Ski Steamboat

Three days of skiing is over and done. We've got tired, happy Andersons. Looking forward to doing it again BUT preferably in above zero degree temps next time.

Ben Franklin Award

Last Friday, an honors assembly was held at Madelyn's school. I was notified earlier in the week that my "child will be given an award on December 4th during the assembly at 9:00. This is going to be a surprise for your child so please don't tell them. BE PROUD!! WAY TO GO!!"

Well, it turns out Madelyn won the Ben Franklin Award. And, it's kind of a big deal. The award goes to a student who demonstrates all 13 of the school virtues on a daily basis. The school board and administration want to not only turn out smart cookies but good citizens as well.

Of the 400 children in attendance at the elementary award assembly (Grades K-3), only 10 were selected and she was the only 1st grader.

Below is what her teacher, Mrs North, wrote about Madelyn in her nomination -

"Madelyn comes to school every day ready to learn. She is a constant example to her peers on how to live out the 13 Core Virtues. It is a privilege to be her teacher."

Madelyn receiving her award from Mrs Spencer (Assistant Principal)

Mrs Spencer and the 10 recipients

Congratulations to you, Madelyn. Thank you to you all for the positive influences you've had and continue to have on our girl. What a wonderful little lady we've got on our hands!

We've come so far.

Being born with a head full of hair has its perks unless you're not a fan of haircuts...and you're a boy.

Gone are the days of crying haircuts and bribes that don't make a difference. My little man has moved on to quietly reading a magazine (his sister's) while getting his hair coiffed.

He still won't talk with the stylist. But, he'll get there eventually. In fact, he really liked the post haircut shoulder massage today. In fact, he almost smiled and probably would have if no one had been watching.

Thank goodness for Floyd's. You keep my little man's hair in check!

Summer wrap up. Summer wrap up.

Even though Labor Day weekend has come and gone, we still have a few weeks of Summer left on the calendar. However, I'm ready to wrap it up by sharing our list of Summer fun had by Team Anderson.

The list below is sort of chronological order but not exact -

• Swimming
• Six stitches in the chin - NOT the recommended way to kick off your birthday.
• Sawyer's Star Wars birthday party! - Quick shift from pool to our house thanks to those stitches.
• Denver Museum of Nature and Science and Mythic Creatures exhibit
• BBQ at Grandpa's house
• Cheyenne Mountain Zoo with the Noltes
• T-ball
• Light Rail and Old Spaghetti Factory day trip
• Birthday party-palooza - Madelyn had back-to-back birthday parties at the movies and Chuck E Cheese, respectively, on a Friday afternoon and evening.
• Vacation Bible School - First year for both kiddos.
• VBS ice cream social
• Clement Park and fountain (on a HOT day)
• Bullets softball tournament - Yay Rylie!
• Brooklyn's horseback riding birthday party (and the dead rat)
• Water fights
• Denver Zoo
• 4th of July eve Sac-BQ
• Fireworks
• Steamboat Springs balloon festival
• Gondola ride at Steamboat Springs
• HRCA pottery class
• Cheerleading camp
• S'MORES
• Swimming lessons
• Movie(s) in the theater: Inside Out, Minions, LEGO Movie
• Play dates
• Pool dates
• Platte Valley Trolley
• Night swimming at the Knolls
• Movie at the pool with Grammy and Grandad
• Hiking in the mountains

I know I'm not capturing everything but I'd say we had a pretty successful Summer. Now the big question is...are you ready for some football?! Because I sure am!

F is for Feenix.

F is also for the fireball that is Phoenix in August.

Really, there's no better time to visit Phoenix than in the hot hot Summer. Based on the low airfare and hotel rates we encountered, I'm not alone in this view. On a side note: The first five or so times I visited Arizona, it was always in the Summer. When we started going for Spring break a few years ago, it was the first time I finally got to experience Phoenix with temperatures in the 70's and 80's. And, it was so much better.

We're leaving on a jet plane. Dropped the little ones off after school on Friday for a weekend at Grammy and Grandad's and headed to the airport. Enjoyed a delicious dinner at RootDown at DIA. SO good.

Griff's fantasy football draft was this past Saturday in Phoenix. After sitting out for a few years, he decided to split a team with a buddy, (Scott) Cooper, and get back in. We stayed at the Westin Kierland and had a great weekend. Cooper and Val, who live north of San Diego also stayed at the Kierland. While the boys were drafting, Val and I had a ladies day. GTL! GTL equals gym, tan, lunch. Even though I lunched before tanning at the pool, it still counts.

Golf course view from our 10th floor room. It never gets old.

A little apres pool s'mores. On the left, we have a coconut marshmallow, traditional chocolate, and Arizona chip s'more. On the right, we have a traditional marshmallow, cookies and cream chocolate, and Arizona chip s'more. The hotel has so many s'more options to choose from but there really is no wrong combination.

Yum. I love s'mores.  When you travel with little people, typically the s'mores are enjoyed after dinner as a night cap. However, when you're sans children, you can have your s'mores before dinner!

The weekend was short but sweet. It's always so good to see our Arizona friends even if it's only in small amounts. The little ones had a super fun weekend with Grammy and Grandad. In spite of all the fun, it was good to get us all back home yesterday afternoon.

Thank you, Grammy and Grandad, for taking such good care of our Madelyn and Sawyer. And, thank you, to Honey and Poppie, for letting our Sadie stay with you while we were gone. We all appreciated  it!

Happy birthday, Griff!

 Happy birthday, Schmoops!

We've come a long way since that first birthday celebration at Carriage Place.

And, it also seems that I only take birthday pictures every 3-5 years. Sorry about that...

I love you. We all love you. You're truly the best. xoxo

Friday funny.

Dinner for two by camping lantern in the circus tent.

I can't get enough of these two and really will miss Summer.

With a little tug.

Pop! Out came the tooth.

Be still my beating heart!

Platte Valley Trolley

I've always wanted to take the kids and ride the Platte Valley Trolley. The day finally arrived. I'm not sure who was more excited -- me or the kids.

When we arrived at the boarding station near REI downtown, I was surprised to see that the ride would last 25 minutes. Somehow, I assumed it would be shorter.

We spent $9 on our tickets and were all aboard!

They're not sure what their mother has gotten them into but are willing to smile for a picture.

In spite of the heat, it was nice and cool on board. The trolley runs from REI near Confluence Park to just past Sports Authority Field at Mile High and back. It's a guided tour and one of the conductors shares bits of Denver history along the way. I didn't know much of the information he shared and found it really interesting.

Madelyn and Sawyer's favorite tidbit was seeing the car that had driven into the Platte River during the higher waters in June. Now, it's mostly sunk.

We took a picnic lunch and ate at the park outside of the Children's Museum. It was hot but nice in the shade. AND, the day's adventure checked two more items off our Summer BINGO chart -- Platte Valley Trolley and picnic at a park. As Sawyer would say, "BAM!"

Some petting zoo...

Madelyn had a playdate yesterday at a friend's house. So, Sawyer and I had a few hours to ourselves. Before running errands, we decided to hit up the petting zoo at Belleview Park.

Sweet Sawyer was expecting something like ZOOMARS Petting Zoo in San Juan Capistrano, California. We visited that zoo last Summer when we were in San Diego with family. Up front, I told him that where we were going wouldn't have guinea pigs to hold, animals to feed, and pony rides. Little did I know, they would have almost none of their animals when we visited yesterday!

The first time I visited Belleview Park was with Madelyn and Grammy right around five years ago. Madelyn was 19 months old and in the ecstatic phase about seeing live farm animals. Plus, they had all sorts of animals that day -- a cow, sheep, goats, pigs, and a few chickens and turkeys. Yesterday...not so much. None the less, Sawyer and I still had fun. He enjoyed petting the animals (mostly goats) that were available.

He even named this little fellow (or lass?), but for the life of me, I can't remember what.

This kid is an expert at milking cows. He learned how to do it at the National Western Stock Show last January. Most people don't milk from directly behind the cow. But, he's just that good. And...it's a statue.

The obligatory train ride was our favorite part. Fortunately, the petting zoo and train ride were not that expensive so it didn't matter that we weren't there for very long. More importantly, we had fun together. I never get tired of his sweet face.

I'm starting to see that we're outgrowing some of our favorite haunts from days when Madelyn and Sawyer were younger. It's kind of weird but also neat because their getting bigger is opening up other doors for us like skiing and amusement parks. Next Summer will be a whole new adventure!

Sawyer speak.

Post-bedtime books and after catching a hug and a kiss and a quick snuggle.

Sawyer (to me): "If you want to marry someone else, you can marry me. But Daddy will still be in our family...When I grow up, we can get married."

I love that boy. His heart is so sweet.

Balloon festival 2015.

Children looking to hitch a ride to the mountains.

Last weekend, we packed up the old family truckster and headed west to Steamboat Springs. Our 8-seater Pilot seated six comfortably. This year, Honey and Poppie came with us. It was a very last minute trip but boy did we have fun!

We drove up on Friday morning and stayed at Trappeur's Crossing near the base of the mountain. (Took a break from The Ranch this time.) Griff stayed there a few times with his family when he was a youngster and remembered it being nice. He also remembered a Baby Ruth-like incident occurring which involved one of his siblings who shall not be named but felt confident that 20+ years of chlorine had likely taken care of any lingering poo.

He was right about Trappeur's Crossing. It was nice. And, the pool was clean.

Saturday was the day we chose to attend the balloon festival. We jam-packed our day with activities.

6:30A Balloon festival. We left the condo a little after 6:00 to catch the shuttle bus out to the field where the festival was being held. The weather was PERFECT -- clear blue skies, cool temps, and no breeze. Saw some great ballooning (if that's a word) and enjoyed the event.

National anthem featuring US flag and Colorado flag balloons.

It was early and a certain someone wasn't ready to have his picture taken.

Mile High Madelyn and Griff suddenly find themselves in the shadow of another balloon inflating.

Honey and Poppie taking in their first balloon festival.

Up, up, and away!

Balloons skimming the lake.

Madelyn and Sawyer are looking the wrong way!

We even ran into the Nolte girls and AJ (Aunt Jen) at the end of the event. Unfortunately, they were headed out of town that afternoon but it was still a treat to see them.

10:30A Gondola ride. There were a few sweaty paw pads. BUT thanks to our expert kid skiers who learned all about riding the gondola when they were in ski school last March, we had nothing to worry about. It rained off and on at the top. As a result, we couldn't spend a ton of extra time but we still had a chance to walk around and take in the spectacular views.

Kids on the top of the world!

Standing on the download side at the top of Thunderhead Express lift.

Hello, down there!

Just enough time for a group picture in between rain showers.

Coming back down, we were some of the last set of passengers on the gondola before the lightning stoppage. As is the case in the mountains, ten minutes later, the weather moved on. Skies cleared and everything on the mountain went back to business. On to lunch!

12:00P Lunch at Slopeside Grill. Located slope side as the name would lead you to believe, we enjoyed a delicious lunch on their patio.

1:30P Quiet time at the condo. A movie for the kids and naps for the adults before heading out to the pool.

3:00P Swimming and ice cream social. Swimming was cut short due to lightning and bad weather. However, bad weather doesn't stop ice cream! We got our ice cream at the condo association's ice cream social and went back upstairs to wait for the weather to break.

4:15P Swimming part two. Good times at the Trappeur's Crossing pool. No Baby Ruth bars, thankfully. Just lots of jumping, splashing, smiling, and hot tubbing. Madelyn and Sawyer are getting to be such good swimmers. I love it!

6:00P Domino's Pizza for dinner in the condo. There's just something about Domino's Pizza and ski condos that just feels right.

8:00P Balloon glow at the mountain. Our condo was only 1/4 mile from the gondola so we just walked down for this event. Even with two tired kiddos, not to mention a few tired adults, it was an easy walk. As far as the balloon festival events were concerned, I think this was my favorite event. First of all, we had had such a great day that it was a nice way to wrap it up. Secondly, I was so thankful that Honey and Poppie were/are healthy and could attend this time. Thirdly, the event just seemed so much better than 2013. 2013 was fun but this just seemed better. Eight different balloon teams showed up and put on quite a show.

Our little photographer honing her skills.

Watching and waiting as the balloons get ready.

Five of the eight balloons participating in the Glow. It's such an amazing sight!

Sunday morning, we went to Winona's for the required cinnamon roll and breakfast before returning to Denver. It was a quick trip but we packed in a lot.

I love that Madelyn and Sawyer get to spend such quality time with all their grandparents. They certainly enjoy it. I know as they get older, they'll look back fondly on all the fun trips to both to visit family and with family.

Friday funny.

Big sisters with their babies. Good grief.

F I N A L L Y.

The tooth FINALLY came out today.

Little Miss Muffet was snorkeling around the pool this morning and came up and said, "My tooth! It's gone!" Sure enough, that hanger-on of a tooth had come out. (Back story: This tooth had been completely detached on one side but rooted solidly on the other side or at least a week. Without using unnecessary force, we could not get that tooth out.)

Madelyn had been convinced this was her sweet tooth. (Thanks a lot, Pinkalicious.) Also, given this was one of her big front teeth, it was presumed to be worth more to a tooth fairy. Needless to say, she was upset that she'd literally lost her tooth.

So...I donned my goggles and swam around the pool looking for a teeny-tiny front tooth. And, I found it. Thank the Lord, I found it.

Now all is well. She has her tooth and can set it out tonight to see what that tooth fairy brings. What is the going rate for a front tooth?

Happy anniversary, Honey and Poppie!

48 years, 8 cross country moves, 6 different states, 3 children, 4 grandchildren, a couple of cats, and you STILL look as happy as the newlyweds from Omaha that you were on this day on 1967.

Happy anniversary to you, Mom and Dad. I love you.

Happy 4th birthday, Sawyer!

Little Brother is officially four years old. It's hard to believe it's already been four years. At the same time, I can't remember life without him.

He originally had a pool party scheduled for the following day (Sunday) with school friends. Unfortunately, on the morning of his birthday (Saturday), an incident occurred involving the stairs, the tile floor, and Sawyer's chin which resulted in six stitches. So...the pool party got moved to our house and became a make-shift Star Wars party.

The good news is (a) Sawyer and his chin are recovering well and (b) the extended family was able to attend as guest passes to the pool were no longer an issue. At our house, we don't require guest passes nor limit the number of guests per household admitted on a single day. Wink, wink.

Sawyer's backyard party featured --

Epic light saber battles. Are you part of the Rebels or a Sith? Looks like Uncle Gabe's a Sith.

A Star Wars jigsaw puzzle for the adults.

Cousins and juice.

Pizza and a table full of friends.

A happy birthday boy who loved being the center of attention.

Cake pops, of course, guarded by an AT-AT. As if anything less should have been expected!

Piñata.

More piñata!

And, a broken open piñata with kiddos collecting its treasures.

All in all, I believe the party was a success. At least that's what the birthday boy told me.

Sawyer, you are such a sweet, fun, funny, smart, loving, and charming little dude. I'm so happy you chose me to be your mama. Thanks for letting us celebrate you. And, I look forward to having a pool party with you next year. Fingers crossed for no more stitches! Love you, Buddy.

Preschool party.

Sawyer's last day of preschool was Wednesday. His end of year party included all things three- and four-year old kids love -- GIANT bubbles, playground time, snacks, and popsicles.

Mrs. Bonney (with her two favorite Anderson children).

Mrs. Bonney is one of Sawyer's two teachers. She's a good balance of organized, fun, silly, and genuinely caring. 

Boys having snacks in the tiniest piece of shade on the playground. Thank goodness there was room for five kiddos!

Popsicle faces.

Everything in life is better if it includes a popsicle. It might have been warm but it was a fun send off to Summer. I guess you could call this our last day of school picture!

Happy Summer, everyone!

Kindie program.

The last day of school is almost here. Sawyer's last day was actually today. (See post to follow.) Madelyn's last day is tomorrow. But, today was the long awaited Kindie Program.

"We all had a vacation and we grew, grew, grew into first graders!" 

There were four songs and a "play". Each kindie made their own Chicka Chicka Boom Boom shirt so they were dressed appropriately for that song. Madelyn got to be an A! 

The top picture shows all fifteen of Madelyn's classmates from this year. They have become such a close-knit group of kids. The assistant principal commented at the opening of the performance on how amazing it was to see how much these little people have grown over the year. And, it's so true!

Proud Papa.

Proud Grammy and Papa.

Seriously, how is is our Mile High Madelyn done with kindergarten already?! Only twelve more years until high school graduation. I don't even want to think about that!

Mrs. Murray.

I might be biased but Mrs. Murray is the world's greatest kindergarten teacher. We've had such a great year and she does an amazing job with her kindies. I thought it was going to be hard to top our experience with Madelyn's preschool teacher from last year but Mrs. Murray is right up there. 

Mrs. Preciado.

Mrs. Preciado is Mrs. Murray's aide and an ever present figure in the kindergarten classrooms. We'll absolutely miss her, too, next year.

I'm hopeful that when Little Brother enters kindergarten (in two years) that he can have the same wonderful guidance as Madelyn did this year.

One more day, tomorrow, but it's just the year-end party. Then it's well earned time off for fun, sun, and fun in the sun! Thank you, Ben Franklin Academy, for an awesome year. First grade, we're ready for you...in three months!