8-4-2009 Moon Marble

Deb and Isabella and the kids and I went to Moon Marble. I had never been there before, but it is really a neat place. It's in Bonner Springs, and you can watch them make marbles. They have lots of things for the kids to play with, some really cool marbles and jewelry, and some neat old games.

Zoo 7-30-2009

I think this will be my last update tonight. I'll post later this week about the first day of school tomorrow and Zachary's very belated birthday/back-to-school water party that we had on Friday.We went to the zoo with Will and Amy. The last two years we have bought the membership, and definitely get our money's worth out of it. Plus, you don't feel like you have to do the whole thing when you. If your kids want to play at the Discovery Barn and have a picnic and play at the playground, you don't feel like you have to run to Africa and walk through Australia too. So, we played at the Discovery Barn (they love the slide inside and the petrified tree), and the parrots were so loud we didn't spend any time inside. Then we walked down to Africa. The weather was really nice, especially for the end of July in the midwest!

Tulsa July 25-26

We went to Tulsa the end of July to visit Jason's parents. We spent almost the whole weekend in the pool, which was great. The kids had a ball. Sarah is a maniac in the water. She told me in April she was going to learn to swim this summer. When we got in the pool the first time, she kept telling me to let her go, and she would just start to swim. The problem is that she can't come up and take a breath and go back to swimming very well. Finally I got smart and put water wings on her, and she loves it! She can just do her own thing, and when she gets tired, she just floats on her back. It took her once to figure out how to make herself go where she wants to go, but now she's a pro. She has no fear and now is swimming with her face in the water bringing it up only to breathe.

Zachary has been swimming for 2 years, and this year, he forgot how. Last summer, he was jumping off the diving board and everything, and he just was struggling. Finally it clicked, and he's back to "normal" ~ at least in that regard now. And Joshua has become an amazing swimmer!

Water Play July 23, 2009

The kids had some friends over to play, and we got out the slip n slide because it was so hot. The kids all love it! We had such a busy summer, but the kids got to spend time with friends and do a lot of fun stuff!

Colorado July 8-12

We left at 11 on Tuesday, July 7 to drive to Colorado. We made good time, and arrived at my Aunt and Uncle's house around 7:30pm. The next day, we met up with a friend from my March 2006 board at a Spray Park in Aurora. It was a lot of fun, but the kids were ready to head after a little more than an hour, and she graciously invited us back to invade her house to let the kids play. We had never met up with Tara and her kids before, and she was every bit as wonderful and real as I thought she would be. Her older two kids are Zachary and Sarah's age, and her youngest is now 1.








We left there and headed to Sheila's house. Sheila is a friend from my December 2000 board, so I have "known" her almost 9 years at this point! The first time we met in person was July 2002. Our December Babies were 19 months old, and her youngest was 11 days old. We were also fortunate to meet up with another Mom at that time who lives in New Jersey and was in Denver for a doll convention (Shameless plug for Debra ~ www.debrasdolls.com). Ever since the, we try to meet up with Sheila whenever we are out there ~ at a restaurant, a park, her house, wherever ~ even if it's only for a few minutes. She kindly invited us all to stay for dinner, and we had a wonderful visit. It was hysterical though. Joshua and Malia were outside trying to roast marshmallows on foil in the sun. And they got out the goggles and squirt guns to put out any fire that might happen.





The 10th, we headed to the mountains. My cousin Jarrod got married that weekend, and it was in Beaver Creek. We rented an amazing duplex in Vail, on a golf course, with an incredible deck, and an indoor hot tub. The kids and I, my Mom, my Grandma, my sister and Nate, and my Aunt Becky and Uncle Dennis all stayed there. The wedding was a 3-day event, and it was nice to have a big place to hang out. Saturday as everyone else came into town for the wedding (which was actually Saturday night ~ Friday was a dinner and Sunday was a brunch), they came and hang out with us too.

These are the view off the back deck and the hot tub (which Dennis and I got some use out of Friday night!).





These are some random pictures taken around the duplex. I love the one of Uncle Dennis holding the doll...it cracks me up.






We headed back to KC on Monday, July 13.