Daddy Time

Since the girls have been playing with Legos every day, they haven't been playing with Kyle as much. Kyle looks forward to Daddy coming home from work so that he can play cars with him. It's the highlight of his day!

Lego Mania!

This summer, it has been all about Legos with the girls. They play first thing in the morning, in the afternoon and right before bed. They love to make houses, dog parks, etc. and then make up stories with the Lego Friends girls and animals. 

  

Thanks to grandpa supporting our "reading program" the girls have also been reading a lot to earn money to buy new sets. We have pretty much lost our office to Legos, but it's worth the endless hours of happy playing with very little fighting. 

A Glimpse of Our Summer with Videos

Karis has learned to swim! 

The kids didn't take any swim lessons this summer, but we have been swimming a lot with friends. Karis practiced swimming every time and now she can swim across the pool. 

Makena is reading!

Makena has been making great strides with her reading.

Kyle always makes us laugh!

Here is one example of how he does that.

The Rest of Our Time in Vail

On Sunday, we allowed the kids to sleep in but of course they woke up early. They were ready to start the day! We were going to go hiking, but there was a thunderstorm looming, so we spent a relaxing morning at home. In the afternoon, the Fenley's club was having a summer party at a restaurant. We took a gondola ride up to the top of the mountain where the restaurant was located.

These are the Fenley's boys. Such sweet kids! Two little girls may have had a crush on them... It was fun to watch during our time there.

We saw deer on our way up and on our way down.

At the party, there was a huge buffet, drinks and dessert. They had a kid section where they had crafts, face painting, a balloon artist, and games. The kids had a great time!

There weren't that many kids there so Makena took advantage of that and went back for more and more face painting. She loved it!

It was a fun treat to attend the part and we're thankful that the Fenley's invited us as their guests.

Monday was our last full day in Vail. We went on a hike right behind their house.

Kyle did great on the way up, but was done once we got near the top. 

The girls made it to the top to see the waterfall. 

I decided to stay with Kyle just below the waterfall, so we didn't quite make it up to the top. 

The girls loved the hike and felt it wasn't long enough. They wanted to do another hike.

Ryder loved running up and down the mountain on his own. He blazed the trail for us. Here is our first family photo with the dog. 

Since the girls wanted to do more hiking, we went to the Village and took a walk to the Nature Center. Right when we got to the Nature Center, it started raining. We hung out until the rain passed. 

Then we walked around the Village to get some ice cream and souvenirs!

The Village had small play areas scattered throughout. Little stinker wouldn't cooperate with my photo taking!

 

We had dinner in the Village and then headed home to watch a movie. 

We drove to the Village but the kids wanted to ride the bus one last time! Kyle kept calling it a "school bus."

Early Tuesday morning, we were back on the road after breakfast!

4th of July in Vail

We woke up early on the 4th to have breakfast at the club and scope out a spot to watch the parade in the Village.  This was the first time the kids had seen a live parade!

Makena saw someone with a flag and said she wanted one. Kathy left to look for flags and came back not only with flags but also t-shirts for all of them.

The kids loved collecting the candy!

After the parade, the kids took a break in the shade. The sun was hot!

We had lunch in the Village and then came home to relax. The weather was cool and perfect. 

The view from the backyard. 

The Fenley's 6-year old dog, Bailey was a fun playmate for Ryder. They played together all day. 

We were glad we brought Ryder. He had a great time and was no trouble at all. 

The dogs provided fun entertainment for everyone!

Silly dogs were running around the yard together like this. Neither one dared to let go of the toy.

The kids had a great time whenever we were at the house. Kathy had some things for them to play with, they watched TV, played in the game room, and played with the dogs.

That same day, we walked down the street to the playground and dog park. The dog park was an open area (no fence!) with a pond for the dogs to jump in. There were plenty of dogs for Ryder to play with. 

And then it was finally time to head back to the Village for fireworks!

At first Kyle didn't like the fireworks and declared he wanted to go home in the first two minutes. Thankfully, Kathy brought ear plugs and it made a huge difference. Kyle enjoyed the rest of the show.