Yestertime Blog

Sewing and Ice Skating

2012-02-12T13:16:00.004-07:00

Kaylynn loves to try new things. She took a sewing class recently and came home and made a blanket for her dolls. She was pretty excited about that.

Kaylynn and Cory went ice skating yesterday. It was cold (only 15 - that is cold for CO!), but she lasted for about an hour before her toes were too frozen. She seemed to enjoy it. Cory says he's ready to join a hockey team now!

Basketball Star!

2012-01-21T10:16:00.003-07:00

Kaylynn's basketball season started a few weeks ago and they have had two games so far. They are so fun to watch and her team is working hard on dribbling, passing and rebounding. Here are a few pictures from last week and a short video from this week.

Look at that form!!
Dribbling up, scanning...Kaylynn is always on her person like glue!
If nobody picks you up and guards you, might as well dribble in and shoot!

Go Sioux!

2012-01-14T17:42:00.002-07:00

She's One!

2011-12-23T11:09:00.005-07:00

Today is Isabell's 1st birthday. Kaylynn made her a new leash, a card and a birthday cake with her Easy Bake Oven; then we sang to her. She said not all her animals have birthdays (thank goodness - that would be a lot of cake!), but apparently Isabell does. Kaylynn is staying entertained on her winter break!

Nutcracker

2011-12-18T15:08:00.004-07:00

Our little mouse did a great job in all her Nutcracker performances this weekend. She looked so cute and nailed her "solo" bumping into Clara!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

2011-12-15T20:21:00.005-07:00

Christmas begins...

2011-12-11T20:04:00.009-07:00

The Christmas season has started and will continue all month long! Kaylynn had a great time at the Children's holiday party at NCAR. She painted an ornament, decorated a cookie, got her face painted, made a reindeer candy cane and had a nice chat with Santa!
We had an early Christmas with G&G Vogt, too. We got some great gifts and had a wonderful time with them visiting.
Kaylynn was so excited to get Kit's best friend - Ruthie!
And her new boots! She is a Justice kid from head to toe!
Just for fun, here are some pictures of Kaylynn and I all dolled up for "The Lion King" last month, too!
Can't you just hear the commentary while she is posing for pictures?!

Giving basketball a "shot"!

2011-12-07T10:54:00.004-07:00

Kaylynn played basketball in October and November and (thankfully!) seemed to enjoy it! Here are some pictures of her out on the court against all the boys. She made several baskets and was pretty good at dribbling the ball up the court. I was personally very proud of her instincts to get back on defense so quickly!

Another Wednesday, another snowy day!

2011-11-02T09:24:00.004-06:00

I love this weather! Last weeks snow just finished melting so it was about time to get some more. This could happen every Wednesday for the next 3 months and I would be fine with it.
Not quite as much as last week, but 7" is still pretty respectable.
I am not sure if this guy is still smiling though...

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-30T17:39:00.002-06:00

Happy Halloween! Kaylynn is having a wonderful trick-or-treat "season" and already has a load of candy prior to the actual night of Halloween!It's a gorgeous night for the trick-or-treaters tonight - luckily right before the next winter storm (hopefully!) comes in tomorrow night!

Trip to UND

2011-10-26T17:06:00.007-06:00

It was my turn to head up to UND to give a seminar to the Atmospheric Sciences graduate students. This time we brought the whole family. (We needed to show Kaylynn where she was going to be attending school some day!) We had a great time! The seminar went well and K liked the campus. She said "It isn't too cold here". We brought her at the right time of year! K also really enjoyed seeing a Sioux hockey game in their home arena! Here are some pictures from our fun trip.
We started the game in the upper bowl.Then we moved down to some empty seats in row 2 for the third period.
Sioux score!Hopefully we got Kaylynn hooked on UND!! Maybe we should lock in a tuition rate now?!

Winter is here!

2011-10-26T08:46:00.001-06:00

It is a Winter Wonderland around here today!
I had to go shake the snow off the trees this morning because they were pretty weepy. Having foliage left on the trees is not good with this kind of weather, but it made for some pretty pictures!
We thought about putting the patio furniture away this weekend, but it was nice to carve pumpkins outside on Sunday when it was ~75 degrees! Now it is blanketed in snow.
A close-up of the ruler on the table - 11" so far and still snowing!
Here is the great part about this storm, even though we got nearly a foot on cold surfaces - notice the roads - no shoveling needed on the driveway!We are all happy about the snow at our house!!

Update: Of course there was snow angel making and snowman building after school! Here are a few more pictures.
And we are going to have to figure out how you report this to CoCoRaHS!

Pumpkins for our punkins!

2011-10-24T06:33:00.007-06:00

'Tis the season for pumpkin patches. We took our annual trip on Sunday with K, James and Charlie.

It was tough work finding just the right one!
But she did it!
Happy, and very cute, kids!Not bad views either!
Off to the jumpy castles, petting zoo, etc.
Now for the fun part, carving! Mmmm, slimy guts!
Daddy had to take the pictures because he doesn't like the slime!
Masterpieces!
Kaylynn dropped hers and it cracked but we told her it just looks even more spooky now!
Now bring on the snow!

Missing Tooth!

2011-10-24T06:31:00.005-06:00

Kaylynn lost her first tooth (on its own). She woke us up about 6am one morning saying it was bleeding. She proceeded to twist it all the way around so it was backwards, but still attached - gross! It finally fell out about 6:30am!
Here are some other pics of K and her cousins from a random visit to our house.

Earrings!

2011-09-06T06:31:00.002-06:00

Kaylynn decided to get her ears pierced yesterday.Her reaction was "Ow" when they did the actual piercing. She is pretty excited to be wearing earrings now!

Twins (no, not the baseball team)

2011-08-29T16:04:00.002-06:00

Kaylynn had a playdate with her "sister" after school today. I had a hard time telling them apart!

Time in MT

2011-08-21T14:59:00.001-06:00

Thanks to Jen for posting pictures of Kaylynn and Cory's trip to MT a few weeks ago. Check it out here.

Back to School

2011-08-18T19:53:00.006-06:00

Off to second grade...wow! She handles it so much better than her Mom!
Her teacher, Mrs Weglarz
Her first homework assignment of the year.
Looking forward to another great year!

Relaxtion in MN

2011-08-11T09:25:00.009-06:00

Kaylynn and I went up to MN for a family wedding a few weeks ago and we had a nice, relaxing visit at Grandpa and Grandma's!

Kaylynn had a great time dancing at the wedding!
We went to Bunker Beach water park one day. It was a bit cold for my liking, but we had fun (especially in the wave pool!).
(Mommy missed Daddy because she had to go on all the rides with K - I sucked it up and was pretty brave!)
I loved this spider and web in the grass. It looked really neat.
And some random pictures around the house.

Taking some time to celebrate 10 years!

2011-07-20T19:53:00.026-06:00

I am a little late on this, but better late then never. 10 years comes and goes so quickly! Cory and I headed off to Mackinac Island to celebrate and had a very relaxing vacation. Of course, I took WAY too many pictures (Cory was very patient with me - I gave him a map to study!) but I will try to whittle it down a bit for your enjoyment!

We left from Minneapolis and drove to Manistique Michigan the first day and spent the night. There was a nice lighthouse across the street from our hotel so I had to go down there to start my picture taking!

The next morning we headed the rest of the way to Mackinac. Here is our first peek at the bridge.
We headed to the ferry next to get on the island. Waiting at the docks; time to take some more random pictures!
On the high-speed ferry.
From the ferry we saw some amazing houses on the bluffs of the island.And, of course, The Grand Hotel.
Pulling into the harbor. Our hotel is the large, white building on the point on the left.
A beautiful church near the harbor.
Looking up at Fort Mackinac.
Here is a closer look at the church. It was really pretty inside and had a neat story associated with it (click on the story below to enlarge the picture and read about it).
We took a carriage tour of the island which was very interesting. This is the Michigan governor's summer home - not bad!
A pretty stone church.
The island is very hilly in the center. The horses had to rest three times going up one hill on the tour.

We saw Arch Rock on the tour as well.
The coastline.
This picture gives a sense of the steepness heading up out of town.Downtown. Horses, bikes and walkers!
The Grand Hotel had a fancy carriage!
Later that afternoon we rented bikes and rode around the island.
Look out mainlanders!
This gives a sense of how far around the island it is (~7 miles).
Along the coastline bike trail.
Looking up at Arch Rock from the bike trail along the water.
A few pictures of our hotel (Hotel Iroquois).
Lounging by the shore at the hotel. Not my usual warm, sandy beach, but relaxing non-the-less.
This is definitely Cory's kind of vacation (cool and rainy much of the time) - He didn't miss the sand!
Lighthouse outside the hotel along the point heading into the harbor.
Close up of the bridge with a large barge coming towards us.
The next day we hiked up the hill to tour Fort Mackinac. The view from the Fort is beautiful and the lilacs were in full bloom - very fragrant!
Lining up for the rifle demonstration.
Their rifles were originals from the 1840's.

Then we headed up for the canon demonstration (in between rain showers).
At lunch that day we saw a sign with a mis-spelling. It took me awhile to figure out what the difference between Sunday and Monday cups were.This guy watched us intently as we ate!
Our last afternoon on the island we headed out to rent bikes right after the rainstorms passed to bike up into the center of the island. It was very hilly but beautiful and peaceful - everyone else was scared off by the rain!

I took a lot of pictures of flowers!
Trillium
Lady Slippers
A double!
This was called Sugar Loaf.
We hiked up some stairs to get a better look at it...
... and then I almost step on this guy! Cory didn't know I could scream that loud!
In the middle of the island there is an airport. We just happened to see a plane land right after we biked up there (it was associated with the Grand Hotel).
On our way down we rode through the East and West Bluffs. It is beautiful from up there.
Our last morning there we took some pictures of one of the barges going by. They are huge!
More beautiful lilacs.
After our visit on the island we drove across the Mackinac bridge.
If you get a chance, go check out Mackinac. It really is fantastic!

K's Birthday Party

2011-07-16T12:58:00.009-06:00

Kaylynn had a fun birthday party with her friends. Here is the Birthday Girl anxiously awaiting her guests' arrival!
For the craft, the girls (with a lot of help from Cory and I!) sewed and stuffed Build-a-Bears using a kit.
Then they went out side for a water balloon fight...
and jumping!
Present time.
Look at this cute bunch of silly girls!
Then it was back in to dress the bears and name them.
And finally, cake!
We sent them home full of sugar, hyper and happy - perfect!

Target Field Tour

2011-07-11T20:15:00.013-06:00

I am so far behind on posting pictures from our busy summer. Here is one of my catch-ups. When we were in MN in June the Twins were out of town so we didn't get to see a game in the new stadium, but we did get to take a behind-the-scenes tour. It was really cool!

Each of the five gates is numbered after former Twins greats. This was Hrbek's gate.Cory and Kaylynn with Rod Carew.The "Golden Glove" sits 520 feet from home plate - the distance of Killebrew's longest home run.Mom with "Uncle" Carl and Eloise.Just cute!Kirby!The view from the club level.And the $300+ seats behind home plate.The Champions Club - we saw the World Series trophies in here.This was my favorite part - the large kegerators that pump beer up to the concession stands (no more hauling kegs around amongst the crowd)!
Cool wall art.And we made it on to the field - but NOT on the grass!In the visiting team's dugout. It was fun to see. Quite nice, but I wouldn't want to be at an outdoor game this weekend (with the excessive heat warning!)!

Fern Falls Hike

2011-07-07T20:30:00.010-06:00

On the 4th we headed up to RMNP in order to beat the heat and do a little hiking. We decided to hike the Fern Falls Trail. I bet you can't guess where it got its name from?!

And we're off!
(I didn't want to be left out of the pictures!)
The further up we went, the rockier it got.
There were still a lot of pretty wild flowers around (the pictures do not do it justice).We hiked up to "The Pool" and stopped to have a snack.
The chipmunks wanted to join us for lunch!
After our snack we decided to head back down. Kaylynn loved all the butterflies that were around (white, purple brown, yellow, orange...).
We were also lucky enough to see a young bull moose eating from a pond on the way down - I was thrilled, of course! (Kaylynn was pretty excited too!)
On our way out of the parking lot at the trail head we also saw a coyote. Another good day for wildlife at RMNP!
Then we stopped and had a picnic among the beautiful landscape. It was a fun day - even before the fireworks started!

Fireworks!

2011-07-05T21:08:00.018-06:00

On the 4th we made our way near the Fairgrounds for a view of Longmont's fireworks show. We set up camp and sat around for quite awhile waiting. The weather was nice, though, so it was fun. I read while Cory and Kaylynn played frisbee. Then we had some obligatory family photos!
Then, on with the show! I took lots of photos, and, even though it may not seem like it, this is a subset posted here. I was having a lot of fun playing with the camera and shutter speed! Just in case you didn't get to see any fireworks - here you go!

Happy 7th Birthday!

2011-07-05T19:50:00.005-06:00

Kaylynn had a wonderful 7th Birthday today. (Seriously, how did that happen?!) She got a lot of fantastic birthday presents - thanks Grandma and Grandpa and Godmother Nicole!!

She talked us into opening 3 presents before she went to summer camp and the rest when she got home. Then we went out for the traditional birthday dinner at Red Robin - Yum!

Kaylynn said it feels good to be seven and not too much like being six!

Happy 4th!

2011-07-04T18:11:00.003-06:00

First Piano Recital

2011-05-26T22:09:00.002-06:00

Kaylynn had her first piano recital tonight. She did great but she was pretty nervous going in. When she was done she came back and said, "I'm not nervous anymore!".

New Floors

2011-05-19T19:39:00.002-06:00

We (well, OK, technically not "we" but "Todd") installed new bamboo hardwood floors on our main level last week. I really love the way it turned out. Now on to the next project...!

Easter and Bunny (not Easter Bunny)!

2011-05-01T19:06:00.006-06:00

Kaylynn invited her friend Paige to an Easter Egg Hunt at the church last Saturday. It was supposed to be at a near-by park, but we woke up to snow on the ground, so inside it was!
The kids had a great time finding HUNDREDS of eggs!
Then they had several crafts all set up. Frosting cookies was a favorite.
Haven't you ever put chocolate eggs and Starbursts on cookies?!
They also made cards.
And planted flowers.It was a packed house and a lot of fun! Unfortunately, the next day (Easter Sunday), we did not take one picture... We all looked great, trust me!

Yesterday the cats were being tortured by "our" bunny. This is Brownie. She lives in our yard. I like it, we have a pet bunny and we don't have to take care of her. Cory is a little less enthused - he says we are technically feeding her (our flowers and soon-to-be lettuce I am sure)!
She is cute though! And Kaylynn loves her.
Today Kaylynn and I went to a ballet so we got all dolled up for the occasion. Then we had a photo shoot outside. I couldn't decide which pictures I liked best so I just posted a bunch! Sorry - Enjoy!

Too cute; Growing ugly

2011-04-20T15:53:00.004-06:00

Kaylynn's class had an "informance" during music class last week and it was absolutely adorable! They got to wear pajamas to school to perform in and they all looked so cute. They performed for almost 40 minutes straight and they had a lot of hand motions memorized as well. Their music teacher sat behind them and played keyboard so they really had to have it memorized because they were not getting cues from her. One of the cutest parts was when they made their "rap circle" and all the kids got a chance to go to the middle and do a little "performance" of whatever they wanted while we all clapped and cheered! The music teacher likes to do this to get them to come out of their shell and feel comfortable in front of their peers. Kaylynn is pretty shy, but she did it! Now I know why Kaylynn always says music is her favorite special!
Can't you just hear them singing?!And, of course, an update on the chicks (the ugly part of this post!). Wow, have they grown! They still like to perch on Kaylynn, though (especially Daisy). We plan to keep them until Easter and then they will head to their permanent home.

The Adventures of Flat Stanley

2011-04-02T14:42:00.011-06:00

Kaylynn had spring break this week. The kids are reading the book "The Adventures of Flat Stanley" in school and are going to see the play for a field trip so we had to have some of our own adventures with Flat Stanley this week. We didn't have any big activities planned, but we came up with a few fun things to do along the way.

On Monday we took Flat Stanley skiing with us. Kaylynn said he really liked the snow (it was a great powder day)!
On Tuesday, Kaylynn had a small cavity filled so Flat Stanley joined her. I don't think he liked that trip as well, but he survived just fine!
Kaylynn went to camp at the YMCA on Wed-Fri, so no big adventures on those days, though Friday evening Flat Stanley met the chicks and played with them. They are sure getting big!
The chicks really love to perch on Kaylynn (they just peck at me)!
On Saturday, Kaylynn took Flat Stanley fishing. She had a really great time.

I had to keep busy, so I took pictures of my cute daughter and the wildlife around!
Kaylynn also thought it was fun to stick the worm in my face every time she grabbed one!
Kaylynn even caught one fish! She hooked three others but lost them just before we got them to shore.
He made a great 30 second dinner for Kaylynn - she said he was good!
So, even though it wasn't Disney World, it was still fun to go on a few adventures with Flat Stanley!

Baby Chicks

2011-03-20T19:10:00.003-06:00

We decided to foster some baby chicks for some friends of ours. We will keep them until they get too big, probably for a month or two and then deliver them to their permanent home. We brought them home this afternoon. Their names are Lilly, Daisy, Roxie, and Caroline. Here are some pictures of Kaylynn welcoming them to the house.

Seattle

2011-02-05T15:33:00.007-07:00

Cory and I were lucky enough to get to go to a conference in Seattle at the end of January. Not the most ideal time to be in that city, but it was still a lot of fun. We spent a lot of time down near the market.
The most famous of the "fish throwers" are renovating their store so we didn't get to see that. These guys threw one, though!
The fish looked amazing! I wish we could get seafood like this around here.On a couple of occasions we were able to see Mount Ranier.
Post Alley was pretty neat. Just a small alley to walk through with stores on either side.
On one end of the alley is the "gum wall"...Ugh!
A group dinner the last night of the conference at Anthony's...Yum!
We also spent one extra day after the conference and took a ferry over to Bainbridge Island. It was fun to get out on the water and the island was fun to wander around for an afternoon.

Seattle from the ferry:

Bainbridge Island:I would love to head back some day - but I would prefer July to January!

Christmas continues

2011-01-01T19:14:00.010-07:00

The Christmas season continued with Kaylynn in the Sunday School Christmas program. She was an angel and sang beautifully!
Our second Christmas was at home on Christmas Eve, just the three of us. It was quiet and relaxing. We all put on our Sunday best and managed to get a nice family picture!
Kaylynn got the boxed set of Laura Ingles Wilder books. Cory and I are excited to read those with her!And, of course, Sioux gear!The day after Christmas we went up to MT to visit family. It was fun to see everyone and great to see white stuff on the ground (everyone up there was sick of it - we were ecstatic!).

We had a great time at the farm. Kaylynn helped with chores almost every morning and night - even when it was below zero temps. At one point, while we were moving cows and trudging through the snow Kaylynn said "Being a farmer is hard work!".

K and James all bundled up and ready to "help" with chores.K loved Uncle Pete's new puppy, Mavis, too!We had a fun time opening presents. The kids especially had a great time as there were gobs to open!
The bow was probably Charlie's favorite present!We somehow also managed to get a family picture of the Wolff pack and everyone looked great!
Leading up to that photo was chaos...
But K was ready!We were under a blizzard warning one day and got some nice fresh snow and plenty of drifts for the kids and dogs to play in!
Of course it was also fun just to stay inside where it was warm and work on some crafts and watch football.
It was a great Christmas season. Now we look forward to 2011. Happy New Year!

First Christmas

2010-12-10T21:23:00.010-07:00

While G&G Vogt were here we fit in a lot of things! Kaylynn went down to the Children's Holiday Party at work and saw Santa and painted an ornament.

We also had our first of many Christmas's this year.
K was pretty excited to get "Kit" an American Girl doll.Her and Kit are inseparable these days!
And some "horsing" around with Grandma:
Here are some random pictures of the Christmas tree and and kiddo, too:
Hope you are all ready for Christmas...!

Our Angel

2010-12-10T21:15:00.004-07:00

Kaylynn was the star of the show (as far as I was concerned!) in the Nutcracker ballet last weekend. Of course there are no camera's allowed during the performance so here are just a few backstage photo's of our little angel. She did awesome in her dance and it was so nice to have Grandpa and Grandma Vogt, Aunie and Charlie and Cindy and Otis there to see our sweet little girl up on the big stage.

SkyVenture

2010-12-10T21:06:00.003-07:00

Since I still like having Cory around and don't want him to sky dive, I gave him an indoor sky "flying" experience for his birthday. He went to use it the other weekend and seemed to enjoy it (even though it was not the real thing)! It was hard to take pictures when he was flying around a wind tunnel at 150 mph, but for what it's worth here is a shot a some!
Prior to "jumping in":
And "flying":

Godchild

2010-12-10T21:01:00.003-07:00

Here is Asa, our new Godchild. He is such a sweet little boy!
Proud Momma and Dadddy, Josie and Gus:

Greater Grand Forks

2010-11-09T20:37:00.006-07:00

It was great to be back in ND for the weekend! Cory gave a nice seminar for the UND Department of Atmospheric Sciences and then we stayed for a few extra days to take in a few hockey games at the "new" Engelstad Arena. What an amazing place! The Sioux split, but it was fun to be there and see them on their home ice. Here are some pictures of our Alma Mater.

Campus looked really nice, especially around the English Coulee. No snow...yet!

This "tube" was new since we were there. It goes over University between some dorms. There were several other new tubes around campus as well. I bet they are very nice when it is 40-below!
The "new" Engelstad Arena.
For the Friday night game our seats were in the very last row. Good thing there are no bad seats in the place!
For Saturday night's game we were 3 rows up behind one of the goals. It was fun to see the game from two very different vantage points.
Our friends Cory and Krista's son, Caleb, was lucky enough to get his jersey signed by all the Sioux players on Friday night and was very happy to be wearing it on Saturday!
We had a great time and hope it won't be another 10 years before we get back up there. And next time we need to bring K. I am sure she will want to see the campus she will be heading up to in a few years!

Trick-or-Treat?

2010-11-01T20:11:00.002-06:00

Have you ever gone trick-or-treating with 19 kids in a group...now that is a scary Halloween night! They all had fun, though, and came home with a TON of candy - success!

Another season ends

2010-10-30T16:16:00.008-06:00

Kaylynn played her last soccer game for the season and it was by far her best one yet! She played great defense and was aggressive on offense too. It was fun to watch the girls improve this year. Here are some fun pictures to wrap up the season. (I was taking a bunch after the game and Kaylynn said, "Mommy, that is enough pictures, everyone else is already gone!")
Go Butterflies!

Halloween week

2010-10-30T16:07:00.007-06:00

It seems Halloween lasts an entire week these days and it isn't even official until tomorrow! Kaylynn has worn her costume to dance twice, church, school, a party and trick-or-treating (tomorrow). Here are some pictures of her class party yesterday.
They also put on a "play" for us. Kaylynn was the sun!
After the play they sang a Halloween song that was really cute:

The entire school also had a Halloween parade and all the parents lined up in the gym to watch them march through. There were some pretty clever costumes!
Cory and I also got dressed up to head out to a party tonight. I am an angel (again!) and Cory is a deviled egg!
Here is a picture of Cory with his award winning pumpkin ("Pumpkin Pi")!

Punkin carved a pumpkin!

2010-10-19T20:38:00.003-06:00

K had her friend, Paige, over this weekend to carve pumpkins. The girls had a great time. Paige wasn't so sure about getting her hands slimy, but K dove right in (a change from last year)!

Here they are digging out the guts:
And with the finished product
(and one making "scary" faces...!)

Ready for Halloween

2010-10-12T19:32:00.003-06:00

Kaylynn decided she wanted to be Minnie Mouse for Halloween. We had the ears from Disney World so we bought the costume and I (Jamie) made a matching trick-or-treat bucket for her. She looks so cute! Here is a preview:

Future red carpet designer?

2010-09-27T17:41:00.005-06:00

K has been busy lately working on all sorts of crafts. She has really gotten into a latch hook we bought.
She also designed a dress and matching headband with fabric scraps for her dolly. With a little sewing help from Mommy, we put it together and (squeezed) the dolly into it. I think it would fit a barbie a bit better... K said it is just a bit "skinny"! She did pretty good considering the size of the scraps I was willing to part with!

Soccer

2010-09-27T17:31:00.005-06:00

Fall soccer has begun. K seems to be really enjoying playing on an all-girls team this year. Here are a bunch of pics from the last couple of games.

Yeah...I did it!

2010-09-20T18:04:00.002-06:00

This video is especially funny because before this was taken K had ridden her bike for nearly 3 miles around the lake already, but she was still so excited about being able to do it! I think she has officially mastered her two-wheeler.

Vegas baby!

2010-09-15T16:02:00.009-06:00

As most of you probably already know, Vegas sure is an interesting place!! I can see where it got it's nickname! I had a great first-timer visit this past weekend with my girlfriend, Nicole. We stayed at the New York-New York.

The M&M store was right across the street, so we spent some time wandering around in there.
We did a TON of walking up and down the strip. I think my favorite hotel/shops was the Venetian. I loved the store fronts and the feel of being right in Italy - canals with gondolas and singing Italians (okay, maybe not really!) and all!
These guys were on the same street corner every day! Can you imagine being the guy in the "Welcome to fabulous Las Vegas" sign?!! (Yes, there is a person in there!)
Of course, we hit the Hard Rock.
And saw the dancing waters at the Bellagio.
We caught the tail-end of the Botanical Gardens in the Bellagio, too. They were in the process of tearing them out to change seasons so we only got a glimpse - bummer!
This exhibit, in one of the shopping lobbies, was made of ice that was slowly melting. Each day was a new view!
There were also a bunch of "pet tornadoes" in the same lobby.
On our last night we went up to the top of the Eiffel Tower. It is half the height of the real thing and it seemed very high! I don't know how I ever made it at the top of the real thing...I was young and blissfully ignorant to heights then!
From the top there were some amazing views of the strip!
We had a great long weekend. My favorite part...good company, relaxing by the pool, and the much deserved pedi after all that walking! It was a successful Girls Weekend, one that will have to be repeated at another fun location in the future!

RMNP

2010-09-05T20:42:00.006-06:00

We decided to beat the heat on the front range and head up to Rocky Mountain National Park. Traffic was horrific getting in to Estes (note to self - don't go up on a holiday weekend again!), but we made it through and had a really nice visit in the park.

One of the goals of the trip was to get K her Junior Ranger badge. We spent some time filling out the work book along the way.We started at the Alluvial Fan.
Then headed up to the Alpine Visitor Center via Fall River road - a one-way, dirt road. We stopped at Chasm Falls on the way.
We saw some beautiful views on the way up, but no big wildlife.
Kaylynn was sworn in as a Junior Ranger and got a big round of applause from everyone in the visitor center!
Though it was in the nineties at home, it got down to 56 degrees at the top of the pass. A bit chilly in shorts and T-shirts!
On our way down we came to another dead stop and crept along in a traffic jam in the park. Turns out there was a bull elk and his harem near the side of the road. He must have been quite the guy! He was laying down so I didn't get a good picture of him, only the ladies.
After we made it through that we saw another bull elk across a meadow. Here is a zoomed in picture of him.
Shortly after we exited the park we hit another traffic jam..."what now"! Turns out it was two black bears, one on either side of the road. Here are the best pictures of one of the bears.
When we got home K said, "That was a fun trip!!" She was right! We decided it was a blessing to be stuck in all those traffic jams. We were fortunate to see some interesting wildlife along the way!

Family Photos

2010-08-29T11:27:00.005-06:00

We took some pictures of all the cousins yesterday. Here are some highlights.
Ahhh, so cute, right? Now lets try all three!
OK, scratch that, how about two at a time!
Ahhh, back to sweet children!

Grandma had her hands full with these two...
this handful gave her a break!

Holy Hula!

2010-08-28T09:58:00.002-06:00

Here is K's latest skill...

Our new nephew, Charlie!

2010-08-22T20:03:00.007-06:00

We had James for the weekend while his Mom and new brother had a night on their own. I didn't take any pictures of K and James, but got a few of Charlie when he came to pick up James!

Our First Grader!

2010-08-18T07:40:00.010-06:00

And she's off for another fun-filled year of learning - yeah! K was very excited to start first grade. She is particularly excited about having her very own desk that opens to store all her stuff!
Peeking in the classroom. Her teacher this year is Miss Sperry.And in she goes...just like that she is even more grown-up!Here is K at her desk after school:
and with Miss Sperry!

Random leftovers

2010-08-01T20:06:00.004-06:00

After I finished my three big posts from our summer I had a few leftover pictures that just didn't fit anywhere but were too cute not to share!

Here's K in her World Cup T-shirt she got from her soccer coach this spring. We enjoyed watching the games - with it muted!
K also got to go to a Rockies game with her summer camp. She made a sign to show her "Rockies pride"!
K was also excited to see her friend, Lucy, during her visit back to CO from CA! Next time it is our turn to head to Monterey.
Finally, here is K showing off her musical talent!

Sky Ranch

2010-07-27T16:20:00.015-06:00

We took our annual trip up to Sky Ranch last weekend for Family Camp with our church and we had a great time! The weather was outstanding and it is always fun to spend some time up in the mountains at such a beautiful spot.

We did a service project our first morning there. We sanded and applied weather sealer to the log benches in the outdoor chapel and moved all the wood chips around. Kaylynn liked "painting" with Haley.
The outdoor chapel has a fantastic view. Here are some images looking out.

After that we went on a hike to Beaver Falls. Kaylynn loves to hike and climb on rocks so this was a favorite activity of hers for the weekend.
We did a lot of other things on Saturday including watching the humming birds at the lodge, fishing (Cory and K), archery (Jamie), horseshoes, tether ball, bocce ball and, of course, a campfire with songs and s'mores!
Several people saw a moose walking through the campground when we were on our hike so, of course, I was determined to see that! I got up before the others on Sunday morning and headed out to find that moose. I was torn between looking for the moose or using the bathroom first but the nature call won out and I headed towards the bathroom, rather then the meadow. As I was walking that way, looking side to side in the woods for the moose, I finally glanced forward and there, 15-20 feet in front of me standing right in the middle of the trail looking right at me was ... THE MOOSE! I quickly retreated while getting the camera out of the case and putting the zoom lens on all at the same time. I was unprepared, I was going to the bathroom first! I snapped a quick picture before he headed into the woods and then followed to the side of him at a good distance to take a few more pictures through the trees (there were way too many trees!). Not the greatest, but here are a couple.
He kept his eye on me and sauntered along, finally leaving the woods, crossing the main road, walking right past the lodge and into the meadow.
He had meandered along the edge of the meadow and forest and I stayed on the other side of the meadow and snapped several more pictures. Here are some action shots of him eating the leaves off a small tree.
It was so fun to be the only one up and watching this moose on his morning stroll. It made my day, and whole summer of camping, really! I hope he continues to hang out at Sky Ranch so we can watch him get bigger over the years.

While we were waiting for breakfast I noticed K striking poses with her shadow. It was really cute!
Pastor Paul making a monster pancake - He even flipped it all in one shot!
This was just a cool mushroom along a path.
Here is the full group of us after worship on Sunday morning. Several of us tie-dyed shirts on Saturday and all wore them the next day.It was a fabulous camping trip. If any of you locals are interested in joining us next year come talk to us!

The official celebration

2010-07-26T19:31:00.006-06:00

Early on the morning of K's birthday she was up and excited to open presents - still in her PJ's.
Daddy picked out Legos for her!And G&G Vogt got her a (jumbo!) Barbie Jet!They also got her this cute outfit that she decided to wear to her party later that afternoon (not shown, matching socks, of course!).
Right before we headed off to her party, K fell asleep! She got a good cat nap and it really perked her up and rejuvenated her for her party at Bounce Town!
This was the favorite slide at Bounce Town. James loved it and got quite a few slides in before too many kids arrived! He kept trying to get up the ladder even with the big kids climbing right over him...because once all the kids showed up it escalated into complete craziness!
There are 6 other jumpy castles at Bounce Town (proof of one below) but the slide was the favorite by far!
After 75 minutes of exhausting bouncing, we went into a separate room for pizza and cake. (Couldn't quite get the picture of the cake before James' hand went in the frosting!)
The whole crew of kids. Cute bunch, huh?!
We didn't have time to open presents there so when we got home K tore into all the great gifts.
The next day she learned the one down side of inviting so many friends to her party - lots of "thank you's" to write!

At one point at Bounce Town, K came down the slide yelling "This is the best birthday party ever!", so I think it was a success!

Visit to G&G's houses!

2010-07-25T19:50:00.007-06:00

Kaylynn made a big circle across the upper midwest this summer to spend some time at both Grandparent's houses by herself for a week each. She had a great time and we are so glad they were able to spend some quality time together. She started her trip by heading from home to Lincoln, NE where we met G&G Vogt. We spent the night there and hit the pool several times before she was off to MN.

I think she spent quite a bit of time working on arts and crafts...
and playing outdoors.
Of course, she was able to check out G&G's new 3D TV, which she loved!
I think they kept her busy because one night we talked to her and she said that she laid on the floor and the blanket was "just so comfty" that she fell asleep one afternoon!
She was lucky to be visiting around her birthday so she got to celebrate with cupcakes!
Then, she was back in the car and off to Jamestown, ND where they met up with G&G Wolff and off they headed to MT. I think her favorite part of the farm was all the kittens running around at G&G's and Uncle Pete's!
I think the kittens enjoyed it for awhile, then they wanted out!Of course, another birthday celebration was in store!

She got her first set of golf clubs!Now for her first lesson...Even if she can't hit the ball very well yet, she sure looks cute carrying them - doesn't she!!!
And we can't leave out the obligatory photo in front of the sign.

Kicking off summer with a fantastic VACA!

2010-06-07T17:45:00.025-06:00

We had an official kick off to summer and went on vacation with some friends to Great Sand Dunes National Park and Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park (which is NOT in Gunnison!). We had a fantastic time and I managed to take nearly 500 pictures in 5 days! I will spare you most of them but wanted to post some highlights!

On our way down, we were in sight of the sand dunes (about 5 miles out) and we got a flat tire on the camper trailer. Luckily we had all the tools needed to fix it fairly quickly.
Kaylynn was definitely ready to hike the dunes!
Kaylynn, Henry and Sophia
Cory, Rob and Leta
We had to take our shoes off to get across the river at the bottom of the dunes.
Cory walking through a cool sand pattern I was trying to capture (he just doesn't have the same "vision"!
Though it wasn't too hot, it was a must to drink plenty of water.
Can't you just imagine what Cory must have said to get Kaylynn to role her eyes at him?! "Oh Dad"
It was sooo windy while we were hiking. We kept telling the kids that people pay for spa treatments that pelt their legs with grains of sand - they did not believe us. I think we are still cleaning sand out of our ears!
After sliding down the hills we were pulling sand out of our shorts pockets too!
The dads were not about to let the fun pass them by!
They liked to pretend they were Lewis and Clark.
We still have a ways to go to get to the top!!! (Just in case you couldn't guess, No, we never even made it close!)
John, Sophia, Kaylynn and Henry The kids had a great time playing in the river at the bottom too!
Of course there was plenty of things to do at the campsite as well.
After 2 days of playing in the sand we headed further west to Gunnison where we definitely learned to appreciate a good shower, ahhh! We thought the canyon was right at Gunnison, but it turns out the National Park is over an hours drive away! Luckily, it was worth it - the canyon was really beautiful. And we had a fun day hiking around to the different lookouts.
The kids made us a bit nervous at the top of the canyon!The Painted Wall
We saw many hawks soaring around as well.The spring flowers were in full bloom and I tried to capture a sampling.
There was a great climbing tree where we had our picnic lunch.
The kids spent some time at both National Parks completing work books to become junior rangers. They took it very seriously with a swearing in and all.
They were all proud of their badges and each got a souvenir to commend them on their hard work. Kaylynn choose the hat!
We did spend one day just hanging out at the campsite as well. The kids played amazingly well for many hours and the adults enjoyed the relaxation!
(Notice the badges added to the hat!)And the best time of the day...
I can't believe summer vacation (for K at least!) is already here. We definitely started out on a wonderful note. I highly recommend both places as great vacation spots!

Our Graduate!

2010-06-02T19:45:00.004-06:00

Kaylynn graduated from Kindergarten last week - yes, already!! She had a fantastic year and is already looking forward to first grade. Here are some pictures from the Kindergarten Tea "graduation" celebration.

Field Day

2010-06-02T19:08:00.007-06:00

Before the end of the school year all the kids get to participate in "Field Day" which is just a day full of fun outdoor (most having to do with water) activities. The kids had a fantastic time and we lucked out and had a beautiful day weather-wise for it. Here are some pictures of a few of the fun games.

transporting water between two buckets using sponges (all the kids were yelling "I'm winning!!")
There's always a parachute!Picking up marbles with their toes
She got one!
Holey bucket
Flag tag - K was very proud that she never got caught!
Hot potato with a bag full of water
Getting ready for lunch in the park
Zoe, Kaylynn and Paige

Another year, another recital!

2010-05-17T20:04:00.009-06:00

We had a busy, fun-filled weekend! Grandma Vogt flew in for K's dance recital and got in on all sorts of activities. Friday night was K's school carnival. She was very excited about her face painting!
The next day, Kaylynn had her last soccer game (which we missed because of the dance recital) but we did get in on the "soccerbration" party/picnic beforehand. I think I used an entire bottle of hairspray on her bun so it would survive the running around with her soccer team that I knew would happen!!!

"The Champions"After the soccer party we finished the transformation into a ballerina and headed over to K's dance recital.
She did a fantastic job! After, while we waited for K to come out, James couldn't decide which paci he wanted to use, so he figured out a way to get them both in his mouth!Of course we made K pose for lots of pictures as well! (She's just so darn cute!)
That's a weekend in one well-rounded kids life!

Busy girls

2010-05-04T20:35:00.003-06:00

Kaylynn had her friend, Avery, over last weekend and the girls had so much fun! They spent the afternoon playing Barbie, kitchen, jumping on the trampoline and backing cakes in the Easy Bake oven. Here are some pictures of the fun! (Towards the end of the playdate James came over and the girls were good about involving him in their fun too!)

Sunday best

2010-04-14T14:34:00.010-06:00

It is about time I post some pictures of our beautiful girl having all sorts of Easter fun!

After K's first soccer game of the season we headed straight to an Easter Egg Hunt that the church holds every year. On the way she had some finger puppet fun with a sheep and a bunny!
The egg hunt is held in a quaint little park tucked in between some houses. There were plenty of eggs for all the kids!!
Robin getting in on the fun:
Otis:
We forgot K's Easter basket, good thing she has a purse in each car for emergency use!
Sophia:
There were crafts to make as well.
Mesa, Marina, Kaylynn (John hiding in the back) and Sophia:
Easter morning is always a bit chaotic around our house. I have to leave "very early" for bell rehearsal and Cory only has to be to the church "early" so he has the joy of getting Kaylynn up, getting her all dolled up for church, and watching her hunt for Easter eggs in the morning (all before leaving by 6:15am!).
She looks pretty excited even though it is very early!

Her basket full of goodies. The favorites this year were "The Princess and the Frog" and a new electric toothbrush!
I couldn't quite get the family picture in before Cory took off his tie (and he was NOT willing to retie it!). Kaylynn being a goofball:
At least K looks better...!
Posing for the camera (after church so she has had plenty of candy and is much more awake now!)

After church we went to Jenny's for Easter dinner. The kids had a great time with a bubble gun. Bubbles=fun for all ages!

Uncle Cory was trying to teach James never to look down the barrel of a gun...
Kaylynn loves to pick up James and carry him around...he tolerates it the first few times.
After dinner and naps the kids dyed Easter eggs. I was so glad this was at Jenny's house, not mine!

James seemed a bit concerned about the color of his hands...But after playing in the bathtub for an hour it all came off!
As you can see, it was a fun and busy day!

Spring Time in the Rockies

2010-04-07T08:51:00.005-06:00

I love spring time in Colorado, you just never know what you are going to get. Today was one of those mornings. We had several inches of snow on the ground, tulips and daffodils blooming, and trees budding - beautiful! The best part is it will probably be gone this afternoon and 60 degrees tomorrow! I couldn't decide which pictures to post so bare with me, I am attaching a bunch - enjoy!

Lion weather - must be soccer season!

2010-04-06T20:21:00.004-06:00

Kaylynn talks about "lion" and "lamb" weather and we had our share of lion weather in March, just in time for the soccer season! They finally got their first game in this past weekend. The kids decided to name their team "The Champions" this year, they have high expectations for the season!

Bugsy clip

2010-04-06T19:58:00.003-06:00

Here is a short clip of K feeding Bugsy.