Meet Ricky

I know you're thinking that they surely don't need another dog but alas we have added another one to the family. Keara has wanted a pet to call her own. She started out wanting a hedgehog and Zeb and I said no. She then asked for a chinchilla and commented that they just like "rats with big ears" and I immediately said no. We then moved to the thought of the kitten but unfortunately Kailei's allergies are too bad and so we are left with adopting another dog. We found Ricky on the Colorado Animal Welfare League site. He's five years old and was in a home with 18 other dogs until his owner died. He's really a good boy. Very mellow and very calm. His foster mom said he's a bit of a couch potato and well, yes he is. He's fit into the family quite well and is attached to Keara just like we were hoping. Welcome to the family Ricky!

Chinese Heritage Camp 2014

Kailei had a great time at Chinese Heritage Camp once again this year. This year's theme was food which was new and different than most camps prior to this. Her friend Lily Trautman came as well so it was twice as much fun. The kids made an apron, cooked a little bit of food, did some Chinese dancing, played some games and more importantly enjoyed the company of their counselors. One of the counselors that Kailei has had in the past showed us a note

Kailei had written him from a few years ago. It was saved on his phone. I think the counselors love the kids as much as the kids love them. Just one more reason why we keep going every year.

Family Day

As my summer vacation is quickly drawing to a close, Zeb decided to take another day off and we headed up to the mountains. It was kind of our family day celebration. We went up to Breckenridge and went to the fun park. Kailei loves just about everything up there.  She bungee jumped, rode the alpine slide, mined for gems, rode the roller coaster and played mini-golf. Keara chose to do almost nothing being the teenager that she is. I love the alpine slide so I went down that a number of times.

We topped the day off by going to Grammy's for her homemade spaghetti. Love love loved it.

Day 10: Cape Cod

My great-grandmother Betsy used to live in Hyannis in a cabin off the harbor and so I wanted to go and get a picture of her place. We found the place and took picture.  Now it is basically a parking lot.  Then we ate at Spanky's which was a place on the water. It's going to be hard to say goodbye to all this fresh seafood.

Went into town for a few souvenirs and then we headed back to the beach knowing that this was our last day. Again, girls enjoyed finding more seashells and it was simply a great day.

We had pizza in town and then came back to our place. Enjoyed ice cream and music and the local marketplace. It is hard for me to say goodbye. We have had such a good time. It's been so relaxing but the kids are getting a little homesick so I guess will go home with them.

Day 9: Cape Cod

Today was a low key day.  I was on a quest for a teapot and so we headed back to Falmouth see if we could find a store where there were some but really have no luck. We walked around town a little bit and then went to the beach to kick back and simply enjoy the day.  I got to finish my book and the girls were on sea shell searching adventures. Relaxing day to say the least.

Day 7: Cape Cod

We started out the day with a bike ride going from Falmouth to Woods Hole. It was beautiful outside and it was a bike ride recommended by cousin Sharon. It was probably about 6 miles round-trip. We got there and had lunch by the water enjoying some seafood again. After that, we walked down the bay preservation society where the kids were able to listen, learn, and hold various sea critters found in the touch tank. After that we biked back and once again got some ice cream.

After ice cream we decided to head down to Wellfleet. This brought back lots of memories since this the place that we've stayed in the past. We wanted the girls to see the ocean side of the Cape so we went to Marcone Beach. It was beautiful and fun to just hang out with kids and watch the ocean waves. It would not be a Cape Cod trip if we didn't go to the drive-in theater. We saw How to Train your Dragon Two. Brought back lots of great memories and happy that my children could share in

that. 

Day 8: cape cod

Today we headed down to Provincetown. We got there just about lunchtime which was perfect so we headed to my favorite restaurant, The Lobster Pot. This is home of the best clam chowder ever. I have had their clam chowder numerous times and it never fails to satisfy me.

Provincetown is good for shopping so we walked around town, in and out of stores, around the pier and just relaxed. Oh yeah, and had more ice cream.

We decided to go to the Plymouth Monument. Keara's knee was bothering her so she sat out but Zeb, Kailei and I went up 172 stairs to the top of the Plymouth Monument. Zeb and I weren't sure we would make it but decided we weren't getting any younger so better go ahead and do it. I really wasn't that bad and it was beautiful to look out and see everything off the tip of Cape Cod.

We headed back into town and I decided I wanted to play bingo. So while I played bingo the kids and Zeb went to the beach and grabbed some dinner. On the very last game of the evening I did win $13. Very exciting. I would've won 26 there was another player who got bingo as well.

Day 6: Cape Cod

Today we decided to go whale watching. It was the best decision ever because we saw so many whales. The whales were very entertaining. We saw them playing and breaching. We saw moms and babies. We saw one whale feeding and it was all just amazing.  The girls loved it.  We all got a little motion sick but nothing a little dramamine couldn't take care of. Luckily we didn't do half as bad as some of the other people on the ship. We returned pretty late into the evening so just found ourselves grabbing some pizza and heading back to the cottage. Looking forward to another beautiful day tomorrow.

Day 5: Cape Cod

Both Sharon's family and my family slept in a little so we got a later start than we wanted to. We decided to make her way to Southgate Cape State Park in order to go to the beach. The lines were long but somehow we managed to find a parking space. It was very windy and slightly chilly but of course that didn't stop the kids. Well, naturally Keara decided to read and Sharon I spent most of our time gabbing. Kailei and Mave spend most of their time in the water.

Late afternoon we decided to head into Falmouth and we went to dinner. Again Kailei took advantage of being so close to the water and had swordfish and lobster this evening. We headed to Sharon's hotel and the kids swam in the pool for a little while. And once again we ended the day with some ice cream. Unfortunately Sharon and family needed to get back to the city so we had to say goodbye. Nobody's happy to say goodbye this weekend. We wish we had more time with them but glad we had the time we had.

Day 4: Cape Cod

Got a car this morning and made the drive out to the Cape. We are so excited to be here. Got here right around lunchtime and so we grabbed a bite to eat at the Marketplace near our condo.

The best part about the whole day is that we got to see my cousin and her family. They came up to join us for the weekend. We were sooooo excited. After lunch we got together and went to local beach. It's just beautiful out and the kids had a really fun time. We had dinner in Woods Hole at place called Capt. Kids. Kailei is in heaven with all the fish. She and Mave shared some swordfish and they also shared salmon and some fish sticks.

We topped off the evening with some ice cream and then said good night so we can all be ready for tomorrow.

Day 3: Boston

It is pouring rain out today but we didn't want to let that stop us. We started our day at the Boston Tea Party Museum. It was a great decision. They did a awesome job reenacting and letting us live through the storytelling what happened on that day back in history.

Couldn't leave without having some tea and of course a cup of clam chowder to warm us up. It was hard to decide what to do next but we decided to go to Finley Stadium. Everyone said we just couldn't go to Boston and not go. So we made our way and we at least able to take a few pictures walk around the block and get back on the trolley.

We had promised the girls some swimming time at the pool so we headed back to our hotel after grabbing a bite to eat at Quincy market. The girls wrapped up the day with swimming and we got ourselves ready to leave in the morning for Cape Cod.

Day 2: Boston

We decided to take maximize our sightseeing and our time so we bought a trolley pass. The trolley pass takes us to various important locations and we have the ability to get on and off as we needed. Our first stop was the US Constitution. It was very cool to be aboard this historic ship.

After spending times at the ship and boarded the trolley again wanted to get closer to the water. Because that was a hurricane slated to command, both mom and Tracie texted us that the Fourth of July fireworks for being changed to tonight. Immediately we had to change our plans as well. We heard that we needed to get our tickets soon because the lines were very long.

The trolley let us off at the site of the famous Cheers, you know the one where the TV show was held. We had a snack and a drink at the bar. After that we walked to the location where we could get in line for the fireworks. It was very hot and the line was very long already. Unfortunately when we got to the beginning of the line we found out that backpacks were not allowed. Some folks just threw theirs away but Zeb made the trek back to the hotel to take back his backpack. He just didn't want to let it go. In the meantime the girls and I scouted out a location under a tree next to the bandstands so we could hear the Boston Pops play.

It was hot and the food lines were very long. Zeb let us know when he was at the hotel so we told him to stop by Subway and pick up a few sandwiches. In the meantime the girls and I continued to listen to music and people watch. Megan Hilty, a Broadway star, sang some show tunes so I enjoyed that thoroughly. When it came time for the fireworks we weren't fortunately enough to be in a location where we could actually see them. Too hard to explain but bottom line is we went into the wrong entrance and they wouldn't let us on the island which is where you can actually see the fireworks really well. We moved through the crowd to a place where we could kind of see them through the trees and managed to enjoy what we could. Not exactly what I had in mind but  memory for sure.

Vacation!!!!!!

It's finally vacation time! We are so excited to be heading to Boston and Cape Cod for 10 glorious days. We left early this morning and arrived in Boston around two. Checked into hotel near the airport and then headed down to Quincy market. Our first goal was to get something to eat. I had some great pizza and the girls and Zeb had some Japanese food. 

After that we went to the Fanueil house and walked around and then headed towards Paul Revere's house. The girls were tired and shall I say less than interested. We got some ice cream and headed back to the hotel. We woke up early so girls are pretty tired. 

Of course, no vacation could be started without a little swimming in the pool to end the day. Until tomorrow...