In the Heights

For my Birthday, Ben and I headed to downtown Littleton to see In the Heights. It was so fun! The little theater group does such a great job with these shows. We are considering getting season tickets. It is always so incredibly fun to see so many wonderful and talented artists sharing their art! What a gift some people have!

Anyway, it was a great night and a great show!

Feeding the 5,000

Every year our church partners with Feeding the 5,000 to collect food for the local food pantry. Basically, all we need to do is show up at a grocery store and try to get people to buy food.

Bringing kids really helps a lot! Who can turn down 5 year old Camille looking up and asking, "Would you like to buy food for the food bank?" She got a lot of yes'.

Our shift was only an hour, which was also nice. A quick, easy service project that I didn't have to organize- it was wonderful!

Feeding the Homeless

A few months ago I found out about a group in Denver called Stand Up For Kids (it's nationwide, but I found the Denver chapter), where you sign up to provide, serve, and feed up to 100 homeless people in a downtown park where many homeless people live. I immediately reached out to my church family to see if people would be willing to help me provide food for that many people, because I knew I couldn't do it by myself. Immediately I got a ton of interest, so I signed up.

You have to sign up several months in advance because it is a very popular program (yay!), so tonight was our night.

We opted for Manwiches. The weather was pretty rotten, but in two years of doing this the organizer said they had never been weathered out, so we trusted all would go well- and it did. Instead of 100 people, only about40  people came- which meant we had plenty of food. But, it worked out because we had Ziploc bags so they could take food with them. All the food ended up being taken. I was glad that we brought hot chocolate- a last minute decision that proved a good choice.

All the homeless people were very respectful and kind. They were just regular people. That's what I want my girls to see- that sometimes people just hit a bad patch in life. Oh, and they have lots of dogs. Apparently it is almost a 1 to 1 ratio of dog to homeless person. Not quite that high, but pretty close. Which meant the dogs also needed to be fed. One dog even figured out how to open a water bottle and drink out of it!

I was very glad that my girls got to see this. But I also needed to see it. I'm so tired of the news, of the negativity, of the hate that continues to come from a certain leader who wants to divide us. Once again I remembered that the anecdote to hate, vitriol, divisiveness, and fear is pure and simple service. That's it. Service is therapeutic. It's good for the soul. I need to do more of it.

Which is good, because in talking to the organizer of this group I volunteered to provide 1,000 cookies and candy canes for when she makes her Christmas rounds to the homeless on Christmas Eve. Good thing I have lots of people who I know will step in and help!

The kids were excited that there was enough hot chocolate and food that they could have some.

Little Traitor

We have a traitor in our midst...

We sat down to watch the game today and Camille was sitting nicely next to Ben. She then said in the absolute sweetest voice: "You are cheering for the Orange team. I am cheering for the White team."

Apparently we are failing as parents.

Yurtle the Turtle

On Thursday night I took the girls up camping at Golden Canyon State Park for our annual homeschool co-op campout.

We were all excited to go! I really felt like we needed a break from everything and to just go in nature and relax. I was right- getting in nature is good for the soul!

Camille looks pretty fierce here, but she was actually incredibly happy to be here. We started at the visitor's center where the kids built a log cabin, learned a little about the homesteaders, and got their booklet for the Jr. Ranger program.

Then it was time to go check into our yurt. We have wanted to stay at the yurt for awhile, but I have been hesitant because it's the only cabin that is wheelchair accessible so I felt bad. But, I decided to give it a shot. Since we were only staying one night, on a Thursday, we were the only ones who even rented a cabin so I didn't feel so bad in the end.

Claire quickly named the yurt "Yurtle the Turtle" after Dr. Seuss' book.

The girls loved Yurtle the Turtle!

As usual, roasting marshmallows was a hit!

I think we got a total of about 1 hour of sleep between the 4 of us. It was really cold, but the fireplace was really noisy. I eventually turned it off, which meant we were cold. Then the beds have plastic covers on them which made them really slippery- Camille woke us all up in the middle of the bed because she couldn't find her sleeping bag which fell on the floor.

But, the kids were awesome! Despite minimal sleep, they had really great attitudes and were a ton of fun.

I decided to take them on a pretty tough hike- 4 miles, with some really steep grades. It ended up taking us 4 hours because we took tons of stops, but I was armed with lots of snacks.

It was such a beautiful hike!

The Aspen leaves were starting to change color:

We stopped at Panarama Point so the girls could draw in their nature journals:

On the way back, a little whining started creeping in- and we still had 2 miles to go. I was a little worried, but somehow I mentioned the phrase "fairy land," and Camille pulled out a "pistol" and the kids started fighting goblins to save the fairies, and they did that for 2 miles and ended up having the best time!

Here they are with their goblin fighting pose:

We ended up meeting a really nice family who live full time in their RV. They homeschool their 3 kids and just go around the country to wherever they feel like visiting. It was fascinating talking to them! In some ways I think it would be awesome to do, but then reality hits and I realize that Ben and I would kill each other in about 3 days of living in such a confined space. But, oh the freedom of it all!

Anyway, these girls were so great on this trip- despite the lack of sleep and tons of walking. We really had a great time. I'm so glad that these girls are so good at traveling and going places. It was so fun to watch them as we got into nature- it's like they became different people- so kind and helpful and wanting to be the best of friends. It was a great bonding experience!

Walking To School

Camille and I are getting some great quality time walking to and from school. We guess how many ducks we will see and try to decide who is right. Every day Camille wants me to take a picture or video of her. It's pretty fun- she really is a cutie!

That MEAN Squirrel!

We had a fun day yesterday where we meandered through Denver- we went to a Japanese market, then headed to Washington Park. We planned to go paddle boating, but we were wrong about which park had paddle boating.

Which was unfortunate, because then Camille got threatened and attacked by a squirrel. Apparently this squirrel came and stole her food and attacked Camille viciously. Of course, all we could see was a squirrel high in the tree and Camille yelling up at it for no apparent reason. Can you see that terrifying, food stealing squirrel?

Thankfully, Claire was on the case. The girls came up with a plan to build a trap for this offending squirrel. We are reading "Sign of the Beaver" so they wanted to be Attean.

Camille's Note

Camille made this sweet note for Dad, and even included some of her favorite candy on it. Ben's heart melted.

"Because I like yellow too I wanted to give you, Dad I love you."