Sound the Alarm!

Some junior firefighters took over the Wescott Fire Station today. Our MOMS Club visited the local firehouse for a tour and presentation. The children had the chance to see where the firefighters eat, sleep, and park their firetrucks. The boys especially liked learning about all the gear with the firefighter's suit.

Getting out of the fire truck is

a big step doooowwwwwnnnn.

Future firefighters with our local fire crew

Summer is...

Spending the morning in Manitou Springs. Checking out the rides at the penny arcade. Eating brunch at Adam's Mountain Cafe. Enjoying the sunshine and perfect summer weather.

The boys collected the coins from their piggy bank,

packed them in a little red suitcase, and

brought them along to spend on all the rides!

Future astronauts in training.

Happy as can be!

All smiles for a great morning out & about in Manitou!

Colorado Getaway #1 :: Denver

We decided to stay put this summer and trade in traveling elsewhere for enjoying our beautiful home state. Colorado has oodles to offer in the summer, so our hope is to take a series of little trips for the day or weekend. Our first adventure ... a quick trip to Denver. Scott left work early on Friday, and we hopped in the car and headed northbound for the beach at Cherry Creek State Park. This was our first visit to this lake, but it will certainly not be our last. A huge beach, waves rolling on the sandy shore (because of the ski boats further out), and less than an hour drive from our house ... hooray for summer, sun, and sand!

Expert Sand Castle Makers

Little man loves the sand.

Beach bums

After an hour plus spent lounging on the beach, we decided to pack up and traverse to the other side of the lake to the marina. There we found a jet ski rental place. Hmmmm ... there's a first time for everything. And today was the first time the Leahy boys rode on a jet ski! They took turns riding with Dad, and both loved it. Luke proved to be more conservative in his choice of speed, while Reid wanted Dad to go faster!

Safety first. Life jackets ... check.

Waiting on the dock...

Mama & her jet ski boys

"Here we go, Dad!"

After a day at the lake, we enjoyed an evening dining out in Downtown Denver and then catching up with our friends the Park family. When we retired to our hotel, we were ready to hit the hay from our jam-packed day.

This morning we were up early and headed to City Park so Jami could run the Undy 5000 race, which raises money and awareness for colon cancer. She ran this year's race in memory of her mom whose original diagnosis was colon cancer. Moments of the race were pretty emotional, but it was so meaningful to remember our Mimi in this way. We made a donation to the Colon Cancer Alliance, thanks to the funds earned at our garage sale 2 weeks ago.

Jami & Luke pre-race

Our first Colorado getaway was a fantastic trip, even if it was for less than 24 hours. We are looking forward to the next one! Better get out the map and start planning...

Father's Day Festivities

Father's Day was filled with fresh air, fun, and family. We kicked off the day with an outing to see the Skysox (our local minor league baseball team.) Papa joined us for the adventure, and we all had a blast at the ballpark.

Before the Skysox game, we ventured out

on the field to play catch. So fun!

The boys of baseball

Father & sons

After the game, we grilled out over at Papa's house and the outdoor fun continued with playing beanbag toss and wiffleball in the greenspace.

Scott received a great Father's Day gift

from the boys -- this beanbag toss game!

Fun for the family!

Luke batting. Papa pitching. What a pair!

Rookie & The Coach

An exciting new chapter is beginning in our household: BASEBALL! Luke is playing on our local YMCA team, and Scott is the head coach. The team plays in a 6-7 year-old combo league, so they get to try and hit off 4 pitches and then use a tee. The season kicked off with our first game yesterday. Enjoy the photos!

Batter up!

Coach Scott ... pitcher extraordinaire.

Chillin' in the dugout.

Like father, like son. Game face. Serious business.

Luke is ready to make a great play

after a pep talk from Dad.

Friday Funday :: Mini Golf

Our Friday Funday adventures resumed this week, after taking a hiatus last week with the garage sale activities. While Reid was at his summer camp, Luke and Mom enjoyed a morning out playing mini golf. We managed to avoid some of the tricky water hazards, and Luke was always one step ahead figuring out how we needed to work around the obstacles.

Dinosaur School

As Luke continued with summer school this week learning about planets and solar systems, Reid moved on to his 2nd summer program -- a week of YMCA summer camp all about dinosaurs! His teachers kept him busy with making fossils, dinosaur teeth, and even a triceratops t-shirt. What a great week at "dinosaur school" as Reid called it!

Summer's in Full Swing!

We didn't waste any time with getting into the swing of our summer routine. Last Monday marked the start of a summer full of new opportunities, new friends, and new fun for the boys!

Luke started summer school through our school district and is taking a 3-week class about exploring space. Summer school is held at a neighboring campus within our district so Luke is getting to spend time at a new school with different teachers. His other big activity for June is a Lego club on Tuesday afternoons at the YMCA. Children ages 6-12 spend about 90 minutes building a variety of creations. Our little Lego fan LOVES this club!

Reid is also now at the age where he can take part in some of his own summer programs, too. First up ... Vacation Bible School! This was held at the same school where he will attend preschool in the fall, so it was a great test drive. The first day of VBS was bustling with excitement with nearly 350 kids attending. WOW! Reid handled it all in stride and loved that the theme involved pirates setting sail on the sea. His favorite things about VBS were the songs and playing games.

Reid with his VBS teacher Miss Ali

Our other big summertime activity for the week ... a garage sale! For several weeks, we priced and prepped our items to get ready for our neighborhood garage sale this past weekend. We raised nearly $175 on Friday (Saturday's sale ended up being rained out). The money will be donated to the Colon Cancer Alliance through a 5K race that Jami is doing in a few weeks.

With so much traffic on our street for the garage sale,

our neighborhood kiddos made a lemonade stand.

As the sign says, "Free Lemonade ... Yummy!"

Best deal of the day!

Rhubarb

This weekend marked the annual harvest at our local rhubarb farm in Black Forest. That's right ... RHUBARB! It's not every day you have the chance to see how rhubarb is grown, so we certainly enjoyed our morning learning all about it at the High Altitude Organic Rhubarb Farm.

"Dad, can I use these like light sabers?"

Who knew that rhubarb had such a leafy plume

at the end of that long red stalk!? We didn't!

In order to pull rhubarb, you have to get down

near the root and ... PUUUULLLLL!

Sometimes all that pulling means you end

up falling on the ground when the root gives way

... like Luke here. At least he's proud of his prize!

Farmer Scott among the rhubarb plants.

On the menu this week ... Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp!

Friday Funday

The best summer memories are made of family outings, field trips, sunny days outdoors, and more. Today we kicked off Friday Funday, a series of fun activities to help us explore our great surroundings and enjoy our wonderful "staycation" state.

Our first adventure ... the beach at Bear Creek Lake in Denver. We've visited this beach several times before, and it never disappoints. We paid just $5 for the vehicle park pass at the guard station, and we were footloose and fancy free running in the sand and splashing in the lake (with mountains in the background.) The best of both worlds!

The construction crew moved a lot of sand that afternoon!

There's no better way to beat the heat after

a day at the beach than chilling with an ice cream cone.

We zipped over to the quaint little town

of Morrison for this cool-down treat.

You say sombrero. I say umbrella.

Last night the boys got into a heated discussion. With big words.

It all started over Reid wearing a straw hat, which he has been calling a "fedora." Thanks to a VeggieTales version of Indiana Jones, he has learned what a fedora is. Anyway, while the hat is being called a fedora by one son, the other son (who is older and thinks he is wiser) insists that it is not a fedora but rather a sombrero.

Luke: "Reid, can I wear your sombrero?"

Reid: "It's not an umbrella. It's a fedora."

Luke: "No, it's a sombrero."

Reid: "It's NOT AN UMBRELLA. It's a fedora."

Luke: "I didn't say it was an umbrella. I said it's a SOMBRERO."

Reid: "But it's not an umbrella. It's a FE-DOR-A!"

You say sombrero. I say umbrella. But maybe it's a fedora. Let's call the whole thing off.

Class of 2022

This is the class of 2022.

What a good looking bunch!

Today was a special day for our young Luke. He graduated from kindergarten! Here are some highlights of the many lessons learned this past year...

• Luke learned the 3 Rs. He can now read, write sentences on his own, and do basic addition. So impressive!
• He enjoyed his special breakout classes teaching art, music, Spanish, and PE (his favorite).
• He has embraced the International Baccalaureate style of learning at his school by being a risk-taker, open-minded, and reflective.
• Luke earned perfect attendance for the year! With this honor came coupons for free kids' meals at Chick-fil-a and Texas Roadhouse.

His teachers have provided some great learning challenges for him over the past year, and he has blossomed into such a confident, well-balanced learner. He has thoroughly enjoyed his kindergarten year. We are so proud of you, Luke!

Mrs. Ray presents Luke with his

kindergarten diploma.

Dad & brother ... so proud of Luke!

Luke with his best friend from class Isaac

Teacher assistant Mrs. Seitz with Luke

Our family on Graduation Day

One of Mom's favorite parts of kindergarten...

seeing Luke's art projects each week. This one takes the cake!

He sculpted from clay this flower in a vase

and then painted it. What a special masterpiece!

Luke with his buddy Andrew outside their school.

In the background, Pikes Peak still has

some snow ... but not for long.

End of an Era

With the end of school fast approaching, the fun is ramping up ... end-of-the-year parties, kindergarten graduation, etc. The room parents have been hard at work planning some special surprises for our kindergarten class.

End-of-the-Year Gifts

Each child received a tie-dyed shirt.

On the front: "Watch Out, First Grade...

Here I Come!"

On the back of the shirts, the school mascot

of an antelope wearing a graduation cap!

The theme for the end-of-the-year party was BUGS!

Jami made fruit pizza decorated with these creepy crawlers.