August 2009

It was IBM day at Elitch Gardens today, so we packed up the van and drove to Denver along with Nona and PaPa John.

It was nice to have the whole park to such a small group of visitors. There were no lines and everyone had a great time.

Tracy on the carousel

PaPa John and Brielle riding the carousel

Drew on his high horse
(I had to.)

Nona with Lexi (surprise, surprise) on the carousel

Jamie was really excited to meet Bob the Builder

Mommy and her Girls on the Ferris Wheel

One last ride on the carousel
(we did a lot in addition to the carousel....promise!)

Rounding out a very busy week was a chance to relax (a bit) in the park.

We loaded up the clan and headed South to Ken Caryl Ranch to meet a lot of extended family for lunch and some time to play.

It was a great time, we even stopped the Ice Cream Truck, and we all wish we did this type of thing more often.

Drew conquering the Playground

Brie and her Juicy Juice

Lexi enjoying her Pepsi

Drew and his Ice Cream

Cousins Hailey and Wyatt enjoying their cold treats

(Just About) everyone was there

Drew and Hailey playing some basketball

Lexity loves her Doritos

As a special surprise for Drew's first day of school, Mommy took Drew to the Candlelight Dinner Theatre to see the Wizard of Oz for the second time.

Drew absolutely LOVES his Mommy-Drew dates, and he gets really excited to dress up for them (even when they just go to the movies).

What could be better than your favorite boy and your favorite story?

All dressed up in our front yard

Digging into dinner

Enjoying dessert with a light-up beverage adding just a touch of ambiance

Today was the first day of Drew's second year of preschool.

He was a bit apprehensive to go, but it was nothing like the terror he experienced on his actual first day of school one year ago.

Andrew immediately recognized a couple of classmates from last year, and he was soon very comfortable.

The classroom is different this year, but he didn't seem to mind the change at all, especially since Mommy has tried her best to prepare him for the change.

We can't believe our little boy is in his second year of school, but we are comforted a bit that it is still just preschool. How many years can we delay starting him in kindergarten without having to go to jail?

We want to hold on to him forever.

Waiting for the teacher to open the door

Getting settled in with some classmates

Happy to start preschool again

The kids and Tracy headed down to Aurora today with Nona to go swimming with Auntie Sarah.

Our kids are always little fish when it comes to swimming, and they had a bunch of fun today.

Alexia in the water

Brielle's signature smile

You know Andrew is having fun when you get a real smile for the camera

After our cookie-making adventures, we packed up the family for the short drive to Anderson Farms.

The kids had a blast, there was a lot of good food, and we were all tired by the end.

The reason we are here

Daddy with Drew and Lexi

Mommy and Brie enjoying some food

Jamie decided to make some homemade cookies with the kids today to take to the Twins Club outing at Anderson Farms.

This was both fun and adventurous.

Not knowing how big the cookies were supposed to be, we ended up with about one-fourth of the number that the recipe was intended to yield.

Irrespective of the resulting size, they were darn tasty and were gobbled up on the farm.

Rolling the cookies

Having lots of cookie-making fun

It's not very often that we get to carry our sleeping boy up to bed anymore.

In fact, it is not very possible for Tracy anymore.

When it happens it is as amazing as ever, and tonight we just had to snap a picture or two because we know all too well that these moments are quickly becoming only memories.

Treasure These Moments

Our little baby boy

Today, on nothing more than a whim, we decided to pack up the family and walk to the Rough and Ready park for a cookout.

Of course, there is always something you forget. Normally you make do, but when you forget the matches there are not too many options.

Jamie assured Tracy that everything was packed, so it was his duty to run (literally) back home to get them.

While Jamie was running, Tracy took the kids over to the playground, and they had a blast as usual.

The meal was quite good, if uneventful.

After dinner, it was time to liberally apply some bug spray and head over to the pond for some good old crawdad fishing.

The kids always love crawdad fishing, and tonight was no exception.

Ready to go!

Drew Swinging

Brie on the Frog

Fishing Fun

The kids love this park

Toby got to come with us too

Alexia as cute as ever

Tracy gave the kids yet another experience that Jamie never would venture into....painting!

Despite the obvious and likely possibility of having to clean up a monumental mess, Tracy decided the kids should paint anyway.

They sure have a great Mommy and should be very happy that they do. They sure had fun painting today.

Brielle painting hard

Lexi hard at work

Drew had a lot of fun

Painting Fun

Tracy took the kids to the Boulder County Fair today.

It was a good outing, capped off by meeting Daddy for lunch at Deli Cioso. Meeting Daddy was a surprise for the kids, and Drew was very excited and happy, giving us a chance to capture his real smile in some pictures, not just his picture smile.

Kids meeting some animals

Our Girls

Drew happy to see Daddy at lunch

Today was the birthday party for Drew's friend Camden.

It was an outdoor pool party, and it was a lot of fun.

Lots of kids in the pool

Lexi & Brie eating