Lazy Summer Days

Some of the best days of summer are the ones where there are no vacations, no camps, no sports, no schedules, nothing! It's been fun getting to make the most of those days. We have been staying up late and sleeping in. Breakfast sometimes doesn't start until 9:30 or 10 and the day continues on as slow and relaxing as our mornings. We've had lots of fun just hanging out around the house and having a revolving door of kids. We've also managed to sneak in a few fun outings. Here are some pictures that capture just a bit of the fun we have been having:

Blueberry picking with Grandpa and Grandma was fun. We got TONS of blueberries!

The kids come up with all kinds of fun things to do. Caleb checked out a bunch of magic books from the library and put together an entire magic show for us to watch.

The kids love time with TiTi while she's off of work. They also love when she takes them to Slammers games!

Summertime sleepovers are an essential part of the fun!

We enjoyed our trip to Six Flags where the kids could use the tickets they earned during their reading program at school.

On a trip to Bass Pro Shop, the kids got a chance to do some target practice :)

Wild West Road Trip 2018

Our family had such a blast on our Great Lakes road trip last year that we decided it would be fun to plan another epic road trip. With a week of time to get it all in, we planned as much as we could and hit the road! We all had an amazing trip, saw some of the most beautiful sites, made precious memories, and came home with full and happy hearts!

Day one of driving from home to Cheyenne, Wyoming was a loooooooong day in the car. We ALL felt a bit wiggly and restless by the end!

We were SO glad that Mark and Madelyn drove up from Colorado Springs to stay the night with us in Cheyenne!

Day two we hit the road with about seven hours to go until our first stop in Jackson Hole. The kids were in awe of the mountains they could see in the distance! Once we got to Jackson Hole, we took a tram way up the mountain and hiked to take in the gorgeous views. The kids loved seeing snow in July! We ended the day with a picnic in the Grand Tetons and it was breathtaking.

Day three was an adventure through part of Yellowstone. We finished the day just outside of the park in the most adorable cabin sandwiched between two mountains. We loved the experience there and taking in the serene surroundings was awesome.

Day four we started with a beautiful horseback ride up a mountain. Leah was quite hesitant at first, but did great. The boys were pros and had a blast.

After spending more time in Yellowstone on day four, we left the park and took the Beartooth Scenic Byway route. We had tons of amazing views and couldn't believe just how high we drove up into the mountains!

Day five we headed back towards South Dakota with a quick stop to hike around Devils Tower. Once we were in South Dakota, we visited a gold mining museum and also checked out the infamous town of Deadwood. Our day ended at Mount Rushmore where we truly enjoyed their evening program and lighting of the monument.

Day six we enjoyed a slow start in the morning (a rare occurrence on these crazy trips). We then headed to the Wind Cave National Park where we took an awesome tour of the caves. From there, we headed to the Badlands. It was fun to climb the rocks and we especially enjoyed seeing bighorn sheep. The day ended with a trip to Wall Drug for some ice cream (and free ice water, of course)!

All in all, we had a great trip. There were definitely moments of lost patience, annoyance, and exhaustion.....but all of that is a small price to pay for the many, many memories we made!

Spring Sports

We successfully survived the Spring sports season with all three kids playing a sport. The evenings and weekends were often quite busy, but it was fun watching them all enjoy playing baseball and softball. 

Caleb played for the Red Sox in a league with mostly 3rd and 4th graders. His team had a slow start, but ended up the season with a nine game winning streak and a chance to play in the 3rd round of the playoffs (which he sadly missed due to our vacation to the lake....the fact that they lost made the sting hurt just a bit less). Though he started the season worried about what it would be like to play without his dad as the coach, he ended up quite pleased with the coaches and team. It was a great season and he did very well playing a few different infield positions (and sometimes even pitcher) and also did great at the plate!

Joel loved his first season in baseball. He played for the Astros in a league with mostly kindergartners and first graders. It was a very typical beginner league with lots of goofing off and spacing out in the field! We loved watching the team get better each game and Joel grew a lot throughout the season.

Leah enjoyed her first season playing softball...and especially loved that she finally got to have her Daddy as the coach (prior to this, soccer was her main sport and Daddy doesn't know/do soccer). Her team was called Ranch Frostie and the girls were all in 2nd and 3rd grade. Leah learned a lot, but perhaps her greatest mastery was of all the cheers/chants the girls do on the field and in the dugout :)