I'm a dork sometimes...

I never thought purses were cool when I was in junior high and high school. Not really even in college. But then I got a diaper bag and realized that they're useful... though still not cool. Until now, now I have a mom purse. Not a diaper bag but an actual fashionable purse, with little things in all the pockets :)

Lydia has made me girly, and now I like little lotions and lipstick in my bag, and gum, because moms always have gum... right?

So I grabbed sample lotions at the doctor the other day and stuck them in my cool purse. While I was waiting for a train the other day I grabbed one of the little bottles and squeezed some into my hand. Right at that moment I realized that the train was done and I'd have to rub this in quick, and then I saw that this little bottle was trial size shampoo!!!! Yup, I had squirted a generous amount of shampoo into my hand. Such a dork! Luckily I have some baby wipes in my cool purse still :)

first day of school

We are the proud parents of a fairmount firebird :) Alex is now officially in Kindergarten, so exciting!

The only tears were from Lydia because she couldn't ride the bus too. Although Dave almost cried :)
He picked out the biggest backpack he could find, maybe to haul Lydia along one day :) It's full of his supplies so it was pretty heavy too!
I'm so excited for this next step in his life. He got on the bus without looking back and went right to the back, probably to sit with the 6th grade girl that waited at the stop with us. He's no fool :)

summer summer summertime

I'm a theme song kind of gal. Whatever word you can think of, I can usually think of two songs that sing about it. There are about 800 songs with the "summer" theme. We found by a really extensive online survey, that "Summertime" by Will Smith was the ultimate summer song :)

We had another zoo marathon on friday. Here are the boys studying the map for the most efficient course :) It turns out you can see the zoo in less than 6 hours! (They might not be all THAT efficient :)

We went to Lakeside. Even though half of the rides are broken, the kids had a blast. We started out on the easy circle rides, then they rode this kiddie coaster (sidenote, Lydia thought that when we said "kiddie" rides, we meant that kittens were on all the rides.... such a disappointment!) They were all smiles until the first hill, the next time we saw their faces they were scared to death! I wish I had video :)
Alex's first trophy, from swim team. He believes it's pure gold :)
An finally, I went to a baby shower with a farm theme. This was the cake! Her sister-in-law made it... first one ever! So, Michelle & Melissa, where's my themed cake?
We have loved summer this year, especially since we put it to music :)

Camping

My parents own some land up in the mountains. There is nothing but nature on it (and a small fire pit). This weekend we invited some families to come up and camp with us. It was a blast!

We didn't bring swimsuits... Lydia didn't seem to mind :) One of the families we came with really likes to boat, and we had so much fun paddling around in a canoe and getting REALLY sunburnt
That's a postcard, right? :)
Here are most of the kids, besides Lydia. It was so much fun to go with other families... our kids were overloaded with the amount of entertainment
Thanks for coming everyone! Hopefully we can do this again.

bucket list...

So, I have a bucket list :) Here it is..

1. Scuba dive in great barrier reef

2. See Bare Naked Ladies in concert at red rocks (why them, and why there is a long story)

I can officially check off #2! We went last night. Don't they look awesome :)

I love this place, isn't it beautiful? Isn't he handsome :)

This was the only thing they apparently sell here (besides vodka spiked lemonade) Yes, that's hemp ice cream, they did give out free samples (no I didn't try)
The concert was great, they made up silly songs about red rocks and "the girl with the dragon tattoo". Which was great. When they came out a guy next to me said ,"they're guys????" That was funny...

Also, we had a group of swingers in front of us (not the dancers, the cheating married people that don't call it cheating) It was hard to watch all that free love going on. But, all in all, it was a blast. Totally fulfilled my wish :)

In other news, Alex competed in his first swim meet on saturday. I guess you have to have your race written on your arm in permanent marker for it to be official. Alex totally beat the one other kid in his heat that had to use the wall. But Alex didn't touch at all! We were so proud :)

camping

We went camping all in hopes to see Big Horn sheep, "wild" big horn sheep (the zoo doesn't count). We did not find a single sheep, but we saw a whole bunch of other things :)

A crazy mom with her freezing children who all forgot coats (it was 100 degrees in denver, but it's colder at the top of the mountains...)

Lots and lots of deer
even more elk
only a few chipmunks
a two truly wild kids
We also saw coyotes, but couldn't snap a shot. Maybe next time the sheep will come :)

Father's day

Our computer was broken, twice, but now it's up and running! YEA! I noticed this picture when I was reloading photos, and wanted to post about it before I forgot. We got Alex a cute little piggy bank from DC

He put all his money in it the first day, until we realized that only dimes came out. So we smashed it :) Alex is still looking for a replacement. Who makes a piggy bank where only dimes come out????
I was at girls camp this week, so Dave took charge. He's a good dad, ever since he became one. I love that he puts us first, and actually listens to my opinions. I love this guy!
The top one is Lydia, the bottom is Alex. I had just gone through my first seizures with Alex, so that's why he looks so pale, it's not the lighting, it's him :) Poor guy
He was treated to breakfast in bed, the kids had to join him. They're all excited about bacon (something that generally does not happen in our home :)
Happy Father's day to all!

Swim team!

Welcome summer! It's been all busy fun so far, and it's only june :) I had to start with a picture of my Iris bed. I only got 1 measly flower last year, and this year it looks like there's too many! I love that :)

I signed Alex up for swim team. The Rozeski kids (Jaxen, Madeline, and Elijah) do it and Alex begged to be signed up too. I hesitated, because Alex can't actually swim. But, why let that stop him :) So, every morning we are at the pool. Here's Ms. Lydia (don't judge me with the sugar cereal in a bag, she was sick and slept in...)
Are here's our swimmer! He's already improved a ton, and I'm so excited that he could actually swim a 25 by the end of the year! If he accomplishes that, he'll be a better swimmer than me...
Their team name is piranhas, doesn't he look dangerous :)

Washington DC

I couldn't fit all the pictures in one post... so look at the next post below for more info :)

3D Imax...
Lincoln Memorial, Lydia had just gotten her 2nd wind :)
White House, I wish we could've gotten closer.... darn security.
The US Capitol, while it's pouring rain. It's fun to walk in the rain when you're from Colorado... because we never get that chance!

VACATION!!!

We just got back from a week long trip to DC. My sister and her family lives there, working for the government (that's all I can say :) And we had SO much fun!

Gary (Dave's dad) was able to come up to see us from Charlotte, NC. He toured with us a little, and treated us to delicious food, it was great to see him.
We played a lot with my sister's family. Her kids are the exact ages of my kids, and they were best friends right away :)
Here's Nikki, she's 8 months pregnant and still looks fantastic. She also toured with us, which completely surprised me. I didn't think she'd be up for it.
And here's Nathan reading to the kids, Sonya, Simone, Alex, and Lydia. Thank you Arps for letting us save money and stay with you guys. And thanks for the automatic play dates every night too :) We had a blast!

zoo marathon

First, happy mother's day to all you moms out there! I've been really stressed out lately and decided to push my LONG to do list to the side and go to the zoo all day yesterday! :) A late mother's day present to myself. My parents went with us, and Elijah, my nephew. Enjoy the pictures :)

What's better than being tired after a long day of fun? Not much.

Random

Cleaning out the cameras.... Dave teaching Alex how to meditate :)

The kids always jump and dance to music on our bed in the morning. This day they decided to try ballroom dance :) Alex even would spin Lydia
After an especially errand filled day, Lydia's head is actually resting on Al's :)
And last, the kids have a old digital camera all to themselves. I rarely check the pictures because they're usually blurry close ups of the computer and cookies :) But these were rare gems I had to share :)

Why they chose to take pictures of their bums? Don't know, what's worse, I don't remember them doing this. Maybe I need to get off the computer :)

festival, firemen, pluto

Kite festival 2010 didn't disappoint. The weather was nice, Dave got sunburnt, and the kids actually flew kites on their own! Here's Lydia with her tinkerbell kite (green)

Alex and his transformers kite (big black one in the corner) Al thinks he's pretty cool right here...
Dave and his crazy kite from China. (his grandparents gave as a souvenir when they went there maybe 20 years ago...) It was too hard to fly
I actually got the kite the highest, and Dave took tons of pictures of my victory. Unfortunately, Dave only took pictures of me and not of the kite, so I still have no proof...darn Dave and his zoom fetish.

We also went to the children's museum, and I finally remembered my camera...but not a new battery. I did manage to get Alex posing like the manly firefighter he is :)
And Lydia's new "camera smile" I've been told that this too shall pass...
We also were given some old decorations for Alex's room from a friend with grown kids. One set is the planets, and of course Pluto was included. I didn't tape up Pluto onto Al's wall because I didn't want him to get confused, but he saw the planet in the trash this morning and started crying. I told him that the scientists decided it wasn't a planet anymore, and he got mad. I told him I felt the same way, and then Dave and I made up all these really good reasons for why it wasn't a planet (we really don't have any idea).

So, this afternoon, he asked me to take Pluto down and throw it away. I asked him why and he said, "it's not really a planet". I guess he just had to make peace with it in his own way :)