June 2011

June – ah, June.  There were a lot of things that happened in June, of course.  School was out and summer activities started.  Rachel had gymnastics, and Daniel went to soccer for a few weeks and both enjoyed that.  However, when looking back at pictures from June, it seems that we only took out the camera for two occasions – Camping in Yellowstone, and a visit from Farmor.

 

 

 

Those of you with really good memories will remember that this is actually Daniel’s second trip to Yellowstone, though he doesn’t remember the first one.  On a map, it looks so reasonable to zip up there from Denver, and it’s only about 400 miles into the 600+ mile distance that you find yourself thinking “This is a trek”.  Still, the kids did super on the trip, helped in no small part by the audiobook of “The little house on the prairie” which they’ve been reading through. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mid-June is shoulder season for Yellowstone in the best of years, and 20110-11 was the coldest, snowiest winter in 35 years.  So when we got to our reserved spot, there was over 6 feet of snow, and the staff rather uselessly said “Here’s a shovel, the site’s there somewhere”. Luckily, we were able to snag one of the last sites at a campground at a lower elevation – but there’s no denying that it was cold. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The sights are amazing of course, and we got to see old faithful erupt, and lots of the other thermal features of the park without the summer crowds.  We saw bison, elk, bears, moose and bald eagles up close.  The only big animal that we missed was the grizzly.  In the evenings, we went to the ranger talks, and those were really interesting and fun, and Daniel completed the “Junior Ranger” program, and is now an official “Junior Ranger” with the badge to prove it.  They wouldn’t let Rachel participate due to age – even though she did all of the same work, she’s an un-official “Junior Junior Ranger”.  There was a lot of driving to get there, and yes – it was cold, but this was a great trip.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then, at the very end of June, Farmor came to visit for a week, which was great fun, and an excellent preparation for our big trip in July….

May 2011

May was gorgeous.  Just gorgeous.  And as a result, we spent most of the month outside in one way or another.

Daniel had been campaigning hard for a skateboard, since his classmate Brody who lives in the neighborhood has one.  So for his birthday, he got to go to the skateboard shop and pick out one. 

Not surprisingly, he picked the black and red one with a skull on it.  And like most things with wheels, he quickly took to it and has been zooming around the cul-de-sac. 

 

May also had the end-of-school activities, field trips to the reservoir, and field day competitions.  Everyone participated in the the egg carry, bean-bag toss, races, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rachel got invited to Greta’s birthday party at a park in Denver.  She won the “pin the tail on the donkey” competition.  No prizes were given for “Twister” and it was universally agreed that 4-year olds can’t twist.   She also got a chance to go to “Build a Bear” at the mall and redeem her gift certificate from aunt Erin for her very own creation – “Brownie” the dog.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On a random Saturday in May, we decided to head up to visit Buffalo Bill’s grave, just outside of Golden.  Somehow, we’d never been to the actual museum, which is VERY well done, and worth the trip.  The reason for mentioning this story?  Well, as soon as we got back, Daniel dug out his cowboy hat, and wanted to ride around on his bike doing “Buffalo Bill tricks”.  It being 2011, he still had to add the bike helmet.  Oh – and Rachel is a master at the scooter – she’s pretty darned fast when she gets going on those strong little legs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And yes, it was the spring of Roller Derby and skating.  With Anida practicing to make the league, there were plenty of trips to the local skating rink, and also around the cul-de-sac.  More on Derby in a later post, but suffice it to say that Daniel and friends have gotten reasonably confident on skates.

 

 

And finally (for May) – the big end-of-Kindergarten concert.  Daniel actually had the starring role as – well – the little Eskimo boy who gets to fling a spear at the teacher.  It was quite memorable, and I have all 28 minutes recorded in high-definition video.  One of these days, I’ll figure out how to upload it without complete loss of quality and/or upload time. 

April 2011

So many pictures.  So many stories to tell.  And so many things that we never actually got a picture of.  Oh well.

 

April was a great month.  Lots of fun.

 

 

 

April was the last month of Rachel’s Dance class and there was a little performance at the rec center.  She enjoyed dance class, but not as much as gymnastics.

 

 

 

 

 

We went hiking several times this summer, and the season started out in April with a  trip to Roxborough State Park.  This time, we let Daniel and Rachel carry the camera and take the pictures.  With the result that we have hundreds of pictures of the ground, rocks and adult knees – which I suppose is what the world looks like from that height.  We also have pictures of every rock and ball of fuzz that they found and documented in good explorer style.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At school, the big event that we got pictures of was the egg drop.  Each kid got a chance to design their own device that was supposed to protect an uncooked egg when thrown from the roof of the school.  After experimenting a bit at home (all failures), Daniel went with a hollowed-out pool noodle that was duct-taped together.  Unlike many of the other designs, his was truly his own.  And – well – it didn’t work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then, of course – someone turned six years old.  He was properly celebrated with presents at home, and a bowling party for a few of his friends.  And no birthday is complete without the obligatory marking of the wall. 

Three Months of Pictures

My how time flies! We've had a busy, fun-filled first quarter. Both kids are growing so fast - physically, emotionally, and intellectually. Here are pictures to highlight January, February, and March. I tried to put the descriptions next to the corresponding picture, but it doesn't look like Blogspot is going to display it that way. Perhaps the expert will come fix it, but until then, this will have to do. Sorry.

We've gone bowling.

Rachel has started a dance class.

Daniel has had many field trips with school. This one is to the Colorado Livestock Show.

We've had a few snow days. Daniel loves to shovel.

Rachel turned 4. She had a Princess Castle Cake (which Anida had fun making) and a gymnastics party. She is flying high!

We've gone to a hockey game, roller derby bouts, and a parade. This is Daniel looking very handsome at the hockey game.

I'm not sure which part of the parade Daniel loved more: seeing the Storm Troopers and TIE Fighters or Anida skating with the Denver Roller Dolls. Our dear friends that moved to Seattle came for a visit and we met them at the local amusement center for some bumper cars, laser tag, and scrambler action. Rachel loved the scrambler. Anida got scrambled one too many times and was glad some taller girls volunteered to ride along with Rachel instead. Daniel preferred the laser tag and bumper cars.

Rachel does NOT like to get her hair done.

Farmor and Grandpa came for a visit. They took on three days of duty so that Eric and Anida could take a mini-vacation to celebrate their 10 year anniversary (which was nearly 9 months ago). Everyone did great.

Rachel loves her scooter and Daniel loves his bike. We spend a lot of afternoons in the cul de sac doing tricks.

Rachel had her first Beary Special Day at preschool. She did a great job being the center of attention.

Daniel looking tough and showing off his new hair-do. He had two birthday parties to go to on this day. The second of which was a pool party. He almost didn't swim out of fear of messing up his hair. But ultimatley, fun won.

That sums it up. Both kids are just doing great.

Daniel is enjoying school but not so much the homework. He is excelling in both reading and math, getting the highest possible marks on both. He likes to draw and color pictures, ride his bike, pretend play with Rachel, hang out with his friends, read and play the KINECT.

Rachel is doing great in preschool. She can clearly write her name, count to 100 with just a little help, and put the alphabet in order. She is very impressive on her scooter - our stroller days are gone. She likes to dance, swim, do puzzles and worksheets, be read to, and pretend play with anyone who is willing.

We hope all is well with all our blog followers.

Love, EADR