Levi's half birthday!

We enoyed our annual "half birthday" celebration with Levi yesterday! One of his desires was to go target shooting. Our planning (and lack thereof) conspired with our budget (and lack thereof!) to make that a less than ideal prospect. We compromised by starting out our time with a trip to Bass Pro Shops where we did some simulated target shooting ~ which proved quite fun!

Of course, we HAD to eat lunch from Taco Bell on the way there (because Levi's favorite food in the world is tacos!). Next up was torturing the adults at Jump Street (that place is made for YOUNG people!) Truth be told, we had a ton of fun playing dodge ball and watching Levi try his hand at "bull riding". Usually we conclude our half birthday celebrations with some kind of sweets. Levi doesn't have much of a sweet tooth, but he loves pomegranates ~ so he delighted himself in one before we headed home. Fun time with a fun young man!

Another school year has begun!

Another school year is upon us and (somehow!) this year my YOUNGEST child is officially a BIG kindergarten girl! We won't even think about the fact that her sister is in SEVENTH grade already! Oh my! Anna loves school and practically lives to do crafts and art projects, so she is a happy girl at the arrival of a new school year! All of the kids love our weekly enrichment program and have some really dear friends (whom they've shared the past 5+ years with at enrichment)~ so the excitement is unanimous as they anticipate what this school year holds.

Break away from the peloton!

I should tell you that we aren't your typical sports fans (there's a good chance our children couldn't even tell you what ESPN stands for!) We do, however, LOVE watching the Olympics and the Super Bowl (mostly for the commercials and the snacks!), occasionally the World Series and a football game here and there. We aren't against sports, but they don't generally tend to consume us. HOWEVER, we are huge fans of the Tour de France ~ mostly because Kevin is a big fan of cycling and he has influenced us!

The world comes to a (near) screeching halt for three weeks each summer during the Tour. There are nightly episodes of snuggling together and following along to see who is going to win the sought after yellow jersey; how the Schleck brothers, Cadel Evans, Alberto Contador, Levi Leipheimer, George Hincapie and Tom Danielson are going to fare. We cringe at the crashes and admire the stamina, training, discipline and endurance involved in professional cycling. I've already made note of the fact that the start of the Tour next year coincides with our family holiday (which is always June 30th)~ so, we may have some scheduling challenges!

Needless to say, we were pretty excited when we learned that Colorado was going to be hosting the 2011 USA Pro Cycling Challenge, right in our own backyard (so to speak!). We had hoped to be among those crazed fans who followed along all week long, camping at the side of the road during the mountain stages, cameras and cowbells in hand!

That part of our plan didn't work out, but we did enjoy 'making a day' of the Golden to Denver stage. We camped out in the park for the morning and enjoyed being among the hoards of fans who gathered together for the excitement of the final stage! We were close enough that we could almost reach out and touch the finish line. Riders came zipping past within inches of our noses!, going so fast that we couldn't even tell who it was we were cheering for (there are advantages to watching these things on television!)

Working together . . .

Okay, I'll just say it now! . . . I have a bit of a soapbox about work. I think it's good. No, I think it's very good! I think working together as a family is even better! I am convinced that one of the most important things that you can do for your children (while they are young) is teach them that hard work is a good thing. It was, in fact, one of the first things that God designed us to do.

I am not someone who thinks that children need to be paid for every chore they do. Work has it's own rewards . . . and they are worth far more than any amount of money.

Okay, I'll stop now! =)

Samuel is six and a half!

By now you probably know (and might just be sick of hearing about . . . ) our half birthday tradition, rated by our kids as the hands down favorite out of all of our goofy traditions! We enjoyed a special time yesterday with our awesome 6 1/2 year old, Samuel! He has been telling us for weeks that he wanted to go to Waffle House on his half birthday (though we aren't entirely sure why!). So, the fun began with a waffle drowned in syrup, an egg and some bacon (and, of course, chocolate milk!). Next, we discovered a school near our house that has an awesome playground. It is set up as more of an obstacle course than your typical playground, so it was perfect (especially considering the current "American Ninja Warrior" craze at our house!) Following Levi's lead from last year, our next stop was the Porsche dealership where we got a quick look at some "fast cars". The salesmen made Samuel's day when they offered him a huge car poster! Next stop was Jungle Quest where our timid little guy surprised us a bit. He absolutely LOVED the zip line! He did a great job on everything he tried there and was the perfect size for all of it. We rounded out our special time with a stop at Cold Stone Creamery (Samuel has decided they have the BEST ice cream in the world!) Fun, fun times with a sweet little guy. I tried not to think about him being "half way to 13"!

Summer Fun at Elitch's

Every summer we get to enjoy a day at the local amusement park provided largely by our library (the kids each earn a free ticket through the summer reading program). Having a big amusement park right in Denver is a mixed blessing. They make their season passes very affordable and several of our friends/family members have them. Thus far, we've been thankful that we don't. Our kids actually enjoy having that day each summer to look forward to and feel like it wouldn't be as special or fun if we went there all the time. It's a bit like too many french fries on a road trip . . . just when you thought you'd never NOT like the thought of french fries, it happens! I'm so thankful that our kids really "get" that. So, without further adieu (or getting on a soapbox about "too much of a good thing"), here are some of our highlights!