The Drive In

Clint and I went to the drive in a couple of times while we were dating. It was always a lot of fun, but then it closed. We were surprised to see an article in the paper on the 88th Avenue Drive In Theatre that was actually still open. That weekend they were showing "Despicable Me". Regan had asked several times to see the movie, but we hadn't gotten around to it yet. So, we loaded a bunch of blankets and chairs into our car and headed to Commerce City.
Regan loved it, Lila slept, and Haden kept asking to go home. It doesn't matter where we take him lately, he just wants to go home. He even asks to go home when we are home. The kid makes no sense sometimes, but he's pretty darn cute!
His fireman's hat goes almost everywhere with us. It can get rather noisy when the firetruck has to come too. Haden makes a wonderfully loud siren. All three kids fell asleep on the way home. Even if Haden didn't have have a good time, it will be a fun memory!

Mt. Sneffels Half Marathon

The Mt. Sneffels half marathon starts in Ouray, CO and finishes in Ridgway, CO. I think it is one of the most beautiful race courses. Clint ran it last year, but this year, my sister, Savannah, wanted to join him. Because life got crazy about a month before the race, neither of them were able to train much and just hoped that they would be able to finish.

Despite good intentions, we left late Friday morning for Ouray. Thanks to portable DVD players, all three kids travel remarkably well. We always stop at the same hamburger stand by the river in Buena Vista. The kids love running around at the park and throwing rocks into the river.

The kids and I dropped Clint and Savannah off for their 7:30 start time. And then my challenge started. I had to get all three kids to the hotel, feed them, pack up the room, and make it to the finish line in Ridgway before Clint. The breakfast room at the hotel was tiny, and full of older people. I think people cringed when they saw us coming. Lila was very cooperative, she slept through the entire ordeal. Regan and I were able to agree on something for her breakfast. Haden was a different story. No matter what I offered him, he loudly insisted that he didn't like it. I was ready to let him go without breakfast, but he finally agreed on a blueberry muffin. One lady noticed my situation (and Haden's fireman hat that HAD to come with us to breakfast) and asked to talk to Haden. Apparently her husband had been a firefighter and she was telling Haden all about it. He loved it and more importantly, became more cooperative. We made it to Ridgway with time to spare.

The kids were watching for Clint, saying he was running too slow!
Clint finished in 1:40:55, only 5 seconds slower than last year.

Savannah finished in 2:05:45 which was several minutes faster than she was even hoping to finish in.
They were both complaining about how miserable the last hill was and then tried to talk me into doing it next year. I don't think so.
Regan's race was next and due to some unfortunate events, she only got to run the last lap and they weren't timing it. She let me run with her, but kept telling me that she was going to beat me! She is a fast little runner!

We went to Maggie's for lunch where the kids signed their names on the walls several times and then we headed for home. It was a quick trip, but I think everyone had fun!

Regan starts kindergarten!

Regan started kindergarten this year! She has been eagerly anticipating this day for some time now. Every time we drove past the elementary school she would announce that there was her kindergarten. We had so much fun shopping for school supplies and school clothes together in preparation for her big day! Regan is rather opinionated about her wardrobe. I have not been able to pick her outfit out for her for a couple of years now.

She was so funny the night before, carefully selecting just the right ensemble for the first day of school. I tried to put a bow in her her hair, but she refused, saying that she is too old to wear bows anymore?!?

Regan, pretending to be nervous for the first day.

Walking from the car to the school. Haden was also very excited, but I think he really misses Regan very much.

She was lucky enough to have several friends from church in her class. This is her "put the camera away right now mom, you are embarrassing me!" facial expression. Little does she know that she has years to get used to being embarrassed by me! It's my right as her mom, right?

And coming out of school on the first day. Her teacher, Mrs. Appel, is the one in the pink shirt holding the door open. The school bus could drop Regan off right in front of our house. That is, if she agreed to ride the bus. I don't mind, though, I love listening to her talk about her day all the way home. I am so glad that she loves going to kindergarten!

Summer 2010

This summer went by in a blur! Other than Lila's birth, we didn't really have any major plans, but still seemed to stay very busy! Here is a little of what we did...

There were dancing lessons. Regan loves dancing to Taylor Swift's "Love Story". The rest of us think Regan should agree to dance to more than one song!

Lots of holding and learning to be gentle with baby Lila.



We celebrated 4th of July by watching fireworks from our car because of the torrential rain and Clint took the kids to roast marshmallows and do fireworks. Lila was too new, so she and I stayed home and slept.

LOTS of lawn mowing!

Plenty of walks-Lila is only good in the stroller for a few minutes before she starts to complain. I wonder if it has anything to do with having Haden sitting next to her, I mean, on her? He can't keep his hands off of her!

We got a new roof because of all the hail damage. The kids loved watching the workers! I wonder if they minded having two kids move from window to window so they could get the best view of wherever they were working?

We spent the hottest day of the year at City Park playing in the water fountains. Haden loved it; Regan loved it for the first ten minutes and then she got water in her face and was ready to go home.

We took a very quick trip to Idaho to introduce Lila to her grandparents and cousins and so we could meet my sister's new baby, Gemma. We took a detour through Bear Lake so we could stop at La Beau's to get lunch and a milkshake.

Clint's parent's lawn was thoroughly mowed on several occasions.

Haden claimed Grandpa's red 4 wheeler and refused to ride the green one or let anyone else drive the red one. It's lucky he had no way to bring it home or Grandpa would have been out of a 4 wheeler!

The kids took several trips to the Blue Goose (a penny candy store), always on the 4 wheelers. They both had fun filling up their sandwich bags with penny candy, but then neither would eat it. The chocolate candy bars and blue Gatorade were a different story.

Regan loved playing with all her cousins. I loved having someone else around to play Barbies with her!

Regan, Lila, & I made several trips to Pocatello to visit my sisters and we left Haden with Clint in Samaria to feed the cows & ride the tractor.

Regan, Lila, and I spent a lot of time in the hospital visiting my sister and her new baby.
One of the best things about having a baby in smaller, rural hospital is that they are much more relaxed. Dale made several trips up and down the hall of the maternity wing giving rides to the girls in an abandoned wheelchair. They loved it and the nurses only smiled as they flew past the nurses' station.
Lila meeting Uncle Dale.

Both the big kids were very worn out at the end of each day!

Lila seemed to change from a tiny newborn to a much bigger baby in a matter of days! She is still a wonderful baby and very tolerant of her siblings' demonstration of affection towards her. We are so very lucky to have her join our family!

Lila looks a little unsure of the situation--I can't say that I blame her!