End of Summer

We had such a fabulous summer but it went by way to fast!!! Here are some left over pictures of every day stuff we did over the summer. I am starting to feel Fall in the air which scares me because that means winter is right around the corner. Yikes!!!

We had so much fun hanging out at our neighborhood pool this summer. Abbie and Kate both took swim lessons and we would spend as many mornings (before Jake's nap) as we could. It was such a blast to show up and always find some friends and neighbors there to hang out with.

Splash Mash Dash!

Last week was our triathlon! It was such a blast but I'm glad its over! It was great to see the improvements I made in a year after being able to train more and the fact that I hadn't just had a baby. The sprint tri was an 800m swim, 13 mile bike, and 3.5 mile run. The highlight of the day though was watching Abbie and Sam do the kids triathlon. They had it so well organized with a timing chip, t-shirts, medals, and even a goodie bag for the kids. The girls were so excited! They did a 2 lap swim, 3 mile bike, and 1/2 mile run. It was very inspiring watching all these kids pushing themselves to do their best. Each participant was allowed one parent in the transition area. So, Kent went with Abbie and the kids and I were looking for her at different spots on the course. Every time we saw her we screamed for her and she had a smile that went from ear to ear. We couldn't have been more proud!!!! It was definitely one of the highlights of our summer.

Estes Park and Breckenridge

The two summers that we have lived here in Colo. Springs we have been working on our landscaping and finishing our basement. So, we haven't been able to explore as much of Colorado as we would like to. With the landscaping and basement finished we decided we would spend some time up at Rocky Mountain National Park. We rented a little cabin in Estes Park and invited my parents to come join us. My parents flew in from Oregon and even offered to take the kids for a few days at the end of the week while Kent and I spent some time in Breckenridge (another place I had never been). It was absolutely beautiful and we had a perfect week. Thanks mom and dad for coming out!!!

side note: This is probably way too long of a post but since I am using this as my journal and scrapbook I decided to put in lots of pics and details. Plus, there will be a day that I am sure I will have to prove to my kids that we did do fun things together as a family when they were little! ( blurb.com and lulu.com are two websites I have found that will turn your blog into a bound book)

Day one:

• arrive in Estes Park and check out the cute little town. Nana and Papa discovered the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory carmel apples (this wasn't our only stop on the trip!)


• check into our cabin (I don't know if you can even call it that... it was tiny)


• visit the Rock Mountain National Park visitor center and figure out what hikes we are going on
  
• a good game of hearts after the kiddos are in bed (Kent made it a quick round by playing really bad and getting to 100 really quick!)

This was our "cabin" that we stayed in. Not quite sure how they fit three bedrooms, a kitchen/living room, and a bathroom in there but they did!!! We weren't living like royalty but it was all we needed.

The view from our cabin... absolutely beautiful!

Day two:

• early morning tee time for the guys
  
• hike around Sprague Lake and picnic lunch
  
• window shopping in cute Estes Park downtown and dinner out on the town
  
• another wild game of hearts until way too late (way too many peanut m&ms, diet coke, and ridiculous laughter... and again Kent making it easy for me too win)

We got caught in a rain storm on our hike so everyone huddled around Papa while Kent ran to get the car

Day three:

• up early to start our hike to "The Pool". It was a strenous three mile hike round trip and the kids did so great. We were so proud of them! Claire just needed one little break on Papa's shoulders.


• after lunch we did a ride up the mountain on a Tram for a gorgeous view of Rocky Mountain National Park and Estes Park.
  
• a visit to the waterfront to play in the water
  
• walked around the hotel that "The Shinning" was filmed in
  
• another round of hearts (this time Kent did much better and beat us all!)

Day four:

• another early morning tee time for the guys while the ladies started packing up
  
• went to the lake and rented a pontoon boat to take out for a fun little ride around the lake. The kids all had fun taking turns driving the boat and wading their feet in the water.


• loaded the kids up in the van with Nana and Papa heading back to Colorado Springs and Kent and I were off for a fun time on our own. (Thanks again Mom and Dad!!!)
  
• Kent and I went to see the Steve Miller Band at the Red Rocks Ampatheatre. We had a blast!!!
  
  

Day five and six:
We had so much fun in Breckenridge! We stayed in a fun little lodge that was set up kind of like a bed and breakfast. Brekenridge is such a fun town to visit in the summer. We rode bikes, shopped, hiked, found some fun places to eat, and did some more shopping. It was fabulous!!!

Carla's visit

We love it when Mike comes into town but we especially love it when he brings Carla with him!!! She is so sweet with the kids and I enjoy her company so much. She helps balance out Mike and Kent!!! Also, she is one talented women!!! She always comes bearing homemade gifts...this time was no exception. She made the girls the most adorable aprons and spent the morning cooking with them and teaching Abbie some easy recepies she can do all by herself. The girls love Carla and we are so grateful to have her apart of our lives.

Ahlander's visit

Our good friends ,the Ahlanders from Utah, have come for a visit every summer that we have lived here. They stop on their way to visit family in Oklahoma. We just love it! They usually take an extra day or two to explore Colorado with us. We love them and are so grateful for their visit every year!!!!

This year we visited the Olympic Training Center to get pumped up for the summer olympics, we spent a day swimming, and then a day hiking in Garden of the Gods. The kids always get along so well and we loved having them here.

The kids found this rock that had this skinny little crack in it that they could climb through. It had me pretty freaked out at first but they litteraly spent the morning going around and around through that rock. We had to pull Jakey away screaming when it was time to move on.