Ranaissance Faire

 It has probably been a decade since we took our kids to the Renaissance Faire, but this year we decided to make it happen. We did get hailed on pretty good, because....Colorado, but it was fun. The kids did NOT like the fire eater or the sword swallower. They seemed to enjoy the jousting and the juggling.

We splurged and got cheesecake on a stick. It was nice to try once.

They preferred the activities more than the shows, so this maze was fun for them.

Overall, it was a good day.

Family Hike

We finally went on a family hike. With the terrible weather all summer, it was a long time coming. We just went to Regional Bluffs Trail. It threatened rain the whole time, but we were able to stay dry.

 

Independence Day!

It was a pretty low-key day that ended with severe thunderstorms that postponed fireworks until another day, but it was also nice.

It started with the girls being on the 4H float. They really wanted to do it, and it's their last year in 4H so we let them. Plus, Audra drove them to it early so Ben and I walked over when the parade started.

Krispy Kreme had free donuts so we went.

Matching Converse! Though Claire told me since I didn't get high tops I shouldn't have even gotten any.

A bbq for dinner- YUM!

And we ended the night with The Bourne Identity.
 

Remodel

 Sadly, I don't have a before picture. But, imagine a dark brown, boring, ugly bathroom where the mirror frame and shelf are rotting and it is overall just yucky and you can get a taste of what the bathroom looked like before.

I decided to redo it. It took three days, and I think it turned out awesome. I LOVE it.

And, Camille helped!

Finally a Hike!

 The weather has been stormy, gloomy, and cold. But, finally, while the older two were at girls camp, Camille and I got to sneak in a hike to Waterton Canyon. It was nice to finally be back out in nature.

Speaking of girls camp, Audra went to her YCL all day activity at Chatfield beach the day before camp. All the 5th years went. It was a lot of fun, and she came home with this blanket. It came with a designer bag. Her leader told the YCLs not to bring the blanket to camp because it was too nice for camp (why would you give a girls camp gift and that you can't bring to girls camp?). I looked it up, and sure enough- it's a $150 blanket.

WHAT?

Only in Highlands Ranch. I think it's absurd, but Audra loves it, so....

Storm Clean-Up

Sunday Sermon: Be the Church.

On Thursday, a tornado touched down just a few blocks from our house. Thankfully, we are fine and no injuries were reported at all due to the tornado. But, there is quite a bit of damage- mostly thousands of downed trees. In some parts of town it feels like an Armageddon movie.

Today, we were asked to show up to church in our work clothes. We had sacrament, then broke off into groups and went into the hardest hit neighborhoods to help the community clean up. People can call a city hotline for help, so that's where we started, but then neighbors came and asked for help, so of course we helped them, too.

As Camille said about wearing a t-shirt and shorts to church, "I love this!"

Chatfield

 It was FINALLY warm enough to go to the lake! It has been so cold and rainy here. But it finally got over 80 degrees! Ben had the day off at work, so while Claire and Audra are at FSY, we took Camille and headed to the water. It was perfect! Because of all of our rain, the water levels are really high- a lot of areas that normally are land are not sea, in fact. And because of the tornado yesterday, the water was very murky. But it was perfection being on the water. We had a great time- it is finally starting to feel like summer!