End of Summer and Start of School and Other Happenings

This past week we officially ended our summer and started up school. We did a couple fun things to end out the summer. I took the girls to the Boulder County Fair. They are always bummed I don't let them ride any rides, but I also don't feel too bad because we take them to Lakeside which is like the same thing and they ride a ton of rides. So, we pretty much go see all the animals and hit up the vendor booths. This year we did however go and 'catch' butterflies. We got paint brushes that have sugar water on them and then go into a room full of plants and butterflies and convince (it isn't very hard) them to come onto our paintbrush. The girls loved it. If they have it again next year I would totally pay the $1.00 a piece again because it was pretty cool. They were actually quite a few really cool hands on things this year. They had a STEM area were kids could mess around with different science stuff, they had a place where they could 'milk' a cow, they had a petting zoo of sorts, and then the butterfly thing. The girls also really enjoy the 4-H animals. Tia's favorite I think was chickens and Kylee's was the pigs. After we went to the fair, we went to Chic-Fil-A. The girls had some kids meal coupons there and so we decided to go. Neither of them really like the food there, but they enjoyed the ice cream, applesauce, lemonade, and the giant play place. I let them play for about an hour, but then I was so bored and tired I made them go home. I felt a little bad, because I should have brought a book or a word search or something to do, so they could play longer. Oh well, I am learning as the tables are turning that sometimes I need stuff to entertain me instead of stuff for my kids. Its a weird concept.

Cleaning off'dinosaur bones.

Tia 'milking' the cow.

Kylee's turn.

Kylee and Tia with the butterflies. (I don't know why Tia made this face)

Another fun adventure we had was going to Golden Ponds. Golden Ponds is a great little spot that makes you feel like you are not really in the city. It is right next to the St. Vrain River. Anyway, we rode our bikes on the path to the river and had some lunch. Then we played in the river. Kylee and Tia are so funny. They will jump of the medium diving board, go down watersides, ride small roller coasters, ride super fast down hill on a bike and not blink and eye, but I put them in about 4-6 inches of moving water with rocks at the bottom and they suddenly need my help. It cracked me up. They got used to it and learned out how to get where they wanted to go, but honestly it never occurred to me this could be a strange thing. Anyway, they ended up really liking it and I am glad we went. We did end up cutting it a bit short because Gaupo had a job interview I wanted to hear about and our friends invited us to go swimming. So, we hurried home and talked to Gaupo for a bit. Then we all crashed out for about 30-45 minutes and then headed to the pool so we could play with our friends. It  was a busy but good day.

Playing in the River.

Another one.

Kylee and Tia started school on August 15th. Tia technically only had an orientation, but we still took first day of school pictures and let her wear all her new school stuff. Kylee is loving first grade. It totally wears her out and by last Friday she was quite the grouch, but she still loves it. She seems to be finding people to play with and enjoying the things she does at school, so I am pleased. Tia has had two days of preschool now and is really enjoying it. This year will be kind of interesting because her original teacher moved to Wisconsin, so they are trying to find a new teacher and currently have a long term sub. However, I think Tia like hanging with her friends and being away from home, so it is working out great. When it is just the two of us we usually drop Kylee off at school and then play at the park for awhile. Then take a long ride home. If I have a bike lock, then we will go get a free cookie (or whatever they have) at the grocery store and eat it and hangout and go home. If I don't have a lock then we just go home. The first day we were alone we didn't quite know what to do, but so far we have managed just fine all the other days. I think Tia really likes having some extra attention from me.

Tia's First Day of School.

Kylee's First Day of School.

These two sisters.

In other news, Gaupo got a new position at the library. He is now a supervisor with the job title of Head of Technical Services. He technically starts Monday, but has already moved into his office and started some of the new responsibilities. He and I are both excited for this opportunity. I think he will love the added growth and range of this new position.

This is Gaupo because we never have enough pictures of him.

Gaupo and I have also attended the Self-Reliance Fireside put on by the church and are going to take the personal finance class. I am really excited for this opportunity. Because all that plus twins (who at the 16 week appt were doing great) is not enough new stuff in our life, we are also thinking about improving our home. We have thought about adding on, finishing the basement, doing little projects etc. It has been quite a process trying to figure out what we can do within the laws of the city. Then what we can do based on our budget. Then finally what will be the best value and what do we actually NEED to accomplish from these projects. My favorite part of this whole thing is having something to talk about with Gaupo that isn't work or kids. It is something we can dream about and work on together. There are times we disagree, but we are learning all the time how to deal with that and to give each other time. That even though we want things, it doesn't have to be decided right then or even overnight, we can think about it and give the other person time and space too. We think we finally know what we want to do--finish our basement and fix our bathroom. However, now we have to figure out how to make the rubber hit the road. It will be quite the experience I am sure.

One last thing we did was make our annual family temple trip. This is where Guapo and I take the girls to the temple. We trade doing inititories and taking care of the girls. The girls and Gaupo played at the temple while I went in first. Then I took the girls to a really cool nearby park while Gaupo was in the temple. It was such a fun day.

Me, Kylee, Gaupo, and Tia at the temple.

Letting the girls touch the temple.

The girls climbing up to go down a huge slide. Kylee is the body and Tia is the little head you see.

More Summer Vacation Ramblings

I love summer. I know I probably say this on every post, but I really do and I feel like almost every time I write, I love summer for a different reason. This week I have loved summer because I sleep till 6:40ish. Stay in my jammies and read my scriptures and pray. Then I pray with Gaupo and head downstairs where I read my kids books until Gaupo is ready for work. Then we send him off and the kids play for a bit and I make breakfast and/or get ready. We have breakfast between 8:00 and 8:30. Then the kids play while I clean up and finish getting ready. Then we play some more. Sometimes we go on adventures, but lately the magic time for my kids to play is right after breakfast and as much as I want to go adventure and enjoy the cool of the day, I just can't bring myself to kill the magic, just so I can have fun, so I try to find things to do. I could try harder, but I like to be close-ish so I can hear them because its fun and funny. Then when they are kind of getting done playing we either play together, change up the game they are play or something and get to lunch time. Then we have lunch, books, naps, sometimes there is some play before naps. Then we wake up, have a snack, play until dad gets home. Sometimes we run an errand or something, but our dad gets home we enjoy his company, maybe work on 'homework' or just make dinner. Then we have dinner and do whatever is left 'homework' and/or family time. We just enjoy. Often times the kids will play outside because our evenings are cool and Gaupo and I will watch them. Sometimes we play games. Summer is just bare bones of a schedule and I am not sick of it.

FYI our 'homework' consists of getting Kylee to read a book to us. She is not a huge fan, but she can do it and she needs to. Really, we came up with this for Kylee, because we really have to do Tia's vision therapy exercises and we couldn't just let Kylee get all the rewards without doing any work. So, usually Gaupo will take Kylee because he is way more patient with her and she is better at doing it with him. I take Tia because she just works better with me most times. So far it works, and everybody gets what they need to done, but sometimes it is super painful, while other times it goes just fine. It totally depends on the mood and the day.

So, yeah we haven't done a whole lot. We just kind of pick what we want to do and do it. The girls wish we would go swimming more often, but the weather hasn't been warm enough for me to want to go outside very often and swimming inside seems like a waste since it is still summer. Also, my girls want to ride the waterslides and do the diving boards and while I can do the waterslides I have to be careful so it isn't very fun because I do a lot of watching. Partly I watch because I am worried that no one else is watching out for my kid and they might not make it out of the splash area and I also watch because my kids think they need me to watch their every move. Oh well. I wish we would go bike riding and or hiking more, but I such a pansy when its warm and like I said above, the girls play the best in the morning that it just kind of doesn't happen. I tell myself that's okay we will do it when its cooler in the fall, but guess what we have school ALL DAY! and that totally messes everything up because school usually means homework and it doesn't get out till late and it means we have a schedule. So, I just try to console myself with the fact that my girls are playing and being friends and that isn't going to have as much time either once school starts and as much as I love bikes and the outdoors their friendship and play is probably just as important if not more. So, we roll with. it.

That is probably enough rambling, but I do love summer and I am loving just being around my kids and enjoying them. They are special little spirits that I have been given. Although, we have our moments where things don't go quite well, I am so glad I have them and am so grateful for how they bless my life everyday.

Kylee, Tia, and I. I got a new phone so we were trying out the camera.

Kylee wanted a picture by herself.

Tia of course wanted one too.

Random bumps that Tia got. It never itched, but sure made her pores all stick out. Weird.

We had "Mormon Enchiladas for dinner."

The family enjoying free rootbeer floats on national rootbeer float day.

Kylee's lunch bag. I made it. Its not perfect, but it is cute and will do the job. Plus, Kylee is excited.