Wizard of Oz

I feel like we are on a Wizard of Oz kick around here.  The kids recently watched the original Wizard of Oz movie, and just before that, we went to a free Wizard of Oz play at the park.  They are on the Lincoln Center lawn here in town and they have different performances for kids each Wednesday throughout the summer for free.  They are great!  At this particular one, though, F got to be the Tin Man's helper, or as he calls him "Tin Woodsman" which is probably more accurate, and oil him anytime he froze up.  He also got picked to participate at a later performance of "Dr. Noize".  I guess he just sticks out of the crowd.

Swimming

Cb's joined our neighborhood swim team this summer and has been doing an amazing job!  She swims every morning and has gone to a few meets.  Her favorite stroke is breast stroke and she likes diving off the blocks.  She's a super swimmer!

Biking

Finners learned to ride his bike without training wheels!  We decided to go out the other day, just to give it a try after quite a long break, and he just took off.  He was ready to go!  He had some falls, but he got right back up and tried again.  Most of his crashes were when he was trying to stop.  There were a couple where he ended up in the pokey pine tree, but he survived those as well.:)

4th of July and Camping

Our Independance Day was pretty simple.  The two olders were at Granny camp and the two youngers were getting along swimingly!  We had a few friends over for a bbq and then called it a night.  Simple and fun!  Our menu included 

chips and salsa, 

strawberries and cream, 

deviled eggs, hot dogs, hamburgers, veggie dogs, veggie burgers, irish bangers from whole foods, fruit salad 

and fruit pizza.

 Earlier that week, we went camping at Horsetooth Reservoir.  It was nice to be so close to home.  Unfortunatley, I was a party pooper and wanted to come home the last night to sleep in our beds and get a good nights rest.  I think I will build up stamina as the years go by and the kids get older.  It was a good trip, though, and the kids had a great time getting dirty, catching fish, swimming and sleeping in the tent.

Working Backwards

It goes without saying...I haven't blogged in awhile.  A plethora of events and activities have occurred between now and my last post, but I'm going to start with the most recent and work backwards.  We'll see how far back I make it.

Today, as informed by my mom, was Cow Appreciation Day at Chic-fil-a.  This was the first time the kids and I have been cows.  We all dressed up, herded ourselves over to chic-fil-a, and they gave us all free meals!  The things I'll do for free stuff.  They were very efficient and we didn't have to wait at all.  Very impressive with the amount of cows that were there.  We taped our black construction paper spots on, several times because they kept falling off.  Our ears were made out of paper plates that we colored and attached to headbands.  I printed out the nose and we taped it onto painter's masks that I already had.  For the tails, we just safety pinned on some black yarn.  Easy!  The older two were very patient and enjoyed the whole experience.  The younger two didn't quite get the point and didn't like the masks, but they stuck with it and we made it through.  Overall, a good experience that we will probably repeat next year, if my mom reminds me.:)