Egg-cellent!

Ella is absolutely loving her karate class.  She has already earned three stripes to her belt and that means she's half way to earning her Jr. Yellow Belt.  

At least once a week, she tells me how glad we chose this karate school and how much she enjoys the classes.  

Ella is not the only one cruising around on two wheels.  Eric has taken off on his balance bike and no longer needs his feet to keep him going.  

Gravity is his best friend now, as he cruises down the driveway with no feet!  This guy is definitely ready for a full fledged big boy bike!  You can find him jumping down the steps of our walkway, riding straight into ravines and dirt roads.  I just hope I can keep him off the half pipes for a few years!

We finally found a weekend we were home to put together a small garage sale, before the cold weather really set in.  The kids kept themselves entertained and enjoyed announcing when shoppers arrived.  "Mom, people are coming!" I think I need to work on their sales skills.  We managed to sell quite a bit and decided to use the money to buy Ella a pair of skis for the winter and Eric a play kitchen.

Ella and Eric's cafe is open for business on a daily basis now. 

Ella doesn't need to play kitchen much these days, as she is enjoying cooking right alongside me in the mornings.  Ella cooks some great scrambled eggs in the morning.  

Occasionally, she needs help reaching a bowl or cooking spray.  However, she does all the cooking and it's so fun to watch her feeling so at ease in the kitchen.

Speaking of eggs, we awoke to a wonderful surprise this morning!  Our hens are starting to lay their first eggs!  I found a small perfectly smooth brown egg, laying so nicely in the nesting box this am.  

Ella had scrambled eggs and said they were the best eggs ever!

In anticipation of eggs, we put the boxes in just a couple weeks ago.  Looks like we put them in, just in time!  Even better, we found a second brown egg this evening too!  Can't wait to see what color eggs we get next!

Fun with Friends!

We enjoyed a wonderfully cool Labor Day weekend in Colorado Springs, camping with our friends the Hightower's.  We had a great time showing them some of the attractions and visiting Santa's Workshop.

The kids especially loved the Candy Cane Coaster, braving the bumpy ride twice.

I think Ella could of ridden it all day!  It's always amazing to me that Ella can go round and round in circles all day without getting the least bit sick.  However, put her in a car for a few hours and she's car sick.  Go Figure!

Eric liked all the vehicles (planes, traines, boats, motorcycles).  We always love our visit to Santa's Workshop for all the rides even the youngest kids can enjoy by themselves.  

The little kids feel like big kids at Santa's Workshop!

We ventured back to the campground for some much needed downtime and followed up dinner with an Ice Cream Social at the clubhouse.  We really enjoyed our stay at the Mountaindale RV Park, even though it was a bit farther from town.

Ella had been wanting to make it to the top of Pikes Peak, since we moved back to Colorado.  Well, we finally decided to give it a go.  A long ride up, but the kids did awesome!  Ella even commented that it was a nice relaxing ride, she really enjoyed the views.  

I could definitely see Ella and Eric climbing Pikes Peak some day.  

We had to stop at Balance Rock in Garden of the Gods. 

Our kids are fearless!  They wanted to climb every rock, even ones that made my knees weak.  Luckily, Ken was there to assist.  Amazingly, no one was severely injured on this trip.  However, Eric met rock after he was running down a dirt/rock hill while heading to the car.  Scraped up his knee pretty good, but the boy is tough and kept on going.

The kids didn't get quite enough climbing in at Garden of the Gods, so they were climbing dirt piles all evening long at the campground.  They were caked in dirt!  Eric kept up with the big kids and seemed to have forgotten all about his early brush with the rocks.  I even caught him tossing his bike over a dirt hill!  Boys will be boys!

After a long day, we were happy to unwind with a campfire and smore's.

It was so nice camping with friends!  The kids even had their first trailer sleepover, as 6yr old Blake spent the night in our trailer so his Mom and Dad could enjoy an Anniversary night to themselves.  The kids had fun and chatted for quite awhile, but eventually drifted off to sleep.  They awoke early, but kept themselves busy playing in their bunk room.

We wrapped up our trip on Monday, with lunch at The Airplane Restaurant. The kids had so much fun getting to sit in a real cockpit!  

We sure are going to miss camping this winter.  However, Ella and Ken are already talking about skiing.  Eric will be starting ski school this year as well, so they can't wait!  We hope to have at least one more opportunity to break the trailer out before the cold weather really sets in, so stay tuned.

Kids in Motion!

We have been so busy with our camping trips, that I haven't had time to really write about what the kids have been up to this summer.

In an effort to stay cool this summer, we enrolled Ella in another Ice Skating class (level 3).  We had to miss a few classes, due to camping so we'll have to retry the level again.  However, she absolutely loves to skate and did very well.  

A perfect sunny Colorado day, seemed like a great time this summer to break out the bikes for the kids. No wind and an early morning bike ride was just what the kids needed to burn some energy. Ella had been wondering when she would be able to ride a two-wheeler, so we decided it was time for those training wheels to come off.  We arrived at the park and turf, not a soul in sight.  Perfect!  Ella hopped right on, I gave a good push and immediately she was off.  First just a few feet, but she never gave up and kept on trying! 

The end of our outing and she was already riding back and forth across the field.  Ella is quite determined when she puts her mind to something!  

I know she can be determined, but we have been wanting to find an activity to help build her confidence.  I spent many years in the martial arts as a child and thought this would be really good for Ella.  We visited four different karate schools, spoke with many more.  We finally decided on a local Kempo Karate school, where Cousin Seth attends.  This school offered the best class to help teach discipline, focus, and confidence with a fun spin.  It's great that Ella already has a short term goal to look forward to (White Belt, Yellow Stripe).  She really loves this class as it's a blend of traditional martial arts, focus and following direction drills, as well as self-control.  

Just tonight, Ella earned her first stripe.  She had to demonstrate her basic knowledge of blocks, stances, and classroom etiquette.  She was so excited and very proud of her accomplishment!!

Eric has really been interested in Karate as well and throws a pretty good front kick.  However, he has to be 4 to join.  In the mean time, Ella has been teaching Eric everything she learns.  

In my quest to find Ella a good Karate school, I realized how much I had missed the martial arts myself.  I found a wonderful Christian based traditional karate school, in the same style I learned years ago (over 20 years ago).  I started training just a week ago, meeting just twice a week in the evening. I am so glad to have found this school and an added bonus, I encouraged my father to join with me.  I hope Ella and Eric will be able to join us, when they are a bit older (they have to be 7).  

After Labor Day, the kids will be picking up even more classes.  Ella will also start a homeschool Dance and PE class, while Eric will be attending The Little Gym once a week.  The kids are definitely moving in all sorts of directions, keeping me moving as well!

This past weekend, Ella enjoyed a Daddy day at Elitches.  Actually, our friends the Hightower's invited Ella on their company outing to Elitches (they had two extra tickets).  Ken had been gone that week, so I thought it would be a good opportunity for them to spend some quality Daddy and daughter time.  They had a blast!  The kids couldn't get enough of the roller coasters!

Ella & Blake giving a Thumbs Up

The kids road the roller coast three times, each time they gave a thumbs up indicating they wanted to ride again!  Although, she would tell you her favorite ride was the Lazy River at the Water Park.  She definitely enjoyed her day with Daddy.

Eric and I invited Mimi and Pa out for the morning and we ventured over to Southland's Outdoor Mall, where he could play and run through the sprinklers.

He had so much fun, just full of energy and loved the freedom to run and play in the water to his little heart's content.  I even caught him dancing and singing, "You can't see me, I'm in the water fall!"  Too Cute!

We wrapped up the morning with a much needed haircut, which he loves as well.

What can I say, our boy loves the attention!

We had a great time and enjoyed spending some quality time with the kids that are always keeping us moving!