I'm doing some catching up on this blog thingy and wanted to kick off this update with a post about our super fun trip to Colorado in July! Jason and I were both really overdue for a vacation and a 5 day trip to the mountains to meet up with my parents at the mountain house (aka Burnbrae) just about hit the spot. It would have been enough to just escape the sweltering heat back in KC but to visit such a gorgeous place and spend time in the mountains was absolutely perfect!
Before we embarked on the trip, Jason and I decided we would focus on fishing and getting the kids to a place where they understand the mechanics of fishing, how to cast, etc in order to be in control of their own rod and really start to have fun with it. I'd say our plan worked!
We had a few work meetings to attend for a development project in Colorado but other than that, we devoted all spare time to the craft of fishing. We actually decided to stay an extra day because I was not ready to leave on Sunday and OLIVIA was the one who convinced everyone to go fishing for another day on that last day.
The first day this grand plan started out as a Fishing 101 class taught by Jason. But the reality and sometimes boredom of fishing set in and things seemed to devolve into an exercise resembling Torture by Fishing until things came back around to sessions such as Advanced Knot Untangling, Worm Wrestling for Beginners, and Chasing Down the Chipmunk Who Stole Your Lunch. Eventually this all added up to a whole lot of family fun.
I think grabbing a cooler, packing lunch, worms, patience, sunscreen and whatever else it takes (SERIOUSLY, I don't honestly know what all is needed.. I defer to Jason on this stuff) to get out there with a fishing pole and tangle with some fish... it's all good in my opinion.
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| Fishing at 11 Mile Canyon |
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| Learning to Fish with Daddy |
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| Not her first catch ever, but the first after she learned to cast! |
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| We threw all of the fish back! No fish were harmed by the making of this blog. |
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| Fishing Not Catching. AKA It's OK to be bored sometimes says Mom. |
Besides fishing, we did make time to visit 7 Falls which is always fun. On the way down, we ran into a guy who INSISTED on getting the perfect family shot of us. OK!
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| Summer 2018, 7 Falls |
A few more pics on 7 Falls which involved far less effort.
The kids recently started back at St. Paul's in Kindergarten and First Grade. They were both super excited to return to school so I'm thinking they must be doing something right!
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| First Day of 1st Grade Self Portrait |
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| All Polished Up for Picture Day! |
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| Proud of the Yard Sign they gave us and Pic Day Ready! |
We're all settled back into school now and enjoying getting back to the routine of it all. The kids are taking music lessons, Olivia is taking voice and piano and Quinn is taking ukulele/guitar. We got a new couch for my birthday for the main family room!
The sounds around our house these days include Quinn's whistling (he is a whistler!), Olivia practicing her spelling words, the kids talking to Alexa (google AI device!) and Vanna's panting, scratching, etc (however we did have to euthanize her on Oct 3rd and she is very much missed). Vanna lived a few days short of 13 years and was hardly ever sick a day in her life.
R.I.P. Vanna! It's hard to believe we are officially a dog-free zone.
Love always, Claire & Family
