Surprise!

We are taking a break from vacation pictures to announce the latest "last-minute" change. On August 11th we had "meet the teacher" at South Breeze. A long list of events took place but Luke told Mrs. Klug (kindergarten teacher) that he thought Jacob was ready and Mrs. Klug said it wasn't too late if we changed our minds.

I had made up mind for 5 months and I fully anticipated having one more year at home with my "baby." We hadn't worked on riding a bike without training wheels, tying shoes, etc. I was content with him being held back one more year until my little bubble was burst at 5:30 PM.

Once we got home we asked Jacob what he wanted and he said "if you want me to go to preschool with the little kids I will do it." However, my quotations aren't fully resembling the heartache he said it with. He said he wanted to go to kindergarten with the big kids.

Ugggg....

My Thursday started still not knowing if Jacob was going to school AND Ben got up at 5:00 AM asking when he could go to school. At least we kept him in bed until 6:30.

Jacob and Ben before Ben caught the bus. Ben didn't want Jake to put his arm around him.
Luke with Jacob and Ben.
Ben said his stomach was hurting so he forced a smile.

Ben waiting for Ms. Jo the bus driver.
AND.....

Jacob on his way into afternoon kindergarten. He wanted to get there early because he doesn't like people "staring" at him because he is "shy."

Jacob waiting for me to get out of the classroom!

Luke and I thought it was pretty quiet and went looking for Jacob.

This is how we found him about 5:00 PM.

I think he was tired!

Surprise!

Vacation Day-4 - Night

One of Aunt Jenn's rules is you can't play with her "critters" unless she is home. The boys couldn't wait for Aunt Jenn to get home from work on Monday so they could hold "Jones" and "Houdini". Jones is a box turtle that was malnourished when her brother, Tim, found the turtle in his neighborhood. Jenn inherited the turtle a few years ago.
Jones loves apples and lettuce but is very shy!
Ben was so excited to pick her up.

Next the boys got to hold "Houdini" and 3 foot Ball Python. Jenn has had him since she was 19 years old. He also lived with us in college.

On a side note, Houdini cannot eat live mice. He becomes friends with them and then the mice start hurting him.....therefore, in college, we always had frozen mice in our freezer. It was carefully marked (thank goodness) but just a memory that just came to mind!

Jacob didn't like the feel of him on his skin so we put Jenn's work shirt over his legs. Then he was okay with the snake crawling on him! Ironic that Jake even has his native Kansas snake shirt on for the pictures! (Thank you Aunt Leslie that is one of his favorite shirts).

Ben is glowing!

Aunt Jenn has two dogs, Copper and Red. Jacob loved both of them but the picture of Red Dog was a blur so we just have one of Copper!

Ben took a picture after Aunt Jenn's petting zoo was "closed" for the night. Afterwards we headed to Glenwood for the next two nights.

Vacation Day-4

Monday morning we headed to "Rifle Falls" in Rifle, Colorado (imagine). It was pretty and easy hiking for the boys. Luke did not get winded which was also a plus too! This was the first time he had been hiking since his surgery last August. All of us under the waterfalls.
Plenty of caves for the boys to explore. I hit my head on the top of one of the caves and mom lost her sense of humor for awhile.

There were great trees to explore on top of the falls.

Jake, Mom and Ben at the base of the falls.

More caves.......

After our hike the boys took off their shoes and put their feet in the water. The water was cold so they lost interest fairly quickly. I headed to the lovely "outhouse" and in the meantime Ben fell into the creek....He thought he was stepping on grass but it wasn't! He kept telling us NOT to laugh (it was hard not too) because he was so embarrassed!

He gets so sensitive about those things!

After our adventure at the "Falls" we drove a few more miles up the road to the fish hatchery.

Jenn works for the Division so I thought it would be fun to get Ben's picture with their logo. Besides I am little biased towards the "ram" since I am an Alum from Colorado State University......Go RAMS!

This hatchery only raises Rainbow Trout....We got to go through and feed them.

We also saw two Eagles who had a nest near the hatchery. They were amazing to watch in the wild.

Luke really wanted to throw a fishing pole in the water, but I think that was against policy!

On our way back we stopped off at this lake so the boys could throw more rocks. If I haven't already said this, they LOVE throwing rocks....

We didn't stay here too long because the ants were "vicious!" They would hang on your shoes, clothes, skin, whatever they could hang onto and not let go. They loved to bite too! We renamed this lake "Fire Ant Lake."

Jenn informed me afterwards that they didn't have "fire ants" in Colorado but we didn't care that is still what we are calling it!

Vacation Day 3

On Sunday we stopped to see our Niece and Nephew and their two children, Jaxson and Lexi. It was the first time we got to meet Lexi so everyone was very excited! Lexi was adorable! It almost made me want another baby! I think I will give her smooches and give her back to her mom and dad once she is good and spoiled!
Jacob took this picture in Tanda and Kevin's backyard!
Jaxson is in front of Ben! Both boys were very protective with him.

The boys got Jaxson in the swing and were "carefully" swinging him back and forth. Literally we went inside for 60 seconds and when we came out this is what we found!

Jaxson LOVED it!

Here is Tanda , Uncle Luke and Lexi. Luke usually has a way with babies but I think she was getting hungry at this point!

I LOVE this picture of Jacob and Jaxson.

Jacob brought in his wonder markers and he and Jaxson were coloring on the floor. Jacob is so good with younger children. He is one of the oldest at his babysitters and he prides himself in being the "big kid" now that Ben is in school.

After our visit we drove to Glenwood Springs from Denver. That was one long drive in the rain. It was sooo cold but a relief from the hot Kansas summers. We drove to Silt and stayed at Jenn's house that night (she wasn't there). When we got to the house she had an air rocket for both boys and two containers of sidewalk chalk. We went and explored Silt, it was a nice town and the people we met were friendly.

Have I said yet, I miss Colorado!?!

We had great family time that night and watched a movie on the DVD player from the car. Jenn doesn't have a TV so we all piled in bed and watched "Kung Fu Panda."

It was great day!

Vacation-Day 2 (boys)

The boys got to hang out with their dad while mom helped with the baby shower. I booked a different hotel room that night so the boys got to check it out before mom! It was very nice and the boys were excited. When talking to Luke, he asked how much the room was because he looked on the back of the door and it said it was almost $500 a night. I assured him I had not lost my mind and we weren't paying over a $100 a night. I heard a sigh of relief afterwards!

The hotel had a great walking path that went under hwy 36 and the boys liked the tunnel and throwing rocks up on the hill. I guess they demolished quite a few ant hills along the way.

Once they got tired they decided to go to the Butterfly Pavilion which we had been to a few years ago. Last time mom was the only one who held "Rosie" and the "hissing cockroach". This time the boys got a little braver......

Rosie is a Tarantula and once you hold it, you get a cool sticker!
Jacob trying to show Ben how to hold "Rosie" the correct way!

One big butterfly!

Luke said the boys said this was a "funny looking butterfly." We haven't quite figured out the whole "mating" discussion so Luke agreed with them and walked on!

Afterwards the boys went back to the hotel for more swimming! Yea for Dad!

Vacation-Day 2

On Saturday, my "bff" (Jenn) had a baby shower for her younger sister, Melanie. Jenn had been out of town for a few weeks and was running around trying to get everything done at the last minute. I was happy to volunteer to get ready for the shower, which meant the boys had to fend for themselves that day! Jenn and Mindy were preparing for about 40-45 people to come to the shower. I would say about 40 showed up which meant Mel "scored" some good stuff for the baby!

Jenn's family has always been like my other family and Jenn's mom, Liz, is called MOM (My Other Mom). Below is a picture of Melanie and Janelle. Janelle is Melanie's cousin and I lived at Janelle's parents house for about a month when I was in college at Colorado State University (CSU). The last time I saw Janelle she was beginning 2nd grade. I felt so old because she just graduated from CSU and it doesn't seem like I graduated from there 13 years ago....

(okay back to more pleasant thoughts).

I can't figure out how to make this picture bigger........
Ashlyn with Auntie Jenn.
Ashlyn is Tim's little girl, Jenn's brother. She had a some rough times when she was younger but she is doing so much better now. Two years ago she was still eating out of a feeding tube, but can eat regular food now (yea)! She and her younger brother, Aiden, are being raised by their father. Tim is doing an awesome job!Growing up we had the best block ever! Even though all of us have moved we have stayed in touch. These are some very special woman to me!
Liz (MOM), Rose, Pat and Jenn
I hadn't seen Rose or Pat for 10 years. They all look great!

I use to babysit for Pat and her three kiddos. I still picture them as being "little" but they are all grown up having careers, spouses, children, etc., etc....

In addition to seeing old neighbors, I ran into an old classmate from "Standley Lake High School" He was leaving Mindy's house when we arrived at her house to prepare for the shower. It was fun to get caught up on old friends/acquaintances.