Phoebe is taking four days of golf lessons this week, Monday–Thursday from 8–9 a.m. They’re held at Broadlands Golf Course in Broomfield, about 10 minutes from our house. The course is lovely at that time of day! There are a few moms, dads, and little brothers hanging around while the kids practice. Phoebe says her coaches are funny, and I think it’s only going to take her another day to be driving the ball farther than I can usually manage. Well, okay…maybe two days.
We planned our first camping trip of the season for Memorial Day weekend (if you don’t count the aborted trip to Moab in May). We’d never been to Collegiate Peaks Campground, so we chose a site by looking at the little map and guessing which would be nice. We’d planned to drive out to the mountains after work on Friday, but the weather report suggested very cold temperatures and the possibility of precipitation, which sounded a lot like snow. We decided to give ourselves another day to pack by leaving on Saturday morning.
We got out of town around 9:30, after our usual breakfast of Santiago’s burritos at the coffee shop. The campground is only about three hours away, so we got there for a late lunch after a stop in Buena Vista for a cup of coffee. Our campsite turned out to be really nice! We set up the tent and played around the campsite all afternoon. Phoebe and I went on a bike ride around the campground, and we went on a few little walks. Dave had the brilliant idea to turn the other direction inside our tent, which means that the kids can sleep on the outside instead of head-to-toe in the middle of the two of us. Much roomier! We’ll need a new tent next year, but with the new configuration, we should be able to make this one work all summer. Those darn kids keep growing!
I’m getting tired of having hot dogs one night and pizzas the other, so I decided we should try barbecued meatballs this time. They weren’t much of a hit, so I guess I’m still looking. After a few days of meat and starches, I’m always craving vegetables!
Saturday night was pretty cold—in the 30s. As always, Dave and the kids were plenty warm all night, while I woke up shivering too many times to count. Benjamin didn’t sleep all that well either, but Phoebe could sleep through a train wreck. She had no idea he’d woken up screaming several times.
Dave and Phoebe setting up the tent.
Benjamin and his doggy.
Now we’re all up here!
View of our campsit.
Phoebe and friends at the top, Benjamin at the bottom.
Close-up on top of the rock.
Phoebe and Mommy on a bike ride.
Benjamin coloring.
A lovely mountain jay spent plenty of time at our campsite.
On Sunday Dave cooked us a lovely pancake-and-bacon breakfast. Once that was cleaned up, we packed up to head into Buena Vista for a bike ride. Dave and I had ridden the Midland Trail, which used to be a railroad grade, so we knew it was pretty flat and went through a few old railroad tunnels. A very good destination for the three of us on our bikes and Benjamin in the Chariot. We brought a picnic lunch and set out. The weather wasn’t perfect; it was windy, chilly, and threatening to rain, but it wasn’t too hot! Phoebe did a great job with her new bike, even shifting a few times as we rode along. We all really enjoyed the ride. Afterward, we went to the Buena Vista History Museum, since it was too cold to play outdoors. We saw lots of historical artifacts and a wonderful model train scene that depicted many of the old mining towns in the area.
By then it was dinnertime, so we went back to camp for our pizzas and mashed potatoes. I slept better that night, and Benjamin only woke up once. In the morning, I went for a run (although the altitude was a killer, and I ended up “ralking” most of the way uphill). The run down was nice and fast!
Railroad tunnels from the far side.
Mommy and Phoebe biking through the tunnels.
Phoebe has the hang of hand brakes and a grip shift!
Making pizzas for dinner.
Ninja Phoebe shows off some moves.
Benjamin found something to keep him busy while we broke down the campsite. He’s reading Fred and Ted Go Camping
Phoebe brought a 1st-grade workbook and spent a lot of time doing math and reading comprehension.
Dave cleaning up the tent.
On the way back to Lafayette (sort of), we checked out St. Elmo, a ghost town in the mountains. It was a mining community, and the last permanent residents departed in the 1950s. Phoebe has long been fascinated by ghost towns, but she found it fairly scary and didn’t want to stay long. She didn’t realize the buildings were going to be crumbling. The drive home was uneventful, and it was a fun long weekend! Nice to spend more time together than usual.
I no longer have any idea what happened in early April. We didn’t seem to take any photos!
April 16
Phoebe was helping me cook. Then she started making one of those concoctions children put together in the kitchen. It seemed harmless, so I handed over whatever ingredients she requested.
The result of a food-mixing experiment. This is primarily applesauce with food coloring and a few other mysterious ingredients.
April 17
We were supposed to go camping in Moab with some friends and their friends, who organized the trip. However, there were weather reports of a huge storm in the mountains, which we’d have to pass through to get to Utah. We deliberated endlessly and finally decided not to go. Good choice, since they closed I-70 right around when we would’ve arrived there! It turned into a fairly normal weekend, though we had a bit of snow down here too.
I can’t remember this tower or rocket ship being built. It’s cool!
Every single Lego was necessary for this huge rocket!
Dave played some video games while Benjamin watched.
The boys are playing video games.
Because the kids didn’t get to go camping, we let them camp on the floor of their room for a couple of nights.
“Camping” underneath her desk.
Benjamin was camping too. We were supposed to go camping for real, but a huge snowstorm in the mountains kept us home.
April 24
Dave and Phoebe went shopping at Play It Again Sports and found a set of girls’ golf clubs with pink shafts! Phoebe is going to take golf lessons in June, but here she and Benjamin were practicing taking some swings off the back deck. Dave was at band, so he missed the fun.
I guess it’s no surprise that all the playing together turned into an argument.
April 28
Phoebe took this photo of me reading to Benjamin as he sits on the potty. He loves books, so he’ll happily sit on the potty all day if you keep reading to him.
We spend a lot of time reading books to Mr. B while he sits on the potty.
Phoebe was doing something to make Benjamin laugh hysterically, but by the time I got the camera, I had missed most of the action.
May 2
The kids are actually starting to play together—well, Benjamin follows Phoebe around and either laughs crazily or gets upset and tries to push her. Here they’re sort of playing hide and seek until Phoebe gets fed up.
May 7
We often get high winds, rain, and hail in the spring. This year was no different!
Spring hailstorm!
May 14
The kids had a carnival at school for which I believed I had signed up to make cookies. (In the end, no one seemed to know what to do with them.) Here Benjamin is helping me.
May 20
Ta-da! The big event. At Sanchez, the kindergartners celebrate the completion of the year with a graduation of sorts. (That doesn’t happen again until the end of fifth grade.) Dave and I attended Phoebe’s celebration. Someone should’ve told me to bring Kleenex! I sobbed through the slide show, songs, and awarding of certificates. (I made it through the picnic much better.) Phoebe’s kindergarten teacher was Mrs. Moore, and Miss Cheryl played an important part too (though I never understood what, exactly). Mrs. Connelly created a curriculum to teach the kids some Spanish. They came to love her puppets, Gita and Mr. Crow, and at the end of the year, they graduated from caterpillars into first-grade Monarch butterflies!
Miss Cheryl presents Phoebe with her kindergarten diploma.
Phoebe can read what it says!
Hugs from Mrs. Moore and Miss Cheryl.
This is my accidentally artistic shot. It’s a commentary on the sharpness of media when real life is out of focus.
The kids sang several songs with Mrs. Moore (kindergarten teacher) and then several more with Mrs. Connelly.
Phoebe showing off her hand-decorated mortarboard.
It was a lovely day for an outdoor potluck!
The day before graduation, Phoebe asked me specially if Benjamin could come to her event. I was flabbergasted, but said of course, so we picked him up from preschool and brought him to the picnic.
Phoebe invited Benjamin to her graduation celebration.
May 25
Benjamin’s preschool class had an end-of-the year celebration. I almost didn’t go, figuring he’d be in preschool another year. At the last minute, I changed my mind, and I was glad I did—it was heart-warming to see his excitement as his class sang songs, got certificates, and played outdoors at a potluck picnic.
End-of-preschool celebration day! Benjamin is waiting for the singing to begin.
The kids spend a lot of time sitting on the rug.
Showing me his preschool scrapbook.
Clothes off to play in the wading pool!
Now the kids will spend another summer at Take-A-Break before school starts again on August 18. Phoebe will start first grade at Lafayette Elementary, where we believe they can better handle her precociousness, and Benjamin will stay in preschool at Sanchez with his beloved Ms. Max, where he’ll still get speech, physical, occupational, and hard-of-hearing therapy. Phoebe will go on lots of field trips this summer; Benjamin can’t participate until he’s potty trained, but he’s working on that with eagerness. We have a full summer planned, as always! Stay tuned.
The kids got me a soup cookbook for Mother’s Day. It includes 100 soups—and we’ve decided to cook them all and blog about it. Please follow our posts, which will usually be added weekly. You’ll find us here: Souper Gribblog. (Also see a link in “Other Great Websites” to the right.)
I suspect we’ll continue to be as benignly neglectful of the Gribblog as ever. New posts are infrequent, but we always mean to do better! So don’t forget about us here, either.
February 21
On a sunny late-February day, Dave and Phoebe rode their bikes to the park in Louisville—about 4 miles away and up a huge hill. Benjamin got on his Strider for a few minutes before they left.
Heading out to ride to the “train park” in Louisville.
February 26
Benjamin loves to sing the Spider-Man and Batman songs. He knows them by heart!
February 28
The kids had never had frozen grapes before. Phoebe requested that they be put on a toothpick like a Popsicle.
Eating a frozen grape on a stick.
Phoebe got the camera and turned the tables on Daddy.
March 5
Phoebe missed her friend Isabelle’s birthday party when she sprained her second ankle, so we had Isabelle over for a playdate. Phoebe and I made a marble cake the night before, and the girls decorated it. They played for four hours, including a dance party in the kids’ room!
Isabelle’s cake, decorated by Phoebe and Isabelle.
March 9
If Phoebe gets dressed quickly enough, she often has time for media in the morning. Benjamin likes to do everything she does, and this time she deigned to let him perch on the edge of the chair.
Two kids doing media.
Still such a sweet little boy!
March 18
When I checked on him, he had gotten up, brought Spider-Man to bed, and tucked him in.
March 23
Benjamin loves to play with Legos. He often makes me a rocket ship.
March 24
Phoebe’s sixth birthday! She had a fun day at Take-A-Break; they went to Progresh, where kids learn to do adventure sports. After dinner—she chose lasagne and roasted carrots—she opened about a million presents and was joyful about every one. Benjamin understood that it was her birthday and helped by handing her gifts from the pile.
Grandpa and Grandma Gribble got Phoebe the rest of the books she hadn’t read in the Ivy and Bean series.
March 27
We had a wonderful Easter weekend. On Friday, Dave and I took the day off to spend with Phoebe as a spring break/birthday celebration. We took her to Junie B. Jones the Musical and played a couple of the games she got for her birthday.
On Saturday we hosted her birthday party, for which she chose a “Super Hero or Monster High” theme. We had 11 kids and assorted parents over; the kids entertained themselves while the grown-ups chatted.
The pictures Phoebe colored and hung as decorations for her party.
Phoebe drew Cleo from Monster High so we could play “pin the dress on Cleo.”
On Sunday, we got to church really early because Dave and I had to warm up for our woodwind quintet performance. The kids were wonderful, basically entertaining themselves for an hour until church started. The service was terrific, and everyone had fun at the Easter egg hunt afterward. The kids looked adorable in their Easter outfits (thanks, Grammie and Grandma!).
Waiting patiently for Mommy and Daddy to be done practicing.
Helping Kate with the flowers for the children’s flower processional.
Mommy, I’ll read this book.
Phoebe and Julia creating Easter lilies.
Cutting out the petals.
Benjamin enjoyed the Easter egg hunt.
The face Phoebe made every time she saw me trying to take her picture.
Heading to check out the contents of her Easter eggs.
