Aye, Matey!

Our adventure to Pirate's Cove on Friday. It was a really good time. Matt and Nick enjoyed the lazy river and the slides, Zach and Cailey spent most of the time in the sand box. I spent most of the time chasing Ben from one area to the other ~ ah, the joys of motherhood :o) :o) Enjoy the pictures!!

Doesn't it look fun?

Let's go swim!!!! Ben is crying because he is mad that we made him sit to take the picture:Cailey playing with the water spray:

Matt chased Ben for me so I could take some pictures:

Ben "swimming" ~ thank goodness for the life vest:

The Lazy River:

Cailey coming down the slide ~ she was very excited because this was the first year that she was tall enough:

Ben playing in the sand box ~ I failed to get one of Cailey and Zach in the sand box...darn it!!:

Matt and Nick:

Ben thinks he can swim...

...but he can't. This has been a big worry for us this summer. He has absolutely no fear of the water. What's worse is that he doesn't want me to hold onto him ~ which is frustrating for us both. But, Thursday I took the kids to the rec center to swim ~ more for Cailey than anything. I bought a floatation vest for Ben that didn't work...he just sank to the bottom...and he hated wearing it. So, half way through our swimming, I took it off and let him play in the baby area. Then, he spotted Cailey by the lazy river and wanted to see her. I thought, "no problem, we'll go in the lazy river together." I will make a long story short ~ Ben decided to walk towards the chairs next to the lazy river (I was following right behind him) and then, at the last second, made a 90 degree turn...took two steps...bent his knees...and jumped into the lazy river!!!! My "mom panic" mode kicked in and I jumped in ~ albeit, on top of him ~ and picked him up out of the water. Although jumping on him wasn't a great idea (not really my intention anyway), I also knew I didn't have time to just reach in and grab him because the not-so-lazy river is moving at a pretty good speed ~ I knew he would get swept out of my reach if I didn't jump in after him. After pulling him out of the water, I turned to see the life guard ~ who mouthed "OH MY GOD" to me while using her best "I can't believe he just did that" look on her face. I gave her my best "I am so sorry" look and we proceeded to pick up our belongings and go home. That was enough excitement for me and I clearly needed to go buy a new life vest and sign my son up for swim lessons immediately :o) I still can't believe Ben jumped in without even a seconds hesitation!!!! I must be a masochist because I took the kids to a water park today ~ don't worry, I bought a new life vest that worked like a charm...yes, Ben was able to prove it to me right away when he jumped into the pool...this time, I was waiting for him in the pool :o) :o) (I will blog about the water park tomorrow when I have more energy and the pictures are uploaded.) Obviously, Ben will be enrolled in swim lessons shortly. Can't wait to see how that progresses!!

A Time to Shine ~ Cailey's Recital!

Cailey had her first "official" recital today. It was WONDERFUL! She did such a good job and she was super cute ~ of course :o) :o) We are so very proud of her and she says she had a really good time. She is done with dance for the summer. She will be taking Tap 2 and Hip Hop 1-2 starting August 6. She has really taken to the dancing and we are very excited to watch her grow and learn!!! I have so many pictures of her, but a lot of them are a little blurry because the auditorium was dark and the kids were dancing pretty quick...ugh, digital cameras :o) :o) Enjoy the pictures of our star!

Cailey's teacher (on the right) ~ these are the owners (and twin sisters) of her dance academy:

Waiting her turn:

Opening pose ~ the dance begins:

Update on Ben

Ben had another ENT appointment today to evaluate his hearing and speech. We received mostly good news! First, his ear drums in both ears are not moving in the normal range...but that could be because the tubes are coming out (or are out and sitting in the canal) and could be disrupting the reading from the little machine they use ~ I can't remember what it's called :o) The doctor thinks his ears look healthy, so he seems confident that that is the case. Also, his hearing test was much improved from the last visit on April 23. The bad news is that Ben's speech is still delayed ~ he isn't as articulate as they would like to see for a two year old (he isn't getting most consonate and vowel sounds correctly) and he still talks really loud (a sign that he isn't hearing as well as he should be) . So, we are now setting up appointments with a speech therapist. They will evaluate him further and decide how much, if any, therapy he needs at this point. He hasn't been on antibiotics since I took my leave of absence from work and pulled him out of day care~ that is a big victory for us ~ and serves to reassure us that we made the correct decision. Sooooo, we are very optimistic that Ben is on his way to good health. I have extended my leave of absence to September 30 ~ so I am technically still employed until then :o) :o) ~ and we can give him several more months to catch up on his speech.

Happy Father's Day

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!

We had another busy weekend.

Saturday, Scott had to finish a paper for Banking School, so I took the kids (including Matt, Zach, and Matt's friend, Nick) to the pool. The weather was a bit cloudy so the kids decided to swim inside ~ that's okay with me...I don't have to worry about sunscreen as much :o) We have really great rec centers in our community so the kids had a blast in the pool and on the slide. The pool has a zero-depth entry so Ben can play and "swim" on his own. He also discovered the little frog slide and went up and down the slide probably a hundred times (see pictures below). Cailey and the boys spent nearly the whole time going down the big slide.

Sunday (Father's Day), we (meaning ME) made Daddy breakfast and then let him open some gifts. Then, Scott's work had their company picnic at the Colorado Springs Sky Sox game. They rented out a private area and provided food, soda, and booze!! We had a blast. It was the perfect way for us to spend Father's Day. The weather was beautiful (high 80's) and our "seats" ~ it was actually an air conditioned luxury box with a balcony to watch the game ~ was perfect to let Ben and the other kids run around and have a good time. The Bergs joined us, so Cailey was really happy to have someone there to run around with. She also got to play with little Aubrey ~ she's tickled that Aubrey likes her so much :o) Ben didn't get his normal nap, but then fell asleep in his car seat before we left the parking lot...no joke! I hope all the dad's had a great day!

Ben going down the little frog slide: Zachary playing in the water:
Cailey and Matt waiting to go down the big water slide:
Matt shooting out of the water slide:Going to the game:Ben playing with Cailey's visor: Our view of the game...GO SKY SOX!:

Ben and Aubrey playing inside...outside...inside...outside:AHHHAHHH ~ I ate so much I had to undo my pants :o) :o)...

Enjoying an ice cream cone:

A hungry, tired boy makes for a lousy day at the pool

Poor Cailey ~ I realized some time ago that she gets the raw end of the deal most of the time because she is so much older than Ben. She is such a good girl, but she ends up losing out on fun things because Ben isn't behaving or because I don't want Ben to have whatever it is she wants (i.e., popsicles, candy, chips, ice cream, etc.).

Today she wanted to go to the pool and slide down the big slide inside the rec center. We got to the pool, but Ben only lasted about 30 minutes before he started to melt down...it was my fault, we got there right about lunch time so he was hungry and he was tired. He didn't want in the pool, he didn't want out of the pool, he didn't want to swim in the "baby" pool ~ but, he doesn't want anyone to hold him in the big pool...he thinks he can swim. I bought a floatation vest thing hoping that would give him more freedom...yeah right, he didn't like the feel of the wet vest on his skin (ugh!). Cailey was so good at the zoo yesterday and she is usually a really big help around the house and when we go to the store or restaurant (we don't worry about Cailey ~ she's our calm one). All she wanted to do today was go swimming and go down the slide. So, when Ben started screaming at the top of his lungs and kicking his feet and crying...I would have normally left and gone home. But, what do I do for Cailey? Why should she miss out because Ben is misbehaving? She's being good but she would have to go home, too. What message is that sending her? She has started to make comments about the attention Ben gets, that Ben breaks everything, that Ben always ruins everything...I know, she's 6 and she is being very dramatic...but, there is some truth to it and I am not always sure of the best way to handle the situation. Today, my solution was to put Ben in time-out on the lounge chair (still screaming) and make him eat lunch while Cailey played in the pool. He didn't like that and it sent a very clear message to him. Anyway, Ben's mood improved with a full belly and we ended up spending two hours at the pool, but by the time we left Ben needed a nap BADLY and I just couldn't wait for Cailey to go down the slide (there is a long line of kids for the ONE slide). I felt bad that she didn't get to go down the slide and I am trying to explain to her that Ben is getting older every day and he will outgrow this stage...she just has to be patient with us. Still...that's one of the few drawbacks of spacing our kids so far apart.

Our zoo excursion

Today Cailey, Ben, and I went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. We have never been to this zoo ~ it's in Colorado Springs ~ and I am now a HUGE fan of this zoo. It reminds me of the Santa Barbara Zoo. Here are our top 10 reasons to visit this zoo again:

10. We didn't have to deal with the traffic going to downtown ~ we wanted to leave early and we would have been in rush-hour traffic if we tried to go to the Denver Zoo.

9. The mountain weather was cool enough for long pants and a sweat shirt ~ beautiful!

8. The zoo was not crowded at all ~ only small (if any) groups of people at each exhibit

7. It has most of the same animals as the big Denver zoo ~ especially the "most interesting" ones...the lions, tigers, bears, gorillas, orangutans, elephants, giraffes, etc.

6. Beautiful views of Colorado Springs!!

5. Friendly staff (for the most part :o). Many of the exhibits had a staff member standing by to answer questions.

4. The zoo is built on the mountain so you have to walk up and down the hills...great exercise to work off all the "junk" that we consumed throughout the day and the cool weather made it very nice.

3. The animals are really close...but safe ~ see the pictures below feeding the giraffes.

2. The brand new baby gorilla, baby orangutan, baby giraffe, baby wallaby, baby marmoset...and more!!!

1. And the top reason...it was much cheaper today!!! I had a coupon, so it only cost us $6 to get in. Still, adult admission isn't bad ~ only $12. Lunch was a little pricey...but then, aren't they always at these places :o) We could always bring a sack lunch next time. Also, like an idiot, I forgot the memory card for my digital camera, so I had to buy two disposable cameras...ugh! Otherwise, it was a cheap and wonderful (educational, even) way to spend the day!

Entering the giraffe exhibit ~ notice Ben...way in the back...he took off to the other statue just as I was trying to take the picture...the little devil!

Cailey and Ben feeding the giraffes. They came right up to you and stuck their tongues out to grab the crackers. Ben thought it was great fun.

Cailey spotted this deer right beside the trail as we were walking up to see the gorillas. It wasn't afraid of us at all. The whole zoo was set up so we could get up close to the animals and really look at them.

Riding the carousel. They are riding on a horse named Zach ~ of course, Cailey picked this one for her cousin Zachary! Ben looks a little scared in this picture ~ but, I assure you, he wasn't scared. He giggled through the whole ride and then fussed when we had to get off.

Normally, I don't like birds but this one seemed to love the humans and would hop from one person to another. Ben didn't really like it up close, but then started walking around the bird house with his finger out trying to get one of the birds to hop on his finger...the birds are smart and stayed away from the crazy little boy :o)

Cailey petting the baby wallaby.

Being stalked by the leopard:

The best animals at the zoo!! :o) :o)

Bye, bye zoo ~ we'll be back!!!

Ye Olde Renaissance Festival

Today was opening weekend for the CO Renaissance Festival. It's an annual event for us ~ Scott and I figured we have gone every year for the last 10 years. It's one of those events that you either love or hate ~ we love it. We love to go eat (anything you can think of on a stick), drink ice cold beer, watch the glass blowing demonstration (we try to plan the day around this one), watch the jousting competition, look at all the weird and interesting crap...oops, I mean, creative arts and crafts available for purchase, and the most fun...to people watch! There are some really crazy people at this thing! Some people take dressing up and acting the part very seriously ~ to each their own :o). Cailey bought a new costume with her own money ~ it's her money and choice...what can I say :o). Ben enjoyed his very first elephant ride and cried when he had to get off ~ silly me, I thought he would be scared! We spent five hours browsing and eating. It's a great time that we look forward to each year. You know I have pictures!!! Enjoy!

Having a good time on the elephant ride:

Cailey's new costume ~ purchased with her own hard earned money :o) The sales lady was desperately trying to get her to pick pieces that matched...no go...Cailey wanted each of these colors because she liked all of them, not because they go together. She is an independent thinker...we like to call it "fashion forward"...HA HA HA!

The end of the day! Not sure if you can see it in the picture, but Ben is wearing most of the food we purchased...he had a really good time!