Maiden Voyage!

We made our first family camping trip to Woodland Park, Colorado.  We figured we would stay close to home for our first outing.  We stayed at a very family friendly campground and took in many of the sites.

We visited the Florissant Fossil Beds where we all learned about the petrified forests that remained, how it was created, and were able to see many different fossils of birds, insects, and leaves.

The kids and Ken in front of a petrified Redwood Tree Stump.

This was a great experience for Ella, as she has been fascinated by Volcanoes.  She walked away with so much knowledge about volcanoes, fossils, and archaeology.  Ella was so excited she and Eric even earned their Jr. Ranger Certificates.  The kids had to complete various worksheets during our guided tour to get their certificate and patch.  Ella hopes to collect more patches as all the national parks in Colorado give them out. 

The kids leaving Florrisant Fossil Beds. 

Ella says she wants to be an paleontologist when she grows up.  I think she definitely has a scientific mind, as she is always asking questions and loves science!  I will add that one to the list for her.

After a long day in Florrisant and a long nap, we decided a campfire was in order.  The night was perfect, as it was just a bit on the cool side, with just a tad bit of wind.  The kids loved roasting marshmallows and making smores.  However, I think when all was said and done they enjoyed plain old marshmallows better.

We passed by the Dinosaur Museum on the way into town and it had rave reviews (thanks Aunt Angela for the tip).  So, we ventured in and were wowed!  The kids both loved the interactive kids area, the guided tour was fascinating, and the kids even were able to see a real dinosaur paleontologist  laboratory. Talk about eye opening!  

Ella under a prehistoric "Sea Turtle"

Just before we left the museum, each of the kids were able to pick one item from the gift shop.  Ella chose a sticker dinosaur dictionary.  She hasn't put that book down, since our trip and still reviews all the dinosaurs daily.  Of course, she says she wants to help dig for dinosaurs when she gets older.  I think she has it in her!

Eric popping out of the camo tent.

Eric had a great time at the museum and learned about T-Rex!  He was roaring and stomping all night long!  He picked out some dinosaur figures to play with and take home.  They are now a fixture in our trailer, as he keeps himself busy for quite awhile just playing quietly with his dinosaurs and cars.

We took a trip later that day through Garden of the Gods and Ken decided to try the scenic way home.  Well, the scenic way took an extra hour to get back but we sure did get a view. 

"Don't look down!"

A beautiful picture off of Garden of the Gods

 It was dirt road all the way, no guardrails, and up the road kept climbing!  We weren't sure when we would ever reach the end, but we finally made it back home.

Our final day we thought it would be fun to take the kids to a real gold mine.  It was tight quarters as we all sandwiched ourselves into the mine shaft elevator.  The ride down was a bit intimidating, as heading down 1,000 ft was a bit dark and of course we had no idea what to really expect.  Needless to say, the kids were a bit nervous.  

Regardless, the kids enjoyed riding on the train cars and hearing the stories of what life was like as a miner, and how they used to use donkeys to help pull the carts.  We all even received our own gold .  Of course, the gold was inside a rock.  Ella is still trying to figure out how to get her gold out!  So if you know of anyone with a kiln, let us know.

I think one of the best parts of this trip was seeing how the kids got along so well with all the other children at the park in the campground.  When we checked in, the hostess made sure we had a great view and were close to the campground park.  So, every night the kids would run out to play at the park while we were fixing dinner or had some down time.  They made friends immediately and really had a great time!  We hope to see some of the same faces again next year (as many return every year for Memorial Day Weekend)!

Well, we have definitely decided we like camping!  We are ready for our next trip, this time heading to the Mountain of Breckenridge!  Stay tuned for our next voyage!

Mother's Day!

Ella's last choir rehearsal was this past week, which happened to fall on Cinco de Mayo. Our church did a fun mexican themed dinner and also had a pinata for all the kids. Eric was in aw of the giant sized baseball and made good contact with the ball.

Hit that Ball!

Ella had fun too, but enjoyed collecting all the goodies more. We are definitely going to miss our Wednesday night dinners with friends this summer, but are looking forward to some relaxing nights at home for a few months.

"Spring fever" has definitely set in and the kids have been biting at the bit to spend time outdoors. We've had a kid's croquet set in our garage, just waiting to break out of the box. I set up the croquet set in the front yard and Ella had to hit the ball through each hole, in numerical order.

A game of Croquet

Eric tried croquet, but decided there was more fun things to do outside. He eventually decided trying to climb trees with Ella was more fun!

Climbing Trees

I can't believe how time has just flown. Eric is just over 2 1/2 now 

Growing up!

and he has made leaps and bounds in his speech and vocabulary. Once I was so worried that he would never talk, now he is chatting up a storm. He likes to sing along to rhymes and his favorite question these days, "Why?"  It's great to have a whole conversation with him now and see the kids talking together, playing together more, and just enjoying each others company for hours. I only hope they remember these times of fun and will remain friends growing up.

The weather was absolutely gorgeous Mother's Day weekend. We took full advantage and spent Mother's Day weekend working on our garden.  Saturday morning we purchased some beautiful Clemantis vines and veggie plants for our garden, in hopes of getting a head start on our veggies this year. 

 Our last frost is estimated around May 20th, but since we were heading out of town we decided to go ahead and take a chance. After all, it was 80 degrees all weekend. It wouldn't possibly snow again, the forecast looked warm with no freezing temps.

Planting our Clemantis

Well, as soon as we put the Clemantis in the ground the leaves were wiped clean. Ken and I didn't even think that the deer would touch it just outside the garden gate, as I had read that deer do not like the smell of Clemantis. Apparently, we didn't have enough aroma from the one flower on our little vine. We awoke the next morning and the deer had eaten all the leaves off the vine. Thankfully, they left the plant and stem. So, we moved the vine just inside the gate and we're hoping it comes back to life.

The garden looked great and the new sprayers for our garden are working well. We've moved things around this year, hoping to get a few more melons than last year. The pumpkins took over last years crop of Watermelon and cantaloupe, so we spaced them and spread them out better throughout the garden. We're crossing our fingers for a better harvest this year!

Ken and the kids surprised me with a beautiful red birdhouse! The birdhouse was from our tree outside, but needed to be fixed up. It was missing a roof and was in rough shape. Ken had to piece it back together after taking it off the tree and Ella insisted that the birdhouse needed to be painted red. Ella thought the birds could see it better if it was red. I think it came out beautifully!

We spent Sunday morning at Church, where Ella and the Children's Choir had a special Mother's Day performance. The kids made lots of Mother's Day cards for the congregation and spent part of the service handing out cards to all the Mom's. She is really going to miss singing in the choir, as they will be taking a break during the summer.

I couldn't think of a better way to spend Mother's Day!

Family of Chickens......

I'm not sure if it was the warmer weather of Spring in the air or browsing through old photos, that we thought how nice it would be if we could have chickens again.  We started researching different coop options for our smaller yard and how many hens we would need to supply our family with freshly laid eggs.  We found a wonderful coop design that seemed discreet, versatile, and actually aesthetically pleasing.

This is the Herb Garden Chicken Coop, which Ken will start when we arrive back from our vacation from Florida.  

The hen house will hold four full size hens and will be kept discreetly in our backyard, out of site from nosy neighbors.  We haven't received approval from the HOA yet, but we know people in much more suburban areas and within our county have chickens with no problems.

We are very excited, but the kids are especially thrilled to have these little chicks here. Ella had very fond memories of our last flock of chickens and couldn't wait to pick these girls up at the store. We received two from a local feed store and the other two were from private breeders in town.  Yup, you read it right! We have chicken's again! We just missed our old chickens too much! We decided now that we're settling in our home in Colorado, we were ready to take them on again.

We did our research though and looked for the most docile and mild mannered, along with their ability to lay throughout the year and cold hardiness. We decided on four different breeds.

The first we knew we had to get was an Ameracauna. 

 This was the same breed of chicken that we had before and Ella just adored. She will lay blue eggs. She will be an all white bird and is 3 weeks old.

We will call her, "Holly."

Our youngest chick right now is a Black Australorp and will lay nice light brown eggs. 

 They say they are one of the best year round layers, even in the coldest of temps. They are known to be calm and friendly and she is proving to be very sweet at just a week old.

We call her "Hattie." (You may recognize the name.This was the name of the Ameracauna Ella loved, from our last flock).

Another great layer is the Cinnamon Queen 

we have named ours "Penny." She is currently 2 weeks old and enjoys being handled by the kids.  She is very calm and sweet natured.

She is also known as a Red Sex Link, because her breeding and color specify her sex. One nice way to know that you definitely have a pullet/hen.

Last, but certainly not least is our Copper Marans. 

 Now, we're only keeping one of these girls. However, the breeder wasn't sure if these were pullets/hens or roosters. Therefore, we took our 50/50 chance and hope to get one nice girl.

Copper Maran's lay the Mercedez Benz of eggs, as the eggs are almost a deep chocolate brown color. Many chefs in France and in the US refer to these as gourmet eggs. Regardless, Marans are known for being friendly birds and great layers too.

The kids absolutely love having the chickens and are great about visiting them throughout the day.  Even Eric has developed a gentle hand when it comes to the baby chicks

Eric with "Penny"

We are having fun with the chicks and have a pet sitter lined up, as we prepare for our trip to Florida & Disney World next week.  Luckily, our pet sitter lives on a small farm herself so will be staying at the house to take care of our small urban farm.

Happy Easter!

Ken picked up the travel trailer on Good Friday and the kids were so excited! We ended up spending the day in the trailer, even camping out that night. We had a wonderful salmon dinner, watched a movie and had popcorn, before the kids tried out their bunk room.

It took awhile to get the kids to sleep, they were so excited about being in the trailer. However, they finally drifted off. Unfortunately, the kids awoke at 4am and couldn't get back to sleep for a couple hours. Ella actually asked, "How much longer until morning? I'm tired of laying here." Needless to say, it was a long night!

Morning finally arrived and I was exhausted! We decided to forgo soccer practice after our eventful night, so awoke late with Blueberry Muffins for breakfast.

The kids had a great time in the trailer, not wanting to leave in the morning. We had a full day of activities though, so we eventually pried the kids away from the trailer long enough to attend the Wildlife Experience's "Spring Eggstravaganza."

They had all kinds of activities for the kids from planting sunflowers and guessing what birds laid the eggs, to spin art and lots of crafts.

Eric liked the snake the best and was completely mesmerized by it, although he didn't want to touch it.

Ella enjoyed her visit with the Easter Bunny as usual; however, Eric wasn't quite sure of the rather large furry rabbit. He was a good sport though and endured a quick photo and even let out a great big, "cheese!"

We wrapped up the day with egg dying and Ken showed the kids how to blow out eggs, so they could color them. We did a few boiled eggs as well, so we had just enough eggs that we knew wouldn't go to waste.

The kids had a great time choosing their colors and decorating. It was great to see Eric really getting into the fun of it all too, a marked difference from last year! I think Ella liked having a partner to do the eggs with too and she was very encouraging. I often heard her say, "Good Job, Eric!" or "I really like your egg."

The eggs turned out really well 

and both kids were anxious for the Easter Bunny to arrive. 

 I think Eric was a little unsure about that great BIG bunny coming to our house though. I often forget that Eric has not experienced/remembered many of these holidays. I forget that with Ella we spent weeks preparing for a holiday and learning all about it. I just assume Eric knows what it's all about, forgetting that he's experiencing it all for the first time. I often catch myself, realizing that I need to take more time with him and explain things more like I did with Ella at this age.

Morning came and the kids were anxious to get downstairs to see their Easter baskets.

Eric immediately noticed the hot wheels in his basket and asked to open them.

The rest was history and he played all day with just those three little cars. Even the small amount of sweet treats didn't grab his attention away.

Ella went through her entire basket, carefully examine each item in her basket. She loved the Pixos craft box and spent her day working on putting different shapes and insects together.

We did a rather quick egg hunt after breakfast, as we didn't think the Easter eggs would last outside with all the deer wandering around the yard. Eric took Ella's lead and they both ran around the yard with enthusiasm and surprise as they each found their eggs.

Ella had a bit of an advantage as she was looking out the window earlier in the morning to see where some of the eggs were hiding.

We decided to avoid the crowds at church and attend a late Easter service at Church. We strolled into Church around noon and it was perfect, the service was small and contemporary. We took Ella to service with us and she did great, even singing along to a very jazzy version of "When the Saints Go Marching In." We had a good time at Church and were so happy she enjoyed it as well.

We wrapped up our evening with a leg of lamb Easter dinner with Maria's parents. Ella absolutely loved the lamb and to our amazement even asked for seconds.

Ken outdid himself making Easter bunny bread for everyone as well.

Just a wonderful and relaxing Easter spent at home with the family. I was putting Ella to bed that evening and going through our usual bedtime routine and one of the questions I ask is what are you thankful for. She started to say she was thankful for all her Easter gifts, but she stopped midstream and took a second to think. She then said, "I am thankful for God, that he sent Jesus to die on the cross for us."

I am so happy she remembered the true meaning of Easter and know Jesus is alive and well in our hearts and in our minds.

Happy Easter from The Swift's!

Spring has Sprung!

It's quite amazing to watch the imagination of a child. I stand in aw of their stories and delight in listening to them create new adventurers. We went to Costco last week and brought back these big matching boxes (not purchased, just the ones they give you at check out) that the kids have been playing with all week. These boxes have been everything from a cat bed to an escalator, a truck to a stage. It's amazing how the cheapest thing can be the most entertaining. 

Eric's Escalator!

 I think I'll start selling all the toys and just start scavenging for free items at the dump. Just kidding, but it does make you think about what the need is for al these expensive toys. Perhaps, the best tool/toy you can give you child is the ability to use their own imaginations without all the lights and sounds.

Ken has been traveling quite a bit these last few months, so while the kids are missing Daddy I try and think of some fun activities the kids and I can do together and also take advantage when Daddy is home to spend some one-one time with the kids.  We started implementing movie night, where the kids grab their sleeping bags and camp out in the family room.  

We put on a movie and have dinner (usually pizza or Chick-fil-A) and for dessert we have homemade popcorn.  

The kids and I love it, as it makes for a relaxing night for all of us!

I was also able to squeeze in a Mom and Eric day, while Ken took Ella skiing (their last ski trip for the season).  Eric wanted to go to the Wildlife Experience, since he heard Ella and I talking about it from our last Mommy-Daughter Day.  He had fun seeing all the frogs, but was disappointed he didn't see more frogs "MOVE!"  He was a little intimidated this time with all the big animals, 

but enjoyed the aquariums, 

and the children's play area! 

He is growing up so fast and it seems that I'm missing so much time with him, trying to split my time between Ella and Eric.  I really enjoy these one-one time with the kids, as I really get to see their personality's come out!  

The kids couldn't wait to break out their gardening sets and start planting some flowers.  This is by far our favorite time of year, to see all the flowers starting to bloom.  Ella was anxious to start planting and although we're not completely out of the woods yet (still a chance of freezing temps at night), we thought we could at least plant a few pots and hanging baskets that we could move inside if necessary.

Ella and Eric had lots of fun planting!

Ella's Spring Musical and Palm Sunday Choir Performance was quite entertaining. The kids sang with the adult choir and waved the palm branches during the service & singing. I think Ella was a bit distracted with everything going on at once, as the church had such a big performance (children & adult choir, dancers, band playing, and the large overhead tv). 

We do miss the small choir performances, to just be able to hear and enjoy the kids singing praises. However, the kids worked hard and it was a beautiful and entertaining musical and choir performance.

Ken and I had been talking for for a long time about getting a travel trailer for the family. We had one years ago when we had our online business, traveling to different shows around the country and really enjoyed it. The trailer was sold just before Ella was born, but we knew someday we wanted to the opportunity to go camping/traveling with the kids. Well, the kids are older now and looks like we've past the baby stage. So, just browsing online and with my sister's urging we decided to check out some travel trailers this past week. My sister sent me a listing for a really nice two year old 31' Heartland NorthTrail and we just had to take a look.

We drove up to Loveland (1.5hrs North) and walked through it. We also checked out some brand new ones at the RV America in Loveland as well, just to compare. Well, we opted for the North Trail as it was a great deal and came with many accessories that I knew we would have to purchase anyway. The kids absolutely love the trailer, especially the big bunk room in the back (the bedding was an added bonus). 

Kids Bunk Room

 The bunk room has potentially 4 beds, so each of the kids can bring a friend in the future. One of the beds is actually a table as well, so the kids have a great play/work table. There is even a sliding door to the bunk room, so when the kids are sleeping we can shut the door and won't wake them.

Main Living Area

Master Bedroom

We are all very excited as we start planning our trips for the Spring/Summer. I think we'll be sticking close to Colorado this year, as we had already budgeted for our big trip to Disney World in a few weeks. However, we already have a long list of places to visit in Colorado. We are anxious to try out our new home away from home and really explore Colorado. What better way to learn about nature and our great state, then to travel and see it all in person. This is going to be an awesome summer!