Monday, August 27, 2012

Weekend in the Rockies

The weekend after Ellie started school, we headed up to Frisco, Colorado.  It is a ski resort city in the mountains and we scored a Living Social deal for a condo stay.  It was a great family get away!  Fresh mountain air and cooler temperatures were amazing to enjoy.

The first night we got there (about 2.5 hour drive) and went out to eat at a pizza place on the main street of Frisco.  It was a long wait but the pizza was fantastic!  We grabbed some ice cream from the grocery store and headed home.  We were all kind of sick so it was an early night for us.

The next morning we got up and headed to nearby Silverthorne.  We went to a park that overlooked Lake Dillon and it was beautiful!  After playing at the park for a while we went to the nearby outlets in Silverthorne and walked around.
















After the outlets shopping we decided it was warm enough to go swimming at the pool at the condo complex.  I didn't take my camera with me but trust me that this was the highlight for the kids.  We don't swim very often in Colorado!

Swimming was followed by cleaning up and then heading to the main street of Frisco to a free museum.  They had a bunch of log cabins moved to one area that represented how life used to be in the area.  The girls had fun trying on some costumes and checking things out.   (* I did do Chloe's hair but she took it out so she looks like a little homeless child!)










We walked around and enjoyed the views and creek and the town.  We had dinner at a Cajun restaurant (fabulous) and watched some glass blowing artist.  Then it was back to the condo to watch a movie and relax some more.






The next day we attended church in a tiny branch in Frisco and then headed home.  We took the scenic route home and saw some amazing views!  I am realizing my camera doesn't do them justice.



Monday, August 20, 2012

Bowling with Grandpa Snow White & Grandma Debbie

My dad and Debbie were in Colorado for a couple of weeks in August.  My dad ran a big race with Rob and then they were helping Debbie's daughter move to California.  So they stayed with them and helped with packing and loading most of the time!  Before they left  - they decided to take us bowling.  We found a brand new bowling alley near Eliza's school so we could take her there right afterwards.

This was the first time that the girls had ever been bowling and they loved it!  Everyone but grandpa used the bumpers.  Chloe thought it should be her turn every single time and scared me with picking up the heavy bowling balls constantly.  After the game of bowling we went and played in the arcade for a little while before getting Ellie off to school.  The girls loved the arcade area but especially a game that provided lots of candy and then playing air hockey with Grandpa.














Eliza's First Day of School - Kindergarten!

Eliza had her first day of school on August 20, 2012!  Colorado has what they call the "Choice" school program.  Basically you have the option of choosing to go to any school in the school district (they first let in kids that live within the school boundaries and then let other kids in).  Since I wasn't too impressed with the neighborhood school, I started doing my research on what our options were.  I had narrowed our school choices down to 3 schools.  One of them was a charter school called The Classical Academy or TCA.  Unfortunately for me - TCA had a major wait list that people put their kids on at birth!  We were so far down on the wait list that I didn't think we had a prayer of getting in.  But somehow - Eliza secured a spot!  TCA has three different campuses and we got the one the furthest away from us and an Afternoon kindergarten spot but we were just happy to get a place.  Other than the drive time and carpooling situation - I'm happy with the decision.  She is in a class with 15 other kids (8 girls, 8 boys) and in addition to their teacher they have a full time aide that stays in the classroom to help out.  She has afternoon school Monday through Thursday and no school on Fridays (another thing I love!). And the best part in my mind is the uniforms!  And Eliza loves the uniforms too.  Not sure how long that will last.

Anyway on the first day of school - I was able to go with her and help her learn where to go and how the structure would work.  My dad and Debbie were in town so they watched Chloe and Asher for me so I could go with Eliza.  She was extremely shy but considering how quiet I was growing up - this doesn't concern me.  She is in Mrs. Benson's class and Mrs. Teal is the aide.   She still loves and looks forward to going to school so I'm pretty sure it's a success!

* I learned that school supplies are expensive.  And Mrs. Benson had them take a picture on the first day of school and will repeat it again on the last day with the whole class - kind of fun.