A Sleepover!

Over a month ago the kids got to have a sleepover since the parents of their friends were going out of town.  The kids thought it was awesome fun.  We took a trip to the butterfly house.  Someone did stop us and ask if all the kids were ours!  Here are the cute kids.  They could all pass as siblings.

We saw lots of beautiful butterflies like these.

There was also a room with lots of different bugs in cages.  There was an employee with a tarantula out, allowing kids to hold it.  Out of all the kids, Haley wanted to do it, which was a total shocker.  She is our child with the most anxiety.  She is scared of lots of things.  So, I was very proud of her for trying this out.  I wasn't about to get near it!

Labor Day Beach Trip

We spent the last day of summer at the beach!  The girls had lots of fun playing in the sand and the water wasn't too cold.

We had a picnic, which makes any outing a success in the girl's eyes.
And Caleb ate a lot of sand.  I kept finding more in his diaper for days after.

Colorado Springs Part 2 - Garden of the Gods

The girls.

While we were in Colorado Springs we also went to Garden of the Gods, which was absolutely beautiful.  It is a city park with lots of gorgeous rock formations.

The girls did a lot of climbing.

This is supposed to look like 2 camels kissing.  Do you see it?

The boys.

Haley's First Day of School

Haley was feeling left out that her first day of school was not mentioned.  With year around school, first grade started on July 8th.  Here she is.  So big.

Pikes Peak

 A couple weekends ago we went down to Colorado Springs for a weekend.  We got there Friday night and checked into the hotel.  Colorado Springs is only an hour away, but we thought staying in a hotel would make it fun.  We swam in the pool and then went to sleep.  Early the next morning we headed up to get on the train that goes to up to Pikes Peak.  You can drive to the top, but we thought the train would be fun.  It was fun and the kids were pretty good.

The ride was about 1 hour and 15 minutes.  When we got to the top, it was much colder than we thought it would be.  The wind didn't help.  The kids and I stayed out for about 5 minutes and then headed into the little lodge area with food and souvenirs.  We had hot chocolate and warm donuts.  Yum.
Here we are at the top.  It was a great morning in Colorado!

First Haircut

Look at the scraggly hair on that kid!  Mike had been pushing for weeks to cut his hair and I really didn't want to.  I was afraid he would look so grown up with a hair cut.  I wanted Caleb to stay my little baby!  But I gave in and here are the results.
I have to admit, I was wrong.  Seeing the before and after, Caleb looks so much better with his hair cut!  I'm glad Mike did it, Caleb was a wiggle worm.  But, he looks much more respectable now.  Looking back at the before, I'm pretty embarrassed I let it grow so long!

Tippy Toes

So, our cute little Maya has casts on her feet.  She has walked on her tippy toes since she started walking.  Her doctor recommended that she get evaluated, because even though it is cute to see her prancing around all the time, it is actually bad for her muscles.  If she keeps doing it, her muscles won't develop correctly and then she won't be able to walk flat footed.  So, she has been going to physical therapy and casting is something they do to try to break the habit.  She has had them for 2 weeks and will have them for 3 more, for a total of 5.

Last week she had pink.  She will have these orange ones for 2 weeks and then a new color for 2 more weeks.  
She actually has only complained once.  The first night she asked to take them off at bedtime.  After that I haven't heard one complaint and she does everything any regular kid does.  She climbs all over the playground and even still does gymnastics class.  I sure hope these casts do the trick!