Treehouse Fun

Today I took the kids to a new place called The Treehouse.  It is an indoor play place with a lot of different structures and toys for the kids to play with.

One of the play structures

Ashton going down one of the slides

Cate climbing to the top

Ashton playing with one of the tractor toys

When we got back home Ashton put on Cate's princess shoes and pushed the school bus around the kitchen.  I think it is a great look!

Steamboat with Aunt Steph

My sister, Aunt Stephie, came to Steamboat for a visit.  It was great to have her there and the kids really enjoyed getting to spend some time with her.  

Aunt Stephie brought some presents for the kids.  Cate and Steph are coloring "Shrinkie Dinks".  You color them and then put them in the oven and they shrink and then you can make jewelry out of them.

Ashton LOVES to eat corn on the cob

My Mom, sister, and I took the kids up on the Gondola.  The kids loved riding up the Gondola. It was a beautiful day and the kids had a great time running around on the top.  Here are some pictures:

My Mom and Steph saddled up the horses and let the kids go for a ride.  The kids rode my Dad's horse Hawk Eye and my Mom's horse Tucker walked next to them.

Here is a video of Cate riding Hawk Eye

Castle Rock Hike

We took the kids hiking to the top of the Castle Rock.  The kids  walked all the way to the top.  We were very impressed that they made it all the way up on their own.  Here they are gathering some rocks and looking at the train on the way up.

At the top

Drinking a capri sun and the top

The next day we took the kids to the park to run around.  

Harkless Family Visit

The Harkless family came from Singapore for a visit.  They stayed at Eric's parents house.  They were here for about a month and it was great to get to spend more time with them.  All of the kids had a great time playing together.  Here are some pictures from their visit:

Elyse and Cate playing dress up together.

Ashton and Anastasia coloring with chalk

Cate and Elyse had a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  They had a great time together.

All 4 kids playing in the sand together.

All the cousins sitting together...so cute!!

Eric's Aunt Janice and Uncle Charlie came in to visit for Frank and Cathy's 40th wedding anniversary.  We celebrated and Aunt Pat and Uncle Don's house.  It was so fun to have everyone together.

Uncle Charlie playing with Cate

Aunt Pat running with the girls

The girls talked Uncle Don into  running through the sprinkler with them.

Eric and Toby manning the grill

Cate, Ashton and Elyse all ate dinner together at the picnic table.

We had a great visit with the Harkless Family.

4th of July in Steamboat

For the 4th of July weekend Eric and I took the kids up to Steamboat.  It was great to spend some time with my family.  The kids had such a great time playing at my parent's house and really enjoyed all of the holiday festivities.

When we arrived in Steamboat we all played in the front of the house and Ashton got a kick out of pulling Eric around in the wagon.

The first evening we took the kids down to the park to listen to music.  The kids had fun running around and the adults enjoyed the music.

Cate hanging out and listening to music

On Saturday Cate and Grammy went around and gathered flowers to put on the dinner table.  Here is Cate posing with her bouquet.  

Grandpa Rlowe took the kids for rides in his 6 wheeler, which has been named Ranger Rick.  The kids loved riding in Ranger Rick all over my parent's property.

On Sunday we took the kids to the pool.  It was a very hot day so it was perfect weather for playing at the pool.  They had a great play area for the little kids.   

On Monday we took the kids down for the 4th of July parade.  Ashton was having a hard time waiting for the parade to start but once it did he loved it.  He loved all the animals and the fire trucks.

Cate and Ashton enjoying some milk before the parade.

Everyone waiting for the parade to start

Uncle Q and Cate with their flags

Ashton at the parade

Grandpa Rlowe took the kids for rides in his tractor

Ashton LOVED being able to ride in a tractor!

Uncle Q got a new truck and the kids thought it was fun to hang out on the tailgate.

Grammy joined the kids in the back of the truck

Then Uncle Q joined in on the fun

Going for a ride with Grammy and Grandpa Rlowe

We had a great time up in Steamboat.  The weather was great and we did a lot of activities.  On Saturday I ran the Steamboat 10K race.  It was a lot of fun.  After my race Eric and my Mom went for a bike ride to the Gondola where we met them for Art in the square.  On Sunday I went for a bike ride with my brother and Eric took the kids to a great playground at the local elementary school.  For the 4th of July, after the parade, we came back to the house.  While my parents went down to the barn, Eric, Q and I took the kids to the playground again.  Then we went home for dinner.  We told Cate that she could stay up late to watch the fireworks.  We could see them from my parent's house.  While we waited for them to start we made s'mores and played games.  At 9:30 the fireworks started and Cate was mesmerized by them.  She was so happy that she got to stay up for them.

We had a fantastic weekend.  We always love going up to Steamboat.