4th of July

We had lots of fun in Farmington for the 4th of July. We kept pretty busy between the two sides of family. We had BBQ's, swimming, 2 family pictures, and 2 baby blessings. Joe and I also had a chance to go to Si Seniors (MMmmm....) and I also got to go to breakfast with some of my friends from high school. The trip went by so fast it seemed like we had just gotten there when we had to leave. The girls did great on the drive, both ways so that was a relief. Thank goodness for DVD players! Here are some pictures from our trip.

The Stradling Clan

The Churchill family took pictures too, but I don't have a copy yet.

Steve's Family

Jeff and cute little Shaylee.

Emryck teaching the younger kids how to play Four-Square.

Kayla loved getting to see all 4 of her new baby cousins.

Jaylee and Kayla. I love this picture! I want to edit out the red eyes and frame it for both girls.

The girlies swimming at Grandma C.'s house.

I didn't put Alyssa in swimming lessons this year because I didn't think she was ready. Turns out, she is better than Kayla. (Mostly because Kayla's a little afraid to be in the water without a floatie.) They offer lessons all year round here in Longmont so I will probably enroll her in a few different classes while Kayla is in school this year.

The girls had a blast staying with Jaylee. Thanks again for letting us stay with you Kari Ann!

Alyssa's Party Camp Out

For the past few months Alyssa has been asking for a Party Camp Out for her birthday. I'm not really sure where she got the idea, but she insisted on smores and ghost stories and a camp out.

Friday morning Joe had to go to a training in Fort Collins so I took the girls on ahead to grab a spot. We went to the Olive Ridge campground which is about 45 minutes from home. It's about 20 minutes south of Estes Park, CO (if you know where that is). We got there about 10:45 and found a spot. I was thinking that it wasn't as bad as everyone around here says. They say if you don't get there early you have no chance of getting a spot. They were right. About 15 minutes later cars started pouring in. It was hilarious because they were racing each other to grab spots. The whole place filled up within minutes.

While we were waiting for Joe to show up I set everything up and we went for a walk over to the playground. Joe suprised the girls with fishing poles for both of them when he got there. They sat and played with them for so long. They had little rubber things on the end so you can practice casting.

We took a drive up to Lilly Lake and walked around a little bit. We pretty much just hung out all of Friday and relaxed. It was nice not to have anything to do.

Kayla at Lilly Lake. (Aly was asleep in the car)

Alyssa spent most of the time digging in the dirt.

This is a cool old church that was down the road from where we were. On Saturday there was a wedding there.

The animals are so used to people that they pose for pictures.

Saturday we woke up and went fishing in Estes Park. Everyone around us was catching tons of fish, but we didn't get a thing. Kayla loved fishing though. Alyssa wasn't too excited when she learned that you just sit there.

The birthday girl eating breakfast. (Nasty Cookie Crisp. I let her pick a special cereal for camping. I don't usually let her eat that junk.)

Sitting and waiting for nothing to bite.

We went back to camp and had lunch and let Alyssa open some of her presents. She has been asking for a dinosaur that bites her finger for months now. Grandma Churchill got her one and she was so excited! She named it Sara and had to introduce it to her puppy that she carries around everywhere. When you pet it's back it growls and purrs. She has already worn out the batteries!

Camping didn't end like we thought it would. Around 3 o'clock it started to thunder and rain and then eventually pour. We thought that we would just hang out in the tent until it passed, but around 4 I noticed that our tent was leaking pretty badly and that Kayla's sleeping bag was soaked. So, we put the kids in Joe's car and rushed and threw everything in the van. (Literally threw everything in there soaking wet!) By 5:30, we were home, unloaded and taking showers while waiting for a pizza to show up. I'm so glad we were only 45 minutes away so that we were able to do that. We would have been miserable Saturday night if we would have stayed.

The storm coming in. The clouds got darker and it rained all night.

Alyssa got to open the rest of her presents after dinner and then we all were in bed and asleep by 8:30. What a day! Alyssa had fun though and that's what matters.

I made Alyssa's cake on Sunday. I've had bad luck with trying to get cakes out of pans lately so I just left it in. Alyssa's on a dinosaur kick and wanted them on her cake so I just threw some plastic toys on. Boring cake I know, but that's what she got and she loved it. You'd never guess I used to decorate cakes by this one!

Grandma Stradling got her a Snow White dress. She loves it!

Kayla's Swimming Lessons

Kayla took swimming lessons for two weeks. I put her in the first level thinking that's where she needed to be since it was her first time, but I think she could have gone up to the next level. She was the oldest in the class. Everyone else was 2 or 3 but you couldn't really tell because of her size.
She had fun and can't wait to do it again. I'll probably enroll her for a class during the school year.

We got a letter from Kayla's Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Real, and she already has a homework assignment to do over the summer. She's so excited to go back to school. Everyday she asks me how long until she goes.

I've been trying to keep the girls busy this summer. We have a schedule that we have fallen into the past few weeks. Monday we go to the library. Tuesday there's a free movie at the mall. Wednesday we go to a play group at the park. Thursdays we stay at home and do laundry and Friday we do our shopping. It's nothing too exciting, but it gets us out of the house. Kayla also starts a dance class in July that will last for a month. (She doesn't know about it yet because I don't want to tell her everyday how long it will be until dance. :-) )

Alyssa had her 3rd birthday last week so at her request, we went camping. I'll post those separately. She also had a little fun with painting a few weeks ago. I thought it would be harmless to let the girls play with water colors. I got them out and went upstairs to use the computer for a few minutes. That was a mistake! Alyssa painted all over herself!


** You might notice that I've been calling Aly, Alyssa. I've been trying to get her used to the name because that's what is on church records. When they call her Alyssa in nursery she doesn't know who they're talking to. Also, my brother's little girl Allison is called Aly too, so it gets a little confusing. :-) When we're at home though she's still my little Aly-gator.

Kayla's 5th Birthday!

My big girl! She had these pictures taken at school right before we left Albuquerque. (They wanted $45 for 3 sheets of pictures so we just scanned them and sent them back! We'll just print them ourselves on our printer.) She looks so grown up!

The Birthday Girl

Hanging out at Chuck-E-Cheese. We killed two birds with one stone. Alyssa's been asking to go for a long time and we told her she could go once she learned to use the potty. She did it so we celebrated Kayla's Birthday and Alyssa's potty training.

What happened to my baby?

This was the cutest statue of a girl playing with kittens. I want it for my backyard. It was on a bench outside of CEC's. There are sculptures like this all over the Boulder area. It's fun to see them all.

After CEC's we went to the Downtown Denver Aquarium. It was alright, but definitely not worth $50! Alyssa was even free!

Kayla thought it was so cool that people were swimming with the fish. I bet if they let her she would have jumped right in.

These looked so neat!

The weirdest looking fish I've ever seen!

Kayla's definitely a daddy's girl!

Kayla took this picture. I wish she had been in it because it turned out good.

Alyssa getting down to the music in the park outside the Aquarium.

Our lame attempt at a family picture. I don't think the trash can lid is too pretty!

Ozzy was as interested in Kayla's presents as she was. Notice how huge he's getting? It's crazy to think that he's going to get even bigger. He's only 8/9 months old. He will be huge!

Kayla got a new stuffed puppy. She likes to pretend it's real so if she tells you we gave her a puppy, this is what she's talking about. She named it Serena, after her cousin Jaylee Serena. :-)

Alyssa got her this. She's been asking for one forever.

A Lite Brite from Grandma S. and yes, the pieces are all over the house already.

Yes, Grandma C. got her a RED dress! It is cute!

For our budding artist.

I had to run out and buy her a cake last minute because the one I made here completely crumbled. I'm not sure if it's the altitude or what but something went wrong!

We got the girls this for both of their birthdays. We really just needed an excuse to buy it for them. :-) They keep themselves entertained for hours. It was worth every penny!

Gotta love the pull-up bum!