Swigert Garden

I volunteered to take care of a garden bed at the Swigert garden this summer.  It has a watering system already, so I just need to go every once in a while to weed.  In our bed there is pumpkins and some kind of edible flower, but we are able to take food from the other beds too!
Yesterday the kids and I picked a huge zucchini and plan to make bread and muffins.  Yum!

Welcome Summer

The kids and I have started some fun traditions to welcome summer.  This is our second or third times going to these activities.

City Park Ice Cream Social:

National Get Outdoors Day- this year at Sloan's Lake:

Eli made it to the top!

We had to get a tow out of the lake on our canoe.  We couldn't seem to get going the right way and kept getting stuck.  It was an adventure!

Commerce City Memorial Day Parade:

Last Day of School 2016

The boys finished kindergarten and 2nd grade!  They both had good years at Swigert and really enjoyed their classes and teachers.

Field Day pictures

Eli with Ms. VanAuken

Diego with Ms. Marijke

Jason Boyher

My high school friend Jason Boyher died on Memorial Day in his sleep.  It's really sad and I've been thinking a lot about it.  I haven't talked to him in a long time, but we were pretty good friends back then.  I feel really sad for his wife and 2 little kids.  He has a daughter Ruby's age and then a 5 month old son.  He had been married to his wife Julie for 5 years.  It's crazy how you can just go to sleep one night and then never wake up.  I hope his family can be comforted and find some peace.

picture was taken 19 years ago at my graduation party.  

No more diapers!?

Ruby has been working on going to the potty.  I am so excited to be finished with diapers after 8 years!  I think we are almost completely there.  Tonight Ruby is even wearing underwear while she is sleeping, so I'm hoping she stays dry all night!

The first time she peed in the potty I took her to McDonald's and bought her an ice cream cone.  She loved it.

I made her a potty chart and she is all done filling out the pee section with stickers and now is working on the poop section.  She only has one sticker so far.  When she finishes the chart she will get another ice cream or maybe another prize.  

Some fun outings

We have had some fun outings lately.

The Apex Center pool.  They have a fun slide that Eli loves and I knew Diego would love it to if he would just try, but he was scared.  I told him I would give him $2 ($1 wasn't enough for him) if he would go down with me.  He did and then he went by himself and loved it!  He went over and over for more than an hour.  

We went on a little nature walk near Westerly Creek.  

The kids at the climbing park.

We saw these two bison on our drive around Rocky Mountain Arsenal and Wildlife Refuge.  It was so cool to see them so close up- they are huge!

We ran into some friends on the trail and the Refuge in between General Conference Sessions.  

We went to the Butterfly Pavilion for free again- thanks to the pass you can get from the library.

We had a dinner picnic one night at Central Park on the hill.  The kids loved rolling down.

We went to a birthday party at a bowling alley.  This was the first time bowling for all the kids and they all liked it and want to go back soon.

At the dentist.  Both boys had no cavities, but Ruby had 2!  They were little ones and she got them fixed right then.  It didn't even hurt and she did great!

The A Train opened up last weekend.  They had free train rides so we took it to the airport Friday night.  We ate dinner inside and saw this cool art sculpture by the new hotel.

 Friday afternoon my mom, Ruby, and I rode the train to Union Station downtown.  There was a huge line to get back on the train to go home and we didn't think we would make it on time to pick the boys up from school, so we had to figure out another way home.  We decided to take a bus and it got us to school right before I had to pick the boys up!  It was quite an adventure.

Saturday we did Box City as part of Doors Open Denver.  Eli made a hotel (just like Cesar makes at work), Diego made a mansion, and Ruby a house.  

School, Scouts, and Legos

The boys have been busy at school learning and performing.  Each of them had a night for parents to come and hear about their projects.  Eli studied Food Waste and made a nice poster all by himself and prepared a presentation.  He did great!  He also performed songs with 2nd grade and we got to see some of his art.

He also did Pinewood Derby at cub scouts.  Unfortunately it didn't turn out very well.  The car didn't fit on the track, so he had to race an extra car that they had.  He was very upset!  I felt so bad for him, but was proud of him for racing the other car and trying to make the best of it.  We will have to make sure and follow the directions correctly next year. 

Diego had a kindergarten presentation this week about insects.  He studied praying mantises and shared what he learned with parents.  He did a great job and I think he felt proud of himself.  He also had a concert with all the kindergartners.  It was pretty cute.  

We participated in the library's lego contest and won the family category again!  This year's theme was Denver history.  It was Eli's idea to make the Stapleton air control tower.  We won a lego book.  

One night I sent Eli out with my phone to take some pictures of the tower so we could build our own.  He just had to walk to the corner; we live so close.  They are working on turning the building into Punch Bowl Social, a restaurant and game place including a bowling alley.  It supposed to open sometime this fall or winter.  We are excited!