I decided to enroll the boys in their first ever summer camp! There are lots of choices and most are way too expensive to even consider, but I ended up choosing a week long camp at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo! I love our zoo. It's very interactive, you can see the animals up close and it's nestled in the mountains.
And there were some pictures from the camp counselors!
They were able to have several animal interactions every day, do zoo hikes, play fun games, earn prizes and privileges like having their face painted, ride the carousel, play at the playground and ride the sky ride. I think they had fun and I was able to get some things done around the house. Lots of organizing and de-cluttering has happened since summer began! Yay!
Before and After of the boy's art corner: (thanks IKEA!)
They'd outgrown that teeny tiny table and bookshelf
They love it!
Garage clean-up including moving our shoes from the laundry room to the garage!
Dan built some new shelves in the garage and we cleaned her up real good!
We really have no good landing place for shoes and coats so I tried buckets for each family member, but that didn't work very well either. Let's see if our new solution works this time!
I've been trying to document our summer fun! There were several places I wanted to go this summer with the boys. Up in Woodland Park is the Dinosaur Resource Center. I had a buy one get one free coupon so we made the trip up!
I will say that it isn't very big, and there isn't a ton to do, but Cade has hit a huge dinosaur phase and he enjoyed reading and learning what there was to learn. Then, of course, they were enthralled with the gift shop which was nearly as big as the museum. Ugh!
In the hands on area they created their own species of dinosaur
cade was excited to see a godzilla poster there :)
Megaladon!
After the museum we hit a McD's drive through and went to this fun wood playground just up the street from the McD's. Fun day!! :)
Summer is Dan's busy season. I hardly see him and the kids are home all day. So when Dan and our friends the Bennetts had a free weekend we jumped at the chance for a fun getaway. At that point it had been too cold and wet to camp so we rented a cabin up in Florissant, CO!
We loaded up our cars and pups and headed up into the mountains.
True to the weather we'd been having in the Springs, we were immediately met with rain and hail!
So the kids got to playing some games inside
When it cleared up we went out on the Bennett's 4 wheelers. I even drove one! :)
We cooked up some burgers and hot dogs and then enjoyed the hot tub!
The next day we visited the Florissant fossil beds. I thought it was a dinosaur fossil place, but it's actually petrified wood and other creatures that left their imprint on the rocks.
Here's Alex in front of one of the only known petrified redwood trees. Yup, there were redwood trees in Colorado way back when!
They also had a great activity tent with fun things for the kids to do, like make their own fossil, dig for fossils and search through shale and find imprints.
Then it was back to the cabin for more 4 wheeling, pizza eating, game playing, exploring, s'more making and hot tub swimming!
S'mores ended up being indoors since it started raining again and the wood was all wet anyways.
We're glad to have such good friends. We had a great time and it was a great kick off to summer! Here's a link to the cabin with some more pics! http://www.reddoorvacationrentals.com/vacation-rental-home.asp?PageDataID=70380
Here's what wikipedia has to say about it: The Manitou Springs Incline, also known as the Manitou Incline or simply the Incline, is a popular hikingtrail rising above Manitou Springs, Colorado, near Colorado Springs. The trail is the remains of a former 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge[1]funicular railway whose tracks washed out during a rock slide in 1990. The Incline is famous for its sweeping views and steep grade, as steep as 68% in places,[2] making it a fitness challenge for locals in the Colorado Springs area. The incline gains over 2,000 feet (610 m) of elevation in less than one mile.
It definitely is a fitness challenge. See, I've lost 14 lbs since Christmas and I was finally feeling ready to tackle this beast. Let me tell you, it was hard! Up, up, up, up and up you go! Starts out at 6,600 feet in elevation and finishes near 9,000 feet!
Here's our before shot:
It took me a bit over an hour to get to the top. I think if I do it again, I have a better strategy to do it a little quicker, but I'm not sure I'll ever do it as fast as Dan's fastest time of 38 minutes. The world record for getting to the top is around 16 minutes. That's insane folks.
Here we are at the end :)
Yup, Carson even did the Incline! He was ready to go much faster than I did!
After a strenuous hike up (and up and up), I felt rewarded to take the 4 mile Barr trail down. It had spectacular views, and like I said, it was going down the whole time, so it was a treat.
I've really taken a liking to hiking. I've enjoyed the chances to go while the kids are at school and just be refreshed by the mountain air and the exercise for my body. I'll miss it as I go to work full-time next year at Mesa Ridge High School as their choir accompanist. Not sure how I'll keep in shape, but I am looking forward to this new chapter of my life!
A few months ago I saw a link on facebook saying that my high school band director, Chip Staley, was retiring at the end of the year. I couldn't believe it! He is the kind of teacher that you can never picture retiring. He has done so much, influenced so many, and never lost his zeal and energy for his job.
Also part of the link was an invitation to join other alumni for a performance at his last concert. My husband was the catalyst and said, "You should go!" and so I did a quick search for flight prices and to my shock there was a $54 flight each way. It was meant to be! With a little help from friends here getting my kids to and from school, from my mom being my airport driver, and my dad for picking me up and housing me, the trip was a success!
I hadn't been to Naperville in 5 years, so it was a little weird to be back. My dad had to work so I walked their dog Maggie around the neighborhood and got in the reminiscing mood. I met my friend Lauren at Panera and met her brand new baby daughter! Then the concert night began at 7 at my old high school, Neuqua.
I snagged selfies (click here for all the pics) with all my old friends and teachers and spent a night honoring Chip Staley. We had a rehearsal in the band room before the concert and it seemed like it all hit him at once what was really happening. There were 50+ alumni there to be a part of his last concert and it moved him to tears. Good thing I wasn't playing a wind instrument or I don't think I would've been able to play!
The concert was thrilling. I forget just how amazing our high school program is, they sounded like professionals, truly. It was great to play even just a few chime notes as we all made music together. Here's a video of the final song with the alumni.
After the concert we had more time to reconnect at Tommy Nevins and I was able to thank two of my favorite/most inspirational teachers. If it weren't for them I know I wouldn't be who I am today. Even those who haven't pursued music as a career have learned life lessons from these two. But for me personally, it was Nancy Plantinga who recognized talent in a little girl who was wandering aimlessly through the world. I had no idea I had anything of worth to share. It was Chip Staley who shaped me into a fine musician and taught me how to live and love everything music. It was through marching band and my time as a Drum Major that I recognized leadership skills in myself. All of these are vital to who I am! I will be forever grateful. What a great experience!
After a late night (which was after a very early morning), I was able to spend the day with my Dad, which is a rare opportunity. We had fun doing a little shopping, redecorating/crafting and enjoying a yummy lunch!
So glad I got to spend time with friends and family in a quick but memorable trip!
Easter was the day after Cade's birthday, and General Conference AND since we already had Kevin and Grandma Kathy here it was a fun little family holiday!
The boys got in the spirit earlier in the week by going to an Easter Egg Hunt on base. They came home with LOADS of candy, I mean, maybe even more than they got on Halloween. Too much, lol.
Look how full their buckets are!
Good thing we had already decided to keep the easter candy to a minimum around the house. The easter bunny brought them a chocolate bunny, some bubbles, new sunglasses and some cool kites!
The weather was perfect for some kite flying and I got some fun pictures.
By the way, I don't think it's been warm enough to wear shorts since then!
Easter is also a special time because Sally Deford, a prominent composer in the LDS community, puts on an Easter Cantata every year. These are spiritual cantatas that she has written and allows anyone to come and sing if they'll commit to practices starting in mid January. I've done it for the past two years, and this year Dan joined in the fun and even got to be the narrator! It was a neat experience. Mom and Kevin watched the performance and then headed back home after a fun weekend!
