Summer time means swimming in grandpa’s pool, and over Father’s Day, James had some fun with the kids letting them FLY!
Rilyn!
Ella!
Synchronized cousin flying!
That’s gonna hurt!
Archive for June, 2013
22
Jun
13
fly!
19
Jun
13
Rafting!
On the last full day of our Colorado vacation, we went river rafting with the Richardson family. Because Asher and Caden are only four and five years old, we were only allowed on Class 1/2 rapids. After the fact, I would NOT suggest doing this rafting trip unless you can go on Class 3 rapids (your children must be 7 years old is what I was told). The kids had fun though as we leisurely floated down the river.
17
Jun
13
Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park!
After our 3 hour hike, we ventured out to the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park! Yes, we were tired, but in our vacations, we jam pack excursions in! 🙂
Alpine sledding down the mountain! That ride was super fun!
Ella does NOT like to go fast, so I guess plugging her ears and closing her eyes helped?! 🙂
Glenwood Caverns is an amuesment park on top of a mountain. You can only get there by gondola or bus.
They loved going through the maze!
James and I rode on this crazy thing! 1,300 feet above the Colorado River, on the Giant Canyon Swing! I’m pretty sure it was the scariest ride of my life.
James went on a 2nd and a 3rd time so I could take pictures of him and he got video with his cell phone!
The last thing we did that day was go into one of the caverns they have at the park.
Ella learning about stalagmites and stalagtites in King’s Row Cavern!
A descent of 150 feet down through spacious passages to King’s Row, the most highly decorated cave room in Colorado. Stunning formations such as stalactites, stalagmites, soda straws and cave bacon.
14
Jun
13
Hanging Lake, CO
On Tuesday, the 15 of us started out with a 2 1/2 mile round trip hike to Hanging Lake. Hanging Lake is a jewel nestled in the Rocky Mountains! The hike was difficult and rocky, (1000 feet elevation gain), but the kids were ALL champs! We even had a 2 year old with us! I totally recommend this hike, the accomplishment of completing it WITH my family was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip!
all 15 of us! Friends since 1998!
We made it!
If you hike up about 5 minutes higher, you will find Spouting Rock where you can walk behind the waterfall!
I’m standing behind the waterfall. Can you see some of the kids?
At the bottom, the hike is done!
13
Jun
13
Colorado day 3
Me and the girls went on a 2 hour horseback ride up and down a mountain in Avon, CO! It was challenging, but the views were gorgeous! Rilyn said, “They make this look a lot easier in the movies!” At one point, Rilyn was crying because her horse kept eating grass and she had to keep pulling on the reins and the leather from the reins was blistering her hands. 😦 The ride was age 7 and up, but Ella needed a guide to lead her horse because she wasn’t strong enough to lead her horse. The ride was definitely good for the girls to go out of their comfort zone and experience something so unique!
About to ride!
I’m ready!
Going downhill!
12
Jun
13
Colorado day 2
We just relaxed on Sunday!
Checking out Vail
I told the kids we will get to ride in one of these in a couple days!
There is a hot tub at the cabin we are staying at!
The kids are serenading Jen for her birthday!
11
Jun
13
Colorado!
We set off on our first long road trip (18 hours!) to Edwards, Colorado for some fun and relaxation with some of our best friends! We are staying in a large cabin together and enjoying the cooler weather and the beautiful views of nature!
Road trip!
Relaxing in the Westin hotel hot tub in Beaver Creek!
Jen, me, and Angela! (Jen was my college roommate and Angela I’ve also known since college!)
Scooter time down a trail
How to get nine kids to sit still for a picture? Give them ice cream! (9 kids=3 families)
We found a river, and the kids played there for 2 hours!
Family vacations are so much fun!
10
Jun
13
Welcome Summer!!
This year, I wanted to commemorate the last day of school in a special way! The kids got to bring beach balls to school for their friends to sign autographs!
We used colored Sharpie markers so they can take the beach balls to the pool and the autographs won’t go away.
I painted a banner for the kids to run through when they got off the bus!
The poor kids didn’t weigh enough to bust through the banner! lol
Behind the banner was the wagon filled with summer goodies! Mmmm, sno cones!!
07
Jun
13
9
On June 3, 2004 Rilyn Jalie Paquette made me a mommy! And now, nine fast and furious years later, we are HALF WAY done with raising her in our home! Does this make me sad? A little, but more than anything, it makes me want to charge, and be that much more intentional in these last nine years. I want her to be prepared as she enters college in 2022, with a faith that is HER OWN. If she has that, nothing else matters. I do believe she is a Christian, and James and I want to give her all the tools she needs to walk faithfully, even when no one is watching.
Enjoy the pictures of her special day!
Traditional “wake up to a donut and us singing to you” on your birthday!
Run through the crepe paper to your presents and cards!
Rilyn got matching dresses for her and her new doll, Serenity. Here she is about to go to school!
Rilyn chose Austin Park and Pizza for her birthday dinner!
Love the Laser tag game faces! Rilyn chose one special friend to go with her, Eveany.
Rilyn is a pro at the climbing wall!
This however was Ella’s first time, and she was a bit fearful and frustrated!
bumper boats!
Asher loves wild rides! He took a big swig of root beer before this ride and I really thought he was going to lose it. But, fortunately, it wasn’t the carnival scene in Sandlot, and he was great!
friends
Rilyn loved racing around the track!
Asher could ride with daddy, and he loved it too!
06
Jun
13
awards time!
The school year has drawn to a close, and my kids have received all their awards. We were so proud of them! In preK, Asher didn’t get any “special” awards, but he really had a great year academically. His behavior is something that we will need to watch…kindergarten should be interesting! He loves to be the class clown and always making people laugh!
Asher’s award ceremony!
Ella’s 1st grade awards were next! She won the “writing” award for writing the best stories in her class, “All A” Honor Roll, and she got 2nd place out of the whole first grade in Accelerated Reader points, (that’s 100 students!) Her amazing teacher also gave out candy awards to her class. Ella received the “Milky Way” award for setting an example for others by having quality work that is out of this world! 🙂 Ella also got student of the month in February! She had such an awesome year! She is so smart, her reading and math scores are at a third grade level now…way to go Ella!
Ella showing off her AR medal!
Rilyn’s award ceremony was last, and she made us very proud! Rilyn also won 2nd place in Accelerated Reader points in all of 3rd grade (110 students!). She won the “Reading” award for being the best reader in her class, and got “All A” Honor Roll! Rilyn got student of the month in January. She is ready for 4th grade!!!
Rilyn receiving her AR medal!
the paquettes 