As I was downloading some pics from my camera I came across a few that I didn’t get a chance to post. So, here are some moments from our first summer in the high country. We have made a ton of great memories so far!  Looking forward to the next half of summer break.

Another day. Another swim meet.

We are really enjoying our swim season and new team.  Of course, the kids miss their old teammates and the spirit of the Valley team and we all miss seeing our friends bright and early every morning but our new team is very informal and laid back.  Exactly what we needed 🙂  Sam and Alice are swimming better than ever and really enjoying it.  Their coach is fantastic and really pushes them. She tapes them at each meet and some practices and then one by one she goes over their strokes and gives them advice on what they should be working on and then tailors their practices to their needs.

Anyway, here are some pics from the day.  Enjoy…

Happy Friday!
Jennifer

In all the craziness of the 4th of July week, wildfires, a trip to Colorado Springs and visitors, I completely forgot to post about Alice and Mason’s birthday parties.  Well, to start off, both parties were on the same day, one hour apart. Way back in May, I decided that it would be an awesome idea to have their birthday parties separately but on the same day.  I really can’t be to blame because I made this decision sometime around the last week of school and if you remember that post, well, you know that I was crossing the fine line on crazy.  Anyway, they both had super fun parties and we all survived.  Barely.

I will start with Alice. She wanted a color party so we went with a rainbow theme.  Totally fun and sooo easy to plan around.  Think colorful food, primary colored balloons and tablecloths and tie-dyed plates and cups.  We had it at a local park that is appropriately named Rainbow Park.  Scott set up the slack line and it was a huge hit.  Huge. We also had a squirt gun fight and gave away colorful kites as the party favor.

Today we headed over to Vail for our field trip.  I haven’t been as good this summer about getting in our weekly field trips.  We haven’t put a dent in our summer bucket list and we are on the other side of 4th of July.  {{{Starting to panic}}} You know what that means….the first day of school will be here before we know it!! Noooo!
Anyway, we had The Colorado Ski and Snowboard Museum on our list for this summer and since we just live over the pass from Vail, we decided that would be a good trip to make this morning.  It was really informative and pretty awesome to see all the early skis and snowboards. There was also a display about the 10th Mountain Division that kept us all enthralled. We are looking forward to snowshoeing into one of the 10th Mountain Division huts this winter.  What a fun way to learn more about this part of our history.

The best part about the whole thing…..FREE.  And the parking…..FREE.  Hey, when you have 4 kids, free is so good.  Okay, so it probably wasn’t nice to say that the free part was the best, but it did take a close second.

A pirate ship playground.  I am not sure how we ever missed it before. A huge pirate ship.  The kids (all of them) were in heaven.

After making my kids walk the plank, we headed back to the car.  We also saw something else super cool but Sam wants to blog about it.

Have a great Tuesday.  We are off to the pool.
Jennifer

I hope your day was full of fun and laughter, family and friends!
Love, The Wescotts

As most of you know, Colorado Springs has been in the shadow of a wildfire for a few days. A wildfire started in the mountains west of Colorado Springs last Saturday.  We were all watching it very closely as it grew and threatened small towns and major roads in and out of Colorado Springs.   Scott and I were keeping our eyes on the fire because it seemed so close to our community in which we lived for 13 years.  Of course, our friends and family in the Springs were watching with a very close eye because the smoke plume was so visible to them.  As the fire grew, many of our old neighbors and friends began to gather and pack up precious belongings.  At the beginning of the week, many of those friends were put on a voluntary evacuation and then mandatory one.  Unfortunately, some of our friends and family were not on any sort of evacuation notice and believed that they were not in this dangerous fire path.  Tuesday afternoon a storm blew in and the wind pushed that fire over the ridge and sent it down the mountain into the homes on the hillside.  I happened to be watching the news as it happened.  Within a few hours, those houses and in some cases whole neighborhoods were taken over by flames.  It is a blessing that everyone was able to flee the fire to safety.  So many thanks to the fire fighters who saved numerous homes in the Mountain Shadows community and continue to risk their lives fighting this fire.  We are sad to say that many great friends and old neighbors have lost their homes.  It is devastating and tragic but we are so blessed that our friends and family are safe and were not harmed fleeing this horrible fire.  Our church was very close to the fire but miraculously is still standing.  Please stop to say a prayer for all the families that are beginning to find out if their homes are standing or gone.  The news has reported that 346 homes were lost in the wildfire on Tuesday evening.  The Denver Post has posted pictures of this Waldo Canyon wildfire and its devastation. We are not completely sure but think that our old home that we tearfully moved from 8 months ago is still standing.
We all know that the threat of wildfire is great when you live in or near the mountains. There have been many instances when Scott and I have looked out over the foothills (from our Mountain Shadows house) and commented to each other about a wildfire.  It would be devastating, quick and incredibly destructive.  Well, it was all those things and I am completely sure that for those people that lived through that horrible event, it was also frightening and scary to say the least.

Once the shock goes away and the smoke clears, the blessings will emerge.  Children are safe with their parents, neighbors took care of each other, belongs are just things and memories will last forever.

Jennifer

Happy Birthday to our sweet, spunky, sometimes girlie, sometimes not, mighty, beautiful and super smart Alice.  She continues to challenge and amaze us, everyday.  We love you!!!!!

I read this poem a few days ago and thought about my girl.  I pray this for her.
Check it out here!

Alice had an awesome day.  We stopped and picked up Alice’s friend Lily and then went and saw the new movie Brave.  It was great and a very refreshing change from the typical princess movies that we all know and love.  After the movie, we stopped at home to get Scott and then we headed to Eagle-Vail for the first swim meet of the summer.  You were missing those pool pics, weren’t you?!?!?!?  Anyway 🙂  The kids did awesome and swam soooo well.  After the meet we headed back into town, got some dinner and enjoyed some cinnamon rolls (her choice, not mine) for dessert and Alice opened her presents.  Not only did the kids fall into bed without a peep but Scott and I were not far behind 🙂

Here’s to our sweet girl. Every year we forbid her to get any older but she went ahead and turned nine anyway.  I guess we will adjust.

The kids and I came up with our summer bucket list many moons ago.

Today, because we had to be out of our house for a few hours (remind me later to tell you how much I love house showings), we headed out for our first summer field trip.  Because I didn’t have any need to be in the car for more than a few minutes (read: we’ve been in the car a lot), we chose one of our field trips that is here in town. We headed over to the Dillon Nature Preserve.  The kids thought it looked suspiciously like a hike but I assured them that it would be way more.  Well.  It was pretty much a hike BUT it was an especially nice hike that cruised along the edge of one of the many peninsulas on Lake Dillon.  We even stopped for some rock skipping in the lake.  All in all, a thumbs up on this stop.  Next week, I may decide to venture out of the county 🙂

Sam and Alice checking out a wild strawberry plant.

lake view

She is too cool for school.

Skipping rocks…always a crowd favorite.

I hate to brag but we sure do live in a gorgeous spot.  Just sayin.

Happy Tuesday. 

On to Wednesday.  

Jennifer

Another beautiful Sunday morning hike. This time we headed up to the Eagles Nest Wilderness Area. Scott was able to join us on our hike this morning along with all the mosquitoes in Summit County.  Aside from being eaten alive (and not having bug spray) and not making it to the lake, we had a super awesome hike. The hike ended up being a bit further than little legs can go so stopped to have a quick snack and blow some bubbles (every one should take bubbles on a hike, IMHO) and then headed back down the trail.  We finished the hike with a bible study and great discussion about making good vs. bad choices and how we are sometimes judged based on the choices we make.  We also talked about how God might feel about our choices.  I am always in awe of how thoughtful my kids are when we sit together and talk.

I hope you all had a fabulous day!