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.

A visit to family and friends

Mike's Uncle Bill and Aunt Mary celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in Rexburg Idaho and we didn't want to miss it. We flew into Salt Lake and drove with Mike's mom to Idaho for the festivities. My sister Kathy was kind enough to loan us her minivan (Mormon assault vehicle) for the trip. Since the kids fly so often, they are always very well behaved on the plane. We are often complimented on our "well behaved" children. We have yet to get any such compliments in a restaurant.

Waiting for the luggage.

We spent the night with Bill and Mary in Idaho Falls and then headed to Rexburg the next day. The kids adore Uncle Bill and Aunt Mary. They especially loved their tractor rides. I was a little nervous when it was Katie's turn because I have seen her drive a few race cars at the arcade and it is terrifying. She drove it pretty well though and not just because Bill had his hand on the wheel the whole time.

Bill and Mary's children had rented a beautiful lodge for the anniversary party. It was the perfect setting. Bill loves to hunt and their were elk heads on every wall. It really was nice. It was very warm and cozy like you were in a home but it was big enough for everyone. Even with kids and a huge dog running around, (and Mike threatening to just dig in because he couldn't wait any longer) the cake survived. It tasted just as good as it looked. Here's the happy couple. Wow, 50 years! The kids made a terrific slide show of their lives together. Mike's cousin Shae is an amazing singer and she played the guitar and sang a few songs which fit the occasion perfectly. I was so impressed. All of the grandchildren shared their favorite memories of their grandparents. What a wonderful life they have built together and what wonderful people they have to show for their love.Mike's cousin Matt and his wife Laura have a cute little boy named Christian and this adorable little baby named Aubry. Here she is with her grandma Sue.

We told Tommy their would be a little boy for him to play with at the lodge. Thankfully, Christian delivered. When they found this four-wheeler that belonged to the lodge, they told us they were going to go for a ride. I thought that sounded really safe and reasonable. I told them they should probably take Katie and Aubry though, just to be really safe.

St. Anthony Sand Dunes of Rexburg Idaho. These were so fun! We all had a blast playing on these hills. Mike kept running and jumping and I sat, burying myself for a while. I was really impressed at how many times the kids would run up the hill. It is actually quite tiring in that soft sand.

Misty used to belong to Mike's Aunt Carol. She passed away a year and a half ago so Bill and Mary took Misty in. She herds Bill's cats now. The kids loved to play with her. We always wondered who would get worn out first. I decided they are all tireless and I'm glad they had each other.

We were all sad when it was time to go.

We loved spending time with the family and our amazing view of the Grand Tetons.

Then we went to Logan, Utah to visit my friends from college, Chad and Rachel and their family. We walked into their home and Chad's son Logan saw Tommy's Lego Starwars shirt and they were immediately friends. They got out the light sabers and Aniken and Darth Vader costumes and they were off. Carli and Emmali eventually helped Katie warm up as well. She sometimes waits until it's time to leave before she realizes how much fun she could be having. Their baby, Ryan is so cute and has more hair than Tommy and Katie currently have. We really enjoyed visiting with them all and found it very hard to leave.

I don't know why but for the longest time, I have wanted to drive a bobcat. Well, Chad owns one and so you can see the excitement on my face when he let me drive it. He even let me pick up rocks and move them around.
Mike, of course, had to show me up. He looked like a pro...he's so competitive!
Finally, we spent some time with my family. We hadn't planned on staying in town very long but the planes were pretty full on the day Mike had to leave for Chicago so the kids and I just stayed with my mom. I'm glad we did because I got to visit with more friends.

Katie tucked in her Little Einsteins and Ariel when it was time for bed. She is very cute. I like listening to her talk to her toys when she doesn't know I'm listening. It is very sweet. She was pulling a yo-yo around the other day and told me it was her pet. I asked her what her pet's name was. Usually her names lack a little creativity. If it is a stuffed bunny, it's name is...bunny and the same always goes for cats, dogs, etc. So I was pretty curious to see what the pet yo-yo's name would be. She said, "Sparky". The next day at breakfast, she brought her pet to the table and tied him to her chair. She said, "Sparky is wild". I am still amazed she is only two.

Katie is playing better now with my sister's son Stockton. She used to try to beat him up because he was the only person smaller than her. He's catching up now, so she has learned to be a little nicer.
Stockton and Jaxson are dunking their mom. She can use this picture to blackmail them later.
It was so nice to be with family and we had a great time. As soon as we got home though, Katie asked if we could go to Grandma's house.

I fixed the comments so you don't have to have a google account to post a comment, so....