Summer Vacation Weeks 7 & 8

I'm not so sure weeks 7 and 8 can qualify for summer vacation when a vast majority of the time was spent at school getting my new classroom cleaned out and set up for students as well as at Lakeshore Learning and U.S. Toy and Constructive Playthings.  First and foremost I have to thank my amazing husband for all of his time and talents spent with me at school!!  He took vacation and helped me in my classroom!  We spent Monday, Tuesday, and Friday at school getting things cleaned, organized, and set up for the kiddos (I was at school Wednesday for a class).  He was such a help and it would have never all gotten done without him!  That meant during the first half of week 8 I had minor details in my classroom to finish up.  I spent a few hours at school on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of week 8 to get as many of the fine details taken care of as possible.  There's always more to buy and to do in the life of a teacher, but I am quite pleased with how the new classroom turned out!  The latter half of week 8 was spent back at school getting to know our new leadership, new staff, district initiatives, catching up with friends, laughing, stressing, trying to plan, updating class lists...  I was exhausted last night!  However, I am VERY excited to see everyone on Monday, August 1st at our open house.  Tuesday, August 2nd is the first day of school for students.  School starts at 9:05 and ends at 3:58.  I look forward to working with all of you and all of your children this year!

During the time that wasn't spent at school, I did all my normal things - laundry, mowing the lawn, watering flowers, tending the garden, etc.  I even managed to squeeze in my yearly visit to my doctor who confirmed I'm healthy!  Speaking of our garden, it is doing amazing considering this is our first time gardening!  We've harvested peas, beans, carrots, lettuce, spinach, and cucmbers so far.  Everything has been absolutely delicious.  We have so many beans and cucumbers that my colleagues at school were able to enjoy some on Thursday and Friday.  Today we discovered our first two ears of sweet corn.  We are really excited about that!  The pictures below show the garden and some of the beans, cucumbers, and carrots.  Just a few nights ago, we had the deer visiting our neighborhood.  The were nibbling on the bushes and hanging out so we snapped a picture of them as well.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend and see you Monday!

 

Summer Vacation Weeks 5 & 6

Oh my goodness!  Where does time go?!  I know I keep saying it, but this summer has been crazy busy and FUN!  After my parents and niece left (almost two weeks ago now), I cleaned the house again so it was ready for the pet/house sitter and our trip to Vail.  On July 10th, we headed up to Vail for my husband Joe's annual summer work conference.  Sunday night was the pot luck and it was so nice to catch up with the people and clients that my husband works with.  While my husband was working during the day, I strolled through the Betty Ford Alpine Gardens (they are absolutely beautiful), walked along Gore Creek, napped, shopped, and even found time to order nametags for the desks at school.  Monday and Tuesday evenings brought great dinners with my husband, his colleagues, and their clients.  Wednesday morning we got up and had a wonderful breakfast at the Westside Cafe in Vail, did some shopping at the Silverthorn outlet mall, stopped at Beau Jo's for pizza, and headed home.  It was absolutely gorgeous in Vail.  The ski run outside our room at the Manor Vail Lodge even had spots of snow still on it and Gore Creek was running high and fast!  I enjoy the mountains and seeing the ski runs always makes me excited for ski season! 

 The view from our room!

Gore Creek running high and fast!

After we got home from Vail it was finally time to take a deep breath and relax - our summer whirlwind was finally coming to an end.  It's been nice to have a few mornings to sleep in too!  Our garden is flourishing as well and it's been so exciting to harvest peas and carrots.  For being complete city slickers our garden is doing quite well.  The picture below is of our garde on July 13th.  It has changed dramatically in the last week!

 

Now I've been focusing on school.  Thanks to my husband's help, my new classroom is finally starting to look like a classroom and feel like home.  Can you believe school starts in a week and a half?!  Enjoy the rest of your summer and stay cool!

Summer Vacation Week 4 Pictures

My nieces and nephew hamming it up during fireworks at our house.

Me near the summit of Rocky Mountain National Park.  It was gorgeous up there!

 The peacock at the picnic bench we decided to take a rest at.  Check out those tail feathers!

My niece and I during dinner at Hacienda.

My niece with her extra plate of marshmallows at The Melting Pot.  The server was awesome!



Summer Vacation Week 4

Well, my summer vacation has been crazy!  After getting home from Wisconsin last week Tuesday, it was time to do loads of laundry, get the house cleaned up, and run all sorts of errands before my parents arrival.  On Saturday, my parents arrived along with my 6 year old niece and their yellow lab, Marley.  Our house was full and our poor cat did not move from under our bed until all doors where closed and the guests were all tucked away in bed for the night!  When they arrived Saturday, we invited my sister-in-law, niece, and nephew over for a BBQ.  My husband made applewood smoked chicken on the Weber charcoal grill.  It was delicious!  After dinner, we began with some pre-fireworks - poppers, smoke bombs, and sparklers.  When it was finally dark, we did the rest of the fireworks.  My nieces and nephew loved them!  Sunday brought another great day with church, pool time, and another BBQ.  On Monday, the 4th, we decided to head up to Rocky Mountain National Park.  We stopped at the McDonald's in Estes Park for lunch and chocolate from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory for dessert!  We stopped many times on our way to the summit of RMNP to check out elk and all the snow.  That certainly was the most snow I've ever seen at this point in the summer in the mountains.  The run-off in places was a sight to behold - all sorts of mini waterfalls.  My niece and I threw snowballs at my husband and my niece wrote her name in the snow.  At the summit, we looked around and did some shopping.  On our way home, we saw a mama moose and we got stuck in traffic on I-70 due to a fruit truck that had rolled earlier in the day.  Thank goodness for my friend Cindy.  We realized just how long our dogs where home alone and she was able to let all 3 dogs out for us!  When we got home, we quickly fed our dogs, played with them and took off again for 4th of July fireworks.  Flat Acres Farm (where we have our garden) was providing public parking on their property to watch the Parker fireworks and since we have a garden plot with them, we got to park free!  We met my sister-in-law, niece, and nephew there to watch the fireworks.  Talk about an amazing unobstructed view.  Parker's fireworks were fantastic!  The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo was on the schedule for Tuesday.  My parents, niece, and I went and had a blast feeding the giraffes!  They sure are cute!  However, my niece had more fun on the sky ride.  Tuesday night, we went out for Mexican at Hacienda.  On Wednesday, I took my mom and niece to school to see where my new classroom is and to show them around school.  My niece played on the playground and then we went back to the pool for a bit.  My husband and I also celebrated our 10 year anniversary!!  We all went to The Melting Pot to celebrate Wednesday night.  For my niece the chocolate fondue at the end of our meal was the highlight.  We even had to ask for more marshmallows and our server brought a whole big plate of them!  It was such a great time.  Thursday morning, we went out for breakfast and my parents began their 2-day drive back to Wisconsin.  After I got home from breakfast, I got the house all cleaned back up.

During my parent's visit, there were many trips to water our garden.  My parents were impressed!  We even have vegetables growing - peas and chilis!  On Sunday, we head up to Vail for a few days.  My husband has his summer work conference there.  Our pet sitter is all ready to hang out with the critters.  Thunder absolutely loves her!  Again, I hope all of you are enjoying your summer!  I am looking forward to finally getting some extra sleep after getting back from Vail next week.