Trio of b-days

The Johnson's were celebrating three special birthdays. Here are the pics of the party:

So Happy Birthday Jonah, Sean, and Frank...

The First Lady and me

So I hear Mrs Obama has a garden. I wonder if she has this many squash and zucchini -

Well she probably does but mine are better.

Hamburgers

We made some cupcakes that looked like hamburgers. They are cute but were a huge mess. It is going to take days for this food dye to get off my hands and counter.

Hairdo

Olivia did James hair while he was playing battleship on the Wii with Cyan. Beautiful.

Hiking

We took a hike yesterday. First we went up Helen Hunt Falls, which was my favorite place as a kid. We even took Roscoe and he ran the majority of the way. We wanted to see if he could so the grown-ups ran up with him. Funny sight. Here are some pics of the hike.

After the hike we hit up Subway and did a little tailgating at Garden of the Gods. We hiked around there for a little after lunch until the rain forced us in the car.

Family Game Night

Last night Cyan declared it Family Game Night. We first played a game of Jr Monopoly then a little Wii. I think it was near 10 before the girls were in bed. Good times.

Princess

James and Olivia were driving to the Y. James had both the front windows about half way down. Olivia shouted at him "DAD, roll up the windows! You are messing up my princess hair!"

AAGGHH!!

Cute

The kids and I were watching America's Got Talent. There was a singer who was really cute and I said that to the girls. Olivia instantly got fuming mad. She said if you think that he is cute that means you don't love us. She stomped over to the stairs and said "If you think he is cute that means you dont want to be our Mom and you don't love Dad"

AAGGHHH!!

Steamboat Spring

I had to attend a conference in Steamboat Springs. James and the kids decided to meet me there just as I was finished for the day. The first night we explored the town, ate dinner and swam in their fabulous pool. We had a great hotel that had a giant tub that the kids swam in in the morning. I had a little meeting in the morning then we went back to the town. We did the alpine slides, bought T-shirts, played at the park and checked out the river. The river had tubes to rent to float down but we passed. I took 2 hours for the trip and I think the kids might have had enough after 30 min.

Here are the pics:

Nevermind...

So I guess nevermind on the Olivia drama thing. I picked her up early from school and had a brief conversation with the director that we are tired of it and would prefer if they firmly told her enough is enough. Then I sat outside the class and watched her play. She was sitting at the table with the kids drawing as nice as could be. When we got in the car she showed me her art. She drew two stick figures and said that was me and her plus she had a sheet of her writing her name. Mind you for over a year we have been working with the name thing. She just refused to cooperate when we would show her how to write her name. Plus when she would draw she usually throws a fit, says that she cannot do it and has Cyan do it for her.



This child might want to seriously look into being a princess like she wants. She sure fits the character.



I will scan in the picture and writing this weekend.

Screaming

So today is Olivia's 7th day of school. She is still getting dropped off with tears and drama. She gets very upset that she will miss us and does not want to be there. I know she will get over it (or she wont and she will cry when I drop her off for her high school graduation - I vote the latter). Last year for Sunday School she carried on like this for the whole year. This summer she went to day care and she cried at first but got over it. I think the thing this summer was Cyan was there too.

Wish us luck that this phase passes but with Olivia who knows.

Gymnastics

The girls and I were watching gymnastics on TV. I asked if they would like to do gymnastics lessons. Cyan gave an enthusiastic yes. Olivia said "No thanks. I am going to grow up to be a princess."





Hmmmm...

Growing Rocks

Olivia put these rocks in a bag a water so they could grow...

School Lunch

We all went and had school lunch with Cyan today at her school. The lunch choices were turkey sandwich or bean burrito. Cyan's best friend Maia sat with us. All the kids thought she was pretty cool to have guests for lunch.

This afternoon we are going to go to the movie. The kids have been asking to see G-Force.

School

Here is a shock... Olivia is set in her belief that she does not like school. She says it is boring and the teachers scream at her. She said all they do is read books and that is boring (by the way in the same breath she yelled at me for not reading enough books to her).

However, with all of that said she has been talking about all she is doing there. She likes to go early to get to eat breakfast. She likes the kids. She is learning about the body and how kids grow and she likes that.

Typical Olivia to just disagree for the sake of disagreeing.

Care and Share

While driving home Olivia asked what the Care and Share building was. I explained that it was a food pantry where people who need help getting food can get help. I said it was similar to how the girls give food to the food pantry in mass. Olivia said when she is big she is not sharing her food. She said if her husband gives their food to a food pantry she will tell him to go and get it back.

Clearly we have some work to do ...

But that is our Olivia.

First Day of School

Well today was the first day of school for the girls. Cyan is starting the 1st grade and Olivia is in preschool. We gathered supplies and clothes and got new haircuts over the weekend in preparation for this day. Here are some pics:

Cyan wanting a stack of pancakes for breakfast:

Cyan at her desk:

Olivia meeting her new friends:

Garden

Here is what we are harvesting from my garden. I have to say I am loving it. We are about to have a zillion zuchinni and squash. I have tons of lettuce (if you are nearby and want some just let me know)

Royal Gorge

Friday we took our last Family Day of the summer and went to the Royal Gorge. I don't know if I have ever been. We were really impressed. It was cute and all the attractions are included in admission. (Tip: The Gold C book has a 50% off 4 admissions coupon). Here are some pictures:

We tailgated a lunch. We grilled hot dogs. It was a great idea (it was James')

The incline from the river back to the top.

This is how I felt about the incline.

For dinner we went to Musashi's, which was very yummy. Here are the girls playing with the kid chop sticks.
And with that our summer is effectively over. The kids start school on Wednesday.

Rock Climbing

One of the adventures James and the kids had was rock climbing. All I have to say is I am glad I was not there. And yes those little heads on top of that rock are my girls.