October snow!

We had our first big snow in October this year . . . the kids had fun sledding, snow boarding, eating cinnamon rolls, drinking hot chocolate and making snow ice cream (this was the first time we tried to make snow ice cream ~ it earned rave reviews from the critics!)

Anna's half birthday (a little bit early)

Anna's 'half birthday' always falls right around Thanksgiving and just before our anniversary. This year we wanted to avoid feeling like we were squeezing it in during the holiday season . . . so, we celebrated early!

Anna had been talking for weeks about wanting to go ride a horse or a pony. She also regularly tells us that she wants to see various animals (zebras, giraffes, monkeys, etc) ~ not your run of the mill suburban pet store animals . . . clearly zoo material! And (drum roll please!) the day we had set aside for our special time with her happened to also be a ‘free day’ at the Denver Zoo =)

We wrapped up our time with some ice cream and a quick stop at Chuck-E-Cheese (mostly because we had some extra tokens). Fun, fun, fun with a sweet, sweet little girl!

Celebrating Daniel's 9th bday

Daniel turned nine a week before Halloween. Nearly every birthday at our house starts off in the same way ~ everyone gathering around the kitchen table singing to the birthday child (or adult), "birthday donuts" for everyone, a picture with the "birthday bear" and a few gifts are opened.

One of Daniel's gifts this year was another set of marble tower pieces to add to his marble tower (he actually received the first marble tower on his 3rd birthday! ~ see the sweet, chubby faced photo below!) He's been spending lots of time lately enjoying coming up with new configurations for it and racing his marbles down it.

We took the day off of school, spent a lazy morning playing and then went and helped with/visited the goats in the afternoon. After we returned home, we had Daniel's all time favorite meal (tator tot casserole) for dinner and Anna helped make a big "cookie pizza" for dessert. The night before Daniel also had me take a picture of his "last dessert as an eight year old"! (hence the photo below of him enjoying some ice cream . . . silly boy!)

Almost a week later, we also enjoyed a party with some of our favorite friends. Fun times!

Fun with some four legged friends!

During a camping trip with extended family this summer, Anna fell in love. The object of her affection was not a little boy, but rather . . . a goat! "Snickerdoodle" was his name and every night after we returned back home she told me how much she missed him. Several weeks later we were camping at the same spot and were able to visit him again. During that camping trip, Emily fell in love . . . with several of Snickerdoodle's friends! (her favorite is named Gypsy).

It was then that we officially became involved with a wonderful goat rescue program in Larkspur. There are 24 goats on site (and I'm still amazed at how quickly Emily learned nearly every single one of their names and was immediately able to tell them apart!) Fortunately, our new friends live about 10 miles from our house and we've been able to visit them periodically. Our desire is to help out with the goats as a family in various ways (as needed). You can learn more about them at Jellystone of Larkspur's website (www.castlerockrvpark.com)

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!)