Mount Rushmore - Part 3

After Bear Country, the kids were ready for lunch but we had one more stop we wanted to make before heading back to Rapid City. There really aren't any restaurants between Bear Country and Rapid City.

We made our last stop at Reptile Gardens. We timed our arrival perfectly with the bird show.

We even had two co-stars in our presence. 

After the show, we wandered the gardens enjoying the snakes, prairie dogs and crocs.

Even in mid-October, the gardens were beautiful.

Seeing/touching these old tortoises was a highlight of the trip.

It was funny how they would stretch so that the kids could rub their necks.

We would have spent a bit more time in the garden if the kids weren't hungry. But, it was time to head to Rapid City for lunch. After our late lunch we rested in the hotel for about an hour before going to the adjacent water park. The kids spent HOURS playing at the park. Best $5 spent on the trip. We ended up eating dinner poolside (food was about what you would expect). By 7 am the next morning, we were on our way back to Denver.

Mount Rushmore - Part 1

The kids recently had a 5 day weekend for fall break. Because these breaks only run through middle school, we wanted to take advantage of the time off.

Mount Rushmore has been on our wish list since we moved to Denver. It's only about a 6 hour drive.

We had grand plans to spend two and a half days exploring South Dakota. 

Then, "the most important soccer game of our season" appeared on the calendar and our trip got cut very short.

So, what can you do near Mount Rushmore in 24 hours? 

As we drove to town, we visited Custer State Park. We really enjoyed driving the Wildlife Loop and would do it again on another visit.

We thought this was a sheep, but were disappointed to discover it was only a mule deer. 

Needles Highway was closed in the park for road repairs. Next visit, that portion of the park (which include Sylvan Lake) will be a priority.

A few other spots we would visit if the time/budget allowed include the Mammoth Hot Springs Site, Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary and the Purple Pie Place. No one was in the mood for pie when we passed the restaurant. 

We spent about an hour in the park and then took Iron Mountain Road toward Mount Rushmore. Loved seeing the mountain through the tunnel.

We enjoyed seeing Mt. Rushmore lighted at night. 

Our fourth graders have free National Parks passes this year.  But, a National Parks Pass doesn't work at Mount Rushmore.  They don't charge admission - just a parking fee. But, your parking pass is good for a week. The trickiest part about visiting at night is avoiding the wild animals on the road.  We passed so many deer & other critters on our drive to the hotel.

We returned bright & early to see the park in daylight. The kids had a lot of fun exploring the park, using binoculars and listening to the Ranger presentations. 

There is a short path that takes you close to the base of the mountain. We spent about an hour and a half at the park. As we were leaving at 10:30, it was starting to get very busy (even in October).

We were very excited to see these two sheep wandering around as we left the park. As you leave Mount Rushmore, you pass through a little town with a number of restaurants and tourist attractions. We ate in the town on Thursday night, but drove through on Saturday to head to our next destination. 

Winter Park - Summer Edition

The air is crisp and the sun is rising later in the morning. Fall might be creeping up on us, but there are still so many summer memories to share. 

One of my favorite summer weekends was spent in Winter Park.

Our neighbor's shared their home with us for the weekend. As we walked around the block, you get great view of the ski runs at Winter Park resort.

We took a fun family hike through the National Forest - I am really happy with the number of hikes I was able to do this summer.

The weather was perfect & the trees were beautiful.

The girls took on a project of building a fort.

Not too shabby for a days work. They made a list of supplies that they need to bring up on the next visit.

The boys had fun playing horsehoes

and relaxing in the hot tub after the "long" hike.

We played games 

roasted marshmallows

and enjoyed a lot of low key family time. It was a perfect weekend. We are lucky to have such generous friends and hope to visit again this fall once the leaves start to change.

Let's Catch Up

This blog has been neglected for a few months. My goal is  to start capturing more of our stories - both in writing and in photos - on a weekly basis. Let's start with where we are today.

KRISTA

Reading: The Magician's Lie - enjoyable so far

Mapping: Grocery lists for Easter weekend celebrations

Focusing: On my next conference planning - goodbye Hong Kong, hello San Diego

NICK

Watching: Better Call Saul.

Coordinating: Work trips for the next few months.

Dreaming: Of golf season after an epic round at Torrey Pines over spring break

ELLA

Reading: The Finisher - can't get enough dystopian books

Anticipating: Her second school dance

Juggling: Competitive soccer and gymnastics. It's a full schedule. I am curious what she will choose to do in the fall.

CHARLIE

Reading: Everything. 

Planning: Grocery lists for Easter weekend celebrations

Focusing: On penmanship. He's been a trooper with his new tutoring sessions.

GRETA

Reading: I Survived. The kids love this historical fiction series.

Surviving: A broken arm and no gymnastics or PE until summer.

Enjoying: Lots of hand-me-down clothing choices from Ella & her taller friends

ROCKY

Anticipating: My next set of X-rays. Hoping the boot comes off & I can get back to taking him on regular walks.

Student Leadership

It has been quite the capstone year for Ella. It's her last year of Elementary School & she was very excited to be selected to be a part of the Student Leadership team. She has loved all the projects this year. But, I think everyone's favorite was the art project the kids recently completed.

This is the stairway that you see when you first walk into the school. In three short painting sessions, the kids transformed the drab stairway into an awesome faux library. As you can imagine, this statement piece is quite the talk around the school.

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Sayonora, January

Two blog posts in a week! I'm on a roll. January came in and out in a blur, but a good blur. January was a productive, energetic and happy month. When you live in snow country, that is saying a lot. Of course, January was mild compared to our February weather so maintaining my enthusiasm for winter has been a challenge.

January highlights:

Completing: {well, almost completing} three journaling projects that have been hanging over my head for months

Racing: Pinewood Derby cars (three this year)

Reading: The Interestings (**), Lean In (***), The Goldfinch (**), Where'd You Go Bernadette (****), The Tiger Wife (in process)

Traveling: first work trip of the year under my belt and my second one planned

Recovering: from the shock of the cost of having two kids in braces before the end of the year.

Decluttering: coats, mittens, gloves, socks

Collecting: all the books for Ella's Battle of the Books Challenge

Planning: an exciting overseas adventure in May

Reserving: all the Academy Award nominated movies

Remembering: a fun first ski weekend in Vail

Finding: a library book that has been missing for a month

Celebrating: Nick getting a new job

Wondering: how two of us working from home will shake out

Enjoying: Frozen, the Broncos, Uncle K's ski visit, girl scout cookies.

Moving: a lot. I kicked up my exercise routine. The kids joined me with Cross Fit and Nick has been
working to implement a new workout routine as well.

Growing: through drama/musical after school clubs

Mapping: our summer travel and camp adventures. it's hard to believe it is already that time of year.

Exploring: Denver at our first family outing to the Nuggets game

Fraser Hill Tubing

Hello middle-of-January! I had all these great post ideas for December that just never materialized. With the holidays well behind us, let's move forward. 

Over break, the kids decided to use some of their Christmas money to go tubing.

Our neighbors suggested Fraser Tubing Hill. It is near Winter Park resort.  Fifth graders receive a free ski pass and, after driving by, Nick & Ella are looking forward to returning to the area. Several of our neighbors get ski passes to different resorts than we do. It will be fun for Nick to explore new runs with Ella this year.

A few things we didn't realize before we made the trip. First, it is really far from Denver - probably an hour and a half. We had to force ourselves not to think about how close the tubing hill was from Salt Lake City.  Second, the temperature change from Denver to Fraser was dramatic (over 30 degrees). This was significant because Nick packed a light jacket and Greta forgot her jacket completely.

Our other surprise was that it was super crowded on a Monday. We were told the best times to arrive are right when they open or after 6 at night (it would be too cold for me then). We put our name on the waiting list and headed to lunch.

It worked out well because the clouds lifted while we were at lunch and the blue skies were beautiful.

This was a really fun afternoon activity. We only rented the tubes for an hour because there were so many people waiting (the wait was 2 hours when we got our tubes). Thankfully we found an old coat of my sister's in Nick's bag for Greta. It got chilly when you are shooting down the hill at 30 miles per hour.

If I hadn't been so scared flying down the hill, I would have video taped a ride. You really get moving. After the first run, I was wishing that all the kids were wearing helmets.

We never saw anyone crash though. I think next time I would consider wearing snow pants. My lower back kept getting exposed and it was a little brisk!

The best part about tubing is not having to walk up the steep hill. Given the wait time up the hill, we probably got 8 or so runs in during our hour. 

If we ever spend a week in the mountains, this would be a great way to break up a week of skiing.

So, how is your new year looking? I'm making an unexpected work trip this week and hope to find some time on the flight to visualize 2014. Here's to a great year!

And Then They Were Seven

She still has him by half an inch, but he was determined to look taller in these photos! Happy Birthday kiddos, our lives are so much richer because of you both.

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Summer 2013

I have a lot of stories to tell from our summer adventures and I'm hoping to start working on them tonight.  Jessica said that I should create a photo book for the crazy last four months. But, I didn't take as many pictures this summer as usual and most of the photos are going into our photo-a-day yearbook. I just wasn't excited about creating a photo book.

I'm taking a story telling class through Big Picture Classes. I'm about 7 weeks behind, but after listening to the Week 1 course about timelines, I thought it fit perfectly with my summer project. I will print out these two pages on photo paper & stick them in a photo album (my first addition since about 2009 when I started the photo-a-day project). Our summer timeline in two pages. As of this morning, about half of these photos were still on a phone or memory card. One summer project down in less than two hours. Bring it on Monday.

On the Horizon

We've been running in so many different directions.
I'm trying to stay on top of copious emails directing me to take the kids every which way.
I'm up late worrying about managing our summer schedule & whether I have received/returned all the necessary camp forms.
The last week of school is here & the pool opens this weekend.
After Charlie failed to bring a sweatshirt camping & Greta forgot to pack a short-sleeved shirt, I'm creating packing lists for the kids for various trips this summer.
Just as I am ready to slow down for summer, work has heated up.
As we approach 10 months in the house, I'm starting to make a list of those pesky house projects that have been on my "to-do" list since we moved in.
With a couple of longer trips this summer, I'm trying to find open play boarding options for Rocky (which means a tryout & coordinating his immunization records).
 We have two long road trips coming up so I've been scouring suggested reading lists for the kids (my sister & I were/are voracious readers, how did I not end up with one bookworm?)
I'm not happy with how my recent photos have turned out & I'm wondering when/if I will have time to go shoot before our summer trips.
In the midst of all of this bustle, I want to find time to let the kids create their summer "bucket-list" because I know its going to be back-to-school time before we know it.
                                                                                                                                                   

Our Little Ballers

Though the grass isn't very green yet

and the snow keeps coming, 

soccer season has officially started.

With their late birthdays, the twins have it easy for another year.

Small fields, no goalies, games at the same location (which was great last weekend when Charlie & Greta had games at the same time). I doubt they will be scoring as many goals next year.

It's a little tougher in Ella's division.  And no, she isn't playing with much older girls - she is just very short.

Ella's team fended off the wind & ominous skies last weekend. With spring break, the team didn't have enough players to make any substitutions.  

But, these girls are tough!

We are expecting one more snow storm soon - hopefully it melts quickly so her practice field can stay open.