What can you learn from this picture?

1) Henry's terrified of horses

2) That guy HATES his job

Whirl-Weekend

Three wonderful neighbors, three super-fun birthday parties . . . all in two days!

Yes, that's the REAL Batman!  Notice Frankie's face!

Lexi walked Henry up (safety in numbers!) but he's still not sure!

Lexi climbing the rock wall

Frankie on the rock wall

Double Take

The first time Lexi had Mrs. Z as a teacher she was a terrified half-day Kindergartener!

The first time she had Mrs. Z

Mrs. Z . . . Take 2!

Now that Mrs. Z has moved up to 2nd grade and we have her again, Lexi was all smiles on Sneak-a-Peek night!

First day of school

First day . . . with her fan club!

A math lesson for you . . .

Let's see if you math whizzes can get this one:

   108 degrees

     60 homemade swaps (Google it)

     10 applications of bug spray

 +    1 homemade sit-upon (seriously, Google it, folks!)

If you guess Daisy Girl Scout Camp you are correct!

The zipline - Definitely a highlight!

Best friends, even away from home!

Rock identification

At the "cookout"

It lived up to its name

World's of Fun

The tie-dye crew in action!

First stop was Planet Snoopy

Henry's told everyone who would listen (including Wal-Mart checkers) that he was going to ride the motorcycles and ladybugs at Worlds of Fun.  Luckily for us, they had them!

Also luckily for us, "Monster Trucks" don't actually have monsters . . . Whew!

Bumper cars

Posing before the Sea Dragon

The couple who started this lovely family

The brave Sea Dragon riders

We're exhausted but we had "World's of Fun"!

I know it wouldn't always be this great

Sometimes I fantasize about what it would be like if Shelley and the kids lived here instead of in Denver.  My fantasy looks something like this:

We'd pose at the pool,

eat popsicles on the porch,

giggle, 

tie-dye shirts, 

and go out for pizza!



I know it wouldn't always be this great, but it sure makes for a great fantasy!

Not all fun and games

While we're busy packing the fun into these last few days, a bit of the mundane still needs to take place.

Trips to the grocery store and Wal-Mart need to be made . . .

Laundry needs to be done . . .

Candles need to be eaten . . .

Oh wait . . .

The Final Hurrah

With school starting in six short days (no, I'm not ready for them to go back!), we've been trying to make the most of our last week!  Amid three cake orders and a refresher course on potty training (who knew 48 hours of diarrhea also causes amnesia for the recently potty-trained?!), we've enjoyed the cooler weather and each other!

Monday: The last (forecasted) hot day of the week we headed back to the pool.  Admittedly, it's lost its appeal for all except new-swimmer Henry, unless we can bring friends with us.  We cooled off that afternoon with a movie.  Apparently the full-sized sofa can't compete with the "theater seating" they concocted on the love seat (see picture)!

Wednesday: Look out, Lance Armstrong!  Frankie Wonka, bike rider extraordinaire, has arrived!  Well, as long as you help him over curbs and bumps, boost him up hills, and spot him turning corners.  He and Lexi rode to the elementary school while Henry and I followed with the stroller.  Frankie was so proud of his feat he was pretty hard to live with the rest of the afternoon!

Thursday: The bike ride had been so successful, they wanted to ride to the school again . . . this time with a picnic lunch!  An uneventful ride up, rousing game of superheroes on the playground, and an-almost-boost-free ride home left us all smiles!

Tomorrow we gear up for the Spiecker clan to arrive from Denver and our end-of-summer plans will move into high-gear!

Snuggling on the "double decker" sofa

Bike Ride #2, with picnic!