August Random

  Here are the randoms from August!  

Every once in a while, Joey gets the kids doughnuts for breakfast.  Emmy literally inhales them.  

Such a water baby!!!

Gracie and her best friend Juliana playing cards

Friday nights are pizza nights

We spent a lot of evenings at the pool.  Not busy at all and perfect weather!  

Gracie and Dawson ready to watch some Nuggets

The Nuggets are in the playoffs!!!

She loves jumping in the pool.  

We bought the girls a new ride on toy.  They love taking it out for a spin.  I think I can see what they will look like in 10 years going for rides together while Gracie drives.  

Emmy not impressed to be watching her siblings at soccer practice

Dawson in his new Roosevelt shirt

The girls heading to school.  

First Day of School

    After a very long spring and summer, it is finally time for the kids to return to school!!!!  My how we have all missed school!  Gracie and Dawson both get to attend school in person five days a week.  The district gave us the option of in-person learning or a virtual homeschool program.  We chose the former.  The kids need the social interaction and structure that school provides for them.  The school requires masks to be worn and I am confident in all the precautions they are taking.  Ashlyn's school gave us the choice of a hybrid option or learn from home.  Ashlyn wanted to be in school.  At the last minute they changed it, and for now she is learning solely from home.  We were all pretty disappointed in this decision, but most of all Ashlyn.  She was really wanting social interaction and will not be getting it for now.  The district plans to revisit in a few weeks and we hope she is able to attend in person even part time.

   Gracie is going into 1st grade and has Mrs. Edgar for a teacher.  She is very excited to have several friends from preschool and kindergarten in her class.  I think it will be a great year for her!  Dawson is going into the 4th grade.  He has Mrs. Williams for a teacher this year.  He and Ella are in the same class as they have been every year.  He is excited to be back in the school and not out in the portables this year.  Ashlyn is going into the 7th grade.  I think she is getting the hang of middle school a bit more and is excited to no longer be on the bottom of the totem pole at school.  I was nervous about the kids having to wear masks all day, but kids are so darn resilient and they don't seemed to be fazed by it at all.  

   I pray that they are able to stay learning in person for as long as possible.  It is what is best for our family.  No matter where or how they learn, I am sure it will be a good school year.  

Ashlyn still wanted to take her first day of school pictures even though she wasn't actually attending school in person.

                                                                           

Not sure why he looks so unhappy

Our big first grader

Emmy had to get in on the fun

Off he goes

They were so excited to be back

Masked up and ready to go into the building

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Graceyn Loses a Tooth

   Grace has been waiting a very long time to lose a tooth, but she finally did!  It had been wiggly for days, and it finally fell out!  She was so excited to get her first visit from the tooth fairy.  The tooth fairy left her a nice note and money.  She will be making many more visits in the near future. 

The tooth

Putting her tooth in her special tooth fairy pillow

The Ranch

   Growing up my grandparents owned a cabin about 45 minutes from the Springs.  It was called the Ranch and we spent a lot of time there.  I have so many fond memories spending time up there with my dad.  Unfortunately, in the 90s, my grandparents decided to sell it.  We have talked about it for years and how much we still miss it. 
     Through a business dealing, Joey worked with the one of the owners of the Ranch.  Joey and I were talking about it one night and I mentioned how much I missed that place.  Joey reminded me that they now rented it out.  He messaged the woman whose family now owns it.  She responded right away that they would love to have us stay up there for a weekend.  We picked a weekend in August and we were SO excited to go back up there. 
   We decided to surprise my dad and not tell him what we were doing.  The cabin only sleeps 6, so it ended up being my dad, sister, Ashlyn, Gracie, and myself that went.  We headed up Friday around 5:00.   We stopped through a drive thru to grab some dinner.  While we were in line, I decided to tell my dad we were going somewhere near Cripple Creek for the night.  I told him that was all we were going to tell him.  I then acted like I just came up with the idea of taking the long way to Cripple Creek, which just so happens goes right by the Ranch.  We discussed how traffic would be a nightmare and that way would be more scenic and less traffic.  My dad mentioned how we would be driving by the Ranch.  Katy and I asked the girls if they wanted to see where we once had a cabin (they knew where we were going).  We started up the very narrow, mountainous road towards Cripple Creek.  I was so scared as a chid driving up the road and Ella had the same fears.  She closed her eyes the whole way!
    Soon, we pulled up to the gate where the Ranch is.  It has a very steep driveway.  The gate was open of course, and we told my dad to just drive down it.  My dad immediately said he wasn't comfortable driving on someone's property.  We told him to just do it.  We told him to park right next to the cabin, but he refused since we were on private property.  He was getting really nervous.  I think it was about at that moment that we finally told him we were staying there.  His first response was "Wow"! 
   We were all so excited to go in and check it out.  They have since added a really nice screened in sun porch.  They have done a nice job updating the floors, bathroom, and kitchen.  The rest of the cabin was just as we remembered it, but much nicer!  When we owned it, it had no running water or indoor toilet!  One of the bedrooms even still had my parent's old dresser they got when they were first married!
    Our weekend up there was just perfect!  We spent both nights playing games with the girls.  On Friday night we played lots of Yahtzee.  On Saturday night, we played some pretty competitive Uno.  On Saturday morning, we woke up, had breakfast and went on a hike to the old stables.  My brother and mom were coming up for the day, so after our hike we sat around the old fire pit (no fires since they are currently banned) and just reminisced.  It was perfect!  Once Steven and my mom showed up, we went down to the new stables.  They have built a little restaurant there.  We had lunch and drinks there.  We went back to the cabin and played more Yahtzee.  My brother went on a run while we played.  When he got back, we drove up the road a little to a nearby hiking path.  We decided to let the girls ride in the back of my brother's truck since this is how we used to ride when we were up there.  The girls thought it was the coolest (it was on a very desolate mountain rode).  We went on a really nice little hike, and my mom even hiked with us)!  When we got to the top, the view was breathtaking!.
   After our hike, we headed back to the cabin.  My mom, brother, and Ashlyn headed back home for the night.  We made dinner and played some Uno. On Sunday morning, we had breakfast, packed up, and decided to take one last hike down to the stables.  I got to meet the woman who arranged everything and thank her.  The girls got to feed a pig carrots.  Before we knew it, it was time to head home.  We up the road and took a nice little drive before heading back towards the Springs.  The best part is we were home in less than an hour!
   My dad said he was truly surprised and I really don't think we could have come up with a better surprise for him.  It was such an amazing weekend and I am so thankful that we got to share the Ranch with the girls and make some new memories with them.  I hope we are able to go back again some day.  It really is a special place. 
   

Ella closing here eyes on the drive up.  There are some serious cliffs!  She is too funny.  She videoed it with her phone to watch later.  

View from the car window