Is summer really over...nah!

School started here the first week of August this year. It was so early!  I felt like summer was cut in half and we were cramming as much summer into weekends in August as we could, because we were in denial and not done playing. But on the flip side the kids didn't get bored with summer and I think academically it was good to have a shorter break, at least for a few of my kids.

Mom came for a visit just before school started and stayed midway through the kids first first week back.  She took each of the kids school shopping (Wahoo, I got out of that!) and I was able to get out and finish up supply shopping without kids.  She also went to back to school nights with us which was super helpful and fun.

We also fit in a few fun outings.  We played at the beach of a local state park for an afternoon with some friends.  And visited both the Dinosaur Museum and the Western Colorado Museum here in town.  The kids love the Western CO Museum, and with Grandma it was the bomb.  They have an old school room set up that they loved playing with her in.  She was the delinquent school kid.  And the kids loved being teachers to get her to mind.

Spencer started 2nd grade this year.  He has a new teacher, Ms Engleby, and she is fabulous.  He has some good friends in his class and he loves recess and is liking writing more this year.  Maren started 5th grade.  She also has a new teacher (to the school anyway), Mrs. Rankin.  Maren was sad to not be in the same class with her two best friends, but she is in a class with her friend Calvin, and she is doing very well with her teacher.  She loves math and music and is working on becoming more of an independent learner to get ready for middle school next year.  I almost forgot to take back to school pictures so these kids got them at the school after taking off their helmets=)

  Jacob is loving his Step Up School (he won't call it preschool as he has already graduated from that).   His teacher Mr Kyle is fantastic, and the classroom size is amazing (8 kids with one teacher and a full time assistant.)  He loves the one on one time he gets and it is really showing.  He will be so ready for kindergarten next year.  Socially it was a little rough at first, as most of the kids stay for extended hours after school.  But I have let him stay a few days a week and it is has helped a lot.

Jacob's school started a few days after the other kids. Grandma and I took him and his friend Paxton bowling while the other kids had their first day of school.  They had so much fun.

On the way home from bowling this crazy freak storm hit the valley.  We had huge hail and the rain dumped for about an hour.  Many of the streets were covered in water, I even saw a guy out in a canoe near our neighborhood.  Maren had a blast jumping in the hail that had accumulated on our trampoline when she came home from school.

Amanda started 8th grade this fall, her last year of middle school, crazy!  She is doing well, although frustrated to be on crutches again for school.   I totally did forget to get a first day of school picture of Amanda.  But I love this one I took with her and Skai.  Can you feel the love?

She started up the year with a fun field trip to a field research program near Canyonlands National Park with the kids from her challenge program.  She loved it!  They learned and researched the ecosystems along the banks of the Colorado River, did a few hikes (which she mostly managed on crutches) and even got to go on a river run the last day.  Not to mention sleep in these cool tepee's on tarps.  So cool!

  Can you spot her?  She will miss this group of kids come high school when they all go their separate ways.  Every year they have had their core classes together and gone a multiday eduactional field trip together.  It really was an amazing match for her academically and we have felt so fortunate to have a program like this for her.

As for weekend fun to "extend our summer" a bit.  We found this awesome bike park in the town neighboring ours.  It is a blast with lots of different levels of hills and ramps for the kids (and adults) to practice on.  My kids confidence off road has skyrocketed since we have been going.  I have taken both Maren and Spencer on a five mile mountain bike ride since then and they both rocked it.  Can't wait for Amanda to join us after that foot heals, and Jacob hopefully in a year when he fits a bigger bike that can handle the terrain better

  

We also road the new river trail that has been extended out to Fruita one Saturday, with friends.  These kids all road 16 miles.  They earned the frosty's and fries we stopped for along the way.  I was way impressed.  We had tried one other time but only made it about half way.  This time they were determined (ice cream is a good motivator), and a little sore the next day.  Jacob road about half of it on his own bike and the other half on his trail-a-bike I brought along.  He is one tough 5 year old. 

We tried for a camping trip to Rifle Falls one weekend.  We knew the weather was iffy but tried for it anyway.  Amanda stayed back at a friends house, as camping with crutches in a tent is about much fun as pulling your hair out, and I think in the end she had a way better time.  We were able to get through dinner on Friday night before the rain started in, but then it rained the whole night.  Including a huge front that moved through during the night with wind and crazy thunder and lightening.  So basically we got lots of use out of our rain guard, our tent pole was bent in the wind, the dog didn't love being out in the weather, the tent flooded, and Dave and I barely slept at all.  We did pull off a dutch oven breakfast of hot chocolate and cinnamon rolls which was awesome under our awning, and after waiting for a few hours, hoping the rain would stop (so we could hike and enjoy the area for the day) we packed up and went home.   Although disappointing we did learn that our tent can only handle so much weather, and it gave us an excuse to clean all of our camping equipment.