our beach

We have a little lake here in town that has a section blocked off for swimming. It is the closest thing we are going to get to a beach here in Colorado, so I like to make sure we go play there a couple of times each summer.


It was sooo nice. Seriously, I'm thinking we should go there most everyday when it is hot outside.


I was super nervous to take both kiddos by myself. Wasn't sure how they would be and if I would feel safe with them. But it was SO EASY!


Enrique had a blast, was super cautious, but not afraid to get in the water by himself to play. I think it felt safer for him because the water gradually gets deeper, unlike the swimming pool, where he clings to us for dear life.


Anabel, who I thought would just go running in totally careless, stuck close to me and loved playing in the water!


There is something about kids, water, sunshine and sand, isn't there?

zoo impressions

We love our local zoo! Such a pretty place to wander around.

A few pics from our visit yesterday:

a new learning place

We visited the Pueblo Children's Museum this week for the first time. It is a really great place to take the kids! So much to do.. we could have stayed for hours more.



The coolest thing was the giant wall that somehow picks up on body heat so you can make a giant "painting" using your whole body. Very groovy! I think Don had the most fun with that one!




There are LOTS of art stations, puppets and little puppet stages, puzzles and blocks to build things with, large magnetic walls to make scenes with, little old fashioned movie makers, and so much more that we didn't even get a chance to explore.





The kids really loved the giant building blocks (that BTW are just made out of boxes that have been painted). But there are ALOT of them, enough to build a kid size house, tunnels, etc.




If you are in the Springs and haven't been down there, I highly recommend it! Worth the drive and super cheap to get in.

While we were there, a few school groups were visiting. I was blown away and saddened by how little time these kids had to explore the museum. While we were on the 2nd floor at least 3 different groups came in. Just as the kids were starting to get into stuff, the teachers announced it was time to go! Our kids were there sooo much longer and still didn't want to leave when it was time.

We were with another homeschool family and both of us mamas said how happy we are that we are homeschooling! Both Don and I really felt our commitment to homeschool strengthened by the experience. We want to be able to give our kids the time they need to fully immerse themselves in what interests them and give them the freedom and space to explore whatever it is they want to learn about. I feel so strongly about this and am glad that we get a chance to give our children an opportunity to learn this way.. Yay! Homeschooling rocks!

harvest season

So many people I am talking to these days are all about The Harvest. Every time I get on the phone with my sister, she is canning or baking or making something!! (Sis, you are a super farm girl rock star in my book!) My neighbor has been bringing us food from her garden and alot of my favorite bloggers are getting food ready for winter. Not us! We didn't attempt even a little garden this year. All summer long I have felt little twinges of envy as everyone has been sharing their gardening stories. And now, as all the summer's hard work is paying off, I have been crazy jealous! Kicking myself that I didn't push us to sign up for a plot in the community garden down the road, wishing I hadn't felt so lazy, etc.

Well, I really needed to do SOMETHING to feel apart of the harvest season. So, this morning, we packed up the family and headed south to a pick your own farm about an hour away. We had SO MUCH FUN!!! We picked a bunch of black berries, grabbed us some pumpkins and just really enjoyed being outside in the sunshine collecting food as a family.

E had a BLAST!! So cute running around finding blackberries. Treasure hunting! Oh and what treasures they are, so yummy!

I went a little crazy taking pictures today, almost 200 new pics were downloaded from my camera. There is something about my kids out in the sun surrounded by green grass and trees that has me go to town, so please indulge me. I had a hard time picking my favorites to share with all of you, there are quite a few here...

Riding the hayride out to the berries...



Taking a break to play... Trying a berry for the first time...

A little sour, but then she wanted more...
Don was the super star berry picker today! It is the end of the season, so not TONS to collect, you have to really go looking.Chubbas decided it was time to play in the dirt. "I'm getting dirt for my yard."
"The pumpkin I'm looking for is very small and has long stripes.. here it is!"And this one is for Daddy...And toward the end of the morning, we had ourselves a couple of sleepy heads.

Such a great morning!! Next year, we are doing a garden!

3 year old perspective...

This is E's point of view from our zoo visit. He stole my camera and discovered the joy of taking pictures. Things look a little different from his perspective, which I am loving getting to experience. What a joy to see things as my son sees them!

my point of view...

This is my perspective of our trip to the zoo this week: