and babies.

 Morgan snoozing with his carton of worms, which he called his "gummy worms"

 My three fishermen on the opposite shore

 Morgan casting away

 Happy campers

 Team Daddy/Jacoby caught a cutthroat trout!

 Checking out their catch

 It was such a fun experience for them

 He was about 12 inches long

 Morgan taking care of some potty business, and Jacoby giving him some big brother advice

 Playing with the worms

 Playing on the beach at Steamboat Lake

 Nothing but their birthday suits underneath their fleeces, after an impromptu swim at Steamboat Lake. (:

 Working on their camp journals while we got supper going

 Morgan wrapping up his hobo dinner...yummy!  And lucky for us, no thunderstorm or rain this evening!

 The brothers

 Roasting marshmallows

 Fishing at the end of the day

 Here we are...a tired, smelly bunch.  But it was a very good time.

 One last snack before bedtime

 Enjoying the camp fire and looking at the stars

Jacoby read to us every night, by headlamp, of course

 

 Moose antlers

This was our trip home up over Trail Ridge Road...not great driving conditions, especially when you're driving on the edge of a mountain at 12,000 ft.  But we made it home safe and sound.

Fourth of July and Other Adventures

We enjoyed a quiet fourth of July at home.  The boys lit sparklers and a few other (mostly) legal fire works with Justin.  I made ribs, corn on the cob, and grilled peaches.  Peaches, you ask?  Why yes, we're happy to have these back in our diet, along with oats, coconut, pumpkin, plums, cherries, olives, and a few others.  Anyways, we also went out to see the city fireworks, which were quite impressive.

Justin flew to Pittsburgh on Friday, so the boys and I decided to set out on our own adventure.  As a meeting planner, I frequently get asked to visit hotels and about a month ago I received an invitation to stay at a newly renovated hotel in Louisville.  I initially thought it was silly, but when Justin booked his trip to see Jared, I decided the boys and I would have a sleepover and visit some of their favorite places in our old neighborhood.  We had a great time at the library and their favorite park, and we spent most of the evening at the pool.  It was a great time.

Here are some pics:

 Trying out sparklers with Daddy

 They had a good time with these

 I left the boys a note before leaving for work about our adventure...

 They were thrilled to visit some of their favorite places, including the library.

 They've asked to visit this park several times, so we went before dinner and before going home the next morning.

 Having a picnic dinner in our hotel room

 And a picnic breakfast too...

 And then we decided to have a little holiday cheer in July, so we got out the Polar Express train for a few days.

 And we of course had to watch the movie too...with hot chocolate and marshmallows

 Play dough time

I had to take a sample of our ghetto grass to the local nursery to get a diagnosis, so the boys explored the fountains.  Ghetto grass has been diagnosed with a fungus.  Sigh.  I'm about over trying to grow grass in Colorado.  But I do love spending time at this nursery!

I got a wild hair this weekend and decided to do something about this bathroom.  I blame the curtain rod.  The old one broke and fell down, so I bought a new curved one.  And then noticed our almost 12-year old shower curtain didn't look quite right.  So out came my paint brushes and a can of paint given to us by my parents!  I sort of go into withdrawal if I haven't painted in a month or so.  (:

I think it's off to a good start so far.  More to come on this space!