Christmas in July

Every summer there are movies shown in the park across the street from our house.  They show the movies every other Wednesday and on July 16 they were scheduled to play Elf.  Because it was a holiday movie we decided to throw a Christmas in July Party.  We were going to have a big bbq in the front yard and everyone was going to bring sides (and wear festive 'holiday' clothes) .  The day of the party it rained hard and the movie got rained out but we still had the party, we just moved it inside.  It was a little cramped but with our decorations, holiday candles/smells and music it was like a Christmas BBQ.  

Snowman in our flower pot!

 

You can see our decorations and our 'open fire'

 Mat and Andi came down and brought Jack.  Jack brought non-Christmas presents for the kids, it was adorable and they were all so excited; Elizabeth got a cotton candy scented teddy bear. Thanks Jack!!  We had a lot of people come and it was fun to see everyone and have a party! 

 

 

 

Fun with Stones Kids

Mat was offered a job in Arizona and they are going to move at the end of August.  I am pretty sad to say goodbye to the Stones Family but I am excited for this new opportunity for them.  I have had the chance to spend a lot of time with the kids this summer and I am so glad!  

With the movies and concerts in the park we have had them come down a lot in the middle of the week. One night the whole family came down to see The Muppet Movie in the park, this one was not cancelled and they had a lot of fun. One Wednesday, they were showing the Princess Bride, Mylie came down to spend the night.  The movie was cancelled due to weather (sad) but we had pizza and watched movies at our house.  The next day we made banana bread and Mylie mowed my lawn (I put her to work).  That evening the rest of the family came down for dinner and the concert in the park.  The concert was a little weird, folk flute music, but it was fun to play in the park with lots of people. 

Mat and Andi went to Arizona for his interview and to look around the area so Mom had the kids for a weekend (June 4-June 7).  She was busy the first two days, so I had the kids spend the night at my house.  That night was the first movie in the park and we saw the Sandlot.  The kids had never seen it before and they liked it; Wyatt was a little disappointed that it was not a real monster! The next day, after they woke up (Mylie and Gwyn woke Andrew up), we all got to play, go to Sweet Cow (of course) and spend time together.  Wyatt, Gwyn and Elizabeth played so well together; Wyatt is such a good big brother. 

 

 

She is hiding from me because she ate dirt!

 

 

 

  The next day Elizabeth and I went to Mom's house to go swimming with Gwyn and Wyatt (Andrew and Mylie were airsofting).  There is more about this in the Swimming post.  Mom took Gwyn and Elizabeth with her to go pick up Mylie and Andrew, so the girls could nap in the car, and I was able to spend an hour in the pool with just Wyatt. He has an amazing imagination and we played sea creatures with powers who attacked and battled sharks, it was pretty fun.  I loved spending the weekend with those kids.  
 

On August 16, we all got together at Andi's mom, Cathy's, house for a swimming Birthday party for Andrew (13) and Gwyn (2).  It was fun seeing the Wilson family, our family and swimming with all the kids. I cannot believe how big Andrew is getting, he is taller than me (although I won't admit it to him) and does grown up things.  Gwyn is so adorable and is getting so big; she loves being the 'big kid' with Elizabeth and they play pretty well together. It will be sad when they leave!

Jack made delicious cupcakes- Elizabeth liked the chocolate Minnie Mouse ears.

 

 

 

Elizabeth really liked Gwyn's new big girl underwear- she opened the package herself.  After she was done wearing them around, Gwyn wore them on her head as a hat!

Dream Lake Hike

On Saturday (7/12/14) Elizabeth and I went with Rachel and Wendy to Rocky Mountain National Park to hike up to DreamLake. We took a small detour getting to the park but it was beautiful to see more of the mountains.  It was such a beautiful hike, we passed multiple lakes and overlooks, and was not too long, 1.2mls round trip.  As we were coming down the mountain it started to rain and none of us had rain gear (oops) so we were practically running down the mountain, people were definitely looking at us weird.  But the good thing about running down the hill is that it put Elizabeth to sleep- yay for naps! On the way down the mountain we stopped on Main Street in Estes Park for fudge and taffy and the Baldpate Inn for lunch (yum)! It was such a fun trip and so much fun to go hiking with Rachel and Wendy!

At the top- Dream Lake behind us!

Nymph Lake- one the way up

Leaving the Bear Lake trail- I added weirdness to Rachel's cute selfie

An overlook about half way up!

Posing with a sleeping baby at Bear Lake

Before and After

July 11

On Friday, July 11, Elizabeth and I decided to spend a fun filled day getting everything FREE!! (Ben was camping).

At Chick-fil-a it is National Cow Appreciation Day. If you dress like a cow you can get FREE FOOD!! We went for lunch and there were a LOT of cows there.

 After we went to 7-11 who had free slushies because it was 7/11 at 7-11- get it?  This was Elizabeth's first slushies experience and it was messy- I should have foresaw that. 

It was a fun day full of awesome free food!

Glamping with a Gibson

Danny and Amy came to Colorado to visit everyone before Danny went on his deployment.  While they were here we were lucky enough to steal some of their time.  Ben and Danny had been planning for month's to do a backpacking trip when Danny got out here but nothing was getting planned.  They were going to leave Thursday but didn't, Friday morning Ben got out of the house by 10 but they didn't leave the Gibson's until around 3 and around 8 I got a text from Ben (he should have been out of range by then) saying that Danny forgot his sleeping bag and they were going to stay in a hotel... what?  

Here is what really happened, Danny decided that he didn't really want to camp but instead have a relaxing, no time no rush, guys weekend. They left late, spent time walking around camping stores, went fishing (caught 0), explored the flood damage, got some delicious cinnamon rolls, ate out, caught a street concert in Ft Collins, couldn't find a hotel and ended up staying with Amy and the girls at the Roundy's house.  The next day they slept in, had a donut breakfast, went fishing (caught 6), tried to cook the fish but caught the faulty camping stove on fire(after trying to fix it with tape) , went back to the Roundy's to cook and eat their catch! They had a lot of man fun and enjoyed their weekend of glamping. (Oh and the truck wouldn't start so they ripped off the dash and jimmied a knife into it- man stuff).

The next Monday (July 14) Ben and I drove down to Loveland for Smash Burger and park playing with Amy and the girls. We went to a cool park with an awesome splash park (Elizabeth is still not into those), a huge shaded sandbox (whoever thought of shading it was genius) and a great play ground.  The play ground was so cool that Danny and Ben decided to do it as an obstacle course. Ben said it was so fun and Danny said it was no big deal- Marine's do that all the time...didn't you know? We ended the afternoon with cupcakes! As always, it was so much fun to see them! 

 

 

 

Kate, Elizabeth and Charlotte