Tis The Last Week of Summer!

School starts early here in Colorado. It's caught me off guard both last year and this year! It feels like June and July just flew by... Once home from our trip to Washington/Idaho, we only had three more weeks left to make the most of summer! The week before school was due to start we decided to throw out all the stops.

Zach had an early Saturday morning baseball game so we thought it'd be perfect to spend the rest of the day up at the Colorado Renaissance Festival. We'd been in a rush the first time because his baseball game was that afternoon, so this time we wanted a few hours to stay and explore and see what we didn't see last time. We got there just in time for a medieval lunch!

We timed it just right for the parade as well. Leah loved this elephant and wants to ride it next time.

Each weekend has a theme-- and this weekend's theme was Pirates! Zach and Lucy got their pose on in front of this guy in honor of all things "pirate" happening that day. 

It really is so well done, we had a blast getting to check it out one last time before it closes for summer. It will definitely make its way onto the docket for next summer. Huzzah!

Monday I took the kids to Sky Zone. They love this little trampoline park that Uncle Taylor showed us, and Leah just gets braver and braver every time we go. Even Lizzie got in on the action and tried bouncing on the trampolines! She just wants to be wherever the big kids are.

I especially love it because it's a pretty efficient way for these guys to burn off some energy! After just 30 minutes of bouncing, they look pretty hot and tired to me!

There's a Hawaiian shaved ice place in the same parking lot, so we headed over there for a nice cold treat to cool off with. Yum! Lucy got hers "snowcapped" which means they drizzle sweetened condensed milk on top. Yum!

Such a fun afternoon to celebrate our last week of summer with!

I signed Leah up for swimming lessons at our local HOA pool for the week, just for fun, to see how she'd do. She's never taken any kind of formal lessons, and these were pretty basic-- run by the high school life guards, so they were pretty inexpensive too. I can't say she loved them. In true Leah fashion, she'd only participate if they were doing something fun, but if it required her to put her face in or do something out of her comfort zone she'd run out of the pool and refuse to get in. That's our Wee-Wees! Oh well. We'll try again next summer...

Wednesday we met dad for lunch in Castle Rock and then did some Back to School shopping at the Outlet Malls. Friday was supposed to be our epic family camping trip, and the kids were SO excited!! We'd bought groceries, gotten everything packed and loaded up in the car, and we were ready to go! Jon had a golfing-schmoozing-lunch-meeting with some orthodontists all afternoon, so as soon as he got done at 4 we headed for the hills. Guys.... The camping gods STILL hate us. We made it up to the campground only to have the Camp Host tell us there was basically a state-wide fire ban for all campgrounds. That meant no fire, no charcoal-- only propane grills which we did not have. So without a heat source of any kind, we had no way to cook our meals (and it goes without saying that s'mores were also out of the question). We'd basically be starving for dinner that night, breakfast, and lunch-- and no campfire for the kiddies. Where's the fun in that?!? So we packed up and headed back home. If the poor kids were devastated-- Jon took it even worse. We sorta, kinda made up for it with brekkie at Waffle House the next morning. 

After breakfast we headed over to the MAC in Castle Rock so Jon could take Zach and Lucy on a mountain bike ride. I stayed and played on the swings with Lizzie and Leah. 

Leah was a good helper and pushed Lizzie for quite awhile on the swings until the older kids got done. That night we met Jeremy and Kylene's family at Dion's for dinner, which is always yummy. It definitely wasn't the epic end to summer we'd all been planning on, but it worked out okay in the long run, and we still have a few more weekends before the snow hits to sneak in that last-minute camping trip. Let's just hope the fire ban has ended by then!

Monday the kids had their "Meet and Greet," which is how they do things here in Colorado. For the first "unofficial" day of school they actually only show up to drop off their supplies, meet their teachers, see their classrooms, tour the school (if they want), and sign up for clubs and after-school activities, etc. It's pretty low-key, and for someone like Zach, it really helps alleviate some of the nerves!! Right after we got done with that, we met Sophie and Isaac at the Parker Parks and Rec swimming pool and spent a couple hours playing on the water slides there!

Tuesday, August 9th was the official first day of school, and Lucy and Zach headed back to Frontier Valley to start 2nd and 4th grades (respectively). Farewell summer, and happy BACK TO SCHOOL!