Tee Time

Well, Brad has a good week planned for golf. He is playing on Thursday, and this weekend he has a tee time down in Colorado Springs at the Air Force Academy. He has been wanting to play there for a long time. And on Monday, he plans to play Plum Creek. That's why we're going to stay in Castle Rock for the weekend.

And the kids are all getting into a schedule. And they are doing good on their homework. And I will be joining them at the table doing homework too.... I am signing up for H&R Block's tax class again. There have been a lot of changes in the last 4 years since I've worked. So I am starting all over and taking the basic class right now. Classes start next week.

The Pool

Well, Lauren and I have learned that if we go to the pool at noon, no one else is there. So that's our plan all this week to go to the pool after school, and just swim, swim, swim.... We know it won't last long, since the pool is closing on September 1st. And we are planning on going to Castle Rock for the weekend. Maybe, we'll be able to have some friends join us.

Are you Ready for some Football

Colton is here on the bottom left.
This is my favorite picture... What a great tackle.





Well today, Colton had his frist game. We weren't sure how this would all work. But the team has been practicing very hard. And since Colton missed the first week of practice, he won't have any of the "good" positions, like quarterback or running back. So Colton played on defense, which means little (yes, he's the 3rd smallest on the team), Colton is having to tackle kids. We did spend a lot of the day at the field. We had to get there an hour and a half early. Then the previous game ran an hour late. Then just at we kicked off, the refs called a lightning delay. So then we all had to wait another half hour. Then the game finally started, and we played in a good rain. It was a typical Colorado 4 seasons in 4 hours kinda day.


The boys all did great. And the Chargers won. I was surprised at the tackles that Colton made. I hope you enjoy my favorite pictures.
Well after the game I took Colton and Lauren to McDonalds... Funny thing the first song that was playing was "Celebrate good times come on". And Colton thought they were playing that just for him, since his team won!

8.22

Well, after getting everyone off to school, and then picking up Lauren , we decided to head to the pool. Everyone else is in school, and we have the pool to ourselves. It's so nice. Lauren did have her friend come along too. It was funny to see Lauren and her friend swim together. They both are of the same swimming abilities, and they are both the youngest of three. They both have very competitive natures as well. Lauren didn't let her friend win a race or get the dive stick first. (I guess she'll be ready for swim team next year. )

Austin's in 8th Grade

Austin is ready for school.

Here he is infront of school.
Wow..... I can't really believe that Austin is in his last year of middle school. You know what that means for next year? Yes, High School. I don't know how I will react to that. But Austin is excited about starting school. (that was helped by the fact that they had to clean the house on their last day of summer break, and both boys are ready to be anywhere they don't have to do chores.)

The construction that is happening at school is just for Austin.... They are adding classes for the Jr. High, and a new gym. The work is scheduled to be done is February. So Colton will enjoy the new facilities more than Austin. But I can imagine Austin will be giving me construction updates often.

Colton's First Day

Colton is ready for his first day!
Doesn't he look handsome in uniform?

This is Colton's attitude about school.

Well today Colton is starting 4th grade. He is at the Academy still, and his teacher is a farm girl from Iowa (and those are her words). He does have a few friends in class from last year. I do think 4th grade will be a little hard for him. But he needs to learn how to work for good grades.

A Promotion

Well, as I mentioned earlier in the year, Brad has worked at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal for the last 10 years. He has worked doing a lot of construction management. And today he received a promotion to the Project Manager for the entire infrastructure for the RMA. We'll see how this pans out... He was hoping to make a career change when this project ended, but now with this promotion it looks like his time out at the RMA has also been extended, to maybe 3 more years.
Congrats Brad!

And today Grandma Becky came up. She took us out to dinner at Gunther Toody's.... This time Colton had football practice, and didn't join us for dinner. We brought him home some food. Tomorrow, the boys start school. So today was their last day of summer vacation.

Lauren's First Day

Lauren and her new backpack

Lauren and Daddy walking to school.

Lauren is in front of the playground.

Lauren and her friend from Preschool.

Well today Lauren started school. It's really hard to believe she is old enough to be in kindergarten. Brad went to work late, so he could walk Lauren to school. Lauren is very excited about school.

And tonight Colton had his Back to School Night. He thought it was kinda weird to see his friends, even though he didn't recognize them... since they were at school and out of uniform.

Well today we didn't do too much. We did have to finalize all the kids school supplies. And since I waited until after vacation to start shopping, we had to go to a few stores. Austin had his Back to School Night. He received his schedule, and is excited about starting school.

Well the weather finally cleared up. And the sun was shining for the first time in like 3 days.... The boys had fun on grandpa's tractor. And Lauren started riding her little bike with no training wheels. Now we just have to convince her, that she can ride her bike at home with no training wheels too. Grandma and Grandpa have a great driveway for learning how to ride a bike. It's the same place Austin learned how to ride his bike. She did have a couple of falls, and a big scrape on her elbow.

Well we came down to Castle Rock last night. Brad has a tee time scheduled for the Air Force Academy this afternoon. But if it doesn't quit raining, I doubt he'll play. We are all just hanging out, and watching the Olympics.

So today the weather turned, and it was kinda wet and cold. It rained a lot. So we just caught up on things around the house. And mapped out our carpool schedule for all the kids. It looks like I will be taking Lauren to school in the morning. Then picking her up, and she and I will have the afternoons. Then, we'll be doing afternoon carpool duty at the Academy. Hopefully the parking lot will not be too bad, since there is major construction on the school. It should be fun!

More Summer Fun

Bailey & Lauren

It's like they went camping!

And the girls with their Hannah Montana Build-a-Bears

So what else can we fit into summer? Well, Colton had football. Lauren had her Meet the Teacher Night at School. We found out that one of her classmates from preschool will be in her class. After all of this, Taylor came to spend the night with Colton. And Lauren had another sleepover with Bailey. Aren't these pictures too cute??? How did these girls get all these matching outfits and bears?
And Brad picked up a new washer for me today. (He got the dryer yesterday.) Now, I guess, I have no excuses for putting off doing the laundry.

Camp Rock Party

The Girls....
And the Boys.

So today we had our Camp Rock Party. We invited lots of friends, and thought it would be cool to watch the movie together. Man the candy sure went fast.

And tonight, Colton and Lauren winded up having a sleepover. They both spent the night with Charlie & Gabby. How did that happen? Austin liked having a quiet house.

Elitch's

Well we made our way to Elitch's again. Not sure if we'll make it to the water park there again. We went with some friends. The kids all had someone to pair up with. And we had a great day.

Back Home

Well since our flight got in really late, we all tried to sleep in. It's always nice to come back home. I tried to get umpacked and clean up.... But my dryer had other plans, like konking out today.... So as soon as we have some time, and as soon as Brad does his research, we'll be getting a new dryer.
We also had plans to go to Elitch's today, but we moved them to tomorrow.
And today Colton had his first day of football practice. Yes, I signed him up, and he got on a team with some friends, and baseball teammates. It looks like football will be hard, and a big time commitment. But, I think it will be good for Colton. Since, this will be his first year in the sport, he will have a lot to learn, and he may not be in a starting position. Practice offically started last week, so Colton will not have a chance to be a running back. And I have a lot to learn about football. For instance, Colton did not have the proper practice clothes, and equipment. SO he didn't really get to practice.

Last Day in San Diego

Last time looking at the Pacific Ocean for awhile.
Look, Austin is reading a map.... oh no!
Colton is checking out all the ships in the harbor.
Here is Lauren coming down the spiral staircase in the Lighthouse.
Model Railroad Museum, photo by Austin

Well today our vacation comes to an end.... We went to the Point Loma Light House, and Austin wanted to visit the Model RailRoad Museum. The MRRM is in Balboa Park. As we arrived Lauren and I decided we would rather hang out in the international villages. We really enjoyed walking around and visiting different cottages.

After the Museum and Park closed, it was time to take back the rental car, and head to the airport. We arrived a little early, and when we checked in we learned our flight was delayed 3 hours. So we were really early.

What did we do to pass the time, read the newspaper, and magazines. Colton, however, is never content with just sitting still. So he got me good!! I was sitting in the hall, in a long row of chairs. On both sides of the row of chairs were doors that went outside the airport. Colton, got up to go to the bathroom, and instead of coming back the way he previously walked, he went outside the airport. When he came back in, I was sitting on the first chair, reading the newspaper... And he jumped and screamed at me from out of nowhere. First, I about had a heartattack, then I jumped, so high that my shoe went flying across the aisle, and I screamed too. Colton thought he was so funny... And so did the guys sitting on the other end of the chairs, (they were laughing pretty hard!) Colton saw my anger, as I put back on my shoe, and started walking towards him. That crazy cat... He ran straight for the men's bathroom, and stayed there for quite a while. For the rest of the night, he was definately trying to make it up to me.

To kill the rest of the time, we sat in a nearby Chili's and watched the Olympics. We made it home pretty late.

The Midway

So this morning, Austin rode in the elevator with Terrel Owens, of the Dallas Cowboys. Brad and I kept quizzing him, about how he knew it was TO. He told us TO had a playbook, and described TO in a way, that we knew it was TO. Too bad Austin didn't snag a picture on his phone.

Austin has wanted to tour the USS Midway, and that's what we did today. It was an awesome thing to tour. We learned a lot. I personally would not want to be on a ship any longer than necessary, much less six months.
Here are some pictures:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?UV=668222239838_329648659306&mode=fromsite&collid=11680997706.616498659306.1219555835498&conn_speed=1

Legoland Part 2

Well we bought 2 day passes for Legoland. So today, Brad and the kids went to Legoland, and I headed to the nearby outlet mall. It wasn't as nice as the one in Castle Rock. I think that is definitely my favorite. After Legoland, we went to Inn-N-Out Burger again. As we were leaving, we saw a beautiful Mercedes Benz drive into the parking lot. And when the guy got out of the car, he looked kinda scruffy, and not the type who would be driving this nice car. So we took another look at the car, and on the license plates was: IKE TURNER. So we believed we had a star sighting.... Ike Turner. (we later found out when we got home Ike passed away in December, so it was someone else. )
After dinner we returned to the hotel, and I ran over to the nearby mall. But as I was leaving there was a lot of commotion in the hotel. Outside in the courtyard there was a wedding. And in the bar there were a lot of people. I finally figured it out... the Dallas Cowboys are staying in our hotel. So lots of people were trying to get autographs and pictures. The Cowboys will be playing the Chargers tomorrow for a preseason game.
And to finish off the night we watched parts of the Opening Ceremonies for the Olympics.

Sea World

Today we made our way to Sea World... We all liked it. There are lots of new things, since the last time we were there. There are new night time shows that were awesome. And there are also fireworks now at night also. There was a ride, Journey to Atlantis.... It's an awesome water ride. Austin and Lauren sat in the front and they got sopping wet. We all highly recommend this ride.

More Pictures @

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?UV=668222239838_329648659306&mode=fromsite&collid=11680997706.480568659306.1219553022747&conn_speed=1

A Day at the Beach

Well today we just went to the beach. We had a lot of fun. The kids loved just playing in the sand. The water was perfect.

Here are our pictures:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?UV=824946181509_302257659306&mode=fromsite&collid=11680997706.615711649306.1219548958065&conn_speed=1

Happy Anniversary

Well today, Brad and I had our 13th Anniversary... Man it seems like we've been married forever! Today, Brad had a nice treat and played Torrey Pines Golf Course. He had a good round, and said the views were beautiful. The kids and I stayed at the pool and had a nice lazy day.

All pictures are @

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?UV=824946181509_302257659306&mode=fromsite&collid=11680997706.678201649306.1219548958065&conn_speed=1

LegoLand

Today we made our way to Legoland... We all love this place. It's so cool. We don't recommend waiting for the new Indiana Jones Ride. It wasn't that good. Austin returned to his first offical roller coaster, Race Track. It was exactly as he remembered.... But he enjoyed it more this time. We had In-N-Out Burger... for dinner. It was so yummy!

See all our pictures @ http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?UV=114711103976_349527749306&mode=fromsite&collid=11680997706.436620649306.1219201716008&conn_speed=1

San Diego Here we Come

Well we had an early flight to San Diego. Which gave us some time to take in a baseball game at Petco Park. (Because I have to keep up with Annabelle.) This was an awesome park. I liked the outfield, as did the kids. They have a huge sand box out in dead center field. The kids would of loved to stayed there and play all day. The Padres were playing the Giants. So it was hard to root for either team, but we thought since we were in the Padres park, that we'd cheer for them. They did have a good game it was 5 to 2.

Swim Meet 8.2

Colton is waiting for his first race

Colton

Austin

Colton

Our last swim meet was today... It was a large swim meet. There were a lot of teams from around the area. We were glad that the meet was at our pool. The kids saw friends from different teams. Austin swam against an old school mate. And he competed very well against his friendly competition.... We also had a pot luck and pool party for the end of the year... The boys had lots of fun there.