1st Day of School

 On Monday Ashtyn attended her 1st day of Kinder Prep at the Lafayette Rec Center.  After having such an amazing experience last year in Creative Play it was only natural to continue her on to Kinder Prep before heading into Kindergarten.  Her new teachers this year are Ms. Erin and Ms. Sue and Ashtyn has totally fallen in love them - Thank GOD!  Ashtyn doesn't always trust people that well, and if she doesn't there is no way of teaching her anything, so we are very thankful for the warm hearts and open arms she has received from her new teachers!

This past weekend we kept asking her if she was nervous and she kept replying...

"A little bit, but I am more excited!"

Ashtyn seems to LOVE school and I love the structure it brings our life, so having school back in session is so GREAT!

 Chloe looked all cute on her 1st day of Kinder Prep too! 

Unfortunately, Chloe and Ashtyn are not in the same class this year, but they will still have recess, gym time and go on field trips together!

Only a few kids from her previous class are in her new class - Both Lucas and Ana.

I thought Ashtyn might be scared not having her BFF with her, but she was excited to meet new friends and I think already made a little connection with a little girl names Marilyn...

 Every morning before entering the classroom they have to answer a question on this board...Today's question was,

"Have you ever been to Preschool?"

so Ashtyn quickly found the "YES" and through it into the box...

Besides for having great teachers again this year her classroom is SO fun!  It has real desks, a tree house for reading and computers for them to use!  The room is very cool!

I am so excited for Ashtyn to start a new year of school and I hope its as great as it was last year.  It's so exciting to see her challenged and enjoy learning so much!  I can only hope we have this much luck with Eli!

It's sad to see the days of swimming, picnics and sleeping in late come to an end, but the start of school comes with a welcoming breath of fresh air!
Good luck baby girl - we are so proud of you and can't wait to see what amazing things you learn and experience this coming year...and then its off to Kindergarten!

Peach Fest

I don't know why but I couldn't wait for the Peach Fest to come this year!  I don't know if it was because of being so disappointed last year of not getting any peaches or what, but as soon as it turned 9am we headed down to Public Road to get some peaches!

And, YES!  I did get my peaches! 

They were absolutely delicious this year and so, so pretty...

 After the mission of getting my peaches we enjoyed all the activities...

Like getting our faces painted...

 Ashtyn's favorite part - playing in the jumpy castles and other blow up things...

 Eli had more fun running up and down the ramp in front of Casa Alvarez and had no desire to go jump - more fun for Ashtyn then!

He also loved sitting on this buffalo or as he would call it "horsey"...

 more jumping...

 We finished up with some shaved ice - which were made with organic fresh fruits - so much better then what I ever had had as a kid!

 Eli enjoyed playing in his more then actually eating it - same ol' story...

Loved Peach Fest this year - much more enjoyable in the morning before the heat and crowds come - PLUS you actually get peaches!

I went home and made Peach Cobbler with my fresh peaches to share with our friends, The Roddas!

Except for Steve, who did not eat my dessert because he doesn't like peaches...

Seriously - who doesn't LOVE Palisade Peaches!

I know I do!

Shoe Shopping

I know this may sound a little harsh, but I dislike shoe shopping with my daughter - very MUCH in fact!  When it comes to shoes, Ashtyn and I clearly are on different paths...and this proved so when trying to buy her new school shoes on Friday!

I always cringe when I have to take Ashtyn shoe shopping, but with her growing so much I really needed to get her feet sized and have her try on shoes instead of me playing the game of buying and returning...over and over again!  Plus I thought, maybe, it could be fun...

We first started at Dillard's where she saw some shoes with a glass heal and cute sparkly straps...

"Please mom, these are my Princess shoes..."

I of course said "No" you need school shoes, not dress up shoes...and in response I got the pout face.  So we moved on...

Next was Playless, where she managed to pick out the most expensive, brightest pink, sparkly princess shoes - EVER!  Again, she says...

"Oh, Please mom!  I can do my ballet in these..."

I of course said "No" I am not spending $30 on a pair of shoes from Payless that will probably fall apart in a couple days - $10 maybe, but $30 - really! and plus, you need SCHOOL shoes, not play shoes!

Again, I got another pout face along with a

"Fine, I never will get any shoes"

So off to Nordstorm, which always has a great selection and shoes I am willing to pay a little more for...

Well, everyone else in the entire world must have been at Nordstrom that same day because the place was CRAZY! 

I knew I wanted to get Ashtyn Toms again, and knew once she saw them she would want them too...I would even let her buy bright pink, sparkly ones if she wanted...

Well of course she went straight for the ballet slippers, which were adorable but also came with a $75 price tag - I don't even spend that much on shoes for myself...

Ashtyn got SO angry when I told her "No" again and refused to look at anything else.  Not even the bright pink, sparkly Toms!  So I finally told her to pick a shoe she wanted, but it couldn't be the ballet shoes...so she picked out these shoes...

I must say I thought they were very cute and approved!

Plus, they were the best of both worlds - the look of ballet with sparkles and a bow, but still study enough to run around the playground in...

So I made her try them on, and while she was walking around in them I could tell she was a little uncomfortable.  So I asked her over and over again - do they hurt and she kept responding

"NO"! I want these shoes so bad"

So we walked out of Nordstrom with her new shoes on her feet!

After having lunch and playing in the sand, Ashtyn says to me,

 "Mom, you didn't throw my flip flops away right?"

and I said "No, but why" and she says

"Well, my feet need a little break from these new ones, so I want to wear the flip flops."

I got a little annoyed and said Ashtyn if these shoes hurt then we need to take them back, and she pleaded over and over to let her keep them. 

So I made her put them back on as we headed out to the car...

As soon as we got home she threw those new shoes off and got into another pair of flip flops...

I KNEW those shoes were hurting her feet, but she was being to stubborn to tell me, in fear that I would take them back and not get her anything else...

Later that day we got ready for our night out to Cinderella and I told her to get her new shoes...she didn't looked thrilled at all that I was making her wear them, so again I said

"Ashtyn, if these hurt you I am taking them back and we will get something else..."

and again she replied with "They are fine mom"

We had to walk up the street to Emma's to meet them for our date and as we start walking, or as Ashtyn starts limping up the sidewalk, she quickly says

"Mom, do you think you could just get the red stroller - I am a little tired and don't feel like walking..."

I of course again asked if the shoes were bothering her and she annoyingly answered "No!" and kept limping up the street...

It amazes me how stubborn she is and how she would not admit she was wrong in getting those shoes or even admit they were hurting her feet...

She just wanted Princess looking shoes - no matter how uncomfortable they were!

The next morning I went and got her some little socks to help make them feel more comfortable, but still the Toms would have been so much better!

What is it about girls and their shoes?

Cinderella

 On Friday night we went to the Boulder Dinner Theater to see "Cinderella"!

Emma, our neighbor, had some extra tickets and invited Ashtyn and I along.  It was such a special treat, especially for Ashtyn who LOVES Cinderella and who also had never been to the theater before.

 Lookin' all cute for her special night out! 

She of course has to wear a Tiara to complete the outfit...every Princess wears a tiara!

 I hadn't been to the Boulder Dinner Theater in years, and really nothing has changed a bit.  We had a great table right up front, so Ashtyn and Scotty could see all the action...

 Dinner is of course served by the actors and actresses and ours was the Fairy Godmother!

The service was great the food was not!

I was very impressed with how these two four year olds behaved.  They sat and watched every minute of the play with no whining, sleeping or messing around! 

The play was very good - especially the parts of Cinderella's Stepsisters who were played by men!  It was very humorous and definitely put a modern spin on a very OLD story!

Ashtyn LOVED the dancing and the music the most...she now is SO, so excited to start her ballet classes...

Thanks to Emma and Scotty for taking us on a very fun date!  I am so glad Ashtyn got to experience her first Theater and thrilled she loved every minute of it.  Now I have someone to share that passion with, because we all know Matt and Eli would have never made it through a four hour dinner and theater performance!  They can dirt bike together while Ashtyn and I can go to New York City and watch theater...and maybe do a little shopping too!



Ice Cream Social

To end our awesome summer and kick-off the new school year, Julie hosted an Ice Cream party at Waneka lake for Ashtyn, Chloe and all their friends!  It was of course a little bit warm that morning and the ice cream melted very quickly, but the kids managed to enjoy every drop if it and of course the mounds of sprinkles, syrup and marshmallows that were piled on top!

 Ashtyn brought raspberries to top her ice cream with - so proud of her healthy choice...

but then finished the day off with a cup full of marshmallows!

 Sweet Ali!  Eli may or may not have a little crush on this little girl...

 After drinking their ice cream they all played chase around the playground...

 Eli of course wanted to swing - he looked so big in the swing that morning...

 Please take note of my daughters outfit...

I will however take no responsibility for the ensemble - that was all her and while I am quite fond of the color pallet I still had to just turn my head and shut my mouth as she marched up the stairs and out the door saying "Ready to go mom!"

 Eli's most favorite thing to do at the lake is throw rocks into the water...

Well on this day it was even more fun to throw rocks at the ducks!  He thought it was so funny, and while I did too (I may have even laughed a bit) many bystanders were not so thrilled, so I had to remove him from the duck area!

 Chloe, Ashtyn and Cate fed the ducks instead of throwing rocks at them...

They also fed Eli a little bit too it looks like!

(Cate, Lucas, Chloe, Anna and Carter)

By the end of the morning the kids were all hot, tired and crabby...especially my little girl, who threw a fit when I wanted her to take a picture with her friends.  So her pretty, little, crabby face is not in the picture, and went straight for a nap when we got home! 

It was so great to see everyone and it was the perfect ending to our summer.  Thanks to Julie for organizing it all and having ice cream melt all over her!

We are so excited for to school to start and hopefully we will make even more new friends!

Lake Powell 2012

 WHAT? We went back to Lake Powell?

Yes, yes we did - I am not going to lie, I was definitely a little skeptical of going back to the beloved Lake Powell.  We left early Sunday morning and arrived into Bullfrog around 3pm with no problems along the way - Can you believe that?

We decided this year to spend the first night in the marina instead of rushing out trying to find a campsite, so it was definitely more relaxing, and plus we were able to load the boat when it was cooler and with not as many people around.

The Marnia after all has been our Home Sweet Home for how many years now...

 The only way to keep Eli entertained and from running off the dock into 400 feet deep water was to put him in the loading carts - he enjoyed it!

 After unloading and unpacking - which is quite a task - we celebrated with a much needed ice, cold beer!

 We ate dinner at the Bullfrog restaurant and then it was off to bed.

We slept pretty good and got up early to see if we could finally move the Dream Haven out of the Marina and onto the beautiful Lake!

 It was a success!  The Dream Haven actually made it to a beach for the first time in four years - for us anyways!  It was great.  We still had only one engine - but my dad said he wasn't going to miss out on another year, so we stayed close to Bullfrog, but still not in the marina!

We were planning to hook up with the Ferreras and Carnivals, so he had the big task of finding a beach big enough for 3 houseboats, 4 boats and 6 jestskis - sounds like circus doesn't it?

Well, we found an awesome beach in Halls Creek where we set up camp for the rest of the week and finally enjoyed the lake we've been missing out on!

Before even setting the anchors, my kids were on the beach and in the water playing!  They were in heaven and that pretty much is what they did all week long...

 Eli was so cute - before bed we would put a movie on and Eli would crawl up in Carson's lap to snuggle...he doesn't do that with many people!

 I think my dad's favorite event of the whole trip was playing volleyball with all his buddies!  You have to imagine old guys, sitting on at least 3 water noodles with beers in their hands playing water volleyball - quite a sight and very humorous!  There was not a lot of "volley" going on, but tons of trash talking and laughing!  I love seeing my dad have so much fun in Lake Powell - he deserves it!

 Since we couldn't really explore the lake with the houseboat, we took a day trip down to the Dam and the new Antelope Marnia in the Arizona part of Lake Powell.  It was an 8 hour trip down there and back, but it was fun to explore a part of the lake I had never been too...

 We took two boats down there, and we rode in John and Debbie's cabin cruiser - it made for a much smoother ride and plus the cabin provided a great place for the kids to play and take naps out of the sun during the long trip...

 We arrived into the Antelope marina around lunch time and was quite surprised by what we found.  This place was very upscale for Lake Powell and the kinds of house boats and speed boats there were absolutely amazing - lots of money down there!  We actually went on the top deck of one of those houseboats - it was ridiculous!  They had an outdoor kitchen with high end appliances - flat screen TVS all over the place, expensive lounge chairs with cushions and of course a hot tub! Talk about luxury - it made our houseboat look like a dump!  I only wish I could have seen the inside...

 We had lunch at the restaurant which was great and then played in the water before heading back...

 Eli had so much fun playing with Papa in the water...

 After leaving Antelope we headed over to the Dam, which I have never seen before.  I've been coming to Lake Powell for twenty years now and had never seen the Dam.  Now I can say I have and never need to go back down that way - it was a Dam! 

 Eli slept the whole way back and I think I did too...

 Eli LOVED playing in the water and was so comfortable like usual - no FEAR child.  He even went down the slide on the back of the boat!  I still can't believe he did it!

 Eli and Ashtyn loved going jet skiing too - I think my kids are just a little bit spoiled - I don't think I was on a jet ski until I was like sixteen or so...

We have been working all summer on getting Ashtyn comfortable swimming in the lake with her life jacket.  She was for some reason having a tough time trusting that the life jacket would actually help her float and swim when she couldn't touch the bottom.  But Matt worked with her and she finally got the hang of it.  By the end of the week she would get off the back of the houseboat and swim around without us - we were so, SO proud of her!  Especially her Papa!

 The weather was fantastic the whole week and we only had one storm move through one late afternoon leaving a rainbow in its trail...

 Carson and Ashtyn wanted to take a hike to find the gold at the end of the rainbow, so we started hiking up the mountain...

 We made it to the top - but found no gold!

 Eli enjoying his morning cup of coffee!

 Ashtyn fell in love with the older girls on the Ferrera and Carnival boats! 

I remember doing the same thing when I was younger - tagging along with Tony and Jamie wanting to be just like them!

Emma and Cassie invited Ashtyn over to their "Spa" for a mani and pedi - it was so adorable!

They did her toes and nails and I was very impressed with how well they did!

I even got a little pedi done - a little french tip even! 

I was very impressed!

 They are so CUTE!

 Matt finally got a chance to drive the Sea Ray!  Kevin let him take the wheel and he did great!  Now if we could just talk my dad into letting us borrow the boat for a weekend - that would be great!

Not counting on it though!

We spent another beautiful week in Lake Powell and not in the Bullfrog Marina!

I think my kids fell in love with Lake Powell just like I did at a young age, and hopefully we will have better luck from here on out, so my kids can grow up here, just as I did. 

Lake Powell 2012 goes down in the books as a SUCCESS - finally!