Army Blogger Wife

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Stay home all weekend?

For not being very social people, we sure don't stay home very much. My neighbor told me that she gets tired from seeing us run around all day and then take the kids outside to play. Me too!

Saturday we ran errands, visited the local thrift shops again looking for chicken soup bowls. We looked at furniture since I have new table fever (last one is 15 years old and has a crack down the middle, it's time!). We took a long bike ride. So long in fact that Em quit about halfway through. We need to work on her stamina. Granted it is pretty hilly!

Sunday we decided to head to the local zoo. I'm not a big zoo person, but when we were stationed at Fort Lewis, we got a yearly pass and visited all the time because it kept the kids entertained, outside, and happy. The yearly passes at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo are $87 for a family, and there's a $10 discount if you are military. Considering it would have cost close to $50 for a one day visit, we just have to visit the zoo twice in order to pay for the pass. I can imagine that we will spend much more time there.

Your pass also gets you into the Shrine, which we didn't have time to visit. As soon as you enter the zoo, you see the giraffes.

You can buy crackers to feed the giraffes at 3 for $1. Thank goodness we only have three kids.

They divide the zoo up into different regions, and include the types of houses that they have there. Of course Junior had to explore them all.

Even Abs got in on the action. (Yes, I let her go out in public without matching. I have given up.)

We took a dozen shots trying to get everyone to look at the camera.

Forced them into another group photo. One day I am sure they will thank me...or need therapy, but I am hoping it will be a thanks.

We hung out with the wallaby people for a while. I bet they had never met three children that asked so many questions.

Made friends with a giant bear.

We rode the sky tram. I hate heights.

But everyone else had a good time.

We rode it up. And down. And up. And down. Apparently you can ride it as much as you want after you purchase the tickets. It was $17 for the 5 of us, after showing our new zoo card. Not something we will do very often, but fun.

I couldn't even get them to look at me. But with a view like this, who can blame them?

You have to dismount every time you reach the top or the bottom, so more time for family shots. (Maybe one day I will make a shot!)

The end result was that Junior couldn't stay awake while he ate his cheerios.

We ended the day with a run by Whole Foods to pick up dinner and artichokes.

It was good, but it did require me to get a long run in the next day. In the meantime I am trying to find a good book about seeing Colorado with kiddos, so if anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.

So much

We have been running around like crazy. More posts and pictures to come soon.

School has started.

Daycare starts soon.

My school starts soon.

We are slowly getting unpacked...just don't go to the basement.

Met another blogger and her daughter!

Saw my friend Erin finally!

Went to the zoo.

Potty training is not going so hot.

Went to a haunted castle.

Ate ice cream from some famous place in Old Colorado City.

Started my half marathon training plan.

I'm caught up on laundry, even with the 3 changes I had to do for Junior at the park today.

Discovered a love of pesto....on everything.

Turned the heater on this morning because I was freezing.

And more....to come later....

Thursday, August 13, 2009

I did it!

I took advantage of the My Career Advancement Account, and signed up for two classes. They are online and are a specialized teacher certification that I would like to get. I got the classes approved, so I registered, and now wait for them to pay for it. I'm excited, because you know I love to take courses!

My birthday is coming up and Gunner asked me what I wanted to do. Then he looked at my toenails and suggested a pedicure. I know that I need one, but I was thinking more along the lines of a trip to the mountains!

Outrageous

I went and had a meeting at Ab's school today with the TAG teacher. Abs had an amazing teacher for first and second grade, absolutely amazing. She was in a TAG class of 10 kids and she excelled.

Fast forward to Colorado Springs, where there will be 28 kids in her class. The class is tiny. The teacher seemed nice enough, but I was in shock over 28 kids. How in the world can you differentiate with 28 kids? What happens to those kids who find everything easy? What about those that find everything hard? I had 22 students, but much more would have made it extremely difficult to meet the needs of all of my students.

I talked to the principal and was less than impressed. He told me that Colorado schools ranked higher than Texas. Ummm.....based on his poor grammar, I find that hard to believe, but then I went to Texas schools, so what do I know?

I will give it a few weeks and go from there. No ideas on what to do.

Junior cracked his head open this morning. He was running and tripped and caught his forehead on the corner of the schrank. It swelled up, but didn't bleed much. I emailed a pic to my mom who said he would be okay, but I drove to Carson to let Gunner take a look. He said that he didn't need stitches (not sure I agree with that) and he came home to keep him while I went to my meeting at Ab's school. So far, so good. He'll have a nice scar from this I am sure. Gunner keeps telling me that scars on boys are cool. Maybe on other boys, but not mine!

And the potty training front....not much better today. He peed all over his carseat and then came home and I asked him to undress so I could change him. Instead he went over and peed on the floor and wall. Maybe diapers till he is 10 isn't such a bad idea?

Lost

I am lost without a to-do list each and every day. I will accomplish nothing, which when you have three kids, makes you feel like a mess!

Potty training is going okay. The secret seems to be if he thinks his sisters will sit on his little potty. So if he doesn't want to pee, I ask Abs or Em if they want to, and he will race there and be naked in a split second. On the advice of a friend, we made a sticker chart. He pottied 15 times, earned a toy, then pooped in his underwear.

Progress?

Yesterday we toured a haunted castle, had ice cream, and scoured the thrift shop. Pictures to come. I should have taken a picture of the eccentric woman at the entrance.

I'm meeting with the TAG teacher at Ab's school today, followed by new parent orientation, and an ice cream social. Gunner gets to work. Lucky guy!

I'm looking at new dining room tables. I want one. We are still using the same table that Gunner bought me before we were married, for less than a hundred bucks.

I also discovered pesto sauce. Where has it been all my life?

Monday, August 10, 2009

The Hitchhiker

The lady on the trail offered to let me try it out with Abs, but I didn't want to crash on it!

It's kind of wobbly. Abs doesn't have to pedal, but it helps if she does. It has really worked on her balance too. I can tell when she is looking around and not paying attention as we start to wobble even more.

We rode in circles around the street until we got the hang of it.

Still going in circles.

So the end result is that Abs loves it! It takes some getting used to it, but I can definitely feel it in my legs today, but I was still able to get a 4.5 mile run in at the gym this morning. We found it on clearance at Target for $58, and once we get Abs riding on her own, we will use it on Junior when he is older and will hang on.

Abs is begging to ride "our" bike again, so how can I say no to that? We are headed off to meet Gunner's friend who just moved in the neighborhood.

Sunday Bike Ride

We headed out Sunday morning to take a family bike ride. Em didn't have a helmet, so Gunner gave her his, and we headed out to ride to the px in order to buy her one.

There is a small hill before we get to a HUGE hill, but I was sure that we could take it. Of course I wasn't the one pulling a hundred pounds of children behind my bike.

We got halfway up the first hill, when Gunner and Em decided it would be faster to park the bikes and they would go up this set of stairs.

We waited for a while, and then Abs and Junior decided we wanted to climb the 500 stairs. By the time I got the bikes situated, they were off and running up the stairs. We were about 50 steps from the top when Gunner and Em reappeared and told us that we could turn around. Not a chance! We finished, and the view was great!

We hiked back down, and then finally took off on the bike ride. Em started in with the complaining because she was tired and ready to be done.

Em sporting her new helmet.

We took off, and headed to the Santa Fe trail. It was beautiful! A great place to run or walk or ride. It's only about a mile from the house and we could drive there and park, which we might have to do next time.

We ran into a family that had one of those hitchhikers for the back of the bike. I flipped out, as I have been researching them and reading reviews. They got theirs for $80 at Target, and said they loved it. I was worried about the sizing since Abs is 8 now, but she still doesn't have the balance that she should to ride a bike--mental note to get her reevaluated for PT again. I sized her on their bike, and we headed off again.

Junior fell asleep.