On the evening of August 8th, Daddy and Kara had their 2nd annual camp-out. The girls helped Dad get the tent set up early in the afternoon and the girls had a great time playing in and around the tent for the rest of the afternoon.
For dinner, we fired up the grill and had hamburgers and hot dogs. We wrapped up dinner with S'mores (because what is camping out without S'mores?). Both the girls really enjoy their S'mores, but Emily particularly enjoyed hers (see the video).
After dessert, Mom corralled Emily and headed inside while Dad and Kara got settled in the tent. After a bit of goofing around with glow sticks, Kara settled down and had a a great night's sleep under the stars.
Emily was still a little young to stay outside for the night this year, but we're sure she will be out there with Kara and Daddy next summer!
Kara tested for her purple belt on August 8th. Kara, of course, did "outstanding" during her testing (all the kids did outstanding). She did all the moves correctly and broke the board on her second try.
Kara is very proud that she did an outstanding job on her belt test (actual quote from Kara). Mom and Dad are pretty proud of her as well.
This summer has just flown by. Between birthday parties, visitors, Grandma and Grandpa moving, classes, and camps, there was barely any time to relax!
Kara didn't have two consecutive weeks this summer without some sort of class or camp. She did sports camp, swim lessons, Vacation Bible School, and Space Pirate Camp. There was always something going on!
Early in June, we had a little party for Grandpa and Mommy's birthdays. Nothing too big, but Grandpa let Emily blow out the candles on the cake, which Emily really enjoyed, especially after her candle experience for her own birthday cake...
Later in the month, we had Mimi and Papa come out to visit. For the most part, we kept things pretty low key (except for our visit to the North Pole).
We put the girls in swim lessons during July. Emily had been doing so well during her last swim lesson in May, so we signed her up for the next level up (without a parent in the water). That lasted about 10 minutes or so until Emily figured out that Mommy wasn't going to get in the water with her. She wouldn't get back in for the rest of the session. Oh well. Kara, on the other hand, got lucky and had a session with only one other girl (so she got a lot of personal attention). By the end, Kara was able to jump in and swim the entire length of the pool all by herself! Check out the video!
Early in July, Grandma and Grandpa finally closed on their new house. They had us over one night to check out the new place. The girls had a great time playing with bubbles in the backyard with Grandpa and Mom.
At the end of July, we spent a long weekend with Grandma and Grandpa S. in Breckenridge. For the most part, we kept it pretty low key. The girls played at the pool almost every afternoon and we did outdoor activities every morning (hiking or going to the adventure park).
The sleeping arrangements were a little interesting. We had hoped that Emily and Kara could share a room, but it didn't quite work out. All day, Mom and Dad kept telling Kara that she was going to share a room with Emily, but she was going to have to be quiet and let Emily sleep. Well, Kara started off all excited and we could hear her whispering things to Emily through the baby monitor. After about an hour, however, Kara was done and just wanted to go to sleep. Emily, on the other hand, was just getting going. She kept asking Kara, "What's that?" To which Kara would reply, "Emily, go to sleep." That went on for about 30 minutes before Mom and Dad saved Kara and moved Emily's crib to another room. After the move, everyone slept very well. Oh well, we'll try again next year. :-)
Kara has started showing quite an interest in hiking. There's a decent hike path that runs right next to the hotel. Thursday afternoon Kara just started walking (with Grandpa in tow) and ended up going probably a mile up the trail before getting tired (and then hiked all the way back). The next day, Dad packed Emily in the backpack and went with Grandpa and Kara on the same hike. Kara, of course, led the way, and hiked right up the mountain. Emily, on the other hand, got tired of hiking and was ready to turn back after about 30 minutes of hiking. Kara and Grandpa were going to keep going up the hill, but Kara decided she was a little tired too and headed back. A storm moved in Friday afternoon and rained the rest of the day.
On Saturday morning, we got up early and rode the gondola up to Peak 8 to check out the Breck Summer Fun Park. Emily is still a little too young to do most of the activities, but Kara is getting into the target audience range. Kara started off by trying out the bouncing trampoline while Emily checked out Ripperoo's Bounce Corral. Kara had a great time bouncing, but she didn't get to bounce for as long as she did last year (there was quite a long line this year). After that, Kara headed over to the rock climbing wall, but she was just a little too short to really reach most of the hand-holds, so she didn't get to climb too high. On the way out, we did a little panning for gemstones, which both girls really enjoyed.
Another successful Breckenridge visit. Can't wait until next year!
Mimi and Papa came to visit us at the end of June. We got the visit off on the right foot by heading up to The North Pole near Cascade, Colorado (just to the west of Colorado Springs). The North Pole is essentially a Christmas-themed amusement park targeted for kids between the ages of 2 and 8, so Kara and Emily were definitely in the target audience.
As we were walking into the park, Santa and Mrs. Claus were there to greet the guests, which Kara thought was awesome. From there, we hit some of the rides. Kara was big enough to ride almost all of the rides (most of them without an adult), so she had a great time running from ride to ride. Emily thought the rides looked great from the side, but quickly changed her mind once she got on some of them. She did eventually do some rides with Kara and had a great time.
The coolest part (literally) was The North Pole, which was a pole covered in ice. That was really neat to check out on a hot day. In addition, we got to sit down with Santa and talk with him at his little cottage. It took Emily a couple of visits until she warmed up to Santa (though she never would sit on his lap), but Kara jumped right up there and started telling all about superheroes (it was a little too far until Christmas for her to be prepared).
All in all, it was a really fun day (though a little hot). Definitely a place we'll have to visit again!
