A budding (stubborn) reader

I love to read, and scenes like this make me happy.  But lately, if you ask Karsten if he likes to read, you'll get a quick NO!  We've been reading together at bedtime since the boys were tiny babies, and lately, either Karsten is reading to us, or we're co-reading the book (he reads a page, we read the next one) at bedtime.  After a meltdown last night because he didn't know a few words and translated it into 'I don't know how to read!', we decided to try having him practice reading earlier in the day.  

This worked much better, please keep your fingers crossed that it continues!  I really want him to enjoy reading as much as I do!  

Jumping Dogs!

Last night, Scott saw that the local Scheels was having a Family Fun weekend with Dog Jumping.  I remember people talking about this event last summer, so we decided to check it out after church.  It was raining after church, but we still headed to Scheels with the hope that it wouldn't be raining there - the weather is crazy here, so that scenario is very possible.

When we got there, we were excited to see there were already dogs jumping off the dock into the water.  The goal is for the dogs to see how far they can jump into the pool.  The boys weren't sure of what to think when we got there, so they stayed back.

 The uncertainty only lasted one jump, then Karsten was right next to the pool to get a closer look, and maybe get sprayed with some water.

The dogs (and their trainers) were pretty impressive.  Some of them jumped as far as 23 feet, but most were in the 8-13 range.

Right after this photo was taken, the guy next to Karsten took his little guy right up to kneel on the side of the pool and completely blocked Karsten's view.  So I picked him up so he could see the next dog that the announcer said would jump far.  Let's just say, the dog did jump far and made a great big splash - both Karsten and I got very wet.  Good thing there's no pics of that!

Liam enjoyed watching as long as someone could hold him so he could see above the sides of the pool.

They had a brief intermission, so we went inside Scheels to walk around.  Such an impressive store, there's a million things to look at!

They have cool photo-ops like this all over the store.

Soon, we headed back outside to catch the next group of dogs. This group had a lot of big jumpers in it that really made it far!

I'd say this was a big success - look at that smile!

KC Streetcar

We made a list of fun stuff we wanted to do this summer, and since summer is quickly drawing to a close, we need to check a few more items off the list.  Today's adventure was riding the new KC Streetcar.  We enjoy going to the downtown farmer's market, so we decided to park at Crown Center then take the Streetcar to the River Market.

On our walk to the Streetcar, we passed the fountains at Crown Center. Until a few years ago, you were able to play in these fountains.  I have a photo of Karsten splashing in the fountains when he was probably almost two.  The fountains are still impressive, even if we can't go into them and play.

Turns out lots of people thought this weekend would be perfect for a ride on the Streetcar, so it was quite packed.  We lucked into seats, and were able to see out and enjoy the view.

See that red button near Karsten?  He desperately wanted to push it to tell the train conductor where we wanted to get off.  He had to wait through many stops before he could push it at the River Market.  I think most everyone on the train got off as well, but that detail doesn't matter, he still got to push the button and let them know.  :)

It's a great view of downtown KC.  I love seeing the Western Auto sign sneak into the upper left corner of the photo - I really like that sign!

After getting a few tomatoes, some peaches and kale at the farmer's market, we stopped for lunch at a great Middle Eastern place, then went back to catch the Streetcar back to our car.  We had to wait for a bit for the Streetcar to arrive, then we packed into it with a ton of other people.  I'm glad we checked out the Streetcar, I just hope next time we ride it, it isn't so full!  I'm thankful our everyday transportation is in our own cars where we control the arrival/departure times and who is riding with us. :)

The boys wanted to try on my hat on the way home - they look pretty cute don't they!

Karsten's request for the day was a trip to the pool.  When we got there, it was nice and sunny.  About 20 minutes later, there were storm clouds rolling in and thunder to the west.  Unfortunately, that cut our trip a bit shorter than we had hoped.

Scott and the boys went to the pool several times a week this summer, and it's really boost the boys confidence level in the pool.  Karsten is now jumping in regularly without us closely spotting him.

Lime Lover

Liam loves lemons and limes.  If you have one on your drink, chances are he would try to convince him to give it to him.  We bought some limes to have on hand for mojitos...and cooking, and when Liam spotted one in the fridge, asked if it could be his fruit for dinner tonight.

Happy Hour Date

The boys stayed at my parents house tonight (thank you!), so Scott and I were excited to have a date night.  A last minute work dinner for him changed our plans a bit, so we had a Happy Hour Date instead.  It was fun to go to happy hour - something we rarely get to do anymore!

We had some great appetizers, drinks and conversation before he had to leave for dinner and I headed home to relax in a quiet house!

Wordless Wednesday - New stuffed friends from Grandma and Papa

After dinner games!

We've started a fun routine of playing some sort of game together as a family after dinner.  Karsten received Sorry! for his birthday and it's becoming well worn!

When we started playing, we were flexible with the rules and didn't pay too much attention to rules like only allowing one player on a place at a time.  Now, the boys anxiously count to see which card they hope to draw so they can send someone else back to Start.

Having so much fun - he likes to draw cards for everyone and also help you move your pieces. With him, you have to be quick if you want to draw and move your own guys!

Winning and losing

We had my parents over for dinner tonight - everyone has been busy, and since we just got back from vacation, we hadn't seen them in a while. The boys talked their ears off as soon as they got in the house - they had lots to tell them about our vacation and other random things.  

While Scott and I cleaned up dinner, they played Old Maid.  Cards and board games have been big hits at our house this summer, all of these games have been fun to play!  

You have to watch the boys when playing cards - they've been known to bend the rules a bit!

There was some commotion at the end of the card game because Karsten was not happy to be on the losing team - he took particular issue with Liam saying 'Grandma and I are the winners, you and Papa are not'.  We're still reminding the boys that you can't and won't win all of the time, and it's not OK to throw a fit.  After a chat with Papa, Karsten was happy again and ready to play checkers.

I know we'll have lots of opportunities in the future to work on being a gracious loser of games - learning to be disappointed but not throw a fit will be a big lesson.  

Early Riser

Liam woke up way too early this morning while I was getting ready for work.  I asked if he wanted to crawl in bed with Scott and go back to sleep.  Usually, the boys will not go back to sleep once they're awake, so I was shocked when Liam eagerly agreed and climbed into bed.

I peaked out a few minutes later and saw both Liam and Scott sound asleep.  It was pretty cute, and I'll admit that I was jealous that I wasn't able to crawl back into bed with them and go to sleep!

Wordless Wednesday - Trains, Imaginex and Dinos, Oh My!

Breck Fun

We had such a fun, relaxing vacation last summer, we decided to repeat it this summer.  We weren't disappointed and enjoyed a couple of great, relaxing days in Breck.  

The stream that runs along Main Street is a favorite - it's beautiful and the boys can't resist going right down into the water.  They had jeans on this day so they weren't able to wade in it.  

Comon', does it get more beautiful than this in the middle of town?

We took a gondola ride up to the Summer Fun Park - Liam and I were a bit uncertain, but we were able to relax and enjoy it.

Karsten had no fear - he loved the gondola.

I think the boys would have been happy if we had stayed in the condo all day and they could play.  This ledge next to the stairs was a favorite for the imaginex guys!

He's ready for the Olympics!

We went to Crepes A La Cart twice on our trip.  My first choice was better than my second, but they were all amazing.  We need to learn how to do do this at home!  My crepe had blueberries, nutshell, baileys and Chantilly cream.  DELISH...and slightly messy!

Okay, more than slightly messy.

I may have been covered in blueberries.  We all had a good laugh - I was a mess!

Scott's crepe wasn't quite as messy as mine, and Karsten's cinnamon and sugar crepe wasn't messy at all.  Liam didn't want a crepe and just snagged bites from everyone else - he's just not a sweets guy.  I sure wish I had that issue!

After a fun few days in Breck, it was time to head to Colorado Springs to see family and do some more sightseeing!  

Breck Summer Fun Park

The boys had so much fun at the Summer Fun Park, it was part of the reason we went back to Breckenridge this summer.  Our first day in Breckenridge looked like it would have beautiful weather, so we rode the gondola up the mountain to begin our day.

We wore jeans and hoodies in the morning because it was a bit cool and we anticipated that weather lasting through the morning.  As soon as we got on the mountain, we realized that we were overdressed.  The boys kept their hoodies on for a while, then everyone's hoodies went into the backpack for the day.  

Karsten and Scott rode the alpine slide last year and kept talking about how much fun it was. I did the roller coaster with Karsten last year, so we swapped this year and I got to do the slide.  It was really fun - we could have gone much faster, but I was being cautious.  For me, the lifts up the mountain were more scary than the slide!  I'm always worried we'll fall out of the lift!

When we finished, it was Liam and Scott's turn on the slide.  Liam wasn't sure he wanted to do the slide, he was scared of the lift AND the slide.  We knew he would love the slide if he could make it up the lift, so Scott went ahead and took him making sure to hold him tightly on the chair lift to try and make him feel safer.

While Liam and Scott went up to get in line for the slide, Karsten and I headed over to the trampoline before the line got too long.  Karsten was not so sure about this, but I showed him that it was just like jumping on a trampoline, the harness just meant he could jump higher and do tricks if he wanted.

I told him if he got up there and didn't like it, he just had to ask the guy to get him down and he could get out.  He bounced several times and seemed to be enjoying himself.

But this expression showed me that he wasn't quite comfortable yet and the jumping time may be short.  He did it for a few more minutes then asked to get down.  I'm proud of him for giving it a try.

Next, we all headed over to the ropes course, another favorite activity from last year.

After a timid first step, Liam got comfortable and was able to make it across.

When he got to the end of this side, he very matter of factly told the guy he was done and didn't want to do the other side.  When I asked him why, he said 'that side is for big kids, I can't reach between the logs'.

Next up was Karsten, he moved more quickly across the first side and with more caution on the second side.

He was uncertain a few times, but he worked on it and made it happen.

Mining for rocks was a big hit again this year.  The boys hadn't even cleaned all of the sand off their rocks before they started comparing to see who got the coolest rocks.

We didn't make it to the snow pile last year, so we were sure to allow time for it today.  It was kind of slushy in places, you could tell the sun was starting to melt it, but it was still pretty cool to be on a pile of snow in the middle of July!

The slushiness of the snow made it perfect for snowballs.

I love this picture!  

Karsten threw a snowball at Scott, and Scott got him back when he least expected it.  You can see Liam picking up snow - he threw it at Scott and told him to leave Karsten alone!  What a sweet brother!  

Coming down for the snow was challenging.  I'm pretty sure I almost wiped out three or four times and was not so graceful.

Scott is not a roller coaster fan, but Karsten and I convinced him that the alpine coaster was not too scary and he could do it.  Liam didn't want to give it a try, so we were spectators.

Looks like Scott let Karsten control the breaks - pretty brave!

The boys love mini-golf!  They were thrilled when they remembered this was something we could do at the summer fun park!

We had to do the obligatory photo on the Breck Ski lift.  Can you tell the boys were done having their photos taken?

One of our last activities of the day was the maze.  The goal is to find all of the letters in the word Maze before you find your way out of the maze.  We went to the viewing platform to watch them, but when we lost sight of them, I went down to hang out by the entrance because I was worried they were going to see it and think they made it out of the maze.  Sure enough, a minute later, they appeared outside the entrance of the maze and said 'WE DID IT!'.  Haha - sure did, good job guys!

After the maze, we sat down on a bench and everyone got a drink of water.  I put my cell phone on the bench to dig in the bag to get water.  Then, Scott and Karsten rode the lift up the mountain while Liam and I went inside for a break in the AC. After we got a snack, I reached for my phone to take a pic and it was nowhere to be found.  We packed up quickly and ran out to the bench, but the phone was gone.  I told Liam that we needed to find Lost and Found to see if someone turned in my phone.  Thankfully, a woman overheard me and said she had found my phone and took it to a worker at a nearby stand - but she also looked up the ICE (in case of emergency) contacts and called my dad to say my phone had been found.  He wasn't with us, so he called Scott who asked the woman to leave it with the nearby stand.  WHEW, thank goodness there are still good, responsible people in this world who do kind things like this.  I'm so, so grateful for her!  

After Scott and Liam came down from the lift, the boys played in a bounce house for a bit, then we headed down the mountain.  We had a long, fun day at the summer fun park and everyone was worn out!