Summer Reading Program

Today Parker and Cooper finished their Summer Reading requirements! This program is facilitated by the library and then we also keep track of reading minutes during the summer for school. There are various prize levels to reach throughout the summer so we have accumulated a few trinkets already....restaurant coupons, bookmarks, small toys etc....So off to the library we went this morning. We returned our sheets and today they both received 2 tickets to a Casper Ghosts (a farm team for the Colorado Rockies), a McDonald's coupon and a new book!! I am super proud of both of them for making the commitment and dedicating their time to reading this summer! Very important to all of us!!!

Mt. Rushmore

As most of you know, we visited Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse a few weeks ago! Here are just a couple of pictures from that trip. I might post more later but here is the deal! This trip Rob and I did not take our own camera. Some of you may be thinking...why would we not take a camera on a family vacation? Well, we let the boys take their own digital cameras and decided our memories from this trip would be made with a child's perspective! I was/am thrilled about this idea! The kicker is....the boys won't let me download any pictures off their cameras yet. So as soon as they feel they can part with them (or school starts...hahahaha), I will pull their pictures off and post a few.

It's All Fun and Games Until.....A Bear Bites Your Bumper!

Yes, indeed, I do not lie. A bear actually bit the bumper of my car as we made our way through Bear Country in South Dakota. For those who may not be familiar with Bear Country it is an attraction in South Dakota where you drive your vehicle through a wildlife park and view animals in their natural habitat. We saw Elk, Reindeer, Wolves, Mountain Lions, Mountain Goats, and of course Bear. At first it was pretty cool to see the bear walk so close to your vehicle but this particular bear decided our bumper was its lunch. We were in my car....a manual...and on an incline. So, the bear decides to walk behind our car. We had two choices, either start up the hill and roll back into the bear (it was that close) or sit there and wait for the bear to pass. We decided to wait for the bear to pass and much to our dismay....we were eaten. Like I told the boys.....you will always remember your 1st trip to Mt. Rushmore because that was the trip that a bear bit our bumper. Enjoy the pics and I will be posting more of our trip to Mt. Rushmore shortly!!!

The Loot

This week marked the beginning of the fair and rodeo in Casper. This morning was a parade. Who else thinks it is a little strange to be having a parade on a Tuesday morning rather than a Saturday? I thought it was crazy. So we headed off this morning and I was expecting to have a small crowd gathered for the event. Much to my surprise, downtown was packed full. I guess this is the thing to do in a small town on a Tuesday morning the week of the fair. The boys and I enjoyed a parade that lasted over 2 hours. And you can tell by the picture....we took home a fair stash of candy!!! I was happy to see there still are towns that partake in the tradition of throwing candy during parades. We have lived in some places who no longer allow it. The boys were super excited and shouldn't everyone start off their morning with sugar.....hahaha

I'm a BIG kid now!

Cooper is officially a big kid.....according to him. At least that is what he said after he taught himself how to ride his bike without training wheels. Yes...that is correct...he did it all by himself. No push offs by me, dad or brother, no holding on to the back of his seat while he steadied himself.....nothing. I was a bit saddened by this yet happy at the same time. We had slowly been coaxing Cooper to try riding his bike without his training wheels because he was getting frustrated that he was not able to keep up with Parker or the other kids in the neighborhood. Although...he has always been one to try to assert his independence more often but he is also one who will idly stand back and observe and then when he feels comfortable he will jump at the speed of lightening. So all in all, I should not have expected anything different given this situation. He went out in the driveway and said he was playing with his bike. I checked on him 5 minutes later and he said, "Mom look at me!" There he was riding his bike with no problems. And to make the story better....the darn munchkin has not even crashed. Yet...I should say! I am totally proud of my little man but sad that I was not there for the big moment (when he first pedaled solo) nor was I there to help him along. I can say that I am happy because he was completely thrilled at what he had accomplished!!!

Summer Rain

Actually, I should have titled this "Thunderstorm"! We have had rain off and on the past couple of days but late this afternoon a big thunderstorm moved right on in. It dumped a lot of rain in a short period of time. We were under a flash flood warning but as far as we know the only thing that flooded was the street in front of our house and a bit of the yard. I love the rain, the smells, the sounds of thunder and the pitter patter of rain but I will admit....this was a down pour and we couldn't even see across the street for a while. And we were out of power for about 2 hours. As the rain stopped, we all went out on our front porch and took in the sights. The boys then wandered out to the flowing water at the edge of our side walk. And you can only imagine what happened when cars drove by. DRENCHED!!! The boys had a blast and the cars driving by were waving, honking, and laughing. Some even sought out the biggest puddle by us to drive in as fast as possible to get the boys as wet as they could! Good times and good memories!!!!