Fall Break Staycation

The girls had Fall Break the week before last. This is something new to us as there is no such thing in California. A whole week off on October??? Awesome. We decided to do a Staycation. It was a lot of fun!

The first weekend we went to a fall festival at the Littleton Museum.  Mia loved the storyteller.

Anna was more in to the games.

Both liked the rocking horse.

There is a blacksmith working there every Saturday. Last time he made horseshoes, this time hooks.

I still watched the boys on Monday. Don't want to miss that!

We did a couple of projects during the week. The girls wanted a shelf in the play room that Oli could not reach. It would hold their "important" stuff.  They made one with Daddy!

Maks and Mia waiting for their turn at the router.

Next they painted it! Mia picked out aquamarine and Anna picked out sparkly gold.

Finished product!

Later in the weekewent to the children's museum. The girls are getting a little old for some of the stuff so this may be our last trip for awhile, maybe ever.

They attended a class to learn about fish.

We also checked out the skate park in our city.  We've never been to it. 

Mia spent a lot of time reading Shel Silverstein and loving it!

We made some no-sew pumpkin crafts! 

To top of our week we went to an all-children cast performance of Alice in Wonderland.

It was a great week! We especially enjoyed having Daddy home with us and doing stuff around here.

Rocky Mountain National Park

On Sunday, we decided to visit Rocky Mountain National Park. Fall is the time when the elk are rutting and you can hear them bugling. Unfortunately, you have to be there after 4:00 PM to see and hear the hundreds of elk. We had to leave by 3:00 to get home for Faith Formation classes.

We first stopped in Estes Park for the Elk Festival. We had a nice lunch first.

Then it was off to the festival which was not really worth our time.

Mia is wolf-sized and Anna is coyote-sized.

The hoof was much more interesting than the hide and antlers we've seen many times.

We got to see a few rescued birds of prey.

At the visitor center we learned how mountains are formed.  

We knew our chances of seeing elk in the early afternoon were slim but we went on a hike to try anyway!

It turned out to be more of a rock-climbing trip!

After leaving the park we drove through the town of Estes Park again and then we saw them! It was a huge elk with a magnificent pair of antlers and his harem of 30-40 does! I don't know why I did not even think of taking a picture! It was a perfect ending to a wonderful day.

Maks Turns Four!

Make turned four last month. He hasn't had a birthday party since he turned one. Becky and Arek decided to give him a fireman party! We had the party at our house. It was fun doing a themed party.

The bounce house was a huge hit! 

A week later Becky got a call from the bounce house operator asking if we were missing in billiard balls??!!  Dan went down to the basement to count and we were nine short! We never saw anyone take any or play with any in the bounce house. I asked the girls about it and they looked confused so I don't think it was them. I'm just glad no one got hit by a flying cue ball!!!!

Fun Run!

The girls got to participate in their school's major fundraiser last week, the Fun Run! The PTO picked quirky names for each class. Mia's class was the happy porcupines with sunglasses!

Anna's class was the itchy kangaroos with clown noses!

They really enjoyed the fun run and were hoping it was going to part of the schedule every day! Sorry, sweeties.

Anna Turns Six!

This year was a party year for Anna and she chose to have her party at a kids beauty salon!

Every girl got to get their hair styled and nails polished.

Ava is one of Anna's school friends.

When they weren't getting their hair or nails done it was karaoke time! Just when I thought we had let it go, we get to hear Let it Go over and over and over again. Mia actually has a very good voice.

Anna chose a heart hairstyle.

Mia likes to "collect" wristbands from places she visits. I like to cut them off while she sleeps at night when the get a little to ragged for me.

Our neighbor, Rylee, got to attend.

Since Maks came to the party, Becky decided to get Oli his first professional haircut at the same time. He was not a fan.

The result was super!

Maks went for green polish.

Pure joy! 

Chrystal is another of Anna's school friends. She is pretty girly, like Anna.

At the end we had pizza, cupcakes and opened presents!

Group picture people!!

Anna - you have brought so much happiness to our lives. Happy 6th birthday!