Camping Continued

Next time out on the Dunes we took James with us.  Here are some more playing in the sand pics.

Jumping in from the top

 James jumping in

 The girls and I jumping in.

Me jumping down the big hill

 YEAH!

Next we hiked to the Zapata Falls.  James and Cyan climbed into the cave but didn't go in the water.

 The girls at the bottom putting their shoes back on.

Then the next morning we packed up and went back home.  It was a great trip and we all could not have laughed more than possible.  If you want to get us going again just remind us "you will get sand in your eye and cry like a baby" or the "hot dog yard sale".

Camping Continued

The next morning the girls and I headed out to the dunes to play in the sand before it got too hot.

After the Dunes the 4 of us took a hike.  The kids took a lot of pictures of the dunes and such but I liked this one.

Next came the Jr Ranger program.  It was so hot out on the sand in the afternoon I thought my feet were melting.

For dinner we made stir-fry over the campfire.

Camping

Early in the summer we made camping reservations and were a bit aggressive when we reserved 4 nights at the Great Sand Dunes.  It turns out we had the best time ever.

We arrived and set up our camp site:

The first night we attended a Ranger program about clouds.

The next morning we made an ambitous breakfast of eggs, bacon, and blueberry pancakes on the campfire none the less.

Our next item on the agenda was the Dunes Visitor Center for the girls to get the Jr Ranger books.

Next stop the Gator Farm.

Next we headed back to out campsite and our city kids learned to climb some trees.  Not to leave out Dad he jump up there too.

That evening we attending another Ranger program about antlers and horns.

 

Goodbye Tate's

Our neighbors, the Tate's, recently decided to move to Seattle. They have to little girls named Elizabeth and Abigail. The little girls came over to hang out with my girls while the parents got the house ready for the packers. My kids loved having little kids around.

Cyan pretending to eat to get Abby to eat

Olivia and Elizabeth peeling an egg

Dragonfly swarm

The other night the kids were outside playing and I noticed all these dragonflies swarming in our backyard.  I don't think the picture show exactly how many there were but there were hundreds.  All the dots in the sky are dragonflies and on the tree they are lined up on the branch.

Baseball

The girls are playing basball again this summer.  Here are some pics:
Olivia with her team (James is one of the the assistants)

 Olivia waiting to bat.

 Olivia getting a grounder to throw to first base (she got the out too)

 Stepping up to the plate

 Batting - she was up to bat 2 times and got two big hits (and didnt have to use the tee)

 Cyan's team (this coach was Olivia's coach last year)

 Cyan's pregame meeting

 Cyan at bat.  She got two big hits and scored both times plus she helped get an out.

 Cyan running two second.

 Good game...

Friday Night Concert

This Friday night concert came complete with Flight for Life and a balloon artist (Cyan got an ostrich and Olivia a chicken).

Pool with Hannah and Tyler

Today Cyan and Olivia stayed with Robyn, Tyler and Hannah while I went to a meeting in Denver.  Robyn braved taking them all to the pool.  Here is a pic

Movie under the stars!

The girls and I resurrected last years tradition of Thursday outdoor movie night.  The movie is held in a shopping center and is super fun.  Although we are bummed that James wont make them this night because now he works on Thursdays. 

Right when we got there a radio station was doing a minute to win it challenge.  Cyan and I jumped up and volunteered.  She had to wrap an entire roll of toilet paper around me by holding it and running around me.  We WON!!!

Next there was a taekwondo demonstration and Cyan participated.  She learned a punch and then broke a board with that punch.  And finally we watched Shrek Ever After.

Cyan is the second kid in line in the blue shirt.

 Taking aim...

Garden and expanded chicken accomodations

Here is the progress of my garden.  I have already harvested radishes, lettuce, and spinach.  There are snow peas and green onions that are almost ready too.
While I am at it I think I forgot to show the expanded chicken accommodations.  We decided it was easier to fence the chickens in than out of the garden so we gave them a larger run.  Now they have a garden view although that just might be torture since they cannot reach it to eat it.

In case you are wondering from left to right it goes squash, radishes with green onions and jalapenos behind them.  The next row is green beans, followed by spinach, lettuce, snow peas.  There are carrots behind the lettuce too.

Olivia's new bike

We didn't intend on buying Olivia a new bike since Cyan's old one fit her just fine.  Then we realized that Cyan had worn through the tires when there was a blowout.  So now Olivia has a new bike too.