Backyard Camping

 

The boys and I had a camping trip this week in our backyard while Greg was out of town.  They had a great time and I got several "thank you Mama"s out of it throughout the day and night.

 Due to the fire ban, they made their own pretend fire in the chiminea and pretended to roast marshmallows.

 We ate hotdogs outside - complete with paper plates.

 They loved their marshmallows even though they weren't really cooked.  They liked the ice cream that we had later better - but they thought it was fun to pretend to roast them.

 Ryan was all ready for bed.

 As was Luke with all of his animals.

We slept as well as can be expected for camping.  The 3 of us shared the 1 air mattress (with my feet hanging off the end) because I didn't want to set up the big tent for just the 3 of us.  We took a long walk before bed, so they were pretty tired by 9.  Luke went straight asleep and Ryan came inside once to tell me that Luke was asleep.  I slept until about 5:30 when an airplane woke me up - I went inside to go back to bed and the boys followed me in - they ended up sleeping until 9:00.  One of the huge benefits of backyard camping is being able to go inside to sleep in your own bed once the sun comes up.  I don't think they have ever slept that late before.  I can't wait until they feel old enough to sleep outside by themselves - maybe by next summer.

Holiday Weekend

 We had a great and relaxing 4th of July weekend.  Greg took off of work on Thursday and Friday, so we were able to spend a ton of time together as a family.

Greg had to do some kind of "fireworks" on the 4th, even though there was a state-wide fire ban.  He had bought fireworks several weeks before the ban was in place and the boys were so anxious to try them out the evening of the 4th.  Due to the understandably over-anxiousness of the state to any fires, Greg agreed to only let the boys play with the sparklers.  He'll have to save the rest of the fireworks for another time. 

 Ryan was disappointed that we weren't going to do more than the sparklers.

 However, Luke was very concerned about Daddy getting a ticket from the police, so he was just fine with it.

 On Thursday we headed up to Rocky Mountain National Park for a hike.  However, as soon as we got out of the car at the trail head, the skies opened up and there was a torrential downpour.  We tried to wait it out, but after an hour in the car with 2 crazy boys, we decided we'd head up another day.  I did have to get out and get at least one picture

Fortunately, it wasn't raining in Denver, so we took the boys to a mini golf and go-cart place.  I couldn't get any pictures of the go-cart race because Ryan and I were too busy passing Greg and Luke up to take one.

 Luke did a better job than normal with golf.  He tends to just whack at the ball, but Greg helped him quite a bit and he really improved over last time.

 Ryan really had a great time.

We had hoped to try a hike again, but it ended up raining most of the weekend - so we went to a lake in Denver to allow the boys to throw rocks in the water - one of their most favorite things.

 Luke also had a big milestone this weekend - he had his first sleepover at his bestfriend's house.  He was so excited that he sat on the front porch for an hour waiting for Henry's mom to come and pick him up.  He had a great time, but he ended up taking a 2 1/2 hour nap when he got home on Saturday.

 

 We were concerned about Ryan feeling left out - but he loved having me and Greg to himself.  Greg took him to the driving range - he got to try out his new golf clubs for the first time (besides in the backyard).  He also got to pick where we went to go to dinner - Chick-fil-a - and then we came home and watched Spiderman.  Luke was so jealous of the golf and movie.

I took a few pictures of the boys while we were hanging out on the front porch - they have such sweet faces.

 We had a good weekend and the boys and I are now looking forward to heading to Texas for a few days - we had hoped to go in June, but we never got our act together - so now we will be flying down on Wednesday - the boys can't wait to see their cousins.  I'm a little anxious about taking the both of them on a plane by myself - fortunately, it is a short flight and they are great boys.

4th of July

 

 We went to the 4th of July concert at Civic Center Park again this year.  We all had a great time having a picnic and then enjoying the concert and fireworks.

 

We got the park a couple of hours before the concert started in order to get a good spot - the boys kept busy playing games.

 

 Our "neighbors" gave the boys their light-up flags to play with - which they danced with for awhile.

 Luke entertained us and the people around us with his interpretative dancing. 

He danced for almost an hour straight to a variety of music that the Colorado Symphony played.  It cracked us up, especially since he was so unembarrassed by it.

This Past Week

 The boys and I had a good week.  Greg was out of town part of the week, but the boys and I stayed busy doing a variety of different things.  We also enjoyed a brief rainstorm during the week and Ryan and Luke were excited to go out side and play in the rain.

Due to another thunderstorm the next day, we went to a paint your own pottery studio.

 Luke painted a fish.

 And Ryan painted a tank.

 They also finished up their second session of tennis lessons.  They had fun playing tennis and I think it is something that they would like to continue with. 

 On Friday, we went to the new Colorado History Museum.  The boys had a good time driving the Model T Ford...

 Lifting a shovel weighted down with rocks in the mining exhibit...

And gathering eggs from the chickens to take to the county store for 25 cents a dozen.  They had a good time.

This week we plan to spend time at the pool, take swim lessons in the morning, and enjoy 4th of July stuff close to home. 

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.

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.