Outdoor Fun

My, has the time flown by!  It only seems like a few days ago that Kari, Bryce and I were camping with Gran and Beep Beep for our third annual "camping with the Presbyterians."  We've had fun all three years, but last year was, by far, the most memorable and yet most frustrating.  With a horrible thunderstorm Friday night, the kids and I were in the tent with almost two inches of standing water before we called it quits and headed to the lodge with Gran.  We were fortunate to get the last room for the evening- a person had checked out only 15 minutes earlier.  We were certainly at the right place at the right time that night!

Fortunately this year was nothing like last year.  We had beautiful, mild weather, perfect for camping. Turkey Run is a little more than an hour away and has easy hiking trails and canoeing.  Kari went canoeing with another church family while Gran, Beep Beep and I stayed back at the campsite with Bryce.  Bryce, meanwhile, did everything in his power to get as dirty as possible, knowing that I had purposely only packed a bar of soap and a washcloth.  I don't mind the kids getting dirty, I just don't want to sleep with the little pigpens!

 On our Saturday morning hike overlooking Sugar Creek.

Bryce could not keep himself out of the firepit (no fire). 

This past weekend, mom and I took a mini vacation out to Ouray, CO.  This was my third time there, but first time without a baby in my arms and it was quite a different experience!  I read three books and started a fourth, slept, and only called home once!  

We took a Jeep ride with Mom's good friend, Chris.  Having a local with you allows for you to explore some of the lesser-known roads and trails.  For example, Ralph Loren has a huge ranch in Ridgway with a county road cutting through his property.  Most people aren't aware this is a county road (in fact, Loren proposed to the county a few years back to turn the road over to him but was rejected on the fact that the road leads to the Umcompahgre National Forest and must be available to the public.)  And so we went!  It felt a little like trespassing through the property, and because the aspens weren't in full color yet, we were the only ones on the road.  What a neat experience!

We also took a day trip over to Telluride and Mountain Village.

 The same tree where I've taken my picture with Kari and Bryce.

Mom made me drive up Camp Bird Mine Road all the way to Imogene Pass.  This city girl strongly prefers to pay a professional to drive on those kinds of roads.  The neat part was that it had snowed the day before at >10,000 feet and we made it up far enough to see the snow.

This was pretty much the only grove of aspens we saw in full color.

Moneymaker

Little brother has turned into quite the vehicle for Kari making money.  Once again they were caught rough-housing and Kari took a blow to the mouth, knocking the other front tooth loose.  Daddy is getting pretty good at convincing Kari to let him tug on her teeth in exchange for a Tooth Fairy visit.

And this is all just in time for school pictures next week!

Daddy Daughter Date Night

Daddy and Kari went to a Purdue-USC volleyball game tonight.

Tooth Fairy Delivery

Kari set high expectations for the exchange of her tooth.  Fortunately for her, the Tooth
Fairy delivered!  A silver dollar was well worth the wait.

It's Out!

Kevin finally convinced Kari to let him take a little tug on it, and it popped right out!  Minimal blood and no tears!  Yay!

Monster Birthday For Our Little Monster

Two weekends ago was so busy!  I can't believe I'm just now getting around to posting these pictures.  In addition to it being the last weekend before school starting and the ice cream social, we also managed to throw a birthday party for Brycie.  The monster theme emerged from a couple of things. One, Bryce has found a new tv show about monsters and this has become a new favorite.  Two, as you might expect or know firsthand, Bryce has been a bit of a monster the last twelve months.  We knew from past experience with Kari that leaving Three behind and heading into Four is a time to rejoice and we're slowly getting there with Bryce.

So, in keeping with the monster theme, it was super easy to come up with a couple of party ideas.  Our usual party guests were invited- the grandparents- although we did have to split it up over two days due to an unplanned conflict.

Grandmo found these really nifty monster pouches that dually served as table decoration and party favors.

 The monster fruit salad was the centerpiece of the party.  This was Grandpo's job Saturday morning and he mastered it beautifully!

 We also had a small activity making monster visors.  Kari loved this; Bryce not so much.

 Monster trucks for a monster birthday!  Grammy Pammy and Dale totally hit the mark!

 Kari was in charge of decorating the cake.

 Oh!  I almost forgot about Kari's favorite part of the party- the eyeball goblets for our Kool-Aid.  Big hit with the kiddos, for sure.  And no, Dale is not massaging Bryce's head; just trying to get him to stand still long enough for a picture.

Gran, Beep Beep and Luise arrived Sunday afternoon for a lovely lunch on the deck.  Bryce got his first baseball tee, ball and glove.  That's one happy little guy there, folks.

Ready For School!

We've had a busy few days around here!  Kari's first day of 1st grade went off without a hitch.  Armed with a new backpack, familiarity with her school, and knowledge that she'd already know three kids in her classroom, she was ready to go. She wasn't as excited as this time last year, but I chalked it up to high expectations for her teacher.  In her eyes, it was going to take a lot to live up to Mrs. Salmon.

 It was rather a chilly morning for the middle of August in Indiana.  Kari is proudly sporting her Stanford jacket with a sweater underneath.

Even though it was the first day and there were lots of parents, grandparents and siblings, the number of kids getting on the bus significantly increased from last year.  It's going to be a busy bus stop this year!

Kari also got to see a number of other friends, neighbors and her cousin throughout the day which always makes the 1100 student school feel a bit smaller.  Lunch is early this year, 11:30, and with no scheduled afternoon snack, I anticipate she's going to come home hungry each day.  By the way, Kari came home fully endorsing her new teacher, Mrs. Younts.

Three days earlier we hosted a neighborhood back to school ice cream social for the second time.  It was a great way to gather the neighbors and visit while the kiddos ran around the yard hyped up on ice cream and mounds of toppings.

Landscaping

Hard to believe we've lived here for 13 years this month.  You know it's been a long time when the original shrubbery becomes so overgrown and unruly that you have to pull it out and start over again.

Before

And while we were at it (don't kid yourselves, we hired someone to do all of this), we decided to increase our outdoor living area.  Fall weather and football season, you're welcome to arrive anytime now!

 Before