Seven Weeks and Saturday

Caroline was seven weeks, Thursday the 28th.






Look at that little silly, sticking her tongue out! Austin absolutely adores her. He happily greets Lauren when he gets in the van after school, and is eager to see Caroline too, giving her big hugs.


This has been such a busy, busy week, recovering from vacation and starting school at the same time. I had to go grocery shopping to restock the fridge and pantry, I had my 6-week dr. appointment Wednesday morning, Back-to-School Night was Thursday. Every day we've run to school twice in the afternoon, at 2 to pick up Austin, then again at 3:15ish to get Julia. It is so ridiculous how they have the Kindy kids get out at 2, only an hour and 15 min. before the big kids! Next week, and most days following, Austin will be going to Rec, the afterschool childcare program. I'll pick him up at 3:15 with Julia. Rec is free (somehow the school has a grant to pay for it), it's only the Kindergarteners for that hour, and I think he'll have fun, playing on the playground and getting a little snack. And Lauren will get a nap at a better time (1-3:15 instead of at 12 noon or late, after school). Friday I took all the kids to get their handprints made in clay, a ceramic plaque with each of their handprints on it, at 4pm. I'd tried to do it before school started, but the lady was on vacation, then we were, and it didn't work out till now.

And of course I had a mountain of laundry to do. Thankfully I did all that laundry the last day of our trip! I tackled the mountain yesterday, and have baskets piled with new mountains of clean clothes to sort and fold. Brian wanted corn on the cob for Labor Day, and it is better from the Avila Barn than the grocery store, so we went there for an outing yesterday morning. We bought a lot of fresh produce from their market: summer squash, cherry tomatoes, green beans, and corn for last night and tomorrow. We also bought Wasabi peanuts--those things are addicting! Spicy at first, but then it goes away fast, and they are yummy! The kids shared a couple of giant cookies, and Brian and I each chose a big muffin for a treat. Of course the kids wanted to feed the animals...



Isn't this baby goat cute? They had several babies, born July 14. I wanted to get the girls in their matching blouses, too. We had to be quick as the wooden boxes were kind of rickety, and I didn't trust them sitting on them for too long, especially with Julia holding the baby!


We ended up getting some lunch at Taco Bell around 2. Then we headed to Big 5 to buy Austin some soccer shoes. Another busy day, but fun.

First Day, and the Next

Austin started Kindergarten and Julia started 3rd grade on August 25, last Monday. They were both SO excited! Although the day before, as we were coming back from our vacation, Austin said, "I don't want to go to school!" And he looked pretty perturbed that he would have to go, more specifically, perturbed that he wouldn't be able to play trains the next day. He was really looking forward to coming home and playing trains! He had been naughty on the airplane, kicking the seat in front of him, many times (!), after I'd told him to stop, so he got his trains taken away until Monday. He was frustrated that his tray table wouldn't go back up nicely (it did stick, even for me it was difficult to hook back up), and then got mad and started kicking the seat. The lady who was sitting there looked fairly irritated about this (and I can't say I blame her...).

But, Monday morning, both kids got dressed and ready in record time, and excitedly put on their backpacks, and after cheerfully posing for the traditional pictures, we all walked to school. Brian had taken the day off to ease back into life at home, so he came along too.


Julia chose a Hello Kitty backpack once again (she'd had one in Kindergarten, as well). Her lunchbag is from last year. She is wearing her brand new sneakers too, pink of course. ;) She was thrilled the shoes don't tie, as she hasn't learned how to tie her shoes yet. Much of it is my fault, as she has only had velcro shoes for the last several years! She could learn, and she better, one of these days. Austin is all decked out in Lightning McQueen, that he chose: backpack, lunchbag, thermos, and shoes. Though his aren't brand new, as he just got them in June.


At school, we walked Julia to her line, said hello to her teacher, and left her with her class. She's an old pro now, after all. ;) The rest of us all went to Austin's class. For the Kindergarteners, they have the parents stay the first hour or two, to get acquainted with the teacher and classroom. Partway into the morning, the fire alarm went off! The principal was overheard saying, "What's this?! I didn't plan a drill for today!" Ha ha.. A little Kindy girl had pulled the alarm outside her classroom, so of course everyone at school had to treat it as if there was a real fire. Here is Julia with a bunch of 3rd graders, during the drill. They were at PE at the time.


We are thrilled with Julia's teacher, Mrs. "K.", as she is the one I requested, recommended by her 2nd grade teacher, Mrs. F. Mrs. K is very sweet. We don't know much about Austin's teacher, Mrs. "VS", though she has the kids call her Mrs. "Van", as the "S" part of her name is so long! She seems pleasant. My friend said she didn't like her as well as the other Kindy teachers. But then I told Julia's 2nd grade teacher, Mrs. F, that Austin had Mrs. Van, and she said, "I think she's great!" I loved Mrs. F, and I was glad to hear her say that. Mrs. Van is fluent in Spanish, as she's spent quite a bit of time in Costa Rica. As a result, a lot of Spanish-speaking kids get put in her class. I asked her aid, Mrs. Christy, if Austin will learn Spanish, and she said maybe a little, but that Mrs. Van mostly tries to get the Spanish speakers to learn English. And that she uses Spanish more to speak to the parents who don't speak English.

Back in Austin's class his teacher told the students some info about Kindergarten. At 10:30 they went out for recess and snack, and we left shortly after that. Those little Kindergarteners were so cute! When I picked Austin up that afternoon, he was all smiles, and said, "I had fun there!" Mrs. Van told me, "He sure is ready!" He was so excited every day this week that he got to go back again the next day. :) And every day he's told me he's gotten to play on the playground. He loves that playground. He also has been playing soccer at recess with other boys. He's been worn out every day too!! Julia has liked going back to school as well, and says how much fun it is. She's excited that she will learn to write in cursive this year.


And of course, a couple of the littlest from Monday: :)


Look at those chubby baby legs!!


Then came Tuesday. I'm left with these two once we drop the older two at school.





Somebody help me! ;) It is so hard to lift that head sometimes!

Colorado Vacation

August 15-24

Friday the 15th we drove to LA and enjoyed dinner and visiting with our friends, Michael and Carol-Ann. We spent the night there, and Mike brought us to the airport early Saturday morning. We picked up McDonald's at the airport for breakfast, and ate by our gate. We had just enough to eat before we had to board our flight. Caroline did great the entire morning! We arrived in Denver about 1, I think. We got our luggage and then had to get our rental van, which was an adventure in itself! We had 3 checked-in suitcases, 2 smaller carry-on suitcases, a backpack, 3 car seats, plus the camera and my purse and Brian's folder of trip info. We took up a LOT of space in the tram that took us from the airport to the rental car area!! Lauren was in the stroller, with as much as we could cram into the stroller basket, and Austin and Julia each pulled a suitcase. Brian pushed the stroller with the two booster car seat on the canopy, and pulled a suitcase. I had the purse and camera, Baby in the front pack, and pulled a suitcase with Caroline's big car seat and base on top of that. We really should have had a picture of the whole setup, but, there was no extra time, and no extra hands!!

Caroline's first flight. The lady next to Lauren was also going to YMCA of the Rockies, but at the beginning of the week.


We ate lunch at Wendy's about 3:30? I think, in Aurora, then stopped at a WalMart to buy diapers, wipes, snacks and bottles of water for the week. We arrived at our friends' house I think around 5:30. It's all getting fuzzy now! Robbie and Sara and their kids live in Castle Rock. They welcomed us with fresh homemade cookies. It was nice just to relax and hang out with them that night. Our kids had a great time playing with their 4 kids, and liked just being able to be, not have to be running around here and there!

Sunday morning we went to church with our friends. Here is Lauren with their daughter, Sariah, afterwards.


It was a cool, rainy day, so our friends took us to an indoor water park at their town's rec center. It was the neatest place, with water slides, including this one that Julia and Josiah(friends' oldest) were pretty intimidated by for quite awhile. Finally they were both persuaded to try the BIG slide, and they loved it!! Part of the gang with their towels: Lauren, Micah, Sariah, Elijah, and Austin. I think Julia and Josiah were finishing up their last slide runs at the time.


Brian playing with Caroline Monday morning (18th)


Monday morning Sara took us around Castle Rock. We saw the charming downtown area and the actual rock named Castle Rock. We picked up lunch at Chik-Fil-A and ate at a local park. That afternoon we all drove toward Colorado Springs, and visited Garden of the Gods. We all really enjoyed walking the path through the rock formations! In the second picture below, I thought it was interesting how all the rocks in the park were red, but there on the left were some gray rocks.


Julia thought the top of this rock looked like a smiley face. :) The older kids being silly: Josiah, Austin, Micah, Julia, Sariah.


Caroline spent much of the vacation in the front pack! Monday evening we spent at our friends' house, visiting and watching the Olympics. We watched some of the Olympics every night we were there. It was nice to just relax and let the kids play together. I think I already said that. Ha ha...but it really was pleasant!


Tuesday, before we left Castle Rock, on our friends' front porch. Back: Micah, Julia, Josiah; Front: Lauren, Elijah, Austin, Sariah, Caroline.


Brian, Caroline and I slept in the room with those windows behind us. Austin slept in a sleeping baby with Josiah and Micah, and Julia and Lauren each had a bed in Elijah's room, and Elijah and Sariah shared her room. Austin loved having those boys to play with. He was sad in the van as we drove away from their house, even getting teary-eyed. He had so much fun with them.


We drove to Colorado Springs and met up with Doug and Annette at Focus on the Family. We went on two tours, let the kids play on the playground, and ate lunch at Whit's End Soda Shoppe. Our big kids with cousins, Alyssa and Annika, in the doorway:


That afternoon we, along with Doug and Annette's family, met up with Chris, someone they knew from church, who is now attending the US Air Force Academy. He gave us a tour of the famous chapel, and explained many things about the academy and the cadets' requirements. He also gave us a tour of his dorm (don't think many tourists get that opportunity! ;) ). I also don't think the cadets see an entourage quite like ours coming through their dorms very often! LOL Two families with strollers, kids and babies trooping through their halls... The Air Force Academy visit turned out to be one of my favorite stops on this vacation.

When hunger calls, you can't just ignore it--especially if you are only a 5 1/2 week old baby! Caroline thought she was starving and let everyone know, so here we are, nursing in the Air Force Academy Chapel... The chapel was beautiful!


Air Force motto, and cute cousins:


Our family with Chris, in front of the chapel


Tuesday night we stayed in a hotel in Colorado Springs, with Doug and Annette's family in the room next door. There was twisty water slide in the pool area, and our kids absolutely loved that! We stopped at the Dollar Tree store across the street and bought two floaty rings for Austin and Lauren to use.

Weds. the 20th: Caroline in our hotel room, and sweetly sleeping in her car seat


After breakfast at the hotel we all went to the Manitou Springs cliff dwellings. This, and Garden of the Gods, were my other favorite places we saw on this trip. It was fascinating to learn how the people lived in there "houses". We almost never buy anything at tourist gift shops, but at this one I bought a bag of cowboys and Indians, along with wagons, tee pees, etc, to make a village. I also bought some fudge that our family shared (bad to be shopping at lunchtime, with that yummy fudge tempting you!!), and a small bag of magnetic rocks. The rocks are so cool--shiny and black, but they are strong magnets! I put them on my fridge to hold up kids' artwork. Also, when we arrived at the cliff dwellings, Lauren said, "When I was an Indian, I used to live here!" :D




After the cliff dwellings, we picked up lunch at Dairy Queen and ate at a park in Manitou Springs. Then we drove to Estes Park for the family reunion.

Here is our new niece, Annaliese, at the park.


And Annaliese and Caroline. Annaliese is about 3 weeks older. Kind of a funny picture, but I don't think there was any time on this whole trip where both babies were awake and happy at the same time! I had to hurry as it was, to get this picture, as a thunder storm was coming, and it was starting to rain.


Thursday, August 21, Caroline is 6 weeks old!

Thursday morning we went with everyone at the reunion to Rocky Mountain National Park. At this visitors center the kids could dress up in pioneer, Indian, and park ranger outfits. All the girls loved it; I don't think Austin dressed up at all. ;) He did like playing with toy fish in another exhibit.

Grandma Alvina with Annika, Annaliese, and Lauren

We mostly drove around the park and saw the views. I would have liked to have done a little hiking (not too strenuous, LOL), but the park is so huge, and we just didn't have enough time. One of the many gorgeous views in the park:

For lunch, Brian's brother-in-law, Chris, roasted hot dogs. That took quite awhile, as we didn't have any lighter fluid for the charcoal, and it was pretty windy in the park, so the fire kept blowing out. Brian's sister, Joy, asked another group to borrow their lighter fluid, and that helped get things going. Finally the hot dogs got cooked! Some of us went on a short walk to a little creek, and some stayed back at the picnic site.

All the older cousins: Austin, Julia, Alyssa, Alexis, Annika, Lauren

Friday morning we went mini golfing at the Y. The littlest girls were the cutest to watch!

That afternoon several of us went to the craft room at the Y. Austin and Lauren painted wooden jewelry boxes, and Julia made two beaded necklaces.

Saturday the 23rd: I did our laundry in the town of Estes Park in the morning. We kind of just hung around during the afternoon--it's hard to do too much with little kids and babies. We took some group pictures before dinner. Here is Grandma with all the grandkids that came (there are 3 more who didn't come to the reunion).

All of us who were at the reunion: Back: Brian, me with Caroline, Annette, Doug, Holly, Randy. Middle: Julia, Grandma with Annaliese, Alexis, Alyssa, Joy, Chris. Front: Austin, Annika, Lauren.

We ate dinner at the YMCA's restaurant that night. There was the main cabin where some of the group stayed. We slept in a smaller cabin just across a path, with Doug and Annette's family. The main cabin had this living/dining area and a kitchen where we made most of our meals.

Some funny things about the cabins: we figure they must be at least 50 years old, judging by the look of the dining room chandeliers and the knotty pine paneling everywhere. The main cabin had such dim kitchen lighting that a previous guest had put a bedroom lamp on top of the fridge to give more light! It was hilarious to see that up there. And when the lamp was plugged in you had to unplug either the toaster or the microwave, as outlets were limited.

Our windows in our little cabin were so old, that many would not stay open! We had to prop them up with sticks, Brian used a coat hanger in one of ours, and Annette used a pillow in one of hers (this was also to block the hole in the screen so bugs wouldn't come in!). Previous guests had left behind gnarled sticks in a few of the windows, I assume, to prop them open. The bathroom was clean, but smallish. There were two toilet stalls (with curtains for a bit of privacy) and two shower stalls and two sinks in this one bathroom. One of the toilet stalls was so small, that I never used it. :D I think it must have been meant for guys to walk in, do their business and back right out. The little kids used it a time or two... The shower stalls were so small that you were almost cleaning the opposite wall with your backside as you rinsed your front. That and/or hit the bodywash dispenser! But hey, at least we had hot, running water! Our bed sheets were on inside out; one curtain panel was hung inside out. And in the main cabin both bathroom curtain panels were hung inside out. It cracked me up! Brian said maybe a bunch of guys were doing the housekeeping. ROFL (Rolling on the floor laughing)

Here is Brian with his mom and siblings (except his twin sister Brenda whose family didn't come) in the main cabin, on Saturday night.

I think I took over 400 pictures during the whole trip, so even though there are a lot here, there are still a lot more! :) Thinking back, there are some I wish I would have taken that I didn't. But, a lot of the time I was nursing Caroline or busy getting clothes out or kids set up to eat or this and that, other things! It was a fun week. We did a LOT of things. It was nice to see our friends in Castle Rock, and Brian's family at the reunion. It was a lot of work preparing for the trip, and very, very busy this last week afterwards, with school starting and all. But we are glad we did it.