Jump shot? Yes or no....

Toad in the Garden

Tiny Town

Made our way down to Tiny Town in Morrison, CO for a fun kiddo experience.  Not quite as cool as we had hoped, but we definitely LOVED the little train ride and the playground.  Met lots of fun people and played hide and seek til nap time.

Cherry Pie!!!!

We finally pulled all them cherries from the freezer and made us a pie with the cherries we picked in Juuuly!

I hope it's OK that I say this but it was really, really good.  Everything from scratch.  Dyno-mite!

We shared it with Karington's family when we went there for our playdate in August!  

Grasshoppers!

This has definitely been the summer for grasshoppers.  They are everywhere and come in all colors and sizes.  Coda calls them 'aps' so it is our new word - we often go 'ap' hunting as an activity in the evening.  We also found some pretty huge toads in our front yard (vines aka jungle actually) but also had a big one in our back garden area.  Can't seem to download that video of Nevi petting the big toad but will keep working on it.  

Watermelon & Juice!

Nev's riding a 2 wheel!!!!

Nevi's doing it!  She's riding her little bike without training wheels! Her big/newer bike is just tall enough so that she can't touch, therefore, not quite as comfortable riding without the training wheels yet.  But she keeps hitting new levels of mastery and maturity.  Nothing surprises me these days with Nev.  She's quite spectacular AND quite grown up!!!!

Pearl Street Half-Mile Running Race, featuring Nevi K

My boys.....

LAZY JULY

The kids and I went to a local farm to pick tart cherries earlier in July.  It was a VERY hot day but luckily, after the picking, we were able to sit on rocking chairs on the covered porch of the barn and enjoy a picnic.  We saw chickens, donkeys, turkeys, sheep, and a goat.  Upon return, the kids helped me de-pit every cherry with our cherry pitting contraption.  It was really fun.  Can't wait to make the pies.... 

Also attached some pictures os us just having some fun.... I found some walking sticks for the sticks so we could add a prop to our usual trail hikes, but they were apparently not ready for them.  Both ended up hurting themselves and I, of course, felt like Mother of the Year for offering them. Anyhoo, it's been a fun summer with GREAT weather and lots of down time.  

Dribblin' & spirals

Nevi's first soccer practice

Visit to Minnesota

Early in June, we ventured to MN for a week of vacation to see Ahma and Ahpa.  We spent some time in Coon Rapids but also made our way north toward Grand Rapids to hang at the lake house.  The Opperman clan (Keith, Kristin, Gavin and Ella) all met us there!  It was great to have the cousins together again, a blast was had by all.  While back in Coon Rapids, we played hard with Aunt Jenn, John, Uncle Mark, Aunt Maggie and cousin Jack. This trip was a real success and we had a great time, a nice mix of leisure and adventure.  The mosquitos weren't terrible but definitely made their presence known.  The ticks and nightly tick   checks in GR were something new for us Coloradoans, not exactly Nevi's favorite's part of the trip.  Unfortunately, Ahma and I found an imbedded deer tick in Nev's arm pit one night but it was easy and early removal so all was well (tick checks were talked about by Nev for weeks after this trip because they provoked such fear in her!).  But other than this, we were quite comfortable in the cool and moist midwest climate.  Thanks to all for a great time with lasting memories...