...and the last of the Highlights!

Brendan had a total of 4 swim meets this summer, and I posted photos of the first one - so here's the last one. He's so great about being willing to try anything - there's no stroke that he hasn't raced in - so cool! Here he is getting ready for his last race of the day, and the season....

That's his timer saying something to him...wonder what?

Brendan did the IM - Individual Medley - for the very first time in the last meet. That's 25m of each stroke - 100m total which is a lot of swimming for a little guy! He did so awesome - came in second. You'll have to listen to annoying mom voice in the video (it's not all me...really) - B swears he hears us while swimming.

Love this picture of this very handsome red-haired guy.

CC's best little buddy is Megan - little sister of one of Andrew's former classmates. They are so stinking girly and cute together! Here they are holding hands going down the pool slide together!

So since we are now a football family...the Broncos had a practice session at Invesco Field (Mile-High) for free - so we went to check it out. I swear - a minute before some of these pictures are taken - Andrew is happy and smiling - then pulls out this face when the camera comes out!!
There were over 20,000 in the stadium for the practice!

I mentioned a couple months back that our good friends were moving - we were lucky enough to have a few days with them in July in their transition between here & Virginia - we went to a Rockies game and here we are tailgating below...

and here's 6 little monkeys, laying on the bed (plus Hello Kitty).

Whew! That's a lot of summer covered.

Highlights, part 2....

There's a HUGE Renaissance Festival in Larkspur, CO - about an hour south of us. We went once before when boys were teeny-tiny and had a blast! We went again this year with some friends and had a great day. It's amazing how in-character everyone in the Faire is - we are "milord" and "milady" all day long.
We brought along a pair of wings for CC and she wore them all day - here she is with her new friend Unicorn.
This picture is hilarious - I don't even know what this guy is exactly (feel free to tell me if you know! Death?) - he was just sitting there on the bench all alone, boys sat down with him and he didn't move a muscle the whole time. Love the wary look on Andrew's face.
They had a little children's area with a couple of free rides and petting zoo. It's a little butterfly CC is sitting in, she rode it about 3 times in a row. Brendan tried to get in one but he was too big!! We went to 2 separate jousting shows. Pretty cool except they had the entire crowd chanting "TO THE DEATH!" when the bad guy challenged the honor of the good guy. When they jousted, there was even fake (?) blood that came spurting out, to the boys delight. Below a little reenactment. (Andrew, apparently, is the bad guy)
Next up - each year we participate in the Children's Reading Program at the library, where you are rewarded for reading a certain number of hours in the summer. One of the prizes is free tickets to Lakeside, a verrrryyy old amusement park in Denver. It's fun to go, it's so "retro" - they have a ridiculously old, rickety, wooden roller coaster that we rode this year for the first time. I'm not a huge roller-coaster person anymore, and riding this one all I could see was the peeling paint, the perceived missing wood-pieces, etc. CC loved it and rode it twice (with Jason) - I couldn't believe it. I just love the letters in this sign! We start out in the Kiddie part of Lakeside - and work our way up. Here you can see Andrew's enthusiasm for the Chariot Ride. : )

Kids all love this one - the Frog Hopper. So cute!

Here's CC making sure Brendan is listening to her...ha!

And - another benefit in the Summer Reading Program - free tickets to the Colorado Rapids - local Major League Soccer team. We'd never been before so it was fun to experience it. Here the kids are with Marco Van Bison (really) one of the mascots. The game ended up tied 1-1...so weird to leave a major league game without a winner!
Here we are up at Standley Lake cooking out with friends Steph & Jay (newlyweds, can't believe it's been nearly a year since we were all in their wedding! Ah to see the boys in those suits again!) You can't see the geese that were VERY aggresively trying to eat dinner with us.

Highlights of Summer, Part 1...

...because I've been so lazy about posting, looks like it's time to get some stuff on here!
School starts in 6 days, so we're at the tail end here. I've said before that I sometimes feel that this blog is one long Christmas letter, but that no one would want to read the mundane/not-fun parts of our lives. I've realized something else about that - by posting these pictures, and stories, it helps me focus on these good things - the many blessings I (we) do have. And to see that the other stuff (dryer broke! Cavities!) simply doesn't have the same worth.

One of the true highlights of the summer was Vacation Bible School at our church. We didn't have it last year due to renovations in the building, so kids were really looking forward to it this year. They went each morning for a week - and loved it. Yes, "they" - even CC got to go! She had such a good time and didn't hesitate to say good-bye to me even the first day. I know it helped that her brothers were there, and her babysitter, and some neighbors...
Lots of fun, upbeat music every day, definitely the favorite part. Brendan is on the left with his black baseball hat backwards. The theme was "The High Seas" and all the songs, crafts, activities were around that. Here's the "set" for the stage - this is the "other" Brendan and Andrew (and brother Lucas) (many of you know that story!) in the picture with the Bakers.