Too Good

We knew that things were really going to smoothly for us right now. Something had to happen. Yesterday it did. I logged into work and checked my e-mail. That's when I saw it. It was the e-mail letting me know that my working from home gig is coming to an end. They will start advertising for the position on July 7. From there I will have 2-3 months of work left. They have decided that they want someone inhouse for my job.

I am a little sad. Not only did I enjoy workinging from home, I really enjoyed the job itself. The job was challenging but not too challenging. I felt that I was doing some good and using my talents. I also enjoyed working with the people in the office. I was the youngest in the office but there were some really great people in the office to work with. Now we just need to figure out where I go from here. What is next on my plate?

Bridge and Park

This past weekend we took the kids to the Royal Gorge Bridge and Park. It was a lot of fun! This is the largest suspension bridge in the world, or so they say. the bridge was 1053 feet above the Arkansas River below it. Campbell was a bit nervous walking across the bridge. She has a bit of a fear of heights. Cars are also allowed to drive across this bridge. So as you are walking across cars may drive across at the same time. The cars really make the bridge sway.

The kids got to pet goats. I grew up with goats so this is really no big deal to me, but my kids seam to think that goats are the bomb. While in the little petting "zoo", which was only goats, I got yelled at. You see, there was a cute little donkey right next to the fence where I was squatting. I stuck my hand through the fence to pet him. Apparently you are not allowed to put your hand through the fence to pet the donkey. You can however put your arm over the fence to pet the donkey. Semantics I guess. Whatever...

After petting the goats we walked through the wildlife exhibition. They had buffalos and elk in fences for your viewing. I got yelled at again because I apparently got too close to the fence while taking a picture of the buffalo. These people may want to put up signs listing these rules.

The kids also got to ride on donkeys. They were both thrilled beyond belief. Aaron and I thought that Caleb would get scared and freak out. He did not get scared at all. He followed the donkey guide's instruction perfectly. While going up hill he was to lean forward and while going downhill he was to lean backward. While leaning backward Caleb tilted his head back as well. He was going to make sure he was definitely leaning backwards. It was so very cute.

After the donkey rides we went and had lunch. As is usual fore these types of places, lunch was way too expensive. Next time we will pack a picnic lunch. On our way to lunch Campbell fell off one of those parking cement blocks. She was using it as a balance beam, but she forgot to balance. She really gauged her leg on that fall.

After lunch we did some gold mining. The kids did get some fool's gold. We then went for a ride on the horse drawn wagon. This ride ended way to soon for Caleb. I think he could have stayed on that ride forever. It was naptime, so he probably would have fallen asleep in another 10 minutes. We had three more rides to complete though.

We headed over to the skyride. This is a little car that is suspended over the gorge with a cable. You ride the car from one side to the other. The views from the skyride were incredible! Once we reached the other side of the gorge we headed over to the elevator. The elevator ride takes you from the top of the gorge to the bottom of the gorge. It is set at a 45 degree angle and takes about 5 minutes. Once we reached the bottom of the gorge we were allowed out to view the Arkansas River up close. We then headed back to the top.

Once we got back to the top we headed over to the last ride. The last ride was a carousel. Every good amusement parks needs one of these. We dutifully put our kids on and let them ride. Once that was done we headed back into town to the Abbey.

Aaron has joked periodically that when Campbell hits 12 we are going to send her to the convent. This trip to the Abbey was not part of our search for the perfect place to send her. Actually, they have a winery so we were going to do some wine tasting and purchase some goods. We were lucky enough to stumble upon an art festival that was also taking place. It was a small art festival, but it was nice to walk through and we got to listen to some nice jazz music. We ended up purchasing 2 bottles of wine for our enjoyment.

School Mascots

The school here in Colorado Springs will be Campbell's third school. That means 3 different mascots with three different school colors. In SC she was a black and puple Paris Panther. In Littleton she was a green and yellow Runyon Ram. Here she will be a blue and silver Academy End*eavor Astronaut. An Astronaut! Isn't that the coolest mascot?! I am so excited. I grew up as a Bulldog. I always thought that was kind of a boring mascot. I think that an astronaut is a very cool and unique mascot.

Pizza, It's What's for Dinner!

Campbell has been begging me to do homemade pizzas for dinner. She loves to do these. So the other night I relented. (It is fun, but with a toddler it can also be messy.) Caleb ate more of his sauce than he put on his pizza. Campbell of course made a beautiful flower design with her pizza. Caleb just dumped everything on there. He started out with 6 pieces of pepperoni, but only 2 actually got cooked. He ate the others.

The Crazy Neighbor

Everybody has one of these right? Please tell me everyone has one of these and it's not just us. In Greenville it was P. If you haven't heard the story you will have to ask Aaron. It really is quite humerous.

Here apparently it is A. Last evening around 6:30 or so someone frantically rang our doorbell. At the door is a woman who looks very shaken and asks Aaron if she can hide in house for a few minutes. Aaron being the gentleman he is assumes she's running from an abusive boyfriend/husband and lets her in. At this point he learns that she is in fact hiding from the police. We learned that she lives down the street with her mother and her family thinks that she needs help. Oh and...she's and addict!

I took the kids upstairs. I figured a bath was a good excuse to remove the kids from the room. Aaron let her downstairs so that she could make a phonecall. She was calling a friend to come pick her up. While Aaron was trying to figure out a polite way (always the gentleman) to get her out of the house, I was planning escape routes should things turn bad.

Her "friend" changed his mind about picking her up part way through their phonecall. I guess all the talk of just wanting to have um...relations was too much for him. After some encouragement from Aaron she decided she could just go home. She was here for about an hour total. Once she was gone, we went through the house and closed and locked every window and door in the house.

We thought we were done with the situation. That was until this morning when I went downstairs to do some work and to straighten up. On the couch I found her jacket and her purse! I dreaded the doorbell ringing all day. While I wanted her stuff gone I just didn't know what to expect. By the time Aaron got home, she hadn't shown up for her stuff. Aaron carefully went through her purse until he was able to find her address. He took the stuff down to her mom. And guess what? Last night after she left here she was.....committed.

Does this stuff only happen to us????

Father's Day

We had no specific plans for Father's Day. Daddy already had his gift (his leather club chair that was a birthday/Father's Day gift). The kids gave him their card and we decided to head to the coffee shop for breakfast.

Aaron and I thought that it might be fun to take the kids swimming in the hot springs. Aaron jumped on his computer to research the springs. The only two near us both had a "clothing optional" policy. We decided that subjecting the little ones to old man parts would be more traumatic than fun. We opted instead to go to Bishop's Cas*tle. This castle is built by one man. He purchased his plot of land and decided to build a castle.

With coffee, doughnuts, and pumpkin loaf in hand we headed South. The drive was beautiful. We went through the green mountains with the sun shining. The only part that wasn't green was where last years forest fire had burned a bunch of trees. Other than that couple of miles, though, it was a really beautiful drive. The drive lasted about 1 1/2 hours.

When we arrived at our destination both kids were thrilled. Caleb was busy pretending he was the King and Campbell of course had her imagination going with her being the princess. Even with a slight fear of heights Campbell climbed to the top of the turrets like any good little princess. It is really amazing that this man has accomplished as much as he has with the castle. He does all the work himself. Most of it is paid for by himself, as well. He does accept donations but he does not charge an entrance fee.

We spent about an hour at the castle and then decided to find some lunch. We ended up having Caleb's favorite "noodles". Anytime you ask him what he would like to eat the answer is usually "noodles". After our lunch feast we headed home.

We had a really wonderful day. (Even if I did ended up getting super sick after lunch. It must have been those mushrooms.)

Caleb Has a Rough Morning

About a week ago Caleb had a small rash in his right armpit. By the time the weekend was over the rash had spread to his stomach and down his leg. Monday morning I took him straight to the pediatrician to have it looked at. She informed us that it was indeed a rash and she didn't know what could have caused it. (She had to go to med school to tell me that?) She did feel that it was an allergic reaction, however. In light of that she gave him a referral to an allergist.

This morning he had his appointment. This doctor said it could be an allergy or just a sensitivity or possibly eczema. We still do not have an answer. He was given allergy tests. To do this they marked his back with purple marker to know where each test was to be given. They then poked his back with littl plastic sticks. The sticks had the allergen on them. We had to wait 15 minutes for the test. He didn't react to anything (except the histamine which he was suppose to react to). He was given 17 tests and they all came out negative. He was a trooper through the first 10 pokes. It was the last 7 that sent him over the top.

The doctor then sent us over to the lab to get a blood test taken. Apparently the blood test is more sensitive than the skin tests. To say the least, Caleb was not at all thrilled with this test. He announced "Not I like doctor drink my blood". Apparently he thought she was a vampire. We had to assure him over and over again that she was not drinking her blood; that they were putting it in a machine. The girl then put a bandaid on the site. He didn't want her to do this so she told him she had to so his arm wouldn't spring a leak. It worked, but it took me forever to convice him that it was ok to remove it. He instisted that his arm would spring a leak if I took the bandaid off.

We are now waiting for those results to come back. They should be in on Monday. Until then, we have to give him a daily oatmeal bath. We were also given a prescription cream to apply twice daily. If the test comes back negative for allergies we will be on our way to a dermatologist to make sure we are properly treating eczema.

Does Life Get Much Better...

This is Mommy's new office.

This is my work view.

A Day of Exploration

Aaron has reserve duty this weekend so the kids and I decided that we would explore the area bit. We started the morning with a quick breakfast at the local coffee shop. This is a locally owned shop and they gave us some quick tips about the area. The tip that sticks out the most is "avoid Templeton Gap Road". Aparently this is a bad road to be on.

After breakfast we headed down the road to find an ice skating rink. We found it but it was 9 miles down the road. Considering we were traveling just 3 miles for lessons up in Littleton, I found 9 miles to be too far. There is apparently a rink at the Air Force Academy where you can take lessons. I will be checking out that rink later in the week.

After investigating the rink we headed over to the zoo. We had already decided that we would get a yearly membership here. We paid for our membership and then explored the zoo. We had been there earlier in the year, but with it being summer now more animals were out. Noteably we got to see a moose. The kids thought this was very cool. At this particular zoo you get to feed the giraffes which is always a hit. This time Caleb showed absolutely no fear of the giraffes. He walked right up to the baby "biraffe" and gave him a cracker. Last time he was a bit hesitant. The kids also got to ride a small train and got their faces painted. Caleb even sat still long enough to get a tiger painted on his cheek.

After the zoo, we headed home. Rather than just hop on the interstate I decided to take a more scenic route. Unfortunately, the route was not all that scenic. We didn't even see any cool stores to stop at. We did find the World Arena though. Apparently this is a very big ice skating rink and is known around the world. We didn't go in but we did see it.

I don't have anything on the agenda for Sunday but I think that we will just stay at home.
Maybe we'll walk to the park and play for a bit.

Just as a note: Caleb has started replacing "g"'s with "b"s, odd

An Update...Finally

We have been very busy around these parts. Aparently that's what happens when you decide to move.

Last Saturday, we had to go back to the old house in Littleton. We had to turn in the keys and get all signed out. Campbell also had an ice skating test. Whe passed and was very pleased. There was a moment when Aaron and I had a brief scare. We saw her on the ice do some beautiful inside/outside blades. As she ended her course a girl from another section came at her doing a spiral. A spiral involves the leg being parallel to the ice. The girl's boot hit Campbell. From where we were sitting it looked like she was hit in the chest with the blade. Luckily though, the girl's boot hit her in the stomach. Campbell was sent to the penalty box to recover. After about 2 minutes she was back on the ice to finish her testing.

Later we met with our friend and her baby girl to do a hike. It was the first hike of the season for us. We just went up to the foothills just outside of Denver for a nice little hike. It wasn't anything too strenuous but it sure was nice to have a good hike. We spent about 2 1/2 hours hiking and then spent the afternoon visiting with our friend at her house.

On Tuesday I got my new toy. We finally took the plunge and purchased me my own laptop. It sure is nice to be able to sit outside and work while the kids run through the sprinkler.

Campbell has decided that during the summer she would like to take gymnastics so we have signed her up for that. We still need to find a rink for her skating lessons. We also need to find a pool so that the kids can take some more swimming lessons. We have also started a new hobby. I got a sewing machine for Mother's Day. The other day we made a curtain for the kids' bathroom. It actually came out very nice. Campbell and I are now working on turning a pair of her old jeans into a pair of shorts. Hopefully that turns out well. We'll see.

Anyway, that was our week. We are still trying to get settled into the house. Most of the pictures are now hung on the wall. Also, most of the boxes are unpacked. Hopefully I can soon start updating more frequently.