How to eat a Hostess Twinkies - Logan style!

TJ and I remember having Hostess Twinkies from time to time as part of our childhood.  Well, when Hostess came back to life, TJ decided it was time to introduce the kids to the Twinkie.    They were a hit!  Logan chose to eat his with a piece of bacon!  He took a piece of bacon and placed it on bottom of his Twinkie and bit in!  So now our kids know what a Twinkie tastes like and Logan knows what a Twinkie and bacon tastes like!

Hiking Castlewood Canyon State Park

I always love surprises!  Especially when it means that TJ has came home early from work and is ready to have fun!  A few Fridays back, TJ showed up early from work and asked if we wanted to go play.  We loaded the car and headed to Castlewood Canyon State Park.  We got there and had dinner overlooking this beautiful bridge.  The kids LOVE to have picnics!  After we ate, we drove around to the other side of the park and went for a hike to the ruins of an old damn.  We had a great time enjoying nature and the cooler temperatures at night.

 When we pulled into the parking lot, we saw 5 deer, two bucks and three does.  The kids loved how close they were to us!  It was fun to see them and show the kids!

 Then we were off on our hike!

 We made it to the end of our hike to the ruins of the old damn!  It was a perfect hike for our little family!

It was beautiful!  We love to enjoy nature and get out as much as we can!  I hope our children always love the beauty of nature and all God has given us!

First day of KINDERGARTEN!

It is so hard to believe that Lily has started Kindergarten!  Her first day of school was August 14th!  She was so excited to go she could hardly wait!  She is still just as excited to go three weeks later!  Hopefully she will continue to love education for the rest of her life!  Our little Kindergartener is not so little!  She is growing up into such a sweet and caring young lady!  She is kind to her friends and listens to her teacher.  She LOVES to do her homework and seeks extra work to do!  One day last week, Lily came into our bed bright and early with a pad of paper and a crayon.  She woke her dad up and told him she wanted to do math.  For the next hour she would ask for Daddy to tell her math problems and then she would write them down and solve them!  She has inherited her fathers math genes!  Logan misses her while she is gone and always looks forward to going to pick her up!  He wishes he were going with her and carries his backpack around the house saying that it is time to go to school.  He also insists that Lily's teacher is HIS teacher!

On to the first day of school...  Lily could hardly wait.  It was a little hard to wait as she has Kindergarten in the afternoon.  She was a little hesitant to take pictures because she didn't want to be late!  After lunch we took some pictures and headed to school.  Lucky for Lily, Daddy arranged to work at home so he could come to this big first day!  We took her to her door and waited for her teacher to come out.  I was getting chocked up as we were driving to school.  I was able to keep it all together in front of Lily and focus on her excitement!  After we said good-bye, the Kindergarteners went into the big and scary school as the parents watched from the distance.  Logan had the hardest time of anyone.  He kept giving Lily hugs and not wanting to let go of her.  Then as we got into the car, Logan teary eyed said, "Oh, no!  Lily gone."  For the first two days of school he refused to nap while she was gone.  He missed her so much.  We all miss our Lily while she is at school, but are so excited for her opportunity to learn! 

We love you Lily and wish you the very best year in Kindergarten!  You will do amazing things!

Saying Good-bye to Summer

The week before school started, we too a trip to the Zoo.  It was the first relief from the HOT SUMMER SUN we had had all summer.  We decided to take full advantage of it and make our way to one of our favorite places as we said good-bye to the carefree days of summer.  We had a great time watching the shows and looking at the animals.  Just a few shots from our fun!