Berry Patch Farm

Recently, Grandma Sheryl came to visit for a long weekend. It's our fall tradition to pick blackberries, raspberries, and apples at a farm. This year, I stumbled across a different farm that offered strawberries and raspberries. It is also fairly close to the airport, so we picked up Grandma and headed to the farm!

This farm is called Berry Patch Farms and is an all organic farm in Brighton, Colorado. They had so much space and so many berries. There were even school field trips there and we never came close to them. It was a great farm and we'll definitely be heading back next year.

We were greeted by this enormous pig, who ironically is named "Bacon Bits". There is nothing "bitty" about this pig!

Then, we headed out to pick strawberries first. Then, we filled our baskets with red raspberries and golden raspberries.

I'd never even heard of golden raspberries, but they are delicious. You have to get them when they are more golden than light yellow. They fall right off the stem and melt in your mouth!

I found a strawberry in the shape of a heart. Big Brother really wanted to eat it. I thought it was too cool to eat, but after Daddy saw it the boys split it in half. At least I got a photo (okay 3 photos) of it!

There were more animals around the farm, plenty of grasshoppers, a snake, and huge spiders. This one was spinning it's web around it's dinner. Kind of cool- mostly creepy!

Another look at the enormous pig (I am starting to feel like this farm had a lot in common with Charlotte's Web at this point!)

They had more to pick at the farm, (flowers, basil, cucumbers, carrots)  but the boys were tired. As you can see in the photo above Little Brother had nothing left in him- so we headed out for lunch.

If you can believe it, these were gone in 3 days! The kids (and adults) chowed down on berries all weekend long. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful memory. They were the sweetest, best tasting strawberries we've ever had.

Picnic at Turquoise Lake: Leadville, CO

This is a long overdue conclusion to our trip to Leadville and the train ride we took. After the train, we headed over to Turquoise Lake for a picnic lunch. We found an area that was just perfect for skipping rocks and eating lunch. Many other people must have found this spot in the past because as soon as we walked away from our food, two birds were eating our sandwiches we had left out.

The boys enjoyed skipping rocks and exploring around. It was a beautiful setting and a great lunch. Much better than any restaurant around (that is if you don't mind lurking birds waiting to attack your sandwich!)

The view of Turquoise Lake

A self-timer shot of the family

 The boys skipping rocks

This must have taken someone quite a bit of time. We {heart} Turqoise Lake, too!

The Leadville Train

 Even though we've had temperatures in the high 80's, it's officially fall. Fall in Colorado is beautiful with the yellow aspens and the evergreens. So, we headed up to the mountains in search of beauty. We read about an old historic train in Leadville. We were shocked to have snow on our drive up and pretty cold temperatures. We stayed a night in a hotel, bought ice cream at the Safeway for a midnight (well 9 o'clock) treat and headed to the train early Sunday morning.

The train went 11 miles up and the same 11 miles back. It took 3 hours with a quick break to get off and take a look around at the old water pump. It was COLD and we were grateful for our indoor seats, but as the morning went on we ventured out to see the mountain side. It was fun, and as I suspected, just a little too long to hold their attention, but a nice day nonetheless.

We missed the aspens peak color by about a week, but it was still a new place and a new adventure for us all.

Turning Corners

Preschool has been an adventure for us both. While he loves school, loves his projects, seems to have friends and is all smiles coming home... going to school is another story. For the past several weeks, this little guy has been pulled off my leg in quiet tears every morning to go to school. He has been enticed with stickers and other sorts of bribery to say goodbye and walk in nicely- to no avail. 

It's painful to watch my son go into school wiping his eyes on his jacket every morning. 

It's awful to push him away and watch him struggle to come back for one more hug. 

It's hard to turn my back when I know he needs me at that moment. 

So, I start to wonder if it's worth it. But, he comes barreling out of class every day in smiles from ear to ear, almost knocking me down. He talks of school with great excitement and can't wait to go and do more projects. 

It has struck me that it's not my job to keep him comfortable and happy all the time. Sometimes it's my (difficult) job to give him wings and let him fly a little.

So, I've been praying (and praying and praying.) He told me last Thursday after school, "I will go in to school nicely on Monday. I won't even cry." After a nice long weekend, we headed to school this morning. I was busy signing in and dropping off snack and asked him to get in line with his friends. Much to my surprise, he did it! Then, the teacher announced it was time to head in. I headed over to give him a hug, but something told me to hold back. I stood back and said, "Have a great day buddy! I'll see you really soon!" He turned and waved and said, "Bye!" with a smile and headed into school. Not a tear. Not a hug. Not a care in the world. 

When he came home, I told him how proud I was of his efforts this morning. He replied, " I told you I would go in nicely and I did!" What a stinker!

I'd say we turned a corner today and I'm hoping we stay on this new road for a while!

The Baseball Lego Birthday

One of my favorite things to do for the boys is throw awesome birthday parties! So, this year, when Big Brother chose a "Baseball Lego" theme for his birthday, I had some work cut out for me. We held the party at the batting cages nearby and had 14 happy boys with helmets on and bats in hand. 

There were a couple more photos from the party on a previous post here.

Here are some of the details from the party:

Invite: (Some things changed for the sake of privacy on the web!)

Gift Bags for the kids:  (A marshmallow pop made from a large marshmallow and mini on top, dipped in yellow chocolate and face drawn with store bought icing gel "pen") They also got Cracker Jacks and a mystery Lego Minifigure.

Table: Big Brother worked on this 7 made from his stash of legos. I think he did a fantastic job!

Juice Box labels: (Found on web and printed)

 Chocolate lego men: Melted chocolate into our lego minifigure ice cube tray

The Cake: (Store bought with baseball field sprayed on- Big Brother used his own guys to put on the field and also made the bench for the players waiting to bat. Loved it!)

Baseball Autographs: We had his friends sign a baseball to keep in his room.

Gifts: Tons of Legos! Just about everything he got was Legos. He is one happy (and lucky) boy!

Weekend Round Up

(Is round up one word or two?)

Well, if last week was about Little Brother and focusing on getting him settled into school, it's only fair that this weekend was all about Big Brother!

This weekend was chock full from Friday 7:45 am all the way through Sunday 9pm! Here's a quick recap...

Friday: I finally was chosen to chaperone a Field Trip with Big Brother's class! However, that meant I needed ALL day child care for the little guy! I have only one friend with little ones left at home all day and she graciously took him for me ALL day! He had a blast and continues to remind me that, "Colleen is my favorite Mommy. She was so nice to me and let me drive her car!" I'm not sure I'll never top that one!

That allowed me to ride on the bus and attend the field trip to a nearby river and park area, where we collected bugs, water "creatures" and other things from the pond and river. After lunch, we did a nature walk to discover nature using all our senses. It was a great field trip and since we were outside and searching for nasty critters, the kids were all awesome!

This is a shot of the kids crossing the river and one of the many crawdads we captured (and later released) in the river!

Saturday: Big Brother finished baseball and moved on to Flag Football! It's been fun to see him join different sports teams and learn new games. He likes football so far, but says it's a lot of running!

We finished the night off with a birthday dinner at Red Robin. He got to choose his restaurant and that was #1 since they sing Happy Birthday! Photos from this are stuck on Daddy's iPhone!

Sunday: This was the day he's been crossing the days off his calendar for! Finally it was his 7th Birthday!!! Lots more details to come, but here's a little sneak peak at the fun that we had throughout the day.

We have a birthday tradition of covering the boys' doors in wrapping paper while they sleep. This was the first year we "wrapped him" in his room and he had to bust out. He thought it was extra fun! (And yes, that is a Santa night light in the middle of September! It's better than leaving the Christmas lights on the outside of the house all year!) He had a ton of great gifts to open and enjoy until his party in the afternoon.

We did a Lego Baseball party at the local Batting Cages. Many more details to come, but as you can see, fun was had by all!

Little Man on Campus

Finally, after weeks of tests, meetings and countless prayers, Little Brother started school today! 

A while back I posted about a change in plans regarding preschool for our little guy. Since then we've continued the process and I've been amazed at how all the pieces of this puzzle just fell into place. We were originally scheduled to have his comprehensive speech test today. However, they put us in early due to a cancelation.

At that meeting, we were given the news that he qualified for the special services and would receive free preschool and speech help at school. This news came the morning before he was to start school somewhere else, so we were able to withdraw him before he ever started. I had been so concerned that he would have to switch schools which would add to the drama- so this was a huge blessing.

Then, we were given the news that he'd be at a preschool close by, but not our "home school." We were just grateful that it wasn't across town. Three days later we got a call that there was an opening at our "home school" (which happens to be where Big Brother goes to school!)

We finalized meetings yesterday and were hoping to start by early next week. Then, they called last night and said he could start today. When I read about my fears and uncertainties from that original day, I'm so thankful for how God orchestrated the details along the way. I couldn't have asked for anything to work out more perfectly!

As you can see from the pictures above, he was pretty excited for this morning! Mommy was running a little behind so we didn't have time to get the "perfect" 1st day of school photo, but nevertheless, these photos are "perfectly" him!

And, I'm happy to report all is well in preschool-land and we have a very excited little guy here tonight!

Support and Freedom

The hardest part of raising a child is teaching them to ride bicycles. A shaky child on a bicycle for the first time needs both support and freedom. The realization that this is what the child will always need can hit hard. ~Sloan Wilson

Though we didn't teach anyone to ride a bike this weekend, I did have this lesson hit me several times.

Our neighbors have a dog and a trampoline. When they are out of town, they ask my boys to come and jump on the trampoline to keep the dog company in their yard. Trust me, you don't have to ask them twice! This weekend was one of those times. I was in the kitchen cleaning and heard Big Brother exclaim, "Mommy! I just did a flip!"

So, here was my chance to celebrate with him... but, what did I do? I squashed it. I immediately said, "Oh honey- I don't really think that's a good idea. I don't think you're old enough to be doing flips." And immediately, his joy was squashed. I realized what I had done, so I tried to fix it, but truly, I had already failed. I had failed to celebrate his success and squashed his moment. Then, he told Daddy about his flip and Daddy replied, "Wow, that's awesome Buddy. Let me see!"

Throughout the weekend Daddy let the boys have a lot of "treats" Mommy doesn't let them have (like Mountain Dew!). So, an ongoing joke was "It's a good thing you have Daddy in your life!" But it's not a joke at all. Our kids are so blessed to have us both in their lives. We both fail and we both succeed. We see life through different experiences and enrich their lives in different ways. I was grateful that Big Brother had his Dad's encouragement, when his Mom had reacted in fear and not in joy.

It was a good lesson in finding that balance between giving them "roots and wings" or "support and freedom". 

Later in the weekend we had a last minute drive to the mountains to hike. Along the way, we saw a sign for horseback trail rides. We made a u-turn, asked a few questions and were in the saddle within the hour. Little Brother rode with a guide, while Big Brother rode all alone. It was another chance at feeling independent and grown up. This time I was joyful for him!

It is truly a difficult lesson for me to learn. My natural tendency is to hold him back, to react in fear, to try to keep him protected and safe. But, I know it's not what is best for him and that is why I continue to try!

And by the way- he can do a flip!

First we stopped at Boulder Falls and the boys saw their first waterfall. We were on our way to hike to some lake and saw this sign and turned around. We never made it to our hiking destination, but we all agreed this turned out better!

Big Brother's horse was named "Spanky". She was a good horse for a first time rider.

I found out taking photos while riding on a horse is not all that easy!

Little Brother rode "Papi" with the guide. He talked her ears off for the entire hour. He's ready for his shot at riding alone like his big brother!

My horse wouldn't stay on the trail. She kept veering off to rub her belly on the trees and bushes and at one point walked right through a group of mountain bikers, forcing them to move out of our way. She had a mind of her own, but the kids thought it was funny that it was happening to me!