Crocodile Dock Vacation Bible School 2009

Fear Not!

This year's VBS theme was Crocodile Dock: Where Fearless Kids Shine God's Light!

What an awesome week we had at VBS. I volunteered to be the director for the second year and it was a lot easier than last year - although still a lot of work!

The kids learned the five daily Bible points (reinforced with Crafts, Snacks, and Chadder's DVD):
Day 1: God is with us!
Day 2: God is powerful!
Day 3: God does what he says he'll do!
Day 4: God gives us life!
Day 5: God cares for us!

And they learned a daily Bible story (acted out each day in Bible Bayou & Games):
Day 1: Moses and the burning bush
Day 2: The plagues come to Egypt
Day 3: God spares the Israelites at Passover
Day 4: Jesus dies and rises to new life
Day 5: The Israelites cross the Red Sea.

They rotated through 5 different stations each day: Dockside Drive-In (Chadder's DVD Adventures), Bible Bayou (Drama), Crafts, Games, and Snacks. Each station reinforced the Bible point and Bible story. My mom led the Dockside Drive-In for the second year and Little Miss and Little Man loved being able to see Nana everyday!

Oleo Ranch Colorado 2009

But the Colorado Rocky Mountain High
I've seen it raining fire in the sky
Shadow from the starlight is softer than a lullaby
Rocky Mountain High
Rocky Mountain High
~ Rocky Mountain High by John Denver


Just got back from another wonderful family vacation to the Oleo Ranch in Colorado.

We loaded up the car (including my sister, who decided to come this year) and left Dallas on Friday, July 3rd. We drove about 14 hours and stayed the night in Alamosa, CO. We bought all of our food & supplies in Alamosa on Saturday morning and then set out for the 4 hour drive up the mountain.

This year we stayed in the La Garita which is the largest cabin there. It is two stories with one bedroom, kitchen, bathroom and main living/eating area on the upper floor and 3 more rooms and a bathroom on the lower floor. Ryan and I and the kids stayed in the upper bedroom and my in-laws, parents, sister, and parent's friends stayed in the three bedrooms on the lower floor. My brother and sister-in-law came as well but they got their own cabin just down the road :)

We went down to Lake City for the 4th of July festivities this year. It's the second year we've been able to spend the 4th in Lake City and it's a lot of fun. Very small town 4th of July feel. There is a street dance with a band and everyone gathers in the town square for games, ice cream, and ultimately fireworks. The fireworks are shot off the top of the mountain that overlooks Lake City. I really do love spending 4th of July there. The kids danced, played on the playground, ate ice cream, and made necklaces out of the glow sticks that I brought for them!

This year in Colorado was the best yet with the kids. The kids are finally old enough to really enjoy all of the activities there. They were able to do a lot more fishing then in years past. Ryan would throw the line out and Little Miss or Little Man would reel it in. They both caught a lot of fish this year :)

I really enjoyed this year as well. Lara was able to come this year. She hasn't come in about 5 years so it was great having her there. All the women (me, Lara, Mom, Lynda, Laurie, and Rita) had so much fun playing Quiddler, Spinner, and a new favourite, Stupid. We also got read a lot and Lara brought a Nintendo DS this year so we had fun rebuilding our Mario Brothers skills! We were able to get into town on three different occasions this year - once in Creede and twice in Lake City - I always love shopping there!

The guys did a lot of fishing, hiking, and more fishing :) Ryan got to spend a lot of time with his brother and some great quality time with each of the kids.

Little Man ended up getting sick on Wednesday afternoon. By Wednesday night his fever was 102.3 and I was worried. Ryan went cabin to cabin and ended up finding us some Children's Motrin (lesson learned - don't forget the fever reducer!!). Thursday morning I took him down to the clinic in Lake City and it ended up he had Strep Throat AGAIN! While we were in town with Little Man though, Ryan and Little Miss got to spend an entire afternoon together. They hiked down to the streams and Little Miss helped Ryan catch fish. They chatted and fished all afternoon - great Daddy/Daughter bonding time!

We stopped in Lubbock for the night on the way home. Got up the next morning and toured campus. A lot has changed since Ryan and I went there! We stopped at the spirit shops and bought each of us a Texas Tech shirt (even picked up a couple for my Godsister) and then had lunch at Mamaritas (the best queso!). We got home Saturday night around 10 pm.

Overall, I think that this was my favourite Colorado trip in a long time.

Here is Little Miss writing in her journal - she carried it everywhere :)

Little Miss & Little Man fishing ---------------------- Denver & Laurie at their cabin

Bailey

12 years. For the last 12 years she's been my friend, my baby girl, my first dog. And today, I had to put her down.

Sometime in March 1997 while at college in Lubbock, I heard about someone who had lab puppies. They had a couple left and were looking for good homes for them. I went to take a look and fell in love with the super cute butterscotch coloured puppy. The people really needed to get the puppies gone so when I gave them my $25 they threw in an extra puppy for free :)

My future roommate, Christine, took the black lab and named her Morgan and I got the yellow lab and named her Bailey. She was about 15 pounds and SO cute. At that time I lived on the second floor of my apartment complex and Bailey was too scared to go down the stairs outside so for 2-3 months I carried her down the stairs to take her outside.

Bailey has always been super active. She and Morgan loved to dig holes in the backyard in Lubbock. She also loved to play ball in the field down the road from my house. There were many times that Christine and I would come home and find both dogs taking up the entire sofa (it was an L shaped sofa so that says a lot). My mom remembers Bailey and Morgan best from the first Christmas that I brought them both home - we came home from midnight mass and Morgan had taken a bag of the fake snow in her mouth and shook it ALL OVER the living room. It truly was a white indoor Christmas in San Antonio :)

When Ryan and I got married, Bailey grudgingly allowed Ryan to bring his dogs (PJ, Jack, and Little Dog) with him when we moved in together - although she was always the dominant dog and reminded them frequently.

When Ryan and I had kids she was always the one to allow the kids to pull on her hair, tug her ears, and roll on top of her and I never had to worry that she would bite them. She was a great family dog.

I'm sitting here with tears in my eyes thinking about all of the wonderful memories that I'll have of her. She was gentle, loving and loyal - my first dog on my own and the first dog my kids ever knew. I will miss her terribly.

Rest in peace Bailey...

March 1997

Fall 1997 and 2004

2005 with Little Miss and August 2006 with Little Man

Bailey this morning

Camping at Twin Coves Park

Another year, another camping trip with friends!

We decided to camp at Twin Coves Park again this year. Our "normal" camping group ~ us and Kevin and Lori and two of their kids M and J came along with another family ~Sheri and Patrick and their kids Big H and Little H. Ryan and I went out to Twin Coves in advance and picked out campsite #38 for this trip. It was big enough for 3 tents and had enough room still for all 12 of us.

We came out Saturday late afternoon after Little Miss's gymnastics meet. We set up tent around 5 pm. Kevin and Lori were already there, then we showed up, and lastly Sheri and Patrick. We got all our camp sites set up, the food/drinks/supplies in place, and put our chairs around the campfire. The kids were fascinated by the fire and started putting sticks in the fire and "writing" in the air with the tips. Somehow Little Miss ended up touching the end of her stick and burned the tip of her right index finger. Luckily Patrick and Sheri brought along a first aid kit and had all the necessary burn ointment and dressings but she was pretty upset for a while.

Ryan and I decided to head down to the lake before dinner. Most of the kids decided to join us and we walked down to the lake, threw some rocks in the water, and toured the campgrounds. When we got back to the campsite it was time for dinner. We had cheeseburgers and hotdogs for dinner followed by our favourite camping treat, S'mores! After S'mores we handed out the glow sticks and by then it was around 10 pm and definitely time for the kiddos to go to bed!

We woke up around 7 am this morning and had breakfast burritos, bagels, and cheese cubes for breakfast (I actually had a soda and queso - very healthy). After breakfast was cleaned up we all decided to take a hike. We hiked for about an hour down a trail by our campsite (in a van down by the river! ha ha ha ). It was really pretty and the kids had fun picking up campfire wood and just being in nature! By the end of the hike, Little Man had decided he'd had enough and sat down and cried until I finally picked him up to carry him the rest of the way.

Once back at the campsite we had lunch and then Lori got out the Jiffy Pop that she'd brought. We thought we'd see if it would work on a campfire. Note to all, the popping goes well on the campfire but the popcorn does not taste good! Once we appeased the kids (who didn't get to eat the smoke flavoured popcorn) with the last of the S'mores it was time to head out. Kevin and Ryan took down the tents while Lori and I cleaned up the site. Then we all packed up and headed home.

Little Miss's First Gymnastics Meet

Today was Little Miss's first gymnastics "meet". She's been doing gymnastics for about 2 years now and loves it. About 6 months ago she was moved up to the Superstars class which is a bit less "fun" and a bit more focused. They sent home a flyer recently about the upcoming meet and her coach encouraged us to let her participate. So we paid the entrance fee and signed her up.







They "competed" on each apparatus: vault, floor, beam, and bars. They were given scores and participation ribbons for each and a final super cool pink sparkle star medal for overall participation and sportsmanship. Little Miss got 3 blue ribbons and 1 red along with her medal.








Overall it was a chance for her to show off what she's learned and she did a great job. Nana, G, Meme, Mommy, Daddy, and Little Man all had a great time watching her gym meet.

Little Miss's First Sleepover

Little Miss's First Sleepover

Last night Little Miss had her first friend sleepover. I feel like it's some sort of milestone that I need to document. A true testament that my little girl is growing up and having friends stay the night.

Her friend and her family came over for Memorial Day to have dinner and drinks. The girls then decided that Little Miss's friend should stay the night. After her parents left the girls got in bed and stayed up talking and playing in bed for an hour or so. They finally conked out around 10:30 pm. They tried to wake up around 5:30 am and I promptly put them back in bed and told them that they needed to sleep a bit longer (fully expecting them not to fall asleep again). When I checked on them they had both fallen back asleep and didn't wake up again until around 8 am.

Her friend then stayed with us for most of the afternoon today because her mom had a hair appointment.

This first sleepover went off without a hitch and the girls had a great time!

Little Miss's Preschool Class

Little Miss's Preschool Class

I'm really going to miss this awesome class of kids and parents that we've been able to spend 3 wonderful preschool years with. Really, I'm going to miss this class of kids terribly.

What a fabulous group of kids and parents we've been able to get to know these last 3 years. For the last 3 years we've gotten together for playdates, field trips, craft days, and Mom's Night out at least once a month ~ even over the summer. Little Miss has had INCREDIBLE teachers at our amazing preschool. The teachers and staff there truly do love our kids as their own. I have complete trust that they will always keep my children safe.

We couldn't have asked for a better group of kids to be together. The 10 of them get along so well, they are polite, intelligent, and really a delight to be around as a group. For me, one of the best parts about Little Miss going to school was meeting the moms. Our moms have become so close over the last 3 years. I really hope that we continue to be friends. We've gotten together for some great field trips to the Museum of Nature and Science, the Heard Museum, and we're planning a trip to Fossil Rim in June. We moms try to get together every month or so for a mom's night out as well.

Here's to the last three years... A wonderful preschool, a fabulous group of kids, and an amazing group of moms!