A Special Lunch

Every once in a while there are students who make their way into your heart.  Mandy is one of them.  We connected on all things Asian.  She worked for me during the summers. She taught me. She volunteered for me.  She etched a small place in my heart. 

We got to have lunch the other day and it was such a treat.  She is growing up to be quite the young woman and I'm so proud of her.

Mommy/Daughter Date

Kailei and I escaped one evening and had a mommy/daughter date.  She got to choose what we did so we had spaghetti o's for dinner, went to the park, had a double-scoop of ice cream, and rented Tangled to watch on TV. She absolutely loved the day and naturally thought we should have more of them. I have to admit that I liked it too.  What a treat to have some one-on-one time with my girl.

The North Pole (or should I say "down pour")

My last official day of vacation so I decided I wanted to do something fun with the girls.  We couldn't decide and despite the fact that earlier in the day the cousins were busy, they changed their minds and decided to join us for our adventure down to the North Pole.  Now granted it was in the 90's here in Denver so a little mountain coolness was going to be welcome.  As we drove further south we got caught in a rainstorm.  That didn't stop us however.  It appeared to be past the North Pole so we continued on.  Got there and ran around for an hour before the clouds once again opened us on us.  It was a downpour.  We took shelter under a small building overhang but not really ideal.  It rained...and rained....  Tracie wanted her sweatshirt and we knew there was an umbrella in the car so Nic and Keara traveled through the downpour (not once, but twice) to get these items.  Needless to say they were soaked.  It was actually fun in a cold, and wet way.  Finally, the sun came our about an hour before the park closed so we made the best of it and enjoyed our time there.  Can't say it wasn't memorable.  :)

Us Time

While the girls were at Camp Walsh, Zeb and I managed to squeeze in a little R&R together.  We headed up to Morrison, had lunch, parked ourselves by a creek and read all afternoon.  I would have stayed their all night if it hadn't started to rain.  We sat it out in the car for a while.  I continued to read and Zeb took a nap.  Since it didn't appear it was letting up we headed into town and went to dinner and movie.  It was the perfect day UNTIL....

....we came home to a dog who had diarrhea and got it all over herself and the kennel and another dog who promptly went outside to throw up 3-4 times while she also tried painfully to go poop and caused her to bleed.  After Nala had a bath, the kennel got cleaned and Lea turned down dinner they both crashed.  Kodo was A-OK fortunately.  Gotta love the critters. :)

Camp Walsh

Sent the girls down to what we affectionately call "Camp Walsh" which means time with their grandparents.  Here is the report of what they've been up to. 

" Dear Bruce and Chris,  Just to let you know some of the things we have been doing.  We are doing swim lessons every day.  Keara goes at 9:00 and Kailei at l0:00.  They are doing really good.  Today Keara dived into the water at the deep end and swam the length of the pool.  Kailei can swim on her front for a little, then turn to her back.  Keara is the only girl in her class.  Monday afternoon we tie dyed Kailei's shirt.  She is happy the way it turned out.  A lady from here brought some beads that you put on a form, then we iron them.  Pretty neat, the girls have had a good time with them.  That evening we went to the park for awhile.  Yesterday afternoon we went to this store in town that does monogramming.  Keara picked out a horse and Kailei a fairy.  Looking forward to seeing the results.  Keara made some brownies and Kailei iced them.  Last night we went to this farm.  The girls held some baby chicks and climbed into their boat looking baby kitties, which they did not find.  Then Ruth took them for a ride in their semi.  Told them all about it.  They checked out the garden, looking for cucumbers.  This is Wednesday, they went to Mildred Walkers and did some work with the clay.  They won't get to bring home the finished product.  We will bring it when we come in Aug.  Thur. we are going to the Senior Center for lunch, then we are going to Johnson to the "Ole Store" they have an old fashioned fountain.  We may do the museum.  Friday we will be doing laundry.  The nursing home is having a cook out, we plan to go to that.  That's about our week.  See ya'    Grandpa and Grandma

MWCC at YMCA

Our traditional MWCC mother/daughter weekend was expanded this year to include the dads.  We also changed locations and tried the YMCA Camp at Estes Park.  Holy cow!  It was great!
There is so much to do up there, in such a beautiful location that we could not go wrong.  And to bring the dads along was genius because now the moms can escape for a little bonding time and so can the dads.  The weather was beautiful and I could not have enjoyed it more.  Here are some of the highlights...

Thursday: walked around Estes Park; park
Friday: played kickball; hike; tree art class; friendship bracelet class; hay ride and cookout
Saturday: Lake Sprague in Rocky Mtn. National Park hike and picnic; nature art class; animal detective class; arts and crafts center; park
Sunday: slides in Estes Park and then we headed home

Some of Keara's Poetry

Keara
Kind and helpful
Sibling of Kailei
Lover of dogs and horses
Who fears spiders and getting a bad grade
Who would like to see a dolphin and the ifal tower
Resident of Parker
Davison

************

There once was a dog
Who's friend was a hog
Who love to play
Together all day
In the misty fog

************

I'm from dog hair, TV and books
I'm from gardening, jumping and climbing
I'm from friends, neighbors and dogs
I'm from Mom, Dad, Kailei and Nala
I'm from tuna noodle, mac 'n cheese and salad
I'm from bike riding and basketball
I'm from "Live, Laugh, Love"
I'm from the secrets in my drawer.

Kailei with the Video Camera

Another 14er Conquest

Zeb is really into climbing mountains these days and while he wishes that he could do it more often he did manage to escape and conquer Quandary Peak today.  Here he is at the top.  The views are spectacular.

Family Day

Family Day snuck up on us this year so we were unable to make any big plans for the entire day.  I still wanted to make our time together special so I talked with Zeb and we decided to take the girls to Mt. Fuji (a local hibachi restaurant).  They ask to go all the time but it is quite expensive so once or twice a year is our max.  They of course were thrilled to be able to go and we were full in no time.

Since we finished dinner a little early we also took the girls to see The Zookeeper at the movies and so our Family Day turned out to be pretty great after all.

Jump Rope Camp

Keara attended a Jump Rope Camp on the 8th.  Who knew there was so much you can do with jump rope?  I know I didn't.  The lady who runs the camp is second in the nation so it is no joke.  Keara liked it but came home exhausted after jumping for four hours.  :)

Celebrating the Fourth

As is quickly becoming a tradition we started our July 4th celebration by participating in the neighborhood bike parade.  The kids enjoy decorating their bike and make a short loop around the park.  It was hot out but for some reason the heat just doesn't seem to stop these kids.  Our Stonegate pals the Wyman's and Lawrence's were also there and enjoyed the ice cream, face painting and jumpy castles after the parade. 

Not being on top of my game this year I didn't organize anything for the evening.  I thought about going out to Tracie's house but we kept playing phone tag and I just didn't want to show up without an invite.

That said, I also didn't want to be alone I called our friends the Trautman's and they happened to be free for an impromptu weenie roast.  Nothing fancy but we certainly enjoyed their company.

Another Show for Kailei

Both Keara and Kailei auditioned for another childen's theatre show this week.  They both did such a great job but unfortunately only Kailei made the cut.  It just broke my heart honestly because Keara had her best audition ever.  It is a hard life lesson for both Mom and daughter to deal with but we were certainly happy for Kailei.

The show was The Tortoise and the Hare and Kailei was part of the Hare's fan club.  She did a great job and enjoyed having her friend Sam in the show with her.