Carol's 40th Birthday Party

Last night, I went to Cool River for Carol's surprise party. We all had a great time. Carol drank too much and was very entertaining. At one point, she was on stage dancing with the band.

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

On Saturday, we drove to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs. It's really a great zoo. You can get so much closer to the animals than you can at the Denver Zoo. The first thing we did was rent a double stroller.




Then, we bought some crackers and Reese had a great time feeding the giraffes. Raly, not so much! She was focused on getting to the carousel.
Unfortunately, she didn't like it because it spun too fast. However, Reese loved it and each time we passed by Grandma and Grandad he yelled, "Bye."
When Reese was getting on his pony, I was saying "smile" and the pony started smiling. Hilarious! What a sight!

Raly loved riding the pony, Indigo, but was sad when she had to get off.



Reese rode Amigo while he slowing walked in a big circle. He bounced around on the saddle like the pony was galloping.
Raly isn't much of a zoo person- probably gets it from me. I'd rather eat and go on the rides myself! Reese loved watching all the animals. He really got a kick out of watching the otters dive into the water.


In the gift shop, Raly looked around for something to spend her money on, all $1. 65. Reese played with these toys, I think they were called "Animal Pinchers" or something like that, the entire time. He pretended that they were biting him. Raly ended up "buying" a pink monkey and thanks to Grandad she even had a penny left over!




We had a fun and busy weekend. I think Grandma and Grandad thoroughly enjoyed the time they had with Raly and Reese, but I'm sure they are grateful for the peace and quiet of their car without children.

Taking the Cog Railway to Pike's Peak

When we got home from work on Thursday evening, Grandma and Grandad were at our house. On Friday, we drove to Manitou Springs to ride the Cog Railway to the top of Pike's Peak. It was approximately 1 1/2 hours each way and we spent about 30 minutes at the top. The scenery was amazing and we had a beautiful day for it.


On our way up the mountain!



A picture from above tree line.
Raly checking out the beauty of the mountains.
Look closely. We saw a herd of mountain sheep.

Having fun on the train.
At the top - Mom was a nervous wreck about the kids falling off the mountain! This picture shows the tracks of the cog railway.





Getting ready to board!


On the way back down the mountain, Reese demonstrates his "mad face."
A serious look!


Almost to the bottom.

When we got home, the kids took a short nap and then played outside and in the truck with Grandad.

It started raining and Raly ran home for her umbrella!


Later, Rhett and three other muscle men moved the piano into the house. Mike and Connie brought the piano from their house. Connie learned to play on this piano when she was a kid.


The kids are loving the piano. Although, Reese plays too loudly for Raly! Maybe we shouldn't have it tuned right away!

New clothes for Fall

Yesterday we shopped at the Castle Rock Outlet Mall. With the cool weather, I quickly realized we needed fall clothes that fit, so we made the trek out in the cool rainy weather. It's certainly a welcomed break from the hot dry days. I heard on the news this morning, that we have gotten more rain in August than we had in May, June, and July combined! It rained all day and the kids had fun walking from shop to shop in the rain (it's an outdoor mall). Unfortunately I forgot to take the camera so I don't have any pictures of the kids playing in the rain. Our neighbors, Jodie and Connor, went with us. Connor and Raly are the same age and they got along really well. After getting a new pair of shoes for Reese, he stomped in all the puddles he could find. Nice!! I had to let him wear his new shoes since his old shoes were a whole size too small. Oops!

Raly has really become quite the shopper. Grandma Rosie's genes, I guess! Here is a picture of her in some of her new clothes. Grandma Rosie noticed these two tops together at The Children's Place in Cherry Creek Mall a couple of weeks ago, but we didn't think they would fit her so we didn't get them (looked way to big since they are a Girls Small). Then, Raly found the same top at the outlet store (for 1/2 price) and we were lucky enough to find the heart shirt for underneath. Cute combination!



The kids wanted to make scrambled eggs this morning. Raly cracked the eggs into the mug and then they took turns beating them with a fork. Oh the fun!

This morning, Reese told Grandma Rosie about his new clothes; new jeans from The Children's Place and the striped shirt from Gap Kids.

Back to Work and the Olympics

I go back to work tomorrow! We've had a wonderful summer, but it seems like we were just celebrating the beginning of summer break and now school is nearly ready to begin. I'm certainly not ready for 5:30 mornings!

As with most of the people we know, we have been watching the Olympics. The other night, while watching gymnastics, Reese kept pointing to the TV and saying, "I do dat, doodamow." (I do that tomorrow). Then Raly and Reese gave us an Olympics show in our living room. It was hysterical. I got exhausted just watching them. Here are a few pictures from the Butler Jr. Jr. Olympics.

Threw in the towel!

I threw in the towel! I don't think Reese is quite ready for potty training. He will pee nearly every time he sits on the toilet and has pooped occasionally, but he doesn't seem to really "get it." He never asks to go potty. We'll try again another time.

Enjoying the backyard.

Well, since we've been in this house, we have thoroughly enjoyed living on a cul-de-sac. The kids have had countless fun times in the front of our house and now we can say that the backyard is just as awesome. The one problem...crying kids because it's time to go inside.

Reese is going through potty training boot camp, hence the big boy underwear. We are giving it a shot for a couple of days. If he doesn't show signs of "getting it" we'll go back to diapers.



Reese loves swinging! He is constantly saying, "Higher Mommy" and "Higher than that!"
The kids really enjoy when Daddy pushes them.

Kids are ready to play in our backyard!

The play set pieces were delivered on Saturday afternoon. So this first picture shows "before."

And this picture shows the "after." Rhett should be nominated for "Father of the Year" for this project. He worked long hot hours and demonstrated more patience than I thought possible. Perfect job, Rhett. Thank you.
The kids have thrown fits whenever it's time to stop playing and go inside. I'll get more pictures of them playing and get them out soon.

Pictures from the weekend

We had a fun weekend with Grandma Connie in town. Bozeman even tried out his new wheels. He didn't know what to think or do with it. It will take some practice!
On Saturday morning, Raly and Reese decided to dress up in winter accessories: hat, boots, scarf, etc. It was about 85 degrees!
An hour later, they were hot and decided to run in the sprinkler. Much better choice!
Saturday night, Connie treated us to dinner at Casa Bonita: The World's Most Exciting Restaurant. It was very busy and we had to wait in line, but the kids did well. Once we got to our table we had a great view of the cliff divers which the kids enjoyed the most! Reese was very content at the table sipping his Roy Rogers. The kids also got glow swords. We took them through a cave that scared them both! The food was okay and the service was good (especially compared to the White Fence Farms). Besides Raly's meltdown when we left, we had a great time.

Belleview Park

After Reese had speech therapy this morning, we drove to Belleview park. We hadn't been there before and I had heard that it was shaded, but the play area really wasn't. However, the train and petting zoo area was shaded and it was quite pleasant. The kids enjoyed the very short train ride-thank goodness it only cost $1 per person.
In the petting zoo, the kids were afraid of the turkey who struted around with his feathers spread out. Grandma Connie admitted that she didn't really like the turkey all that well either. Here the kids are petting the turtle.
Raly and Reese both enjoyed "milking" the cow. Although, most of the kids in the zoo thought the cow was peeing since water came from the udders. It was "a hoot" as Grandma said.

Reese loved the chickens the most. Of course, two of the rules were no running and no touching any animals with feathers. So what did Reese do? Yep, chase the chickens while screaming!

We had a fun morning, but it was really, really hot especially in the sun! So, we headed to the air conditioned mall for lunch and some shopping. Raly was excited and whispered secrets to Grandma about buying her a toy. Big surprise! After the kids devoured a $3.00 bowl of ice cream the size of small fist, we headed home for naps!