First Day of School and also some stuff that the parents did this past weekend

Well, we made it to the First Day of School.  Both kids popped out of bed bright and early.  Outfits had already been decided on the night before.  Backpacks were mostly packed and while there was some slight indecision, concerning footwear, everyone was dressed and ready to go about 45 minute before we normally leave the house. I don't expect that to happen again for the rest of the year.  

Obligatory 'stand in front of the flowers on the front porch' picture.  

What's a first day picture without Coco?  Will briefly thought about grabbing Tootsie and Trigger for the photo but then figured that would get out of control quickly.  

 Will seems excited about his teacher and 6th grade class.  He reminded me several times this morning that it was his first last day of elementary.  (Muffled sob.)  I did not need to be reminded. I've also already made plans to take next year's first day of junior high off (preemptive muffled sob.)  He has several friends from last year in his class and flag football practice starts tomorrow already.  Bring on 6th grade! 

Reina has the same fourth grade teacher that Will had and she also has several good friends in her class this year.  She had a little attack of the nerves this morning but was slightly mollified when I told her how I threw up on the first day of school a few times and a little anxiousness was perfectly normal.  Or runs in the family at least.  She was full of stories tonight and enthusiastically attacked her homework so she's off to a good start, too.

On an unrelated note, but before I forget to post these pictures - Glenn and I ran a trail race this past weekend.  We did this same race last year and had so much fun that we decided to give it another go.  This year, I ran the 4-mile course and the much faster Glenn took on the 8-mile.  We were both happy with our times and didn't break any bones.

Isn't this a great picture of a handsome man?  I didn't take this picture - this is from the official race photographer. I was miles away when this picture was taken and probably breathing so hard I couldn't have stood up straight.  But look at Glenn attacking that hill.  He's a natural.  

And then there's me.  I have a remarkable flair for always looking like I'm standing completely still in races but hey, I'm ahead of that older guy behind me!  

A night at the ballpark and back to school shopping

On Saturday, the kids and I zipped down to Denver for a Rockies game and some back to school clothes shopping.  Glenn stayed in Wyoming and helped out a ranch that's managed by one of our friends.  A friend and her two boys joined us and down the interstate we went.  

We picked a great game to attend. It was Wyoming night at Coors Field so we were surrounded by UW fans and fellow Wyoming-ites.  Well, the game wasn't great to start, but it definitely ended up that way.  https://www.mlb.com/rockies/video/share/must-c-mcmahons-walk-off-homer/c-2375037483?tid=47074596 

The Rockies were behind the entire game and in the bottom of the 9th, down 2-0, a rookie hit a 3-run walk-off homerun and it was one of the most fun sporting events I've seen in person. Will was screaming his head, the other mom and I were astonished and even Reina was yelling.  It was so fun.  What a great memory.  

Our seats, way up in the altitude.  Great view of the field and homeplate.  

Purple and silver hair - it ended up being rally hair.  The little kids started it off.  Reina and her friend were getting restless in the third inning so I took them for a walk around the stadium.  A barber shop was set up and giving out free hair color.  Reina was all in naturally and opted for purple and glitter.  When we got back to our seats, the big brothers wanted a turn.  It ended up being rally hair and obviously the key to the victory.  

Post-game victory picture.  Great game!  

 

The kids and I spent the night in Denver and woke up to shop on Sunday.  We headed to the mall and had a pretty good time, all things considered.  Sometimes shopping is a trainwreck and other times, we find what everyone needs with few tears and little bloodshed.  Sunday was one of those days. 

The register at a girls-centric store was having technological difficulties so we had to stand in line for a long time.  Reina kept herself amused easily but Will had to get creative.  That's a blob of hair extensions, although it could easily be his hair.  

Not to be outdone.... 

The rest of the summer

Goodness. I step away from the blog for a minute and three weeks fly by.  Okay, actually four weeks.  This summer is just kicking my butt, pardon my french.  Work has been busy, family stuff has been busy, the kids have been busy.  Glenn has a big hunt coming up that's keeping him occupied.  The house is always teetering on the edge of somewhat clean/how can we live in this hovel. The yard has pretty flowers in one spot and hail ravaged raspberries and sunflowers in another.  The pets.  The pets are good.  We added a rat to the menagerie but he (Simon) deserves his own post.  A few weekends ago we coaxed a stray German shorthair into our yard.  He'd been in the neighborhood for about 24 hours so we knew he was lost.  We kept him for another 24 hours until we tracked down his owner.  Tootsie and Trigger were fine with the new addition.  The chickens and Coco were not.  Everyone survived.

So what have we been up to?  Reina had theater camp for most of July.  She was a UPS guy in the production of Twinderella - a fractured fairy-tale with a modern twist.  She had six lines and she rocked them all.  She also got to dance the Macarena with a few other kids during the show and she's spent the rest of the summer showing us how the Macarena "goes with every song mom!"  She had fun honing her acting craft for another summer.  Reina is done with camps for the summer and she has dance and piano to look forward to next month.

Will has been in a hodge podge of activities since the baseball season ended.  His team lost in the semi-finals of the tournament the night after my last post.  They rallied back from a deficit and played tough but lost on a throw out at third.  Since then, Will had a week of dodge back camp, spent some time at Frontier Days with friends and watched lots of movies.  He was going to do football camp but caught his sister's ear infection and was on the couch for a few days.  Now he's started football practice and has the first game circled on his calendar.

Glenn and I have been plugging along.  We've been working on the garden with my sister and a friend and growing some cucumbers, squash, peas and more dill than anyone can possibly use.  There are also some potatoes and beans growing while they aren't dodging the hail.  Oh and beets.  There are definitely beets.  We're both training for some races in August and September so we've had some long runs together which is a weird date but also a great way to spend some time together.  During Frontier Days we went to a great concert - Eric Church.  He was a terrific performer and I had so much fun.  Glenn even stayed up like two hours passed his bedtime on a Wednesday night even.  Frontier Days miracle!

So that's where we find ourselves in August.  Next up, the story of Simon the Rat.