Fisherpalooza

What?? Didn't I JUST post? Like LAST NIGHT? Why yes, yes I did. I also downloaded 524 pictures from my camera. Behind much? Plus, I've told myself I can share some really big news with you all when I'm caught up. Huh? I could tell you now...but I'd have to kill you. :)

SO. Fisherpalooza. A four day festival celebrating the awesomeness that is Fisher! It. was. awesome. In my opinion, waaaaay more fun than a party. I think he really enjoyed it too. Everyday he jumped up asking, "where are we going today?". Plus, James was with us all day long - everyday. (I will warn you, this one is a little picture heavy. It couldn't be helped.)

Day One: Bowling

We took the kids to the bowling alley on a quiet Sunday morning. It was so nice. (nobody else was there) It was Fisher, Ruby, and Piper. While the big kids did a great job and had tons of fun, the highlight was watching Pipey. She was finally big enough to give it a go. In a word, hilarious. They have these kid assisting things that look like little playground slides. You set the ball on top, aim, and push. Pipey (helped by her Dad) would holler out "BOWL" - run up and push the ball down the little slide. Then she would eagerly wait, with her hands clasped at her chest in anticipation. Even if nothing fell over she would throw her hands up in the air in celebration! Then she would run around and high five everyone. They all had so much fun. Nobody cared who won. They even at that toxic nacho cheese sauce and lived to tell the tale. Gross, yes? But it's only your birthday once a year.






Day Two: Art Sports

We have this incredible tumbling gym pretty close by. They have an "open gym" hour twice a week that just happened to fit into our Fisherpalooza schedule. It's a super cool place with TONS of trampolines set into the floor and rope swings that hurl you into a pit of foam blocks. Much fun was had by all. Nap time was sweet that day!

Who can resist this face?

Okay, she really wanted to do what the big kids were doing. Can you tell she's a tiny little pixie of a thing? They ended up making her get out. Worried she'd hurt herself I guess. But, this pic was worth waiting in line.

This is really the only one I could get of Fisher. He's pretty full blast in that place and won't stay still for long. ALL the other ones of him were blurry.

Day Three: Santa Land

Santa Land is crazy fun. It's this (really) old, tiny theme park filled with Christmas rides and games. Most of the rides anyone can ride, even Pipey. Some, we had to ride with her. Ugh the spinning.

And skee ball is ALWAYS a huge success. They pooled all their tickets together and divided them up for "prizes". I use that term loosely as a piece of string fashioned into a bracelet is hardly a "prize". But whatever, it made them happy.


We learned that Pipey is a bit of a daredevil with rides. She would ride stuff and we would think she was afraid. She was really just freaking out and wanting to go faster or again. She gets that from her Bella. Here she is getting ready to go with the boys.

Yep, she's in there. Way at the top. What she said when it was over.... MORE!!

Before I get hatemail, NO I do NOT advocate my children shooting each other. :) It's a ride people - lighten up.

A good shot of all three of them in the boats.

This one of Ruby just makes me smile. Every. Time. I. See. It. (That big ol' fro!!!)

This one may look familiar to some of you. There is one almost exactly like this of Carly and me at the beach on the motorcycle ride. And yes, I tried to get Pipey on it too - she insisted on driving a car. Oh well, there's always next time. (I'll try to find that old one - just for kicks - Daddy?)

Faces were painted.

Friendships stayed strong.

And MUCH fun was had by all. When leaving I asked, "Who had tons of fun today?" This was their response....

They were asleep before we got to the bottom of the mountain.

Day Four: A train ride.

Fisher is officially FIVE YEARS OLD!!!! Woot! Today, we took a beautiful drive in the mountains. Our destination was a pretty little mining (and casino filled) town called Cripple Creek. They have a great coal fired steam train. It's about a 45 minute train ride to an old ghost town and some abandoned gold mines, then back again. Nana, Carly, and Johnny came with us.

The Station/gift shop

Forced pose??

Uncle James and J Dog.

Carly and Johnny

Echo canyon. Pretty huh?

Me and Pipey - Carly and Johnny

After the train ride, Carly and Johnny went home to nap. The rest of us headed to a casino for lunch. HA, Fisher had lunch at a casino for his 5th birthday. Just sounds funny doesn't it?

I dare you not to laugh at this one. Seriously. Dare ya.

That night, we headed over to Nana's for pizza and cupcakes.

Here's one third of the birthday banner I made for our boy. One said Happy, one said Birthday, one said Fisher. To be used again and again. Every birthday. Forever. Because I said so. :) (And it's awesome.)

What a great festival. The whole four days everyone got along and had tremendous fun. It was a wonderful way to celebrate a wonderful little, I mean big, boy.

Happy Birthday Fisher!!!

Wish you were here.
Love,

JKFP

Cousins. Are. Awesome.

Just look at all that love! Several weeks ago the Smith's (that's James' sister and her family for those who don't know) came to visit Colorado. We had so much fun and we wish they lived closer than Minnesota. That's Nana with all 7 grandkids at the fair. L to R we have... Ellie holding Piper, Ida in front, Shelby, Andie Kay, Nana, Fisher, and Michael.

Fisher was finally old enough to really play with Michael. Those boys have to stick together around all the women.

And Ellie is an amazing helper. I SO wish she lived closer. What a great babysitter she was. She is such a mature person. It's a little strange at times when I realize she's only 11. She seems 17.



The whole reason we were at the fair... Shelby and Andie Kay were showing their cows. I know I'm making it way simpler than it is. That's because I don't really know. It's very confusing. Cows, heifers, steer... I'm sure it's makes perfect sense to some people. I am not one of these people. But let me tell you, those girls are amazing. Little Andie Kay huffing that gigantic cow around the ring is impressive. Especially when you see a HUGE 17 yr old boy being drug around on his behind by one five minutes after this picture was taken.

And here's Shelby. This was her last (I believe) beef show at the Douglas County Fair. Sniff.

Here the girls are in the ring together! That was kind of exciting.

Again with the peas in a pod. They really did play super well together.

This is us walking to our special choke cherry picking place.

Our second annual choke cherry picking. I hope this is one that continues.

Ellie picking.

Aren't they beautiful? I love this picture. Guess what happened next???

It rained cats and dogs. I'm actually standing under a tree to keep dry to snap this picture. It is seriously raining.

We were so soaked when we got home we had to take more pictures. Fisher insisted on the stair step arrangement.

Washing them in the yard. Pipey is such a good helper.

Me and Ellie cooking em down for jelly.

Across from Nana's house. That's Michael in the red and Fisher in the green. Ida's in there somewhere too. That was a popular activity.

And we made hand print stones for Nana's flower beds. She now has one for each grandkid!

That about wraps it up for the cousins edition. We really did have so much fun. I can't wait for them to come back next year.


More to come!

JKFP

End of the Summer

Hi!

You didn't forget about us did you? We have been having tons of fun around here. I (naturally) lost the piece of paper I had made notes on for this little update. So, it may not be up to my usual standards. But, we'll give it a shot. AND, just to sweeten the deal, I have maybe 4 more updates worth of pictures already loaded. It shouldn't take me long to get them typed up and sent out. Yay you!

And now...an update.

My sweet children are so very curious about EVERYTHING! It's a little crazy. We've been in the garden, playing with cousins, hiking, camping, sleep overs, cookouts, just good ol' summer stuff. Apparently Piper is finally fun to play with. She can keep up pretty well and she LOVES following the big kids around. Fisher has gotten really good at including her in all the fun too.


And here's trouble... Just look at Fisher's face. You know he's cooking something up and he's going to take Johnny and Piper down with him.

James, Sharon and Fisher hiked up the hill by her house one evening while Piper and I were relaxing in the hammock. I heard Fisher talking and this is what I saw.

So much fun. Fisher asks to hike up there every time we go over to Nana's now.

Can you believe he's going to be FIVE in a few days?? Where did THAT come from? My "baby" has been growing like a weed. He's been complaining about his sneakers hurting his feet. He got them at Christmas last year and I think they fit well for (maybe) 6 months. So he's only been wearing crocs. Seeing as the weather is turning colder I decided it was time to try and find the boy some new shoes. His old shoes were size 8. The new ones I got him were... size 12! Yes, that's what I said. FOUR flippin' sizes too small. No wonder he was complaining.

Along with getting bigger, Fisher is also incredibly smart. He's been working on these puzzles that his Papa Lon made for us several years before Fisher was born. There is a North Carolina one, a South Carolina one, and one of the United States. The NC and SC ones aren't too terribly hard as they have actual maps on the tops. The US one is a different story. It had NEVER been put together until...

...this day. He was SO proud! (Yes, I did help) We did end up using our US map placemats to help a little. It. Was. Hard. But, I know his Papa would be proud too.

This is Fisher and his friend Onora. She's Nikos and Melanie's little girl. Cute, huh? He is so good with the little ones!

He has also had a MAJOR milestone!!! His best friend Ruby had a sleepover at our house!!!! It was so much fun. They all did really well. I made a little spot for her on the floor between Pipey and Fisher's beds. It. Was. Awesome. Here we are driving to the house.

Story time

and Fisher reading to Ruby

And now for Miss Piper.

What can you say about Pipey? She is so very charming. She's funny. Sweet. She gives fantastic hugs (complete with sound effects). She loves shoes, jewelry, and having her hair fixed. WHAT???? Not to mention her favorite toy is dirt. How does that work out you ask? It works out with (sometimes) two baths a day. (I'll post other pictures of that another time.) Here she is rockin' the pig tails, wicked cheesing, and decked out with necklaces like Mr. T. (and don't pretend you don't know who Mr. T is.)

I made her a tiny head scarf to accessorize with... And to keep her hair out of her face.

I have been trying for a while to get an accurate picture of her hair color. Most people are shocked when they see how red her hair is in person. It's red. Well, strawberry blonde. But more strawberry.

My turn. I have been thoroughly enjoying my kids. I'm ready to get back into a routine now that summer is over. I have a confession to make. I have been doing fall crafts since Sept. 1st. Seriously. Wreaths for the door, decorations for the table, anything nature crafty for fall - I'm all over it. I'm sure you will see much of this over the next little bit. I'm also crafting gifts for Christmas. Yes, already. I've had my list figured out since early in the summer. I'm trying to accomplish stuff early so I'm not freaking out 3 days before Christmas. Most everything is being made. I'll try to show you the kids stuff as we complete it. Maybe I'll do an overview of all the gifts in Jan.

The other thing I've been focusing on, besides crafting, has been the garden. James has been a huge help with the watering. I'm mostly enjoying the colors and smells and the preserving. (more on that later too) One day James found a praying mantis at work. He boxed him up and brought him home for our tomato plants. They named him Manny.

And here are some seriously hot cayenne peppers. (So I'm told)

So I had a birthday last month. (Yes, I'm getting old - but so are you.) Anyway, Carly, Rachael and I were going to take all the kids to the zoo and have a picnic. Guess who's kids got sick and we couldn't go??? Oh yes, that would be mine. They went without us though and had a great time. I spent my time making awesome fairy furniture out of crap I found in the yard. (and hot glue) It was my birthday dang it. I'll make fairy furniture if I want too. The kids are really into all the tiny furniture and houses made from milk cartons and bark from the yard. It's a win win.

James is doing pretty alright. He had to have a tooth pulled. Yes, ouch. I'll spare you the details but, he was pretty hurty. Much better now thank goodness. Work is going alright. They keep telling him they are going to send him back to Gunnison, then they change the plans. He was supposed to be there this week even. Oh well, good for us anyway. Starting friday afternoon he's taking two weeks off! Fisher's birthday week (we're calling it Fisherpalooza) is going to be a several day long celebration. (I'm seeing mini golf, bowling, hiking, fishing, maybe even a camping trip?) So James will be able to do all those things with us! And the week after that he'll be hunting. (Keep your fingers crossed!) He's been working SO hard and he really deserves those two weeks!

So yeah, that about wraps it up for us. I seriously have quite a few more in the works. (I say this out loud so I'll feel pressed to actually write them up) I'll leave you with one more picture.

Fisher, checking stuff out. Piper, covered in dirt, looking like Mr. T again. (and a little guilty)

See you!

JKFP