Swimming with Dagny and Lincoln at the Rec Center

I LOVE Colorado, but sometimes the summer afternoon thunderstorms ruin our fun. I wanted to take the kids swimming, and sure enough the clouds came rolling in right after noon, so we ended up at the Rec Center. The Rec Center is fine, but during the summer I just love outdoor pools so much more!

The slides have been closed for a long time, they are getting remodeled this fall. Dagny and Lincoln started off in the zero depth area, and then we spent most of our time in the lazy river and 5 feet area. 

 I've been to the Rec Center with these kids a lot, and they never pay attention to this statue which is near the entrance. When we were leaving, they ran over and wanted me to take a picture, so of course I did!

Splash Park

 

Melissa invited us to the Splash Park in Elizabeth and the kids all loved it. They tried to fill cups with water from the bubble pots, which was a little tricky.

Everlee didn't like getting water in her face, so she stayed on the outside edge of the water features.

Queen of the rock!

Just splashing in the water makes kids so happy.

These little bubblers are just the right size for 3 year olds.

Lunch time!

Cousins make the best friends!

 Water fun plus a picnic equals happy smiles. What a great summer day!

Emma's Birthday

Emma is turning 2 years old and she is very excited about the cake!

She was very intrigued about the candles. She just wanted to look at them and wasn't very interested in trying to blow them out.

A big present for a little girl! Millie made a little rip in the paper so

Emma could get a hold of it to start opening. She was quite gentle and tore the paper slowly and carefully.

She didn't know what was inside, but she had fun patting the box. Silly Emma.

 Austin put it together and she loved it! Now she can bike with her sisters!

Emma likes to swing, read books, and she loves Claire! She is definitely a Mommy's girl too, and if her mom isn't around, she wants Claire and not me. We love our sweet Emma girl!

Castle Pines Library

Our library is closed for the summer while they move all the books into the new library, and we miss going! We went to the Castle Pines library one day to check it out. It was super small, with a only a few books on the shelves, but it had this REALLY cute mail truck and post office area along with costumes for the kids to dress up in.

Driving the truck and delivering the mail.

They had these really cute magnetic address labels the kids can use to make an envelope.

 It's hard to read the addresses, but they had Beauty and the Beast, Peter Pan, Corduroy, and

others. Corduroy lives on Lost Button Blvd. How cute is that??

Putting their letters in the mailbox!

There was a big drawing board and Dagny drew her favorite thing-a unicorn, of course!

Lincoln enjoyed the Ring Toss.

These magna tiles were huge! I haven't seen any this big before.

 We had fun at this library, but I'll be soooo happy when ours is done! 

Calista Plays Tee Ball

Calista is old enough to play tee ball! Wade has always loved baseball and it has been his dream to coach a team and he was soooo excited for that dream to come true. He was a great coach and he loved every minute. Their team was the Blueberries.

It does take a lot of patience to teach four and five year olds how to play baseball, how to properly hold the bat, how to swing the bat level, and not just chop at the ball.

Calista was just so cute with her pink bat and pink helmet!

She smacked that ball, and

forgot she was supposed to run to first base! A couple of the kids had played last year and knew the basics, but for most of them, this was their first time playing and it was just so much fun to watch them. Sometimes they would run so fast to first base and sometimes they would just stroll like they were on a leisurely walk.

Made it to first base!

They don't keep track of outs, everyone gets to bat during the inning, and they play for an hour.

Being in the outfield isn't as much fun as batting and the kids would look around at everything except the ball. The goal is for the kids to throw the ball to first base no matter where the hit goes. 

Calista loves her pink helmet and today she insisted on wearing it even when she was out in the field.

 End of the game congratulations and good game hand swipes. It was a fun season and just as the kids were starting to get the hang of it, it was over! I loved watching Wade coach and watching Calista learn.

4th of July

Our ward always has a Fourth of July breakfast. Calista and Everlee were dressed in patriotic clothing and were just so cute!

Delwyn got roped into helping cook this year. He took our camp stove and set up a cooking station.

Delwyn was in charge of pancakes and the other men made scrambled eggs and bacon. Food always tastes better outside for some reason!

The Town of Castle Rock has a Fourth of July half marathon and Landon decided to run it this year. He has become a big runner since losing so much weight.

His bib and number.

They have photographers along the course who take pictures and runners can get pictures of themselves from the website.

Nearing the finish line and look how happy he is!  And he doesn't even look tired! I'm so proud of him!

A cool medal!

Lincoln had a fun shirt for the holiday.

Since our house in a construction zone, Wade offered to host us for dinner. He grilled hamburgers and hot dogs and I brought some sides.

Enjoying our tasty dinner!

 Fireworks were cancelled this year because it's too hot and dry, which probably happens about half of the time. It's okay, I'd rather be safe than have the town I love be on fire. I'm thankful to live in America where we have so many freedoms and privileges. I'm extra thankful to live in Castle Rock, I love this town so much! I love the parade, the Star Lighting, the schools, the community, the weather, the outlets and especially the people!

Millie's Birthday

Millie is turning 9!

Presents are the best part of birthdays when you are a kid!

Millie loves Legos! They make such fun Legos for girls now! This is a stable with some horses, which is just perfect for Millie because she loves horses!

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 I also gave her this puzzle. I gave the grandkids puzzles for Easter and Millie loved hers so much I decided she needed another one. 

I remember when Millie was born, I was in Texas taking care of Claire and it was so much fun! I got to visit them in the hospital and it was like a little bit of heaven when they brought her home. Millie is such a sweet girl, a little shy, likes basketball and swimming. She is also a great artist and has a talent for drawing. Happy Birthday Millie! We love you!