Cherry Jam!

 Making cherry jam is a family job!  Justin rinses, stems and sorts the cherries...Jordyn pits the cherries...

 and mom does the rest!  Our first time canning, and it all turned out fabulously!

 What a great way to spend the weekend!

p.s. Jordyn and Justin already ate one whole jar, and started on their second jar....hmmmmm...i dont think they will last very long!  :)

Camping at the Denver Zoo ~

We had a sleepover at the Denver Zoo with our Girl Scout Troop on Saturday, September 7th.  With my new job as preschool teacher, and all the extra training for the new job, as well as the class im taking to be certified, ive been swamped, so im just now getting around to blogging about it :)  Be warned...this blog is FILLED with photos!  :)  We arrived at 5:30 and we were happily greeted by this peacock showing off for us!  We grabbed all our gear and headed to our tents, which were set up in the Primate Panorama...

We were introduced to our guides and rules and the tour were discussed...thats our guide in the center with the dark hair, her nickname was JK.

 

We were assigned the Red Tent and the Purple Tent.

 

Then it was time to head off to dinner.  There was a buffet set up with hamburgers, hot dogs, beans, salad, chips, lemonade and ice water.  The drinks were very refreshing, since it was almost 100 degrees at the zoo.

Then we were off to explore the zoo and meet some of the animals.

This is the same little guy we got to meet at the library last month...only this time the kids got to pet him.

We toured a bunch of the zoo while it was dark(with night vision goggles)...we visited the lion and he groaned and mumbled for us (no loud roar though), we spied on the bear while he was sleeping, we saw the mountain goats watching us, and we also laughed at the seals while they were trying to push each other off of the rocks vying for the best spot to sleep.  We also learned some cool things about the monkeys in this room with the giant rug.  Then it was off to the campfire for s'mores!

Afterwords, we toured more of the zoo, but as 10:30 neared, we headed back to our tents for bedtime.

Jordyn slept in the Purple tent, and i slept in the Red tent.

The next morning the zoo provided breakfast for us...there was a choice of cereal, fruit and breakfast burritos.  After all that late night walking around the girls were quite hungry, as was i, so we all pigged out!

Then it was off to tour more of the zoo with our JK.  She was incredibly knowledgeable about all of the animals, so we really enjoyed her stories.

We enjoyed the elephant exhibit, and of course the giraffes...but meeting Bert, was probably our favorite part of the trip...

Bert is a 57 year old hippo, and this is his caretaker, Dave.  Bert is the second oldest hippo in the United States. (the oldest hippo is 58 and lives in Ohio).  The oldest hippo on record was 61, so it would be exciting if Bert could top that record.

Bert was getting his morning breakfast, some vitamins, and other goodies, while Dave taught us all about hippos.  Bert sat at the edge of the pool like this for about 20 minutes while we learned all about hippos, and he was so sweet.  Every once in a while he would open his mouth hoping for more treats. 

At the end of the tour, all the girls were given a REALLY COOL zoo camping patch (even the troop leaders got one!  I cant wait to make my own cool vest to wear to start sporting all my Girl Scout patches too :)  Then we were able to tour the rest of the park ourselves, so we started off at the Lorikeet Center to feed the birds...

 

Once we were good and sticky, we went over to the carousel for a ride (free passes came with the overnight adventure).  Some of the girls wanted to ride the train, so Melody purchased tickets for all of us to ride the train, thanks Melody!  It was nice to sit and relax for a while after all that walking around.

There was soooo much to see, and sadly we didnt see it all, but we did have a great time!  As it was getting late, and the kids were all getting hungry, we went and had lunch and then stopped at the gift shop to spend any money we had left!  Here they all are with their spoils from the gift shop :)

What a great time we all had!  Camping at the zoo was a blast and something im sure the girls wont soon forget!

Be At Peace, Kate ~

Our dear friend, Kate, passed away on Saturday.  She was a wonderful woman, funny, adventurous, loving and kind.  She was taken from us all too soon, and she will be missed! 
Halloween 2011 (She is the one on the far right in the spider hat and shawl).  Hugs Kate!

My First Day of Preschool ~

   My first day of preschool!!!   I have the best kids!  All but one are returning from last year, so they knew the drill better than me, and even schooled me on a few things! They were all so well behaved and fun. They werent sure what to think of Ms. Sharon and I at first, but I think they warmed up to us pretty quickly! Hooray for preschool!  Now to tackle the land of paperwork!
    I had technical difficulties when it was time to do the smart board, and the kids were all patiently waiting, but I knew that wouldnt last, so I improvised, and thought of an old school favorite song, "where is pinkie, where is pinkie", and i totally had their attention. i even forgot one of the fingers, and the kids called me on it, so i went back and did all the digits! Then i grabbed a magnet construction toy to hold their interest while i fixed the computer, and all was well  whew! Thank goodness for the old school favorites! i wasnt sure if that stuff was tooo boring for kids of today, but we were good to go!

Colorado Rockies 20th Anniversary...

My cousin finally found this old photo of us so i could do this...enjoy :)

Go Rockies!!!

First Day of School ~ 2nd Grade, Here She Comes!!!

 First day of school, and look how grown up she looks!  She spent quite a bit of time last night choosing just the right outfit for the first day of school...and how can you go wrong with a Hello Kitty bedazzled shirt and glittery Hello Kitty shoes!

 Here are some of the first kids at school...they beat the bus, with time to spare!

 There are 36 kids at Jordyns school this year, and we are VERY excited about that!!!  Her classroom of second and third graders has the most kids, with a total of 20, so that will create a bit of a challenge for her teacher, Mrs. Johnson, but she is a fabulous teacher, so i know it will be a great year!

 And here is a fun grouping of photos i put together from her first 5 years at RFLE...2 years of preschool, Kindergarten, 1st grade, and now 2nd grade :)

 Happy Back to School Sweetheart...we LOVE you!

Bridging Girl Scouts and our End of Summer Camp Out!

 Saturday was our bridge ceremony, we had one Junior becoming a Cadette (congratulations Kailyn), two Brownies becoming Juniors (congratulations Andrea K and Rehna), and four Daisies becoming Brownies (congratulations Jordyn, Andrea S, Serenity and Hope), so we had a lot to celebrate!

 To celebrate, we decided to have an End of Summer Camp Out!!!  The girls were really looking forward to getting together...some of them havent seen each other all summer, so there was a lot of giggling and fun!

Here are the girls...all lined up and ready for their ceremony...

 I didnt get to take any photos during the ceremony, as i was in charge of running it, so Melody was kind enough to snap a few pics for me...Thanks Melody!

Im so proud of the girls and all their accomplishments over the past year.  Each bridging girl scout was asked, "Share one really cool thing you learned this year"  and then, "what was your favorite thing we did this year?"  Each answer was unique and sweet, some of them shared learning to be kind and helpful, some of them enjoyed learning and earning patches, and of the girls favorite things was selling cookies, but almost all of them agreed, the sleepovers at the fire station were their favorites, so i foresee more of those in our future! :)  I was also impressed with Andrea S. and her memorization of the Girl Scout Pledge...she needed no prompting and proudly spoke her pledge!  Well done Andrea!

 At the end of the ceremony, we did a group hug....which grew and grew....

 I love our girls...they are all kind and considerate, smart, funny, and tough!  Gotta love mountain girls!

 Next it was time to set up tents...

 Great job girls...now its time for some river fun!

 For dinner, we enjoyed some hot dogs, brats, baked beans, chips and other assorted yummies!

The girls couldnt get enough of the river though, so after dinner they splashed around some more until it started to get darker out, then it was time to get warm by a fire...so Justin gave the girls a demonstration on flint and steel fire starting.

 We have a spark...and now we have a fire!

 and whats a fire without some S'mores and marshmallowy goodness...

 Andrea enjoyed roasting marshmallows and tasting a s'more for her very first time! 

 While the girls enjoyed drumming and giving the didgeridoo a try!

 After s'mores, it was time to run around and burn off some of that sugar high, so the girls ran around in the dark playing in the meadow and on the trampoline with glowing toys, illuminated frisbees, light sabers, and glowing rockets.  Their laughter was infectious, and while they ran around having fun, us moms relaxed and had a great time too.

 For breakfast we enjoyed pancakes and sausage (thanks for breakfast Sharon), and thanks for being our pancake helper Aspen!  While breakfast was being prepared, the girls decided to explore the island.

 Kennedy and Kailyn seemed to enjoy climbing the tree fort...and pretty soon, all the girls were up there!

 Then it was back to the river for more water adventures!

 I love this shot of Kennedy...if you look closely, you can see a deer in the trees watching her...that deer watched them all morning on Sunday!

 Andrea has been gone all summer on family trips, so we just got around to giving her her cookie gift incentives....and as you can see, she loves her little puppy, which she named Honey.  She was one of our top cookie sellers last season! (Andrea, not Honey)  :)   Well done Andrea, enjoy all your new goodies!

 And to troop 4288...i hope we have added a new "favorite" to your girl scout list of adventures!

Happy end of summer girls...see you at school!