Yikes! Reese started preschool!

Oh goodness! It's been a crazy month. I started a new position, Raly started Kindergarten, and Reese just began preschool. I can't wrap my head around it all. So far, Reese seems to love school. However, he has told me that the teachers yell at him during rest time because he doesn't follow directions. Oh boy! The beginning of some interesting years!

Annual Block Party!

Last night was the annual Braeburn Place Block Party. I think all the kids had a great time. Each house participating in the party planned a game (complete with prizes). Here Raly is playing the bean bag toss.

Reese is taking his turn during a GIANT tic-tac-toe game.

The kids had to eat a donut hanging from a tree without using their hands.

Raly hates powdered donuts, but finally participated because she didn't want

to miss out on the prize.

Pinata time! Reese tried really hard to break it, but Raly was the one to actually break it open. I was having a side conversation and missed it!

So serious about filling their baggies with candy!

Water balloon toss!

Reese was so proud of himself for "breaking it." I don't think he was listening to the game directions (any surprised?).

The kids had a great time playing with the extra water balloons.

Jodie and I set up an obstacle course for our game. The course went as follows:

1. hopscotch,
2. throw ball into bucket while standing in sprinkler,
3. hula hoop alley (jump into hoop, raise it over your head and drop it behind you),
4. balance beam,
5. circle jump,
6. ladder climb,
7. first tunnel,
8. ladder run,
9. second tunnel,
10. army crawl,
11. jumping jacks,
12. balloon tunnel (grab chalk),
13. write name (time written next to name by adult).
    

Ball Throw-she actually made it in the bucket on the first try.

Ladder climb.

All the game participants.

Raly's a "Big Kid"

Raly's a kindergartner! YIKES!

Unfortunately, Raly's backpack and lunch box that we ordered from Lands End didn't come until her second day of school, so she had to take her old backpack and this orange lunch bag.

Our Last Hurrah Before School!

The day before Raly's first day of school, we visited The Wildlife Experience. It was Reese's second time there (Rhett took him the weekend that we had our Girls' Weekend) and the first time for Raly and me. I was really impressed; the kids had a great time learning about the different regions without even realizing they were learning. They have lots of computerized information/activities on these touchscreens which both kids really enjoyed.
You can't really tell, but this Polar Bear is a life-size stuffed bear. The museum was full animals like this.

While we were there, we watched an "extreme screen movie" called Coral Reef. Raly thought it was really cool that Grandma and Grandad know how to "dive."

Fun with Friends

We met Heidi and her kids at the Denver Aquarium. Although we weren't that impressed with the aquarium it was fun to spend time together. Heidi always regret that we don't get together more often. Heidi and I hope to plan a fun weekend with Kelly sometime in the near future (moms only, of course). We attempted a group photo and this is the best we got.
Raly and Anne played well together.
After walking through the aquarium, we had a snack and played in the nearby park.

Girls' Weekend

Dedra, Emily, Mom, Raly and I had a Girls' Only Marathon Shopping weekend in Denver. The grown-ups shopped on Friday at Park Meadows and then had appetizers and drinks after shutting the mall down. We played "Never Ever Have I....." much to Mom's distress. She may not admit it, but she had fun! On Saturday morning, we all drove up north to a shopping area called Flatiron Crossings. We shopped all day (12 hours to be exact) and then stayed at the Renaissance Hotel. The picture below is in the lobby on Sunday before we went out for breakfast and then back to the mall. When we got back to the hotel on Saturday night, we borrowed the luggage cart to get all the packages to our room. Once in our room, we snarfed down dinner from SubWay before beginning our "fashion show." We were all so tired that we had to force each other to try on our new purchases. We kept saying, "It's Girls' Weekend" which implied that you didn't have a choice, if everyone wanted to see it on, you had to model it.

The most popular purchase of the day was "Beary" from Build-a-Bear. Mom spent over an hour with Raly while she debated over each outfit piece and all the accessories for Beary. Raly took this picture in the lobby of the hotel.
Aunt Dedra picked out this outfit for Raly. Raly didn't care much for clothes shopping, so we had to force her into trying on these clothes.
After hitting the mall one last time on Sunday, we all headed home. It didn't take Raly long to fall asleep. The marathon shopping weekend left us all exhausted! Thanks Mom, Dedra, and Em for making the trip to Denver. I had a great time. I hope we can make this an annual tradition.