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!

Memorial Day 2012 Camping Trip to Mt. PrincetonSnug as a Bug

Snug as a bug! It was our first camper trip and it will be hard to go back to a tent!

Mt. Princeton Hot Springs. We rated it a 5 or 6.
The natural part next to the river was cool but the rest just looked like a pool.

The boys loved climbing on the rocks

Nick and Dre are just hanging out (waiting for Jake and Cade to fall on the rocks)

This was our beautiful fishing spot!

 And here are our fisherman (we are still holding out for our first catch!)

 Cade has the heart of a fisherman but not the patience yet. He is getting good at reeling it in.

Jake is getting awesome at casting! Still no fish yet.

 We had to take the line out of Nick's fishing pole after he captured Maggie and mom a couple times with his line! He doesn't seem to mind the line gone and just uses his pole as a sword half the time.

Maggie has a nice swim!

This is Cottonwood Hotsprings. This one was a little more natural (or greenie as Dre says). We gave it a 6. It could have been a higher rating if their prices weren't so high. The boys had a ball!

The little creek by our campground (duckie races on it later)

The larger creek by our campground was a favorite of the boys for running through and throwing rocks in.

The boys would probably tell you that the highlight of their weekend was getting to feed fish at the fish hatchery! They have one blue trout (very rare) and the boys thought that was cool. We made 2 trips to the hatchery and the boys loved every minute!

The boys each bought a duck for the duckie races at the campground. With about 20 kids that entered.....

The Ballards came away with a winner! 2nd place actually! His prize was $9.45 to spend at the campground store. He was very kind and bought his brothers a bag of lizards and some chocolate and himself a squirt gun....and some chocolate!

It was a great weekend! This summer we have a theme of hot springs(maybe fish hatcheries as well) and our next one is going to be Glenwood Springs!

Easter Egg Hunts

The boys had a lot of practice hiding eggs. We had our annual Poncha Circle egg hunt, Easter morning egg hunt with Gramma and Papa, and an Easter afternoon hunt with the Ballard cousins. Gorgeous days!

Here is the Poncha Circle crew

 Easter Morning....

Easter Afternoon (it was a beautiful day!)....

Gramma made an Easter lamb carrot cake

Kitchen is off the TO DO list!!

So starting a little over a year ago we started working on our kitchen. First are the before pics and then are the after pics. The last pic is a little project (coatrack bench for the boys) that I made this weekend. Now what will the next project be??? Don't worry, we have some ideas.

Before....

During...

 and...

Finished Product! Oh darn I just realized looking at this pic that I still need to put the handles on the pantry before I can officially take it off the to do list. Always something!

The work crew!

Mom, this pic is for you. The cookbook shelf is finished and I love it!

Here is the bench coatrack. I'm thinking of painting their favorite colors on the garage wall for each of their sections...or letting them loose with the paint! Dad, this is officially off the to do list.