First Day of School

Today was a big day! It was Mason's first day of private Kindergarten! He was so excited. I didn't get to take them because I had to be to work early and Daddy did a great job handling everything. Mason has to wear a uniform this year. Doesn't he look like a big boy?

Max is now in the three year old room (any kiddo turning three this fall or winter). He is the baby in his class, chronologically, so we'll see how it goes. Luckily, there are only 10 kids in his class so the ratio is really great.

First the silly picture. You know my boys have to be clowns!

Then the sweet one. Don't they both look handsome?

Both of them had great days. When I picked them up and asked Mason how it went, his response was "Awesome, but they sure don't let you play much there, do they?" Kind of ironic that that's his perception of Kindergarten. Remember the good old days of playing, a nap, and then cookies for snack? Oh well, he loved it any way!

Max's Buggy Bedroom

I think this will finally catch up the blog with everything we did this summer! The Buggy Bedroom is complete! When we decided to move Max to his big boy bed we started talking about it and preparing him. We'd say, "the crib is for babies and Maxy is a big boy!" He'd look at us, grin and say Noooooo! He didn't really care about being a big boy. On we went with the change and, although Max still didn't want to be a big boy, he did like helping put the room together.

We kept the stars that spell his name from his nursery, just repainted them. All the bugs and critters, however, are new. Remember this was during the week that Jacob was swamped with work and school and my mom and dad were here. I really wanted to finish the room, so I got the jigsaw out, drew the bugs on the plywood, and cut them out by myself! I was pretty excited that I could do it and actually had a lot of fun.

Snails, spiders and buggies...

The orange worm in the middle of the door was a mistake that turned out cute. I was almost finished cutting him out and he snapped in two. It took me forever to cut him out, so I kept him and made it look like he was coming through the door. Notice also the cattails by the door. This was another one of Pa's great ideas for the week. I had thought about drawing big sprigs of grass, but that simply wasn't working out too well. Then Pa had the idea for the cattails, which I loved, and then Grandma came up with using dowel rods and foam rollers to create them. Pretty clever!

The caterpillars above the doors are one of my favorite elements in the room, as well as Max's KU print.

The second set of cattails...

A Big Boy Buggy Bedroom. Max tells me every night when we're reading stories that he helped Pa put the bed together. Then he points at his name and says, cool. I think he liked the way it all turned out =)

Mason's Birthday

I know I'm a little late in posting these pics, but I had to go back to work! I know, poor me, two months off, but I was a little sad that I won't be spending every day with my boys any more.

For this year's theme, Mason requested Indiana Jones. He has never seen Indiana Jones but has been obsessed with him since we visited Klaus on his birthday and the neighbor was talking about IJ. Easy enough, I thought, then Mason added that the cake had to have a volcano that really exploded, dinosaurs, AND Indiana Jones!

Uncle Bobby and Aunt Jodi contemplating the layout of the cake.

Pompi and Max doing a great job supervising!

What are they up to, now? =)

It's starting to take shape. Notice Pa in the background...this is when he starting mixing drinks for us =)

The finished product! Not only was this our most challenging cake yet in terms of getting in all the required themes (Mase always throws for a loop!) we were finished in record time! It was only about 10:30 once we finished cleaning up.

On of the reasons it took a little longer--Daddy and Uncle Bobby decided to add a cave where we could stash the ark and ghost. It did look pretty cool!

Our little adventurers, Jayden, Max, Kayden, and Mase. Notice Mason's very serious face--he's trying to look like IJ.

It's almost time and the birthday boy is VERY excited! I love how happy he is in this picture.

The eruption...it was so cool! Notice the lava spilling down the front of the volcano.

All the presents covered Grandma's living room. The kids were in heaven!

Aunt Jamie and Uncle Bobby got Mason a metal detector. He immediately put it together, grabbed his IJ hat, and headed out back. He did find some loose change by the sidewalk.

The Creative Cake Design Team! I couldn't have done it without all of their help...it's always a group effort and we have a lot of fun putting the cakes together. Thanks Aunt Jodi, Uncle Bobby, and Aunt Jamie!

Each year as Mason gets older, I marvel at all the changes the previous year held. This coming year has me excited and anxious, optimistic and nervous. Kindergarten will hold so many successes and challenges--I know Mason will do great, I just wonder how Mommy will do!

Colorado Vacation

The next adventure in our summer was a camping trip to Colorado with Grandma and Pa. Just the boys and I went at first and then about halfway through the week, Jacob met us out there.

Our first stop was Rocky Mountain National Park. It was beautiful! We saw a ton of animals and did some great hiking. The boys thought it was the best place ever!

Max with his first S'more. I think he liked it =)

When we made it to the top of Trail Ridge Road, there were several people checking out something on the hill in front of us. Turns out they were elk, so Mason got Pa's "noculars" and found them. We thought that those were probably going to be the best views of the elk we got. Little did we know...

They were everywhere! We saw hundreds of elk all over the hillside. It was really pretty cool. Throughout the rest of the trip, Max would look out the truck window and yell "Elk!" anytime he saw an animal that even sort of resembled an elk.

Mason checking out the elk with the noculars. He really got into using them and figuring them out. He knew which setting was right for his eyes and would change after Pa used them.

After we saw the hundreds of cow elk, we drove on down the road and saw this! There were three huge bull elk just hanging out on the hill. They were so close!

Besides seeing elk, the one thing Mason wanted to do was play in the snow. We could see it on the mountaintops, but couldn't ever get to any. When we were at the top of Trail Ridge Road, Mason stopped a Ranger and asked where there was snow we could play in! My shy little guy is starting to come out of his shell.

Mason launched an attack on Pa, which was quickly met by Pa's counterattack. Mason decided to call in reinforcements and he and I ganged up on Pa! Max did not like the snow and wanted nothing to do with it. Good thing he's a Texas boy!

As you all know, Mason LOVES being a Junior Ranger. The first stop we made upon entering the park was the visitors center so we could get the Junior Ranger booklet and start working on it. When the booklet was finished, we turned it in at the ranger station and Mason had to answer questions. The ranger took Mason over, away from us, and he had to answer by himself. Of course, he did a great job and earned another badge. We're so proud of our Junior Ranger!

Day two consisted of hiking. First hike, Bear Lake. Easy hike, about half a mile, flat ground around a lake.

Mason and Pa starting out.

My cute little hikers!

After we finished Bear Lake, it was so fun, Mase wanted to go on another hike. The hike to Nymph Lake was only a mile round trip, so we took off. Pa tried to warn us that the boys were too tired, but Mase was insistent. I think this may have been the reason Pa hesitated...

Max pretty much rode like that the entire hike. It was only half a mile one way, but it was all up hill! Let's just say that by the time we got there and back, Mase was done with hiking!

We made it!

On to another lake for a picnic lunch. My little daredevil climbing a dead tree. I told him I wasn't going in after him...I think he knew I was bluffing =)

Back at the campsite, the camper needed a little work. On the way out, we blew a tire on the highway, so Pa and I got to change a camper tire with traffic going by at about 75 mph. Not a fun experience and one I hope I don't have to repeat!

Max thought it was great to help Pa fix the camper. Who knows what he actually did, but everything still worked after Max fixed it!

Next stop, Salida, Colorado. This is one of my favorite places to go. Our campsite backed up to the Arkansas River. This was the view at the back of the site.

The sites are dirt, which isn't great for keeping things clean, but it is great when you have two boys who love to play in it! The boys played in the dirt for hours and kept themselves occupied.

It didn't take too long for Mason to want to climb down to the river. Grandma got adventurous and climbed down and Mase wanted to go with her. Well then Max decided he wanted to go too. Pa wasn't about to lose one of them in the river, so he tied a rope around each of them and then he stood on the bank holding the rope. Unconventional, but effective!

There were lots of people fishing in the river, so Mason decided he needed to try. The only thing they caught was a branch, but Mase had fun.

As we sat in our campsite, people were rafting by on the river. Mason saw them and thought that it looked like a lot of fun and really wanted to give it a try. Pa was sweet enough to stay home with Max and Grandma, Daddy, Mason, and I went on a whitewater raft ride. Mason sat in the middle with a strap that he held on to, much like a bull rider, which of course Mason thought was awesome.

Jacob and I are up front, Mom is behind Jacob, and Mason is in the middle beside Mom. He has on a blue helmet.

Going through Zume Flume...

My favorite picture of Mase. He had so much fun! His only complaint was there weren't enough "bumps". He thought the rapids were great and wanted them the entire time!

On the last night there, Mom and Dad were sweet enough to watch the boys for us while Jacob and I went to dinner. Last year right before we went to Salida, I was watching an episode of Iron Chef America and there was a chef who had a restaurant in Salida competing on the show. We actually had dinner at his restaurant! It was a lot of fun and the food was delicious! Thanks, Grandma and Pa!

Our Colorado vacation was wonderful. We always have so much fun vacation with family.