Alex's Choir Concert

Alex is a member of the Falconaires this year and the choir had their first performance last week before the kids went on Fall Break.  It was a proud moment watching our son sing with his friends.  He downplays it, but he really does enjoy singing.  Notice the way he sways back & forth... makes it easy to pick him out from the other kids.  I'm surprised his teacher doesn't tell him to stand still.  I guess he's just getting ready for swing choir or something... jazz hands!!!

PS - I took these videos on my phone since our FlipCam is acting up, so please excuse the poor quality.

San Diego Trip - July 2012

Jeff and I were able to sneak away to San Diego in July while the kiddos were in Iowa.  We met up with Julie and Kevin for a wonderful vacation.  Some of the highlights of our trip were:

 

[LOTS of pictures to follow... consider yourself warned.]

 

Tour of the USS Midway Aircraft Carrier

 

Wine Tasting at Fifty Seven Degrees

 

Sea World

 

 

Petco Park (San Diego Padres baseball stadium)

 

Kayaking to the beach

 

 

Amazing food!!!

 

 

Art

One of the reasons I created this blog was to keep our family and friends updated on our life in Colorado since we don't get to see them as often.  I realized that I have been sharing stories and pictures, but not necessarily things such as the kids' artwork or other stuff from school.  I have a whole folder of pictures dedicated to the kids' artwork since I typically take pictures of my favorites just to ensure I can keep them if the original gets lost.  So, I thought I would share some of my favorites.  Enjoy!

Mattea's rainbow fish

Josh's chicken

Alex's self portrait

Mattea's ice skater

Josh's crazy town

 Alex's video game

First Day of School!!!

All three of the kiddos started school today... two of the three were looking forward to it! 

Mattea was ecstatic to start 2nd grade.  We went in last week for a Meet & Greet with her teacher, Mrs. Pearl, and they were both excited to meet each other.  Josh had Mrs. Pearl when he was in 2nd grade, so we were thrilled for Mattea to get her this year!!! 

Josh was excited to start 6th grade.  He is looking forward to going to a new school, having a locker (once he gets the hang of opening the lock!!!), switching classes and having multiple teachers.  He totally lucked out and got his top two elective choices (call it Dolan luck) -- PE and Applied Tech.  Alex took him around at the Open House to meet his teachers since some of them have previously had Alex in class.

Alex wasn't too thrilled to go back to school.  I tried to convince him that it's cool to be "king of the school", but he wasn't buying it.  8th graders don't get their schedules until the first day of school, so I am anxious to hear about his schedule.  I have a feeling that he is going to get choir for an elective and that won't make him happy. 

Anyway, I was thrilled that the boys didn't give me too much grief about taking my first day of school pictures this morning.  They posed for a few and then took off on their bikes.  Mattea, of course, let me take as many pictures of her as I wanted!!!  I'm looking forward to a great school year with all of the kids on the same schedule!

Some Kid-Less Adventures

While the kids are busy having fun with family and friends in Iowa, we have been taking advantage of being kid-less and have gone on a few adventures ourselves!  The day the kids left for Iowa, Jeff called me on his way home from work and told me to pack a bag for the weekend.  We took a totally spontaneous trip to Estes Park.  It was awesome! 

We drove Trail Ridge Road, stopped several times for pictures and short hikes and then went on one of our favorite hikes to Alberta Falls.  It's very different hiking without kids.  We had no worries about the boys getting too far ahead or someone falling off a big rock they had climbed on.  Jeff and I both got a little cray-zay and ventured onto large rocks, teetered on logs that had fallen across the falls and did handstands in some interesting places.  When you don't have to be a good example, you can revert back into being an adventurous kid... it was pretty fun!

Last weekend, we took a trip to Keystone to visit Terry and do some downhill mountain biking.  We met up with Terry for breakfast and then headed over to the ski resort.  Terry got the bikes all tuned up and made sure we were comfortable with the brakes and shifters.  Once we were all set, we went over to the ski lift where they loaded our bikes and we hopped on as well for a ride to the top.  The boys rode with Kelley and I for awhile to make sure we were feeling confident.  I was finally able to assure them we would be fine and that they would have a much better time if they took off ahead of us.  So, they left for the more adventurous trails and Kelley & I made our way down the easy trails.  But, let me tell you... EASY is not what I would call those trails!  I crashed a couple times ending up with some minors scratches and bruises, but I was definitely scared during some parts of that downhill biking adventure.  I can't imagine how fast the boys were flying through it and I was just grateful that we all made it down safe & sound!  It was a really fun time and a great workout!

And then there were 6...

On Friday, June 29th, Kelley Semens arrived in Aurora, Colorado.  Kelley is a graduate from Augustana College in Rock Island, IL where she played volleyball and was coached by a wonderful volunteer named Jeff Dolan!  : )  After Kelley graduated, she got her master's in Occupational Therapy from Washington University in St. Louis and chose to do her clinicals in Aurora.  We were happy to agree to let her live with us during her 3-month rotation.  Kelley got settled in quickly and we have kept her busy since she got here.  We have already taken her for mountain high pizza in Idaho Springs, a hike at Golden Gate Canyon State Park, bouncing on trampolines at JumpStreet, a weekend in Estes Park and a fun (but rainy) night at a Rockies game! 

She blends in well with our family and totally just rolls with whatever is going on.  She bonded with the kids before they left for Iowa and is a total dog-lover, so Cody is quite happy with all the extra attention.  While the kids are on vacation, Jeff and I are using her as a good excuse to do lots of fun things on the weekends to show her around.  This weekend, we are headed to Dillon to visit Terry and to go downhill mountain biking at Keystone!