Steamboat Springs

My sister, Andrea, gave me a weekend in her timeshare for a birthday present last year. Well, we never got the chance to use it, so we asked her if we could use it this year and of course she said yes. She is able to go to condos all over the world. We decided to go to Steamboat Springs. It was so nice to get away. I am still getting used to staying at home and although I love it, I need to have an adventure every now and then and this was perfect. We all had a great time. Thanks Andi!

Headsets are a great idea for the DVD player. This way the kids could watch Star Wars the Clone Wars and Enchanted multiple times while Mike and I jammed out to ABBA the entire four hour drive. We got to Steamboat on Wednesday and went swimming and relaxed that evening. The next day, we went to Fish Creek Falls Trail for a hike. Tommy looked at the map and chose the toughest trail. We did all of the trails but we were proud of him for wanting a challenge. We were able to see the falls from the top and then at the base where the kids were able to wade. We did Tommy's tough trail last. It was quite steep and difficult. Both of the kids did great though. They always impress us on these hikes. If we had continued on the trail, it would have been a five mile hike to Long Lake, which Tommy probably could have done... but it was time for lunch.

It was an amazing day. The views were unbelievable. We all really enjoyed it. On Friday, we checked out of our lovely condo and went to the park to play. There is a great trail right along the river and this cute park with the biggest slide I have ever seen at a park.

First Day of School

Today was Tommy's first day of school. He is in preschool this year. Although technically he could have started school this year, his birthday was right at the cutoff. I spoke to many moms and teachers and Mike and I decided to wait until next year to start him in kindergarten. It was a really hard decision because he was ready in so many ways but everyone I spoke to said it is better to wait, especially with boys. I wasn't sure how to explain it to Tommy because we had already talked about kindergarten with him after he finished preschool last year and before we had made our decision. At first, I tried to just avoid it. I just tried to get him excited about preschool. Right before he started though, he said, "I did preschool last year, I'm in kindergarten now." So I decided to just be honest. I told him that he was ready for kindergarten but he would be the very youngest in his class. I told him he could start if he wanted but asked him if he would rather be one of the older kids. He said he would rather be older. He seemed satisfied with that explanation. He has the same teacher as last year and most of the same kids. He loves his teacher and friends and I know we made the right choice.

The Denver Aquarium

The kids and I went to the Denver Aquarium today. It was actually very fun. I was a little nervous to take them alone, but they were great. They both liked looking at the different fish that were there. Katie seemed a little scared a few times. Not of the sharks though, she was fine with the sharks. The first part of the exhibit is like walking through a cave and there some of the walls have carvings on them. Tommy told me that one was a secret passageway. He also said we needed to hurry because a giant bolder was chasing us. He likes Indiana Jones and he has a great imagination. When other people were admiring the same fish we were, Tommy said, "they like our fish, don't they." We got to pet this guy. He seemed to like it. Who knew a sea creature could be so cuddly?

The kids got to poke their heads up this bubble and look around at the fish.
Tommy's favorite fish

Petting starfish

The cast of Finding Nemo

Fun Day!!

Family Day

As a reservist, I am assigned to the 302 Airlift Wing. Every year, we have a family day during the August Unit Training Assembly. Mike was able to go with us last year, but he was on a trip this year. I considered not even going but my co-worker, Tnle, convinced me to go and I'm really glad she did. We had a great time. We got to my office at 7:00 AM because I had a meeting. The kids played under the desk with Tnle's kids during our meeting.The wing put together a really cool event just for the kids. They had one of the hangars set up with several different stations to teach the children about the different aspects of being a member of the Air Force. They got to look at different types of equipment, like these radios. They were able to go on the C-130 and look around. In addition to moving people and equipment all over the world, the unit has a very unique fire-fighting mission. Future Herc pilot
Our Wing commander, Col Muscatell, spent about two hours, (in a really hot hangar) shaking hands with every child who came to this event (about 175). He gave everyone a wing coin. The kids learned to receive the coin in military tradition by taking the coin in a handshake and then saluting the commander. He is a great leader and it really impressed me that he truly wanted to thank the family members of the unit for supporting their reservists.
At first, Katie was scared and didn't want to go meet the commander. When she saw Tommy's coin though, she changed her mind. I was really proud of them both. I realized kids aren't as intimidated by rank as we are. Later, Katie said, "that guy" gave me this coin. I was glad she wasn't afraid of him. She was still afraid of McGruff the crime dog though.

The local Colorado Springs Explorers fingerprinted the kids. Tommy apparently thought he was getting booked into jail. Tommy liked the gas mask. I knew he would, because it would remind him of Darth Vader.Katie was maxed out on fun by the end of the tour.We then headed to the base park for a picnic. Tommy stayed close by his new friends and he and Katie ran all around and tried every booth there. I was glad I was able to relax and talk to some new people and not worry about the kids.


The Mighty Herc fly-by. We will always love this airplane. Mike and I both miss it.