We just bought one of those fun Kelty baby backpacks with the intent of going on a family hike in the mountains this weekend. William loved catching a ride on Daddy's back. He had a huge smile on his face while "test driving" the different models at REI. So the plan was to go up into Rocky Mountain Park on Sunday and do some walking. But as they say, best laid plans... It was in the 90s and sunny down here at home, but by the time we hit Estes Park it was rainy, windy, and in the 50s. We definitely did not plan well for those kinds of temps. Paul thought maybe it was sunny over the Continental Divide so we headed up and over the mountains in search of better weather.

Here we are up at the top, approximately 14, 000 feet or about 2 miles up.

Nick and Ellie didn't seem to notice the first time we made this trip two summers ago. But this time both of them were a little nervous about the height. They kept saying "be careful driving Dad".

One brief sunny interlude. Quick kids, enjoy the sun now!


Poor William who is not a fan of the car seat, only made it out of the car for about 15 minutes in between the rain showers. He found a very valuable stick and was enjoying his short taste of freedom.

Pretty much it looked like this on both sides of the Continental Divide all day. So no hiking for us this weekend. And by the afternoon it had degenerated into a full on lightning storm so we headed for home.


'Tis the season... for the Elk. It's mating season up here in the Rockies. We spotted quite a few today. (I know Paul was secretly eyeing those huge racks. With visions of mounting them on a wall running through his head...)

Does this look like the face of a little girl who is missing her Big Brother now that he is at school all day?

Miss Eleanor is LOVING the only child status this week. William usually goes down for a very long nap at about 9am and then she is has Mommy all to herself for hours! We are having lots of girl fun around here: painting nails, doing hair, planning her wardrobe, watching Cinderella and other girl movies, trying on Mom's shoes, playing with Mom's makeup and so on and so forth.
Have to run: it's time to color princesses now!

Does this look like the face of a child who is glad to go back to school?!
(Too bad you can't see Mommy's smiling face. I personally am giddy with excitement!)

Nick is off to the first grade today at Eagleview Elementary. His teacher this year is Miss Jill, and we hear via the grapevine that she is awesome. Yeah! I am forecasting a good year. There are three friends from Kindergarten in his class, he has a new backpack, a new and first ever lunch box (bag actually), and we hear that there are two recesses and a snack time for the first graders. Woo Hoo! Have a good day Nick! See you at 2:30pm....

Paul called me from work about an hour after drop off to see if I was sitting back with a pitcher of margaritas and enjoying the quiet. I did have to remind him that we do have two other small children at home. No rest for the weary.... yet. But do feel free to check in here once I get Will off to school, in about 4 years. I'll keep that suggestion in mind....

Miscellaneous Weekend Photos

Learning New Tricks

Nick received a Scooby Doo video game at his birthday party this year. He enjoys playing it occasionally. It's not incredibly well used..... by him. William however, is a whole other story! He is obsessed with this game. Initially he was content to sit in his little chair with the joystick in hand, no actual video game on the TV. However, he has discovered that deceit. And now he is not happy unless the game is actually on and he is playing it. I can't believe a 16month old has sufficient eye hand coordination to drive the Mystery Machine, but he does. Go figure.

Here are the boys over the weekend, Nick giving William pointers on how to maximize his score.



A sweet moment between the two boys. Few and far between these days!

I remember being warned once by a coworker that when you have your second child, your first born has to grow up too fast. After a few years of experience in this arena, I've decided that's backwards. It's your second, or in this case third child, who grows up too fast! Nick was first exposed to video games on his sixth birthday, yet here is little William only 16 months and already proficient.

The Effects of Watching the Olympics...

We've been enjoying watching the Summer Olympics this week. Go USA!! There was one unforeseen effect from the Opening Ceremonies however. Ellie was fascinated by the little girl singing (or lip syncing as it turns out) the Chinese National Anthem. She was thrilled to learn that children can actually sing for an audience on a stage! Who knew?! This is now her goal in life. She wants us to teach her the Chinese National Anthem, let her wear a beautiful dress, and find her an audience STAT.

So here is her performance. Complete with interruptions and imitations from her big brother. (And we have suggested that the United States National Anthem is a more suitable alternative.)

SuperBaby!

William playing dress up with the big kids. He's pretty proud of himself!

The Kids First Camping "Trip"

We were strongly encouraging our children to try the zucchini at dinner tonight. Going camping was the incentive. It worked, they both were dying to sleep in a tent! Paul took them "camping" in the backyard tonight. There was a couple of hours of non-stop jibber-jabbering, some crying from Ellie about it being dark, and then blessed silence.


Of course, being camera obsessed I had to sneak up on them to snap a photo.


Sorry, bad shot of Ellie. It really was pitch dark and the Night Shot setting on my camera doesn't give me a preview- other than a black LCD screen. It's pretty much guesstimate where your target is and shoot.

Once asleep, the kids probably would have made it all night. But Paul only lasted until midnight. Then we carried the sleepy kiddos back to bed. Both were a little confused the next morning as to how they ended up in the house and where the tent had gone.