Tired.
Very tired.

No, not Alice.
Me.

Girl Scout Camp.
Need I say more?

Samuel now has glasses.  He is amazed at how much better he can see with them on.  I think he looks very handsome and older. 

Who knew that 4 kids could eat up an entire bag full of peaches. In less than 2 days. One lone peach left. For now. Who knows how long it will last!
Thursday really cannot come quick enough. We need more fruit!

There they go again.

I so wish that time would stand still.

This past weekend, Alice, Paige and I headed to Denver for a girl’s overnight.  We went up Friday night and did some school shopping.  We stayed at a hotel and the girls had fun swimming.  Saturday morning we went over to the (new) American Girl store.  The three of us had sooo much fun.  Paige’s doll, Gwen, got her ears pierced and Alice’s doll, Felicity, got a new pretty hairdo.  The both got to pick out an outfit for their doll and a pet.  After the morning in the store we went across the street to eat lunch.  The restaurant caters to American Girl shoppers and had seats for all the dolls.  The dolls (really the girls) even get a free dessert. Very cute!

Well, we are nearing the end of summer vacation. There are 8 days left.  I am trying to be positive and enjoy that last few days with my kids before we go back to the routine of school and fall activities.  The truth is I am really sad about the whole thing.  I am sad that Paige is going to Kindergarten and won’t be home with me any longer.  I am sad that Sam is going to 3rd grade and moving up with the big kids.  I am sad that my sweet Alice is growing up and seems more like a 7th grader than a 2nd grader.  I am also really excited for all of them and the places that they are going.  I will not cry, I will not cry, I will not cry.  Who am I kidding, I am going to ball like a baby. If you happen to have been there when Sam went to kindergarten, well, let’s just say, it wasn’t pretty.   He was screaming, I was doing the ugly cry.  Sooo, I am getting all the crying out this week.  If I see one more commercial for school supplies….Okay, now I am better and ready to blog about all the positive things we are doing before the fist day of school.
In sticking with our summer schedule we finished our mural as our art project yesterday.  Sam added an anemone, Alice painting a school of blue fish and Paige completed the bottom of our mural with seaweed.  They were very proud of their creation and have already decided that we will paint a beach scene next summer.  They informed Scott last night at the dinner table that they would like to put it on the gym wall.  He didn’t seem quite as excited as them.  Huh?! I wonder why?!?!?

Today we headed out for a field trip to the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center in Woodland Park.  Kids (my kids anyway) are always enthralled with dinosaur bones and fossils.  This museum focuses most on dinosaurs found in North America and Colorado. 
My favorite line from today came from Sam.
Sam:  Hey Mom, that Megalodon makes a Tiger Shark look like  goldfish. 
Me: What’s a Megalodon?
Sam: Mom, really.

After my enlightenment at the Dinosaur Museum we headed to the park for a picnic and a bit of running around.  A great field trip day.  Not sure where we will end up next week but I am trying to think of something really fun for our last day before the start of school. 
—————————————————-

The past weekend our kids finished up swimming at the state competition. Our team hosted the event this year so everybody had to chip in and help out in some way.  Alice swam two events on Friday and Sam swam three events, one Friday, one Saturday and one Sunday morning.  I was so proud of both of them.  Way to go, Sam and Alice! You guys rock!!! 

Have a great Tuesday! Tonight Sam will be competing in his final duathlon of the summer. 
Jennifer

The majority of our time in MI was spent at Uncle Tom’s cabin on Houghton Lake.  The kids jet skied and tubed from sun up to sun down.  Our time on the lake was spent relaxing and hanging out. 

We spent the first couple days of our visit in Flushing, with Scott’s parents.  Flushing is where Scott and I grew up.  We went to a year of elementary school, junior high and high school together.  Good times.  The kids enjoyed getting reacquainted with their cousins and checking out some Flushing landmarks.  They got to see where we went to school and the house that I grew up in.  My parents were not there so we just walked around and checked out grandpa’s paths. I have also included some pics from the pool party at Uncle Glenn and Aunt Jeanne’s house. A big thank you to them for hosting this party!!! It was so wonderful to get to see so many Kolinski relatives!

The Wescott Clan.

 Checking out the backyard at my parent’s house.  The kids were amazed at the size of their yard.  And a creek to boot.  Super cool status 🙂

———————————————————-
Sam and Alice swam in the state competition this morning.  They both swam well and I was very proud of them.  I am feeling a bit brain dead after our busy morning at the pool.  Tonight we are off to the state meet pasta dinner.  Scott and I will be spending most of the weekend volunteering at the meet.  Sam swims in a medley relay tomorrow morning and then our kids are done for the summer.  Hopefully I can post a few pictures of the meet before the end of the weekend. 

Jennifer