Sunday Soccer Scenes

Fall soccer is back in full swing. With both boys playing this year, we spend two solid hours on the soccer fields on Sunday afternoons.

Grant is improving and seems to enjoy the time on the field, especially because it means time with Coach Dad. He's even scored a couple of goals. But he doesn't forget his mom on the sidelines, often stopping to wave and smile mid-game. 

Miles, on the other hand, has a limited attention span for watching the game, let alone playing. The kiddie league practices for 30 minutes, followed by a 30 minute game. Miles will practice, but is usually tapped out by the time the actual game starts. He spends most of the game sitting on the sidelines making silly faces at the other players. 

Early Fall Trip to the Orchard

We took advantage of a cooler fall day not long ago to visit a favorite farm, where we picked raspberries and apples. The boys ate as much at the farm as they brought home. As it is, they can both eat their own weight in apples. We go through pounds and pounds of apples a week at our house.

First Week of School

The boys are back at their Montessori school this year. Grant is in the 5-7 class again, while Miles is in the 3-6 class again with his beloved teachers.

Grant's first day stats:

Grade: 5-7 classroom

What he wants to be when he grows up: A scientist or teacher

Favorite summer memory: Telluride

Most looking forward to this school year: Learning about trees and science

You would think that going back to the same classroom would make the transition easier. But as soon as G saw his classroom door, he was in tears. Multiple hugs and dried tears later, I waved good-bye. There were more tears the next day, but drop-off got easier as the week went on.

Meanwhile, Miles was home sick on the first day of school. 

He spiked a fever on Sunday evening and started throwing up in the middle of the night. When his fever was down again the next day, we attempted school. The first day he seemed fine in the morning, but his teachers said he wasn't himself. So we kept him home another day to recover. Finally on Thursday morning when he bounced into our room fully of Miles energy, I figured he was finally ready.

Miles' first day stats:

Grade: Preschool (3-6 classroom)

What he wants to be when he grows up: A mountain climber

Favorite part of summer: Riding the ski lift (at the state fair)

Most looking forward to this year: Music and working with (his friend) Jax

It was a rocky start, to be sure, but everyone seems to be settling into their routines now. They both have positive things to say about school at the end of the day and lots of school work to share. 

Happy Birthday Miles!

Happy 4th birthday to a boy who is incredibly sweet and silly, charming and challenging. He makes life interesting and never takes no for an answer. 

Telluride 2015

It was our fourth year visiting beautiful Telluride, Colorado, over July 4. In some ways, it feels like the kids have grown up here. Each summer we remember the things that they've done the years before and marvel at the new things they can do. This year Miles (who often asks us to carry him on walks around the neighborhood) surprised us with his love of hiking, especially when it involved climbing over big rocks. While Grant cruised around on his big-boy bike, Miles was now zipping down hills on his strider bike. We remember just a couple of summers ago when Miles was being carried in the baby backpack and G was zooming around Telluride on his strider bike.

One thing is the same: We are forever impressed by the beauty of the mountains.

It rained a lot this year, probably more than any other year, but we've learned to be prepared, always carrying rain coats with us. Even a downpour is over pretty fast in the mountains.

We've also learned that you have to get to the 4th of July parade route super early if you want to get a good seat. Kent arrived at 6:30 a.m., and was only able to score a spot in the second row. But luckily the friendly people in front of us (who set up their chairs at 4:30 a.m.!) were kind enough to let the boys crouch in front of them.

The parade didn't disappoint. The boys collected lots of candy and traded water gun fights with the people on the floats. We were pretty soaked by the end of the parade. Miles was especially thrilled about a float that appeared to have fire spouting from the roof. He was not crazy, however, about anything that had a loud noise, especially the fighter jets that kicked off the parade and appeared to nearly touch the rooftops as they whipped by overhead.

The rest of the week was spent hiking, biking, riding the gondola and meandering around town. 

We spent one day at Box Canyon in Ouray, about an hour away. The boys, who didn't remember visiting a couple of years ago, were fascinated by the giant waterfall and the "bear cave" at the top of the trail.

We spent a lot of time chasing Miles around town on his bike. His favorite thing to do was speed off without us, whizzing down hills and shouting "Wheeeeee!"