Carr Court Block Party

Our block party turned out to be a great success. Only a few people RSVPd, but a bunch showed up! We blocked the street off and the kids ran and played all around. Station 14 showed up and let the kids check out the fire truck. They also got to flow some water from the fire truck and then refill it from the hydrant. I wish I had taken more pictures, but I was too busy talking! We had balloons, a kiddie pool, a kiddie pool filled with Quick Snow, music, 2 tables covered with food and Noah's tractor and 4-wheeler were going the entire day! We had lunch AND dinner at the Block Party! The grill was going almost the entire time! We were hanging out and talking from noon to 11pm! Some showed up for lunch, went home, and then showed back up for dinner! It was a lot of fun and really nice to get to know our neighbors! We are definitely doing it again next year!!

IF.....

Noah spent close to 3 hours outside today, exploring the backyard. He brought me 2 twigs that spelled "if". He put them on the kitchen table and said, "If you get a hurt, you can go to the office to get a bandaid." That must have been from his days in preschool! It was too cute!

Berry Patch Farms

We met the Jones family at Berry Patch Farms to pick some organic strawberries. I had no idea that they had 1 of everything else growing there! We had fun picking berries and shopping in the store. I can't believe I didn't get a picture of their little pot bellied pig named Bacon Bits!! He was roaming all around eating up scraps of anything he could find and whatever anyone was feeding him!

Mommy, where do butterflies come from?

"Noah, where do you think butterflies come from?"

"You put popcorn outside where it's really hot, and then it goes POP, POP, POP and then it turns into butterflies!"

Noah, why did you put on pants??

No reason, Mommy!

Hot Air Balloon Festival @ Chatfield

I can't believe I forgot to post this. It was a fun day. Noah and I actually went 2 days in a row--early. This day, Aunt Kayla and Fiona met us there. We got kettle corn and enjoyed the entertainment!

Come on over! My friends are here milking their goats in our front yard!

Those are just not words anyone would ever expect to hear! Oh yeah, and, "can you bring some kefir to trade"?

My friend, Liese, had friends at her house from Texas. They have a goat farm in TX called Swede Farm and were on the way home from picking up 15 goats they just bought. Of course, they needed to stop in Highlands Ranch, Colorado to milk their goats on Liese's front lawn! That's not a site one is used to seeing in the suburbs!

Noah and I showed up with the kefir grain and traded it for a half gallon of fresh goat milk. Noah even got to learn how to milk a goat! Bethany was milking on one side while Tim was teaching Noah to milk on the other side. OUCH! :o)

Mohawk

Noah has been asking me for a haircut for a few days. I asked him what kind of haircut he wanted and he perfectly described a mohawk! So Tuesday, after making 100% sure that he wanted a mohawk, I ended up giving him a faux-hawk! I couldn't bring myself to shave his head all the way to skin on the sides!

Yesterday, was our day to go to Cody House. I was afraid they would all disapprove of Noah's new haircut, but they all loved it! One of the little ladies said that she loves Noah, so it doesn't matter what his hair looks like! Too sweet!

I have no idea where he got it, but right after I cut his hair, Noah told me he will still be nice to the little kids. ??? Sounds good to me! He'll just have to represent the good boys with mohawks! :o)

We saw a funnel cloud!

Noah and I were at the Chatfield Reservoir Beach today and were able to watch a funnel cloud trying to form a tornado about 20 miles east of us for 15 minutes! It was the same storm that almost blew us off the beach 10 minutes earlier! I have to admit that I would have never noticed it if some rocket scientist from Lockheed Martin hadn't been there & pointed it out to us! He had just seen a cloud doing the same thing a week earlier in Colorado Springs.

I called Jason at the fire station at C-470 & Morrison and the guys were able to see it from there too! I called my friend who lives in Parker and he walked out his front door and saw it swirling above their house! I saw on the news that it touched down briefly, but no one was hurt and I don't think it damaged any houses.

I was bummed that it was too far away to get a picture, but was really interesting to watch! Noah was totally interested while all the other kids had no idea what was going on over in Parker! While I was on the phone, he kept saying, "Mommy! It's still trying to make a tornado!" over and over again.

Black Hands Drum Ensemble

Noah and I went to watch the Black Hands Drum Ensemble today. I fogot my camera, so the pictures from my phone will have to do. They had 3 women and 1 man playing drums, telling stories and dancing. They talked about how music and dancing helped their people get through the terrible times of slavery.

They asked the audience to participate in the dancing and at one point, almost every person in there was dancing around the room. They said it was the most participation they ever had from an audience. One of the ladies was almost in tears. Noah went and gave her a big hug before we sat down. It was a very special day for us. I don't think Noah understood everything they were talking, but he will some day.

Camping @ Golden Gate Canyon Campground

Noah and I had a great time camping at Golden Gate Canyon Campground! Krista, Brock, Emarie and Elliot met us there and got a tent spot near us. Emarie and Elliot were so excited to have a "little brother" there. They made a buried treasure map and took Noah exploring everywhere. Noah absolutely loved hanging out with them!

We went fishing a couple of times, but didn't catch anything. Luckily I didn't count on having fish for our meals. I brought other food just in case!

We had a really loud thunderstorm the first night and Noah slept right through. The camper was cozy with no leaks, so I enjoyed hearing the rain on the roof.

It was a really fun trip and we're thinking about going back in September to see the leaves changing color.

No mean people!

Noah asked me how to spell "mean" today. When I checked to see what he was drawing, he showed me the sign he drew on our driveway that said, "No mean people!"

Noah's sandbox...

complete with trees and an irrigation system!

Central City, CO & Columbine Campground

We had a great camping trip with our homeschool group! The Common Ground Homeschoolers invaded the Columbine Campground, located just outside Central City, for the past few days. We spent time building fires, exploring, rock stacking, making fun necklaces and just hanging out together. Of course, smores were involved!

We had rain off and on each day, but the most horrendous downpour occurred last night. We had a great time squeezing the whole Jones family into our camper for evening antics. We toughed it out through 2 hours of pouring rain and hail but 3 adults, 5 kids and a dog proved to be too many for sleeping! They all headed for home, after we tried to sleep for a couple of hours in the camper like sardines, and they planned to return today to retrieve their floating tent and bedding. All in all, it was an exciting event! :o)

Noah and I got up early this morning and drove home. Jason was able to join us for the first two nights!