The rest of the summer

Before I get to highlights from the rest of our summer, I have to document a few interesting conversation topics that came up this weekend.  And I thought toddlers had great conversation topics.  

1.  From Will:  Do we know anyone who was the victim of a pyramid scheme?  Follow-up:  Who's the most famous person who was the victim of a pyramid scheme?  (For posterity's sake, my answers were no and I don't know, google it.  I still need to follow-up on how he learned about pyramid schemes and/or what he thinks pyramid schemes are.) 

2.  From Reina (less of a question- more of a statement).  After volunteering to help me try on  a bunch of new shirts and without a hint of snarkiness or malice, "I'm going to help you look ATTRACTIVE!"  

3.  From Will:  Who's the Pope?  (Asked during church, naturally.)  

So let's talk about the rest of the summer.  We didn't get to do much actual camping but we did have a great day up in the Snowies during the long holiday weekend in July. 

Snow!  In July!  Glenn and the kiddos caught a fish in this lake while I hiked by myself for a few glorious minutes and napped in the truck.  It was a lovely day.  

Will and his fish.  Trigger and little sister were a little jealous.  

Tootsie and Reina and snacktime.

Earlier that weekend, I took a Friday off  of work and we spent a day at the zoo with cousins and friends.  It was a great day to be at the zoo, nice temperatures but overcast skies so it didn't get too hot.

Reluctant sibling posed picture.  

Toddler cousin looking at bears.  I think this is when I asked her "what's the bear doing?" and her reply was "I don't know" said in the tone of 'Lady, I'm not a wildlife biologist how would I know what the bear's doing?' 

Refraining from comment.  

Reina spent part of one morning at my office while we waited for the Frontier Day's parade to start.  She kept herself busy coloring and drawing pictures.  When I finally looked up, I discovered she had redesigned my business card. I think the State Seal should be a cat face. 

Will participated in 4-H shooting sports since February.  In early June, they had their annual county shoot where the kids compete for the chance to go to the state meet.  Since this was Will's first year, we didn't pay a lot of attention to the competitive side of shooting sports.  Glenn was happy for Will to learn more of the safety skills and techniques.  We signed up for county shoot and spent part of a Saturday morning watching Will participate.  Turns out he's a pretty good little marksman and he earned second place in his age group for air rifle.  Baseball interfered with the schedule for the state competition but maybe next year?

Red ribbon!  

Last weekend, we wrapped up the summer with a trip to see the Rockies play the Cubs in Denver.  Pop-pop, the Cubs fan this season, came with us.  It was Wyoming night at Coors Field so we all received cool UW colored Rockies hats.  The brim is too curved for Will's tastes but he agreed to wear it for one night.  Unfortunately, the game didn't go well for the Rockies and Will's competitiveness necessitated a walk around the concourse when the game got particularly bad.  He simmered down when we found a kid's booth where he could pitch to a fake catcher and have his pitches tracked on the radar gun.  In spite of the score, we had a fun evening at the ballpark and ironically, the Rockies beat up on the Cubs the next day.  Will and I watched it on tv and he begged for a return trip to Coors Field before the season ends.  We'll see.  

Take me out to the ballgame.... 

First Day of School

Today was the first day of school.  Fourth grade and second grade, how on Earth did that happen?  As I wrote on Facebook today, along with another smiling picture of these two, "the days are long but the years are short."  I think that sentiment originally applied to babyhood but I'm finding it so appropriate lately.  The summer raced by and I can't believe that school is back in session. I haven't even written down all of our summer adventures.  But on the flip side, the 'witching hour' post-dinner of getting everyone cleaned up, books read to, bathed, tucked in four different times, where's the cat, what about that one really important toy and what happens when there's a man on first and the pitcher blah blah blah.  That hour or two sometimes feels like the longest part of my day.  

But here we are.  Fourth grade and second grade and firmly entrenched in big kid land.  Much thought was put into these two outfits.  Reina had her's planned for a while, down to the socks with foxes on them and a special necklace to borrow from me.  Will waffled between a sports shirt (naturally) or a tshirt printed to look like a tuxedo.  He ultimately chose the sports ensemble and is apparently saving the tuxedo shirt for a fancy occasion.  

Will asked that we take pictures at home this time around instead of at school. I don't think I've ever done that actually and while I was tempted this time, just because of that request, we stuck with our front steps.  It's tradition!  Didn't we have Coco in last year's?  

No Coco, but lots of ham.  

As per tradition, I picked up everybody after school to get the full report of the first day's activities.  Will was succinct.  Everything was fine, his friends are fine, the teacher is fine, nothing too exciting happened on the first day.  I forgot erasers in his school supplies.  Reina had a few more details to fill in.  She's delighted with her teacher.  They played some getting-to-know-you games.  There are two new kids in her class and someone else moved away.  She has some friends from last year in her class but the other ones are in the other class and that's sad.  She's wearing the shirt with the puppy on it tomorrow or perhaps the kitten and purple pants.

So on to day 2 and a new school year. I can't wait to see what this one brings but I wouldn't mind if it slowed down just a little bit.

The scene:  Almost dinnertime last night at the Pauley household.  

The characters:  Coco, Tootsie, Trigger and a bunch of humans who weren't feeding the pets fast enough.  

The location:  Tootsie's dog dish.  

Coco says, "If Coco doesn't have dinner, no one gets to have dinner.  

Tootsie says, "Don't eat the cat, don't eat the cat, don't eat the cat."  

It's August?!

Yes, it's totally August and back to school is just around the corner for the Pauley kids.  How that happened?  I really have no idea.  The kids and I just got back from a weekend trip in Minnesota for my cousin's wedding and Will just had his first football practice.  August is off to a busy start!

Here are some highlights from our weekend in Minnesota.

Look who's wearing a tie!  A few weeks before the trip, Will told me he wanted to wear a suit to the wedding.  Not ready to purchase a suit for someone who has grown out of stuff I bought in April, I told him that he could get a nice dress shirt and new tie because there's a slight chance that will still fit this winter.  We went to the department store and while some of us were distracted by Under Armour sweatshirts, we did successfully find a shirt that he would agree to wear.  My aunt's fiancee had to help with the tie part while we were waiting for the wedding to start so I get no credit for that lovely Windsor knot.   

Mom's weird attempt to be artistic.  I was also trying to get her to smile.  

Will and the groom's sons killing time before the wedding starts.  Electronics have a way of bringing a couple of introverted kids together.  Will liked their suits.  

The bulldog ring bearer almost stole the show.  He was wearing a custom tux and a jaunty top hat that he'd already discarded by the time he turned the corner to head to the altar.  Every wedding needs a bulldog.  

Brother and sister dancing at the reception.  This literally lasted for less than 5 seconds and it only lasted that long because I said they'd get cake if they danced together.  Reina was more game, naturally but Will would have none of it. 

Reina and my cousin Katie.  Cute girls!  

Reina running down the battery in my phone.  

Once my phone was dead, Reina had the camera to keep her busy.  CHEESE!  

The day before the wedding, we had a bbq at my cousin's house.  My cousin has two girls who are in jr high and high school and they live in a tree-lined street in a gorgeous part of the city.  None of that is really relevant to my next story, except for the part about the girls growing up.  My cousin pulls me aside during the bbq and says that she'd like to give something to Reina but she wanted to check with me first.  Her girls have outgrown their vast American Girl doll collection and my cousin wanted to know if Reina would like to take them home.  We get the catalog at home and Reina's been mildly interested but had never asked for one herself.  I told my cousin to show Reina the stuff and we could see what she wanted to do.  Two overstuffed suitcases later (thanks to Grandma for bringing home an iron doll bed) and here you go.

Meet Emily and Cecilia.  They have outfits and shoes and a newly acquired pet pug and they are adjusting to life in Wyoming.  

My aunt's table on her patio. I love that little dog planter and the birds.  

Hydrangeas!  Show-offs!  My sole hydrangea at home is still growing and I finally have a few budding flowers.  Nothing like these gorgeous blooms.  Maybe someday!  

We had a really nice visit to Minnesota.  After the wedding festivities, we stayed another day to see family and shop at the outlet malls.  Reina hit the jackpot for school clothes and my suitcase weighed 46.5 pounds on the way home as a result.  Will found new shoes, a backpack and football cleats.  He still needs some school clothes and that's part of the plan for this weekend.  As the summer winds down, I think our trip was the perfect cap to the summer of 2016.  I'm so glad my monsters are such good travelers.  They understand how the airport works but they are still young enough to enjoy novelties like hotel elevators and little snack packs that you can buy for $8 on the airplane.