Sunday, June 24, 2012

Another Weekend, Another Hike

We went to Mount Evans on Saturday for another "hike."  I put that in quotations, because you can drive almost all the way to the top and then get out to climb up the rocks the last couple of hundred feet to reach the summit.  At any rate, it was the boys' first 14er and they had a great time.  It also gave us the chance to get out of Denver and its record high of 104 degrees - the boys and I had to wear our jackets at the top because it was quite cool (we beat the heat today by going to the pool).
 Before we made it to the top, we stopped at Summit Lake and had a picnic.

 We then followed the short trail to see the other side of the summit.


On our way back to the car, we encountered a large herd of mountain goats/sheep.  We had seen them way at the top of the mountain while we were eating, but about 20 of them came down to the lake before we left.


 By favorite was the little baby.

 Luke wanted to climb all of the rocks at the summit - on the other side of the rock behind him is a steep cliff down the lake several hundred feet below - Luke was disappointed that he wasn't allowed free reign to explore the top.
 Ryan was a little more cautious, but he was still very curious, as well.
 And of course, one more goat on our way out.
Both boys were fast asleep within 10 minutes.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Summer Activities

 We've already been pretty busy this summer - and we've hardly left our neighborhood.  We've been to the pool a few times, Ryan is working with a reading tutor twice a week while Luke and I go to the library, and the boys are also taking tennis lessons.  Overall, it has been nice and fairly relaxing.  For the most part, the boys are getting along ok - better than last summer, so that has made things more relaxing and less stressful at home.
 Ryan and Luke took tennis lessons the first 2 weeks and liked it so much that we are continuing for the next two weeks.  Ryan has a really good backhand and he is having a lot of fun playing.
 Luke is doing pretty good - he is not very athletic at this point in his little life - but he is willing to try anything.  He likes tennis and he improved quite a bit over the course of the first session - but he doesn't like to be hot, so he tends to fade the last 15 minutes of the lesson.
 Luke prefers the pool.  Both boys need to take another round of swim lessons - but they swim well enough to jump off the diving board and swim to the side.  I'll feel better when they can tread water more consistently and swim the full length of the pool without stopping.  There are kids in their class who can do that, so I know that they are capable of it, we just need to practice more.

 Ryan wouldn't have even stepped 10 feet of the diving board last summer - but this year, he climbed right up there and jumped off with little hesitation.

We had a playdate planned for Tuesday, but Luke's friend got sick, so we had to change our plans.  I had 2 tickets to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science that a friend from school gave me - so we headed out there for part of the day.  I knew Luke would also really want to see the snake and lizard exhibit - he was very excited to see this giant boa (sorry Nana, but he wanted a picture).  Here is a link to a funny picture that they took at the museum http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmns_photo_booth/7402027654/
Luke was really in his element at the museum.  He told me that when he grows up, he wants to work at the museum and help to create more exhibits for kids to see.  We also saw an IMAX movie about the Arctic.  Luke got very upset during the movie. He became depressed and teary because of the melting polar ice caps and what they are doing to the polar bears.  It didn't faze Ryan too much.

As long as we stay busy and stick somewhat to a schedule, we'll have a fun and relaxing summer.  We plan on going to Texas in a few weeks and then somewhere up in the Pacific Northwest at the end of the summer.  We'll also add in some hikes and hopefully a camping trip at some point if the fire ban is lifted - and then whatever else comes our way - I like that summer is relaxed enough that we can add things and change our plans when something else comes up.  And as the boys get older, it becomes easier to do that than it was in the past.

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Annual Father's Day Hike

 Happy Father's Day to my sweet husband.  We took our 3rd (or 4th, can't quite remember) annual Father's Day Hike this morning to Roxborough State Park.  It was a hot day, so we left shortly after our early breakfast this morning.  The boys did a pretty good job - it was a 3 mile hike and we were in the Foothills - so we didn't have the benefit of cooler mountain air.  Roxborough is a beautiful area with stunning red sandstone formations - and the best part is that it is close to home.








 We could see Denver in the distance - probably about 30 miles from this point.  It is pretty hazy due to the smoke from the fire in the mountains in the northern part of the state.
 I have two of the most blessed little boys - they have a wonderful, caring,  and involved father.  I love that Greg always wants to spend Father's Day doing things with his family. Although he did say that he would like to petition the president to move Father's Day to October so he could spend the whole day watching football - doesn't sound much different than any other Sunday during football season :)

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Birthday Boys


 The boys turned 6 on June 7.  I finished school the day before, so we have been busy with our summer activities.  They had a great birthday and we really enjoyed having a low key family thing after their crazy birthday party. 
 Luke is our little tree hugger and he has been asking to recycle for a long time.  We don't  - my excuse is that I'm from Texas and I don't care, plus there are plenty of crunchy-granolas in Boulder to make up for it - Greg's excuse is that he doesn't want to pay $10 a month for someone to make money off our our trash.  But for Luke's birthday, we got him recycling bins.  He was so excited and shouted "Awesome" as soon as he opened the box.  He now has them in the garage with homemade signs attached so we know what item goes in which bin.
 We got Ryan a golf set.  He took lessons at school this year and seemed to really like it - so Greg found these on Craigslist and that our just his size.  Now we need to get Greg some clubs and he and Ryan can go to the driving range together.
 Ryan was so happy and he gave Greg a huge hug and a big thank you for getting these for him.
 The night before their birthday after they went to bed, I crepe-paper bombed their bedroom - I heard them get up at 6 the next morning taking all of the balloons downstairs - they were really pretty excited about it.


 Here is a link to see how much they've grown in the last 6 years.

 Lastly - a picture of Grandad and the boys.  Grandad put up a hammock in our backyard and the boys have had a great time playing in it. 
Overall - we had a great birthday.  I can't believe that they are 6 and going into 1st grade.  I love how their personalities and sense of humor continue to grow and develop each day.  They continually surprise me with the insightful and funny things that come out of their sweet little mouths.

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Mad Scientist Birthday Party

 We had the boys' 6th Birthday Party today.  It was a couple of hours of somewhat organized chaos.  But I think the kids all had fun and the adults were all exhausted.  We had the kids in 5 different centers doing different "science" kind of things.  I didn't get good pictures of each of the experiments - but I think I captured the chaos and Ryan and Luke's excitement.
 The planning began several weeks ago.  Most of the ideas came from various blogs, as well as, www.stevespangler.com I was able to borrow some shade tents from people at school, which helped us deal with the 90 degree heat.  We were up early this morning getting everything organized and set up.
 
 Nana was enlisted to help the kids create their own lava lamps.
 Stephanie helped the kids make their own slime.  This was a perfect experiment for a former 3rd grade teacher.  She handled it with lots of patience and the kids loved it.  Ryan really enjoyed mixing his glue and water together.
 Luke loved making the elephant toothpaste.  Greg manned this messy station, along with enlisting the help of a dad of one of their preschool friends.

 I think Ryan is making insta-snow in this picture with Grandma, and Grandad is in the background helping the kids with the swirling colors of milk.
Not sure what Luke is doing here, but he was pretty excited about it.
  
 Greg had quite an audience with the Liquid Nitrogen.  He was somewhat scary with some of his demonstrations, but fortunately nobody was injured.  The kids love it.
 
Greg and his longtime childhood friend, Jeff, had a blast making the liquid nitrogen ice cream.  They both have degrees in chemistry, so it was right up their ally.  The only other experiment that I failed to photograph was of the Mentos and Diet Coke - the kids really loved that.
I told the boys that Iwould make them each cupcakes of their choice.  Ryan chose the Hostess/Fauxtess  Cupcakes.  Luke chose these Banana Split Cupcakes.  We also had punch with dried ice to add to the mad scientist effect.
 
 Party favors were some of the experiments that the kids could take home; as well as, a test tube of nerds and a beaker shaped decorated cookie.
We had a great time, but I don't know if we will be willing to tackle such a big party again. It is made worse in that we have 2 kids in 2 separate classes with 2 sets of friends.  But that is part of having twins and we don't want to jip either boy because of that.  We'll see what happens next year - I can't believe that they'll be 7 at that time - I can hardly handle them turning 6!