Fall with the Ballard Boys

Oh my gosh, I haven't sent an update in a while! We went to California at the beginning of October and I tried to just pick a couple pics but we had just too good of a time! For Halloween the boys were all Star Wars guys - Jengo, Boba and Darth Vader. We went to Gramma and Papa's for Thanksgiving and the boys had a great time running around with their cousins. We just got our tree this past Friday and the boys had fun putting the ornaments on - I think we only had 3 broken - not too bad. :) This past weekend we got a bit of snow so the boys were testing out the sled - they are getting a bit tight on one sled.
Merry Christmas!

Lego land was a blast!

This pic is so Nick!

The beach was right out our door! The boys loved digging in the sand, chasing birds and running in the ocean!

Our pool was fun!

The boys are all shark dudes so Sea World was a hit!

The boys loved checking out all of the jets on the Midway (guy next to Dre is not real - Nick is intrigued)

Ice cream at the Zoo

We met Marti and her fam at the Miramar Air Show! It was quite impressive!

Right before our flight home we squeezed in a trip to the tide pools! Everything was cool about it except for the shell that Sara couldn't resist bringing home...it didn't look like there was a critter in it but as it turns out there was of course. A bit stinky. :)

 

Halloween Star Wars Style!

Jake at his Thanksgiving production at school!

Thanksgiving at Gramma and Papa's with the Eli crew!

Our Tree (and three little reindeer)!

Not much snow but we will take it!

September 2012 was Fun Filled!

The past couple months have been great! We are falling into a tidge of a routine and the boys are all doing well! We leave for San Diego for a week on Sunday and everyone is certainly looking forward to that! Here are a few pics since school has started.

The Boys First Broncos Game (preseason game against the 49ers - awesome seats!)

Balloon Festival! One of our favorite things in the Springs - just missing the Eliason crew this year.

Jake and his best buddies at school on beach day! What a group!

Jake is in love with soccer! He is kind of an animal out there - who knew?

Team Fusion!

Special trip to the Aquarium!

No More Training Wheels!

Show boating with no hands

We found that tennis courts are best for practice!

At the skate park! A new favorite activity!

Fishing ~ actually still more like Worming!

I'm 4!!!!

Fish and Alligators Game (a Farmer and Fox remake) for Cade's fish and alligator bday request

Feed the Gator (w/swedish fish)

Focused coloring of the fish for Pin the Fish in the Gator's Mouth!

and now for the pinning!

Happy Birthday Cade!!!!

Summer 2012 - oops I haven't posted in a bit!

Well, I guess it is a good thing that we were having too much fun this summer for me to keep the blog updated! We had a great time this summer...pool, friends over to play, hiking, biking and more! The boys all improved leaps and bounds with swimming and riding bikes - you should see Nick cruise around on his bike...clear the sidewalks! Cade has done his part and much more in keeping down the bug population - I don't think a day has gone by that he hasn't caught something. School has started now for Jake and he loves it - he is in a class with three of his best buddies. Cade will start preschool next year and then Nickerbockers. I had way too many pictures to include so I made collages instead (using ipiccy.com). You can click on the pics to see them larger. Enjoy!

Marti's family came to visit at the beginning of the summer and then Chad's family shortly there after! We had a great time catching up with some long time friends and their fams!

 

 We went to the Butterfly Pavilion which has not only butterflies but many bugs and also ocean touching tanks - very cool! We also discovered Scales and Tails, a local reptile store - Cade was in love and of course requesting some critters for his birthday.

 We got to visit Gramma and Papa a couple times. Papa hooked the boys up with some good old cowboy outfits, we had fun playing with Gramma and we had a blast at Frontier Days and the Air Show!

 We went to visit the race car/truck/motorcycle/ATV drivers before the big Hill Climb Race. Jake and Andreas then went to the race and loved it!

 The boys couldn't get enough of the water!

 

Liz and Ben got to visit from Africa and we had a great time!

Hopefully I will post a bit more frequently but of course no promises!

Ballard Hot Springs Tour Next Stop.... Glenwood Springs!

Glenwood Springs was it this weekend and it was a Ballard favorite! To get a high hot springs score in my book it has to have a natural setting and great price. Glenwood wasn't great for either of those categories but it was so much fun for the boys which bumped up my rating to a 7+ (I think it will become an 8 as the boys get older and we can use the waterslides)! The boys would probably give it a 9 or 10 if they knew about ratings. :) Within an hour of us being there Jake could have been mistaken for a fish! Nick then followed Jake's lead and spent most of his time underwater - he had this adorable little wave he did with his head under, feet criss-crossed and arm waving out of water - it was his signature move! Cade enjoyed the warm water but he does not share his brothers' love to get his face wet and preferred just cruising around. The first day we got there he was tired from the car ride and actually fell asleep while being trolled around the pool atop a blow-up alligator. We brought shoes to go hiking and poles to go fishing but never made it out of the pool! Oh, by the way unfortunately we don't have a pic of the whole group but we also had Oma (Dre's mom) and Gramma and Papa (my mom & dad) with us - it was great!
Ok, now for some pics...

Caders!

 

Nickerbockers!

 

  Jakers!

We are ready for the pool again!