Celebrate good times ... c'mon!

Last night, we joined together with some friends for a super secret surprise birthday party for Junior League friend Lauren. Her husband Ryan hosted an all-out cocktail party at their home. It was fun to get dressed up for the evening and surprise the birthday girl!

Surprise! Lauren (in white) walks in on a houseful of friends!

Friends from Junior League.

The happy couple!

Jenny & Jami

Soccer.

Team Leahy warms up.

Following in the footsteps (or soccer shoes) of Dad, Luke started his soccer clinic at the YMCA today. Suited up in a miniature set of soccer cleats, socks, and shin guards, Luke took to the field to learn some new skills. Things were a bit slow starting because 1) sudden, loud noises scare him ... since whistles are kind of a key part of sports, he had to get over that quickly and 2) he just wanted to run and kick the ball ... the warm-up drills were too slow-paced. But after things got moving, he had a grand ol' time. He even won a redlight/greenlight drill! Go, Luke, go!

"Who put this cone on the ground? Don't they know it's a hat?!"

The guys.

Luke runs the ladders.

View from the YMCA. Isn't it great!? It was a perfect morning for kickin' around outdoors!

Back 2 School.

It's back-to-school time for young Luke! Today he started Year 2 of Preschool, where he'll go 3 days a week in the morning. He started the day off right with a "back-to-school breakfast" of Swedish pancakes with raspberry syrup ... made by the Swedish chef in the family (think Mom, not Muppets!) He then got dressed all by himself and in his favorite new guitar shirt. He was all too excited to get started with his new class ... and with a kiss and a hug, he was off to start the day in his classroom buzzing with 4-year-olds. When we picked him up, we then headed to lunch with Dad. Luke reported that they'd read a few books and even worked on a first art project. The year is off to a good start!


Luke enjoys his back-to-school breakfast!

SuperStudent Luke makes Superman arms with his SuperSidekick Reid.

Visit with Phoenix friends.

In addition to seeing our family this weekend, we also were fortunate to see some friends from Phoenix -- Shauna & Tim -- who were in Denver visiting family. Tim & Scott have K-State engineering connections, and then they worked together at Motorola. Jami & Shauna enjoyed Girls Nights Out together in Phoenix. It was so much fun to see them and catch up!

Family Ties.

One of the other best parts of the weekend (yes, we had several 'best' parts!) was spending time all together with the Nelson side of the family. Whether we were in the mountains or just relaxing at home, it was good to catch up and just be together. Below are some pics of the fam...

Luke kicks back with Aunt B & Uncle C.

Sisters!

Papa & Luke took off for a bike ride. Yes, you can only ride with them if you have a blue helmet!

The Nelson girls by the stream ... Dixie, Jami & Briana.

Papa oversees the stream-waders.

The Leahy boys waiting for lunch.

Table for 9, please. We found this great restaurant in Pine Grove called Zoka's.

Grandparents & grandsons.

Cousins in Colorado.

One of the best parts of the weekend was watching the cousins play together and interact. Luke & Reid loved finding toys for Dalton and playing down on the floor with him. They always wanted to know "Where's Dalton??" Dalton kept close tabs on Luke and always was crawling around to find out what he was up to. Reid also learned to say "Dalton" (he could also say Craig but Briana was a bit hard and sounded like "banana" ... ha!)

The boys loved swinging outside. We had to just make sure Luke didn't swing too high with this little rider on board!

Luke, Dalton & Reid ... all smiles at lunch!

Is this a double jogger? It is now with these 2 cousins squeezed in. Papa gave Reid & Dalton a ride home from the park ... what fun!

Luke teaches Dalton all about dinos. Roar!

No Work, All Play ... Labor Day

This Labor Day weekend has been a nice break from all the hustle and bustle lately ... even though we've been busy bees with all our holiday weekend fun!! Briana, Craig, and Dalton came for a visit over the long weekend (yay for our first overnight guests!) It's been a great weekend spending time with the Nelson side of the family. Here are the highlights of our adventures over the past few days...

• Grillin' and chillin' in the backyard at our house
• Shopping and more shopping (Farmer's Market, Kohl's, Denver Goodwill stores, Castle Rock Outlet Mall)
• Trekking to the mountains near Pine Grove for a stream-wadin', mountain-air-breathin' good time!
• Dining out with the fam
• Taking in the Colorado Balloon Classic in the Downtown Springs
• Enjoying good memories with the family all together!

Check out the other posts with the pics...

Scare or be scared.

Please watch at your own risk ... very scary (well at least Luke thinks he is!)

Giffin Get-Together.

This afternoon we hosted the Giffins for lunch & a playdate ... and what fun we had! The little guys Reid and Daniel both napped, Luke & Levi entertained themselves by playing trains and on the swingset outside, and Jami & Torie chatted extensively about blogging and Facebook!



Levi & Luke pal around outside.

A day at the beach...

Luke & Reid spend a day at the beach ... Colorado-style, that is!

With summer coming to a close and Luke starting school next week, we are squeezing in some final summertime excursions. Today we ventured to Denver to hit Bear Creek Park & Soda Lake, which are about 15 minutes from where Mimi & Papa live. We took full advantage of the outdoor options available: played at the beach, ate a picnic lunch by the lake, and rented a paddleboat (which operated better in reverse than going forward ... go figure). The boys also enjoyed feeding a friendly goose and riding on the board of Papa's windsurfer (although there wasn't enough wind to see Papa actually windsurf.) In all, it was a great day soaking up some rays and some good times with the fam. Luke & Reid were in their element splashing in the water, throwing rocks, finding sticks, wading around, digging in the sand, etc.

This inner tube is just my speed and style!

Mom and Reid soak up some rays and warm up ... the water was a bit chilly!

The beach boys test out the board to Papa's windsurfer.

The fam after a fun day out at Bear Creek!

Moms' Night Out.

Dianne, Jami, Torie & Beth chatted the night away over dinner!

Jami and several friends enjoyed a fun night out with teppanyaki & sushi & lots of conversation!

Weekend Edition: Part 2.

DUs take over KC.

So here's the other half of the story from our weekend ... Scott's trip to Kansas City. He enjoyed catching up with many of his Delta Upsilon fraternity brothers. There was even a pick-up basketball game! Several guys flew in or drove the distance to the reunion ... and it was well worth it to relive so many college memories with such good friends.

Scott also got to spend some time visiting his family. What a treat to see so many special people in such a whirlwind trip!

Scott with his brother Paul, Juli, Sawyer & Stratton (who just celebrated his 1st bday!)
Scott with his Mom & Ted
Scott with Uncle Bruce, Aunt Mary Ann & Emily

Weekend Edition: Part 1.

This weekend was full of activities but split into two chapters. Scott jetted to Kansas City this weekend for a reunion with his Delta Upsilon fraternity brothers and visit with his family, while Jami and the boys stayed in Colorado for the weekend. Here's the Colorado portion of the weekend...

On Saturday, Jami & the boys ventured northward to spend the day and overnight with Mimi and Papa. We went to the Farmer's Market, educated the grandparents about the finer entertainment of life at Chuck E. Cheese, rode the bikes & trikes over a ramp that Papa constructed, and checked out the Rocky Mountain Balloon Festival this morning. All that activity made for 2 big nappers on the ride home ... and it was only 10:30 in the morning!

Reid thinks this is the ONLY ride at Chuck E. Cheese worthy of his tokens!
Watch out for these crazy drivers!
Papa made this ramp which was a huge hit with the boys. (Yes, we let them loose outside this morning to ride bikes in their pajamas!)

Dip-n-dinner.

This evening we opted for Fondue al Fresco ... dining outdoors on some cheese fondue with lots of goodies to dip. Ahhhh ... there's nothing like a nice late summer evening outdoors.

Bikes, trikes & tricks.

This evening we were able to catch the Leahy cyclists in action. Reid can now pedal his trike (watch the 1st video ... it's quick at the beginning). You can also hear Reid saying, "Pedal ... pedal." Luke learned how to pop a wheely (and ride through the ditch in our front yard at a high rate of speed.) Hold on to your hats ... or bike helmets!

More from the mud pit...

Got a few more pics of the race. These might be the best yet!

Muddy Buddy.

2 buddies + 1 mountain bike + 5 obstacles + 1 large mud pit (well, actually an entire course of grime & mud with 2 straight days of heavy rain) = one of the BEST races we've ever done!

We participated in the Muddy Buddy race in Boulder today and had a blast! Here's how it works. It's a partner race so we took turns running and biking while switching at 5 different obstacles (including a rock wall, pyramid bar climb, balance beam, inflatable slide, and the grand finale of the mud pit.) The course was 6+ miles long and circled the Boulder Reservoir.

Some of our tough (yet fun) challenges ... Scott had to push the bike up a crazy steep hill and later de-mud the tires because they were so caked in mud that they wouldn't turn! Jami carried the bike while wading through waist-deep water in the reservoir! At the end, we crawled on our hands and knees through a pit of mud and then ran across the finish line together. Such a different kind of race but so much fun! We'll let the pics speak for themselves. We may be muddy, but we're still smiling!

BEFORE: Squeaky clean and ready to race!

AFTER: Head-to-toe mud.

Jami awaits the start of the race. Boulder Reservoir is in the background.

Scott squints to keep the mud out of his eye!

Rinsing off in the reservoir afterward.

We did our best to rinse off the mud, but these whites are doomed!

End of summer.

The weather is cooling. Luke's school will be starting soon. Our first summer in Colorado is coming to a close. There are many reasons to reflect back on what this summer has meant for our growing boys.

PEDAL TO THE METAL: Luke mastered riding his bike without training wheels (and then he mastered many bike stunts soonafter.) Reid is also now pedaling his bike & trike, too! Guess he didn't want Luke to leave him behind.

NEW HOUSE, NEW ROUTINE: In our rental house, the boys played out in the driveway and on our kid-friendly street for hours each day. Now that we've moved, they spend hours in our backyard. Many mornings Luke will wake up and go out for some early morning swing time ... in his pajamas at 8 a.m. At least he puts on his shoes! The boys also love to poke around for bugs in the garden, wrestle in the grass, and play whiffleball.

HERE WE GROW: Over the summer, Reid has begun to communicate and understand more. He now expresses his thoughts and opinions and even jokes around! It's been amazing to watch his personality change these past few months with blossoming independence ... as one of his favorite phrases is "Myself!" ... meaning "Let me do it myself!" (We found that particularly funny when he said that one day while getting his diaper changed. A self-diaper-changing child would be great!) We've also watched Luke grow into a new level of confidence and courage while hanging out with the older elementary aged kids in our old neighborhood. While he was the youngest of the gang, he did his best to hold his own and keep up with the other kids. We've also seen Luke's appetite boom in the last month and every hour results in the familiar echo, "Mom, I'm hungry."

As we look back on Summer '08, we have so many fond memories ... fun times with family, outdoor adventures, and many lessons learned as the boys grow. We are happy to squeeze in a few more summer weeks before Luke starts school but also look forward to the fun that autumn will bring.