Colorado Part 1 - Lake Dillon

We're back from our wonderful week in Dillon, Colorado (followed by a quick weekend trip to Arlington). It was a great week! The weather couldn't have been better and it was so fun to spend some time with a couple of my sisters (I wish all the family could have been there). It's going to take me several days to catch up to real life here, so my posts about our trip will come in bits and pieces! (Many of you have probably already seen most of these pictures on Facebook, but I wanted to post here too because this is more of my family journal.)

We stayed for the week at my parent's time-share condo near Lake Dillon. It's so nice to have more room than a hotel and a full kitchen so you don't have to eat out every meal.

And one of the best things about the condo is it's just a short walk away from beautiful Lake Dillon!

Of course it doesn't take the girls long to see how cold the water is (no matter how many times we told them we didn't want them getting all wet).

Even McKay joined in the wading fun.

Here is my cute sister Amy and her little girl Emma:

And I even managed to get on the other side of the camera for a change!

Stay tuned for more...

On the Road Again

I've been meaning to post all week now, but obviously haven't gotten around to it yet. We're busy trying to get ready to leave in the morning for our week-long vacation in Dillon, Colorado. My parents are letting us use their timeshare condo there, and two of my sisters will be joining us. We can't wait!

We decided to take our truck so we can take our bikes and enjoy the bike paths around Lake Dillon. We figure we surived a much longer drive crammed in our truck when we went to WY last fall, so this should be a piece of cake, right?

I might even try to post from Colorado -- we'll see how good the Internet access is!

4th of July Fireworks

We had a fairly quiet 4th of July celebration this year. We had invited our friends, the Roberts family, over for a BBQ dinner. They brought some sparklers and a few fireworks to share. We decided that since we had early church the next morning, it would be easier to get the kids all bathed and ready for bed before we started doing fireworks.

We all got back together after it was dark and kids were in their PJs. We started with a few sparklers on the back patio. I don't think any of our kids have done sparklers before, so they all thought it was pretty cool.

Then we went around to the driveway for the other fireworks. We also enjoyed watching the various displays around the city. Although they were pretty far away, we had a decent view of some of the bigger shows.

The kids were all pretty impressed with the small fireworks we set off in the driveway. It doesn't take much to elicit lots of "oohs" and "aahs"!

Brian had wanted to drive down to watch the big city display this year, but we didn't make it. (That was partly my fault because I was just as happy to stay home.) We'll make another effort next year!

Swimming 101

We finished up our first session of swimming lessons last week. All four kids took lessons and the girls are signed up for another two-week session after our vacation in a few weeks. (I told McKay he only had to take one round this year.)

We recognized a couple of teachers from last year and the kids all seemed to have a good experience. McKay was especially excited when it turned out he was the only kid in his class level, so he got the teacher all to himself.

Here are a few (okay, more than a few!) shots from lessons:

Keepin' It In the Family

McKay is very excited that he gets to start in band next year in 6th grade. Before school ended, he was able to meet with the band teacher and "test" to see which instrument(s) he would be most likely to do well with. He ended up choosing the trombone.

McKay's Great-Grandpa A. played the trombone until he was in his 80's. McKay's Grandpa G. (my dad) plays the trombone. McKay also has an uncle (my brother) and a cousin (my sister's son) who play the trombone.

My dad brought his old trombone with him on his last visit for McKay to practice with over the summer (I think he told McKay he's had it since 1957). McKay also got a beginner's book complete with a CD to play along with.

He is really enjoying it so far! And he found a great place to practice!

Gotta love the view (and I'll admit Mom enjoys hearing the practicing through the thick windows)! We'll wait a few months before sharing the video clips. :-)

Fire Engine Hose + Kids = Wet Fun!

This month as part of our local library's Summer Reading program, they have a special event each Monday. Last week, it was water fun time courtesy of the fire department. We almost didn't go (because we had already been to swim lessons that morning), but decided to check it out at the last minute. I was surprised by the number of people there -- I don't think I have ever seen so many kids at one of the library programs!

We met several friends there -- here are McKay and friends Ben and Jake while they wait for the firemen to do their introduction and show the kids a firefighter's clothing and equipment.

Then they hooked up the hose and sprayed away! After a while the kids were getting muddy as well as wet!

While we didn't put swimsuits on, at least I remembered to bring a couple of towels. Because the kids got drenched! And they seemed to have a great time in the process (even Hannah, who did NOT want to come and was absolutely NOT going to get wet!)

You gotta love cooling off in the hot summer!

Three Things

Three random shots from the last few days:

1. Brian's shirt that caught on fire from sparks while he was grinding steel for the windmill. (And to think he actually put it in the laundry like washing it is going to help it look better!)

2. McKay claims this is one of the most comfortable positions for reading. I'm not so sure I would agree...

3. Can you tell we stayed at the pool after swim lessons on Friday? And can you tell who wore her swim goggles? (And can you tell who didn't do a very good job with sunscreen on cheeks?)

Discover

I showed you the tower Hannah worked on during our visit to the Discovery Center last weekend. But there is so much more to the Discovery Center than building towers. We love to go and see what new "stuff" they have out to play with. They just opened a new exhibit called "Tinkering" and it is awesome! So much fun stuff to explore and learn out.

There are pulleys...

and sailboats (yes those are big fans blowing)...

circuits...

and sand designs...

build-your-own pinball...

and launch paper airplains...

electrolysis (you should hear the POP it makes!)...

and little mechanical "wind-up" things...

We love the stuff that's always there, too, like the blocks and the giant bubbles:

the "little kid" play area:

And we even went over to the side with the permanent Birds of Prey exhibit (plus a human body exhibit):

We ended our morning with a "Wonders of the Universe" film in the domed space theater.

So much fun to discover!

Building a Tower

Last Saturday morning it was raining (yay! we need it!) so we decided to take everyone to our local Discovery Center. My dad and nephew Ethan were here visiting at the time. I have lots of pictures because there are so many things to discover and play with, but for now I thought I'd share what Hannah spent a good part of her time doing this visit:

Off to a good start...


She had some helpers along the way:

And finally had to stop when it was time to go watch the film in the space theater.

She was very proud of her tower!