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So I had the bright idea that I would take the girls to the grand opening of the new American Girl Store in Park Meadows. Not one of my better ideas!
So we had to get up early to take Wyatt to meet his Boy Scout troop for a snow cave camp-out. Unfortunately for Stryder that meant that he would have to come with the girls and me since Jason is working and was asleep during the day.
We dropped Wyatt and headed for the mall. We got there at 8:45 and we couldn’t believe the line. I knew it would be busy, but NEVER expected that it would be that long.
We got in line and it was so cold!! The wind was blowing, and it was freezing. We made it to 10:50, and the kids were cold, Chloe had to use the restroom, and the line had NOT MOVED AT ALL!! They wanted to leave, but come back after lunch to check how long the line was. So I agreed.
I wanted to go to Old Navy to look for some shorts for them. Spent a little while trying on shorts, and each one got an outfit. Stryder was excited that he found a Marvin the Martian shirt. I told Stryder before we left that he got to choose where we had lunch. Of course I thought that we would be in and out of the American Girl store by then! HA!!! Since the girls wanted to see how long the lines were again, he choose Subway at the mall. Back to the mall we go!
After lunch we went back down to check out the lines! They weren’t as long as this morning, but still long. The girls wanted to stay and wait again. I wanted to leave and tried my best to get them to agree to come back next week during the week. Chloe finally agreed to go home, and Olivia broke down in tears. She wanted so badly to stay. She kept saying “I never get to go to the doll store!” I just didn’t have the hear to make her go. We got there at 1:45, and by 2:30 we had moved a good bit. However it wasn’t close enough. There were some girls behind us that were the same age as Chloe and Olivia, so that helped pass the time. They all had their dolls to play with. Their moms, and I took turn taking the kids to go get hot chocolate at Borders, and bathroom breaks. So instead of having to leave our place in line we just held the spots for each other. That was a HUGE help.
At 5:00pm we got in the store.  For a total of 5 hours 15 minutes in line! The girls were so excited. They got to look at all the dolls, and pick out 2 outfits each! Thanks to Grammy!! They also got t-shirts that say American Girl Denver. They were so tired, but were really good. And Stryder, well what can I say, he was so good. He didn’t really complain at all!! Grammy was so impressed that she is going to buy him a DS game for being such a trooper!!
I took a few pictures,[flickr album=72157623598507657 num=14 size=Square]

With snow still on the ground it was a little chilly, but the kids seemed to have a great time.  Wyatt worked in the House of Fear haunted house again this year.  He took his friend Molly with him.  They said it was a lot of fun.  Stryder dressed up as some kind of masked creature.  We still aren’t sure exactly what he was.  Chloe was a 70′s chick, and Olivia was Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz.  Jason walked around with the kids while I stayed home and gave out candy.  We put our fire bowl in the drive way, and I had a nice fire to sit in front of while I gave out candy.  It was also nice for the other parents out with their kids to warm up by before going off to other houses. Had a nice surprise when Troy, Leah and their kids stopped by to do a little trick or treating with us.   All in all it was a fun night.  Here are a few pictures.

[flickr album=72157622709562522 num=14 size=Square]

Olivia has been asking to get her hair cut for several weeks now.  I have been hesitating.  She has such pretty long hair, and she will still let me put hair bows in.  On Thursday she woke up with a huge knot in the back.  I guess her hair was still a little damp when she went to bed.  It was horrible to get out.  So I decided to get her hair cut.  She wanted it as short as Chloe’s but Momma wasn’t ready for that.  So what she ended up with was having 8 inches cut off.   Here are before and after pictures.

I know this is a little behind, but I thought better late than never.

Friday August 7 – Stryder and Chloe are starting 3rd grade, and Olivia is starting kindergarten!  I can’t believe it!  Time is going by really fast.  Everyone is very excited about starting school.  Olivia is beside herself about finally getting to go with everyone to school.  It was a little hard for mom to get up early.  I have been so used to sleeping until at least 9:00 that getting up at 6:00 was rather hard.  All the kids got up with no problems or fussing.  Wyatt would not start school until Monday, but he had to get up early too.  He didn’t like that very much but he wanted to get to spend the day with Jason and I by himself.  We had a surprise for him.

So its off to school after a few pictures.  Jason was working so he had to meet us at school.  With a 30 minute drive to school Olivia fell asleep in the car.  So when we got to school she was a little cranky.  She wasn’t as excited as she had been.  Once we got inside and she woke up a little more she was fine. Stryder and Chloe were off once we got into the building.  Jason and I barely got out a “Have a good day, we love you”!  We waited with Olivia to go into her classroom.  She was very excited by this time.  Jason was holding up pretty well.  He was very tired after being up all night, and his baby girl was going to kindergarten.  I think that Jason took it harder than I did.  Of course Olivia was fine in her class.  She found her cubby, put her backpack and lunch box away and sat on the carpet in the gathering place.  She was ready!  With a wave good bye, Jason and I left.  I have to say it was strange.   The PTO was holding a BooHoo/Yahoo  for parents at a deli across the street from the school so we headed over there.  There were not many parents there that were crying, most seemed pretty happy that school was starting.  I know that Jason and I were glad.  We stayed there for a little while, and then headed to a friends house.  Like us, she was sending her last child to kindergarten, and was really happy about it.  She was hosting a champane breakfast for a few people who were sending off the last child to school.  We knew several people there  and got to meet some new ones.  It was nice.  All of those parents were like us, glad and happy about the last once finally being in school.

Jason and I surprised Wyatt by taking him to see Harry Potter since it was his last day of summer break and the others were all in school.  He was excited about that.  Jason made it through the movie, without going to sleep.  By this time he was on 20 hours of no sleep.  After the movie we took Wyatt to lunch.  Then it was time to go back to school.  Olivia’s class was having popsicle party during the last 30 minutes of school, so we wanted to go back to that.  The 3rd grade had a popsicle party after school.    It was a very good first day of school.

Monday-August 10- Wyatt’s first of 7th grade  (Middle School!!!!  Yikes! )

Wow, I can’t believe that I have a middle schooler!  We got up with no problems this morning.  Everyone is still excited about school.  Wyatt doesn’t seem nervous at all.  He has been really excited about starting a new school, and starting middle school.  He is also really excited about riding the school bus.  The bus stop is about a 10 minute walk from our house, and we ask him if he wanted us to walk with him.  He said it didn’t matter to him, but you could tell that he really didn’t want us to.  So I stayed home and Jason walked with him half way.  Jason could see the bus waiting, and then he came back.  Wyatt walked the rest of the way there.  He said that he had a great day.  He has now had 3 days of school and he is still excited about it. I have a few pictures, Wyatt would only let us take one.

Wyatt made it home today about lunch time from a week long stay at Peacefull Valley Boy Scout camp.  Jason and I wondered if we would get a 3 sentence explanation on how is week went.  Well we were wrong.  He couldn’t stop talking about it.  He had a fantastic time.  He earned 3 merit badges, and began working on a fourth.  The fourth one will take him a few months to complete the requirements.  Last night Stryder, Chloe, Olivia and I were able to go out to the camp for the Family Campfire Program. ( Jason had to work)  Since Wyatt didn’t attend last summer we didn’t know what to expect.  They fed us dinner, had a closing flag ceremony, and then the campfire program where the Scouts sang, and preformed skits.  It was so fun.  Wyatt was in a skit that was by far the funniest!  (Thanks to Wyatt.  He is such a clown)  He definately wants to attend next year.  That is always a good sign that he had a good time.  I took a few pictures.  Olivia sat with Wyatt and his Scout buddies during the campfire program, and she loved it!

Stryder and Chloe’s 2nd grade class went to the Butterfly Pavilion today. It was a really nice place. I wasn’t sure what to expect. The kids had a great time. There was a tarantula section, and Chloe even held one. I wouldn’t do it, and neither would Stryder. They got to pet a starfish, and a sting wray. In the butterfly room Stryder wanted one to land on him. One never did. He got so upset when one landed on Chloe’s shoulder. Here are some pics.

With the money that they raised selling cookies, Chloe’s troop choose to go to Build-A-Bear Workshop as their fun activity. This was an experience to say the least. I have never been there with a large group of girls. (There are 14 in her Troop) Let alone all the walk-ins that were there. That place is NUTS!!! Not quit as bad as Chuck E Cheese, but a very close second! Here are a few pictures.

Stryder and Chloe were so excited that their cousins were able to be here to celebrate their birthday with them. That made it extra special for them. They wanted to go to Chuck E. Cheese for dinner for their birthday. Jason worked the night before so he needed to rest , but before he did Stryder and Chloe got to open their presents from their cousins, grandparents, and us. After that Jason took a nap, and the kids all went out to play. After Jason slept for a while, he got up and watched the kids play and Andrea and I went shopping for a little while. We came back and got everyone loaded up and set off for Chuck E. Cheese. We got there and they had a great time. We stayed for about 2 hours. Jason and the boys left to go tour the haunted house that they planed on working in, and the girls went shopping again. After the boys were done, with the haunted house we met up at Good Times for frozen custard. The kids had a great birthday! hereare the photos

Last fall break we made a trip to Hammond’s Candy factory. I thought that would be something fun for Nathan, Evie, Allie, & Katie. They have free tours, and then they have a candy store. All of their candies are homemade, even the marshmellows are homemade. So after lunch we loaded up in the bus and the suburban, and headed into Denver to the candy factory. Andrea drove the suburban and I drove the bus. It took a little longer to get there since we had to take the bus. We made it though, and it took long enough that Katie and Olivia got a little nap. The kids seemed to have a good time, and there were several people in the factory making candy so they got to see first hand how they make all there candies. I took a few pictures here they are.

Andrea and her kids came to visit us in Colorado. Finally!! There flight arrived at DIA at 5:00 pm, and I was there to meet them. Jason stayed home with all of our kids. The suburban won’t hold everyone! They had an uneventful flight which was good considering it was the first time that Andrea’s girls have flown. So they are here for a week. We will try and show then what we can. I took a few photos of them playing in the yard.