Summer Vacation

 We had a great family vacation.  This year we headed to the Grand Canyon and stopped along the way in Telluride and Mesa Verde.  We were able to break up the road trip into nice chunks by stopping for a couple of days at each place.  After spending a night near the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, we drove through Ouray to Telluide.

 Greg was excited to take the Ophir Pass between Ouray and Telluride. It is a road that requires a 4 wheel drive.  My car made it, but it was a little dicey at times, especially right over the pass covered by a rock slide road.  Ryan was pretty nervous about the drive and Luke was ready to get to our destination, so the experience was a little lost on them, but Greg really enjoyed it.

 Telluride was amazing.  It was everyone's favorite part of the trip.  We stayed in a beautiful mountain condo and enjoyed a couple of hikes and the great town.

 The boys loved the giant trampoline.  Neither was interested in jumping as high as possible, but they loved it.

 Luke screamed while he was jumping "Telluride is awesome."

 Ryan just screamed at the top of his lungs the whole time.

 We loved being so close to the gondola and being able to swim at 9500 feet.  I can totally see us coming back here several times.

 We also hiked to Bridal Veil Falls and all 3 boys loved throwing rocks into the water.

 Our next stop was Mesa Verde.  Ryan and Luke liked climbing down into the cliff dwellings, but it was a hot day, so they were done after 2.

 

The Grand Canyon was pretty amazing.  The views weren't the best due to the forest fires, but it was still spectacular.  We hiked about a mile down into the canyon, and then hiked back up - which was the tough part.  Ryan would like to hike to the bottom some day and Luke would like to take a white water raft trip - perhaps when they are little older.

 After our hike we drove around the rim.  Luke was more interested in reading his book than the view.

 Overall, it was a great vacation.  I think next year I would like for us to go somewhere and relax without being on the go so much.  But we were able to see a lot and we had a wonderful time.

7th Birthday

 How did this happen?  How is it possible that my babies are 7?  Theyno longer look like little boys - but now like big 2nd graders.  As much as it makes me a sad that they are growing up, I love watching their personalities develop and their independence shine through.  We had a nice, low key birthday.  Nana and Grandad came into the town the day before and we enjoyed a nice morning and afternoon before their party.  After last year's Mad Science Birthday extravaganza, we decided to something easy this year and have the party at the pool.  It was much easier, but ten 7 year old boys are a bit much.  I'm not sure what we'll do next year, but I'm thinking a family trip sounds much nicer.

 Both boys are obsessed with Minecraft, so Greg and I got them Minecraft heads.

 We also gave Ryan a giant paper airplane book and some new books for Luke.

 Nana and Grandad gave the boys walkie talkies.  Ryan has really enjoyed playing with these.  He likes to walk to the bus stop by himself with his walkie talkie and check in with us along the way.

 The boys are also into Lego's Ninjago.  I made Luke a Kai cake and Ryan a Lloyd cake.  I also turned the party favor boxes in Ninjago characters.

Greg and I were very thankful that my parents were able to be there - they were supposed to come in a couple of days later.  It ended up being super helpful to have the extra set of eyes and help wrangle the kids for dinner.

 The boys have had 3 swim meets, so far.  Luke has improved his time by 20 seconds from the 1st meet to the 3rd.  Ryan has also improved his time (he's still faster than Luke, but it is now much closer). Both boys love the ribbons that they win.  We are lucky that their birthday falls into the 6 and under group, so there is not as much competition and they are at the older end of the group - if not, there would be no ribbons.  They did swim in a relay at the 2nd meet.  They had fun with that.

Two big milestones:

Luke finally lost his 1st tooth.  Ryan lost his 1st tooth over a year ago, and has lost 3 more since then - Luke has felt very left out.  His adult teeth are nearly has big as the baby teeth, so it was long overdo.  He lost his 2nd tooth last night.

Ryan and Luke finally are off their training wheels.  Most of the their classmates did that sometime during Kindergarten, or before - but that doesn't matter anymore - they can finally join in.  We've been working on it for a while, but they are both so cautious.  Luke was more willing to try, but he doesn't have the same balance as Ryan.  We had promised them new bikes for their birthday if they got off training wheels - that day came and went, but on Father's Day, we took them to the park and they finally got the confidence and balance.  We went bike shopping this week.

Happy Birthday to my sweet sweet boys!

90th Birthday Party and Backyard Campout and Last Day of School

 The school year has come to an end and summer has begun.  We have been busy with swimming and other activities, but before that began, we took a quick trip to Lubbock for my grandmother's 90th birthday.  She loved it - she is never one to shy from attention (very much unlike me), and she loved being the center of everything.  The picture below is of her sharing some of her childhood memories.  She asked my mom if there would be a time for her to talk to everyone and she wanted to have a special chair because she wasn't sure if people could see her if she talked from the table.  And while we sang Happy Birthday, she pointed her fingers at herself and mouthed "Happy Birthday to Me." 

  I am so glad that my parents gave her the party (which she has said several times that it was the best party she has ever been to), because a little more than a week later she fell and broke her hip.  She is doing ok, but she is in a lot of pain and has already developed a painful bed sore.  Ryan and Luke were very sad when I told them that G-Nanny had fallen and had to have surgery.  And when I told Ryan today about G-Nanny's wound on her heel, he said "that makes my heart hurt."

This is my grandmother, Mr. G, my mom and Nanny's nieces and nephew.  Many live in the Lubbock area and have always been a part of her life.

 Dad was the MC of the event and he enjoyed giving us all a history lesson of each decade of Nanny's life :)

 I made cookies for the party - Nanny loves roosters and anything country - so these fit right in.

 We took family pictures the next day with my brother and sister and their families, as well as, Nanny and Mr. G.  This one is from my phone - I'm glad that we had photographer come and take pictures.

 Sweet picture of Luke and his Grandad.  Luke got this hat recently and he loves to wear it.  Dad pulled out his dad's hat and they had fun trying each other's on.

Back at home - we let the boys have their first backyard camping experience all by themselves.  Greg set up the chiminea and the 3 boys roasted marshmallows.  After that, the boys crawled into their tent and played about 15 minutes (and came inside a few times) before falling asleep for the night.

 I really couldn't believe that they slept all night - I think they woke up around 6:30 - which is great considering the sun comes up at 5.  I didn't sleep well, though.  I was so worried about them out there all alone that I couldn't fall asleep until around 2am.  I kept thinking I was hearing the pitter patter of their little feet in the house.

We also ended the school year.  I can't believe my babies are done with 1st grade.  They had a pretty good year.  Ryan had a fantastic teacher and he made so much progress.  I can't give the same praise to Luke's teacher, but she was fine and he enjoyed the year.  I have to remind myself about the advice given in a book on resiliency that I read - your child needs the good enough in life (makes me feel better to be the good enough mom) - a good enough teacher is fine - if your child always has the best they won't be able to handle their adult life when they don't always get the best.  We are excited about their 2nd grade teachers - both boys got great ones and they are spending the week in a reading camp getting to know them better.  This is especially great for Ryan who is already anxious about 2nd grade.  He told me today that his reading camp was "awesome" and he loves his new teacher.

 I don't have a great last day picture - it was my last day of school and I couldn't be there to take a picture.  Greg took one of them eating a waffle at the bus stop before school (thanks to a great neighborhood mom).

 But Greg did take this sweet one on their first day of 1st grade - I was already at my school on that day and couldn't be there to take them to the bus stop.  I can't believe how they no longer look like little boys.

We also celebrated their 7th birthday last weekend, but I'll post that later on.

Our First Swim Meet

 The boys had the first week of swim team practice and their first meet this morning.  They are going to be extremely fit little boys by the end of the summer.  They practice at 8:30 five times a week and then have a swim meet most Saturdays this summer.  They did great during practice - I am impressed with how well they've done with nonstop swimming for an hour each morning.  Ryan did cut his finger one morning before practice and he thought he couldn't get it wet, so he swam one handed during practice - but other than that, they have worked so hard.  Their swim meet could have started better this morning - but it was our first one and we learned some dos and don'ts for the future.  To start with, we had to be there at 6:30 for warm-ups.  And it was really cold - 45 degrees.  The pool was warm, but once they were out they were miserable.  They also swam so much during warm ups that they were pretty exhausted by the end and Ryan was ready to go home. So we learned that we won't be doing warm ups in the future.  They are little boys (swimming with the 6 and under group) and I'm not going to require them to warm up with the older kids.  They can swim for the first time during the race and be much warmer and more rested.  I also had to volunteer this morning, so I couldn't help them out beforehand and prep them as to what to expect or watch what the other kids were doing.  But overall, they did great.  Luke is such a trooper and didn't really complain  much at all.  Ryan was miserable, but once his race started, he was on.  Since this was their first time they only swam a 25m freestyle.  As they learn other strokes and can swim farther, we may add a couple more events.

They can't dive yet, but they aren't too intimated by the starting blocks.  Luke was great during warm ups trying to dive in, but I think a belly flop caused him to choose to start off the side of the pool instead of the block.  Ryan "dove" off the block, but it was much more of a jump.

 Ryan's stroke has really improved this week.  He has gotten much better at getting his arms out of the water.

 Luke has gotten much better at turning his head and breathing to the side.  It's not perfect, but he is making progress.

Ryan was a rock star in his race.  He won by several lengths.  When he touched the wall he turned around and started swimming back - his coach had to swim after him to get him to stop (she was already in the pool swimming next to another 6 year old swimmer).

And my sweet little Luke did awesome, too.  I do foresee issues in the future when one does better than the other.  Hopefully they can swim in separate heats in the future to help with that issue.  But I'll cross that bridge when we come to it.  It would be nice if they could be cheerleaders for each other, but they are twins, and therefore very competitive.

I now am looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow and resting on our one day off a week.

Is It Summer Yet?

 The weather has finally warmed up and we are so excited for summer.  Work and life have been very busy and we are looking forward to the lazy days of summer.  Things really won't be that lazy - the boys are going to be on our neighborhood summer swim team, take tennis lessons, go to a week long reading camp with the 2nd grade teachers, and take an art class at the Denver Art Museum.  We'll fit in a lot of play time, camping,  and a family vacation to the Grand Canyon somewhere in the middle of it all.  Overall, after a very snowy late winter and spring - we can't wait for summer.

 I had a wonderful Mother's Day.  I spent much of it making cupcakes for the boys' school birthday treats, but we also went to breakfast, dinner and had fun at home.   I am so grateful to have 2 crazy, funny, smart, sweet boys.  I can't believe that they are almost done with 1st grade and will be 7 years old.  I told Greg at dinner a couple of weeks ago that they were getting old so fast and they'd be gone before we knew it.  Luke came over to me, with tears in his eyes, and said he didn't want to get older and leave.  And Ryan asked if he could live at home when he goes to college.

 Ryan was in a play in April.  He had a good time and can't wait to go to drama again next fall.  He was James in James and Giant Peach.

 I can't say he is destined to be the next great actor - but he is very dramatic.

 And Luke continues to be his own unique little person.  I hope he will always be comfortable and confident with who he is.

I love these kids.  I make many mistakes as a mom - but I am so blessed that they are always willing to forgive me and move on.  We should all be lucky to have that attitude.

Odds and Ends of the Last Couple of Months

 We've had a busy 2013, so far.  It has been hard to stay on top of really anything.  The boys started taking piano lessons, we've had a weekend snowstorm 3 out of the last 4 weeks (really? no snow day on the weekend), school work for me and the boys have been constant, Greg has been in and out of town, and other day to day things keep us busy.  We are all looking forward to Spring Break, and Greg and I can't wait to escape to warmer weather in Jamaica.

 Ryan and Luke participated in the Science Fair again this year.  Luke's experiment dealt with creating Elephant Toothpaste and comparing the reactions of 2 different peroxide strengths.  Ryan's experiment was dissolving gobstoppers in various clear liquids. 

The boys also competed in the Cub Scout Pinewood Derby.  Luke's car came in 2nd place for his den, and Ryan was close behind.  I was not able to attend due to work, but Greg said it was quite a production - complete with a giant projection screen showing the race and the results.

We also went sledding a couple of weeks ago.  We got a ton of snow on Saturday, but the sun came out on Sunday and it melted quickly.  So by the time we went sledding, it was half mud and half snow.  Ryan and Luke still had a great time.  Here is a video of Ryan sledding and then wiping out over a mud hill.

Copper Mountain

 We went on our 2nd, and likely last for the season, ski trip a couple of weeks ago.  The boys had such a good time.   The weather was beautiful and the boys did great.  There was no pausing at the top of the lift for them - they took off down the mountain and didn't stop until they were at the bottom and back in line to get back on the lift.  Video of Ryan and Luke skiing. 

 We now have several months to look forward to skiing again.  I don't think we'll have time to head up again.  Also, I'm done with winter and snow - and I'm looking forward to summer and warm weather and the pool.