Another Dancer In The Family!!

1st Day of School

Kaydi - Preschool

Kaden - 4th Grade

Kylee - 9th Grade

Since Kylee is off to high school, today was her first time ever getting on a bus in the morning from home.  In the past she always rode to school with me :-)

Speaking of high school, did you notice the black bag she is holding in the pictures above?

That is her laptop - yep, every student at her high school gets one.

How cool is that?

And here is Kaydi pretending to be the teacher.

Wonder where she gets that?

Notice I didn't get a picture of Kaden.  When we got to school I had barely put the vehicle in "park" and he was off.  He could not wait to get to school this morning.  He kept watching the time and asking if we should be going or if we were going to be late.  For him, it's all about socializing!

The kids all had a great first day.  Kylee told me everything and Kaden told me not much of anything except that he is very excited that they get an hour for art this year versus 30 minutes.

Vacation Day #9 - Headin' Home!

Vacation Day #8 - Colorado Springs

Breakfast at the hotel
Hiking at the Garden of the Gods
Lunch at the Garden of the Gods Cafe
Rock Ledge Historic Ranch (like Living History Farms)
Focus on the Family Center
Started the drive home
Had an interesting supper at Dairy Queen in Fort Morgan, Colorado
Let's just say we won't be going back :-) to eat there again

Vacation Day #7 - Colorado Springs

Breakfast at the hotel with a beautiful view the mountains

Drove up Pikes Peak

Deli Lunch

Garden of the Gods

Flying W Ranch and Chuckwagon Supper

Kids enjoyed popcorn at the hotel and Kaden went swimming

Vacation - Day #6 - Dillon to Denver to Colorado Springs

breakfast at the hotel
drove through the Johnson Tunnel
hurried to Denver to get to the Mile High Stadium, the Garmin took us to a residential area!
made it just in time to take the stadium tour - one of Kaden's highlights of the trip
had lunch at Casa Bonita
Dena and the kids got SCARED in the cave tunnels
drove to Colorado Springs in rush hour traffic - NOT one of Chad's highlights
supper at The Airplane Restaurant
kids went swimming at the hotel

Vacation - Day #5 - Rocky Mountain National Park

ate breakfast at The Donut Haus
spent most of the day going through Rocky Mountain National Park
saw a coyote, marmots, deer, elk, moose and chipmunks :-)
rode the shuttle bus and hiked around Bear Lake
the bus ride was a favorite of Kaydi's
had a Domino's Pizza Picnic for lunch
had fun playing in the snow and enjoyed a family snowball fight!
drove through the Eisenhower Tunnel
supper at Ruby Tuesday's in Dillon, Colorado
Kylee and Kaden went swimming at the hotel in Dillon

Vacation Day #4 - Wyoming & Estes Park, Colorado

Breakfast at the hotel
Left about 9:45 am for Estes Park, Colorado!
Kylee drove for an hour in Wyoming :)
had lunch at a Outpost Cafe in Lusk, Wyoming
arrived in Estes Park around 5:45 pm
Kids played on a playground by the Big Thompson River
Enjoyed the River Walk
Sat by the river while eating supper at Poppy's Pizza
and then enjoyed shopping
Kylee bought fun knee-high socks, Kaden bought a Mountain Dude t-shirt and Dallas Cowboys socks, and Kaydi bought a "happy bunny" hat and a stuffed pink moose.
Rode Go-Karts!! Kaden with Chad, Kaydi with Dena, and Kylee rode solo.

Vacation Day #3

Breakfast at the hotel
Bear Country USA
Lunch in Keystone at Teddy's Deli
Mt. Rushmore
Visited with Nick Clifford - a driller and winchman during the carving of Mt. Rushmore
Enjoyed ice cream & slushies at the Carver's Cafe
Crazy Horse Monument
Black Hills, Custer State Park, & Wildlife Loop
fed the chipmunks, saw a lot of deer, antelope, and buffalo
and the most amazing rainbow
Mt. Rushmore Evening Lighting Ceremony
Domino's Pizza at the hotel

Kylee was a pro at feeding the chipmunks, they crawled right into her hand.
Kaydi talked about the "baby bear" all day and held the pamphlet from Bear Country most of the day calling it her "bear paper."
Kaden loved seeing the buffalo.

Vacation Day #2

Continental Breakfast at the hotel
Badlands - everyone loved them!
Kylee was the first to spot wildlife - a small herd of antelope
We also saw prairie dogs.
Kaydi got excited about the "rainbow rocks"
Temperature Outside - 104 degrees!!
lunch at Subway in Wall
quick stop at the hotel and then
Big Thunder Mine Tour in Keystone, SD and we panned for gold
Kylee could have stayed there the rest of the day looking for gold.
Storybook Island - Kaden kept saying "This is the best park ever!"
Supper at Colonial House Restaurant
swimming at the pool