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

December 2010

Friends

There was some jetlag after Thailand. It was easy to get up in the morning, but not so easy to stay awake in the afternoon.  The day after we got back, Daniel went to school all day – then he insisted that he be allowed to go buy some Bakugan with money from Farmor.  He made it to the store and home, but then fell asleep on the bench in the laundry room before he even got his shoes off. 

 

Once everyone caught up on their sleep, December got busy.  There was an elaborate Christmas concert at the Presbyterian church that Grandma Babe invited us to.  There were camels, and pageantry, and crafts and storytelling.  The concert itself was promising, but with no naps, both Daniel and Rachel made it clear that they’d rather be somewhere else.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rachel went skating for the first time (Daniel had been earlier), and she had a great time with that.  Later, we all went roller skating, which was initially frustrating for the kids, but Daniel had enough fun with it that he persevered, and by the end of it, he could skate some on his own. So there was a follow-on trip with friends.

 

Rachel’s school had an end-of-semester program, and there were several nice songs.  I have some video of the event and once I render and post it, you’ll see why I was able to brag that “my kid can sing faster than yours” to the other parents…   She did great, though – and it’s clear that the preschool program is rewarding to her and that her teachers love her.

 

 

 

 

 

For the first time in 458 years, there was a full lunar eclipse on the solstice.  And we were lucky enough to have a clear sky for the event.  It was pretty amazing – the pictures don’t really do it justice, but we got the full red moon in the western sky, right above Orion.  Very nice – we woke the kids up to see it, and while Rachel mumbled a bit and went back to sleep quickly, Daniel thought it was neat, and stayed up/out for long enough to see the gradual end of the eclipse.

 

 

We wandered over to the local store to pick up a Christmas tree, then carried it home and decorated it.  Daniel helped Eric bake some of the traditional cookies from Norway/Sweden, and both kids got to decorate cookies over several days.  The UPS and Fedex guys showed up on a regular basis delivering packages, and finally, it was almost Christmas.

Rachel picked out a remote controlled car for Daniel and Daniel picked out a battery-operated dog for Rachel.  They were supposed to keep the gifts a secret, but they were so excited that they just couldn’t help but tell each other. Anida happened to catch the moment when Rachel found out she was getting the dog, and apparently she flopped onto her back and kicked her legs in the air while giggling like crazy. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When asked what they wanted to get Anida for Christmas, the suggestions ranged from “A box of Jell-O” to “a new ipod”, but eventually turned into making her some drawings.  Eric got decorated underwear that is sure to result in some raised eyebrows if he ever gets into an accident while wearing it.

 

The night before Christmas, they each got to open one present each.  Predictably, Daniel chose the Remote-controlled car, while Rachel opened the Dog from Daniel.  When we put batteries in Daniel’s gift, it didn’t work at all, and he was pretty sad about that.  However, a quick trip down to Radio Shack and it was exchanged for a slightly different model.  Which also didn’t work… Until Eric tried a different set of batteries and discovered that it’d been the supposedly-new duracells that were to blame the whole time.  Props to Daniel for dealing with the disappointment in a mature way.

 

Christmas morning was great fun.  The kids woke early, but not too early and went down to see what Santa had brought.  Rachel loved her dog, her scooter,  costume,  puzzles, Legos and books while Daniel really got a kick out of the Spiderman outfit, the Legos and the Star Wars toys.

 

 

 

It was a beautiful day, so after breakfast, the party quickly moved outside where the scooter and RC car were put to good use in the cul-de-sac.   We’ve had no snow so far this winter so even throught these were “summer” toys, they got immediate use.

 

And then later that day, Aunt Erin Steven and cousin Chloe came to town.   Daniel and Rachel have had a lot of fun playing with Chloe, and are – as I type this – at the “Zoo lights” exhibit with her – which is why I’ve had time to post the blog updated. 

 

We’ve had a fabulous 2010, and hope that all of you are well. Best wishes for 2011.   I might get a video posting in before new years, but if not – Happy New Year.

 

(and yes, my resolution is to be more timely with the updates)

 

Love, ADRE.