Yeah for Kindergarten!

Wednesday was Emma's first day of Kindergarten and boy was that the BIGGEST day of her life!!! :) How cool would it be if we could all go back to kindergarten for a day and truly we learned a lot of life lessons that year!

Now the biggest complaint I have to hear about is why she can't go on Saturdays and Sundays. I told her that the teachers need a break (right Amy?) and she said "a break from what?"

Anyway, she is in love with everything about her new world including hot lunches and getting to choose between white and chocolate milk. Imagine if those were are biggest choices everyday. The uniform thing is the best also. How cute she is in that little plaid jumper.

Today, Dave and I finally finalized our cabinet color and granite THANKS AGAIN TO DAD who stayed home with the girls while Lauren napped. Dave and I met one more time at the "granite store" along with mom and Stacy for added opinions. Whew

Sick of Summer

Can I mention again this year how tired I am of summer?!! (THANKS) The upper 90s for two weeks is enough to make even the "summer lovers" go a little nutty and stir crazy. I really need some 70s and some Husker football!

Ok, I'm done...

We (actually the builders) are making pretty good progress at "the house" and it is fun to watch everything take shape. We can't wait for the first family party there...maybe a late season football game.

Anyway, of course we stop out there everyday to check on the progress and Saturday night we ventured out again even though it was about 100 degrees and rather muddy. As Dave was standing in the future toy room I heard him say, "whoa, there's a hole up there." Sure enough there was a baseball size hole in our already shingled roof. Parts of the roof were scattered on the floor where there was a little left over water from a storm.

Anyway, we stood there trying to figure it out and couldn't. Dave called the builder from the house and he said that when one of the guys was there working during the last storm, a bolt of lightening hit "real close somewhere" and actually "shook the house"...then he "smelled something." We are guessing that the hole was caused by lightning but will never know. Good thing we weren't living there yet.

So, Sunday night there was another impending storm and Dave and I rushed over there to quickly put a makeshift patch over the hole till they can get it fixed to avoid an indoor pool. Luckily we ran into our friends and future neighbors Tom and Jen on the way out and Tom helped Dave patch the hole while the lightning was nearby :(

Everything else is going......we are having a terrible time picking out kitchen cabinet colors and granite......way too many to choose from. The brickwork is almost done and we are pleased with the color of it!!

Here are just a few pics of the hole, patch job in action, scary clouds, house, and the kid's muddy shoes after they love to splash around in the mud and water.

We're back!

We got back from BEAUTIFUL Estes Park this morning about 2am. "The rest" should be back here in a couple of hours.

We had a little dinner "thing" at Emma's school so we had to head back yesterday afternoon in order to attend that. It was worth it though. We met her teacher "Mrs. Smith" and the TA and a couple families. Dave ran into a guy from highschool and I ran into a guy that I worked with years ago at Penny's. It seems like a great group of families and we are all looking forward to the adventure.

The trip was wonderful! The weather, the mountains, the food, the cabins, and the company was perfect. Hiking is one of my favorite things to do and thanks to mom, dad, Stacy and Ted, Dave and I got to go out on our own (childless) for an actual real hike. We hiked to "Emerald Lake" which was about 3.6 mi. total. It was up hill the entire first 1.8 miles and of course an easy downhill coming back. The lakes we saw and waterfalls were truly the best and it really helped to get that "I need to go on a real hike" feeling out of my system. The picture of the stairs is what we hiked up on and since Dave is smiling, that was taken on our trip down the mountain. Whew, I have to admit it wasn't easy. :)

I have A TON of pictures so here it goes........

The kids, especially Emma loved feeding the ground squirrels. We went through 10lbs of peanuts while we were there and the little guys LOVED us.

We hiked up to the top of the Alpine Visitor's Center, which was another accomplishment with a baby strapped to your back. :) Up there we saw some elk....aka "the three amigos" and Lauren thought they were cows so she "moooood" at them.

We had yummy food and enjoyed eating outside by the mountain side.

We even went to "Fun City" where they had these awesome slides, bumper boats and go carts. Emma even was brave enough to try the trampoline/bungy thing. What a great time.!!! Poor Brian and mom got "lapped" twice by Dave and Emma on the go carts. Brian wasn't too happy with that and of course Emma rubbed it in as best as she could.

Here are just some more gorgeous pics of the mountains and our "hikes."

Oh, and I can't forget the cool swing near our cabin. Almost everyone had to take a turn on it. How fun is this.........

Here are just a couple pics of our cabins and the cute "toehead" taking a bird bath in the kitchen sink.

We even made it to Louisville to visit our good friends the Ransom's and enjoyed some great food and company.

And who can forget the long car ride home when all the fun is said and done........

Dave and I have determined that the best way to keep the kids happy during the trip home (besides the awesome DVD player) is to feed them anything and everything. (sorry minivan)