Some Summer Fun

We're having so much summer FUN!  There isn't much time to blog about it...but here are some photos!

Nothing better than the slip n' slide!

Popsicles with friends and playing outside!

Swimming with friends at the pool.

Swimming at the pool with Nana & Papa!!!

And our friends, the Careys visited!!  Thanks for making the trip over, Sarah & co!

Another round of swim lessons...the kids are starting to love it!

My busy girl is always chatting away with some sort of plan...

Playing in the water outside

Eden got to have a special bike ride with John...they went all the way downtown and found some yummy ice cream!

Special summer days!!!!  The best!

Colorado Springs: Random

Our trip has been full of big moments and outings and also some small moments that have been great!  John has class in the evening and some work to do throughout the day so we have been keeping busy.

John and Logan playing catch in the front yard.

The kids and I did art some art projects one afternoon.  Usually its pretty hot and dry at the start of the day but we've had storms roll in over the mountains several afternoons.  I was happy my mom and John's mom stocked us full of fun activities for when I'm home with the kids.

Morning cartoons - more channels than just PBS!  :)  What a treat!

Eden all set with her backpack (pack-pack), baby diaper bag, Carebear Harmony and her rain jacket!  This girl doesn't travel light!

One of our favorites was making up our own Movie Theater Night.  The kids got to choose a treat at the grocery store, a movie at redbox and we even found some special popcorn boxes.  I made up tickets and the kids loved it all!

I think the kids would say "movie night" was one of the highlights of the trip.  I think its so funny how something so simple is so special for kiddos.  I was really happy we had a whole house to spend time in and enjoy some space.

Breakfast in the kitchen in the mornings.

I ventured out to a movie with the kids one late morning.  We saw "Planes: Fire and Rescue" and it was so great!

The kids look so big!

Popcorn...I think it was lunch time, so we basically had movie treats for lunch.  Its ok, its vacation. :)

Eden's first movie in the theater with us!  She only lasted through the first few minutes and then she napped through the rest.

And the fountain was always a favorite!  It was close so we could go most days.

Warming up on the warm concrete!

Eden was always my early riser...the boys slept in a little bit more and more each day.

After our big day at the zoo, Eden chose to spend her money on these two giraffes.  She calls them "sisters".  She was asleep before we left the parking lot!

Sometimes Eden would fall asleep and I could transfer her to her bed...so good to get a little nap once in a while!

This is a blurry picture of John's class one night when we stopped by to meet his advisor and professor and the folks in the office at Fuller Semiary.  They honored John that night for his upcoming graduation in Sept.

And back on the road going home.  What a trip.  The kids already want to go back next year!

Colorado Springs: Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

The BEST day in Colorado Springs was our visit to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo!  America's only mountain zoo and so much fun!

Logan was into being in charge of the map!

First stop: giraffes!

Feeding the giraffes with lettuce...we had been talking about this all morning, so we were anxious to make this stop!

Those long black tongues sure made us giggle!

We had to keep going back for more lettuce because it was just too much fun!  They said they used to feed them crackers, but the giraffes had a little weight problem after that, so they switched to lettuce!

Some warthogs like Pumba from Lion King.  :)

The African animals were some favorites.

The boys went into this capsule to experience a wind storm like in the African desert!

We had some yummy crepes while we waited for a lion show and feeding:

You can look out over all of Colorado Springs from the zoo.

I was really impressed with all the interactive exhibits for learning along the way.  This elephant showed how flapping the ears create a fan for the elephants' body to cool off.  We checked that out while we waited in line to fee "Lucky" the elephant!

We got to feed Lucky one whole carrot, one at a time.

Even Eden took her turn to feed Lucky!

Alligators!

It started to sprinkle...then rain harder...

We had to take a photo of "Bennett's Wallaby!"

Peacock's roamed around freely...

It was really pouring for a while so we went to find some lunch while we waited for the rain to let up.  We found that most days start out clear in CO Springs, but in the afternoon storms often roll in very quickly over the mountains - leaving little time to prepare for a downpour.

We were surprised to look up and see this sloth hanging out above us as we walked through an exhibit hall.

We heard a little seminar about these porcupines...they were SOOOO smelly!

And since the rain had let up by now, the kids got to ride pony!

Both Logan and Bennett were PROS after riding at Children's Farm!

We saw turtles...

It was a long, fun day at the zoo!  We stopped in the gift shop for souvenirs and then took advantage of our ticket to drive the winding road up to the Will Rogers' Shrine of the Sun.  By the time we made it up, the rain was coming down again and we had two sleeping kids.  Just Logan and John ran in to check out the Shrine and the view below.  It was our best, favorite vacation day!