Camping buddies

I thought this was fun to share the 3 camping friends...Jonas, Asher, and Cohen! Same camper that they just love to play in.

October 2009

June 2011

Father's day camping trip

Our annual camping trip with our friends was in Winter Park this year. We left on Matt's birthday, last Friday and came back in the afternoon on Father's day. We had a blast! Jonas cried when we were packing up to leave and didn't understand why we had to go back home. As he was standing there with dirt and sunscreen in his hair, marshmallows stuck between his fingers, and ash smudged in with more dirt all over. Boys! They loved camping and DIRT!

Enjoying smores(with Skippy super chuck) at campfire was one of the delights of camping.

Jonas and Asher being very patient roasting their marshmallow to perfection.

Bedtime stories around the campfire. I believe that was the best cozy spot I have ever been in while reading to my boys.

Jonas and Dad around the campfire enjoying each other's company.

Silas' 3rd camping trip(already by 20 months).

Loads of tractor and dirt playing for the boys.

Father's day breakfast was green chili burritos, made by Allison, the best that I have ever tasted. And then the Dads washed up afterwards. Happy Father's day!

Here are 3 short clips of Jonas and his buddies riding bikes around Winter Park. All the tourists were amazed that these little guys could balance on 2 wheels.

On Father's day, we headed to Winter Park resort where the dad's took their sons on an alpine slide adventure. Matt has never been on one, so Jonas and he were excited to explore together. They had a ball! As for Silas, he cried and screamed the whole time they were away. He didn't like the fact that he was left out. Poor Si. He wants to be one of the boys already.

Rode the gondola back to the car and headed home.

Went out for pizza(a tradition for lots of holidays for us) and Jonas and Silas made a tool box out of paper and tucked a Starbucks gift card for dad.

We love you DAD!

John Deere shots

I was looking through my photos today and found these 2 photos of my boys at the same age and same place.

PRICELESS!

Nancy's retirement and Laura's 40th

My postings have been so late, I apologize! But I wanted to start off with Nancy's celebration! Within 1 week, we hosted Nancy's retirement party and Laura's 40th birthday party. What a grand time with family.

Happy Retirement Nancy!

Nancy showing up and excited to be done for good!

Our backyard decorated by all the Helton children.

Matt was 'manning' the grill with Dove as an appetizer and Salmon with pesto sauce, blue cheese, and pine nuts. Along with marinated flank steak. Everyone else provided side dishes.

Laura invited a quartet to play for Nancy. What a treat! Silas enjoyed the music.

Next weekend was a surprise party for Laura!

Happy 40th Laura!

Enjoyed good food and libations provided by Andy and of course smores for the little guys around the firepit.

Jumping on the trampoline at night was magical! Uncle Jon enjoyed belly flopping and making Jonas laugh.

We are so happy we can provide parties, hangouts, playdates and more in our backyard. I foresee a kindergarten party soon...boy!

More Summer Fun

The fun continues here in Denver with our boys. So much to do when daddy is home and little time to download photos. But here is a quick post.

Baseball playing at home, at the park, baseball diamond, in the house...you name it...we LOVE baseball. Usually, Dad's the pitcher, Jonas is the batter, Silas is the catcher, and I am the umpire.

Both Jonas and Silas wading in the water at a nearby park. For some reason, they were having drainage issues.

Strider friends! Jonas has about 5 buddies that ride Strider bikes. It's so fun to watch them race and laugh while they bike. They are so small:)

Titter tatter at a Bike Festival

Jonas pumping to get momentum into the next ramp.

Silas has the desire to ride just like his big brother, so I decided to put him on the bike for a block.

Trampoline fun happens everyday here! Silas has developed jumping with both feet. He catches on so rapidly with big brother around.

Off to Bear Creek Lake Park. It's about 5 miles away so we rode our bikes down and played in the water and sand for an hour or two.

Matt was able to swim in the lake to start training for his triathlon in August.

Nature Center free class for kids. That day was learning about mountain lions...yikes! Jonas made a footprint of a mountain lion.

Silas walking like a mountain lion.

Off to the condo pool for some water adventure!

Jonas and Dad...my little fishes.

Jonas has now learned to jump on the edge and spin a 180.

Water brings so much laughter to life!

And brothers! They are playing so well together, it's unreal! They just laugh and laugh together. It makes me so happy and blesses my heart.

Summer time the Living is Easy!

It's summer!! That means a lot of outside play and new adventures for us! We are going on 2 weeks with Matt(Dad) being home for the summer! Wahoo! Jonas wakes up every morning asking him "are you going to work today?" He still hasn't grasp the concept that everyday is Saturday with Dad for 9 weeks. It's so pleasant to be able to leisurely roll out of bed when I want to and not worry about feeding the boys breakfast. Matt continues to get up at 4am every morning. Some mornings Jonas accompanies him in drinking a hot cup on the back porch watching the sunrise. Priceless!

So here's a prelude of our summer adventures. Sorry for being sporadic with blogging. I haven't had the time to sit down to write or post photos.

Lair of the Bear Campfire

A program was held at a nearby hiking trailhead, where we learned about some of the owls found in Jefferson County. We enticed Jonas to sit and listen so he can enjoy a smore later on that evening around the campfire. He actually participated by raising his hand to answer the instructor's questions. I was shocked how much he remembers reading about owls.

Dad was picked to engage in an interactive Bachelor Game. Each male had a role to play as a different owl. And at the end, Matt was the one she picked. Hilarious!

Owls have a fascinating digestive system. They can eat a whole rat and later that night they cough up a little ball of fur and bones...called 'pellets'. So this is what we dissected. It was sterile! But so intriguing and amazing to find little bones and match them to a chart showing what bones belong to what animals. WOW!! Jonas loved it! Now he is interested in naming human bones.

Silas couldn't sit still so we found a stick and he drew in the dirt.

The crackling campfire was the best part of the evening.

Want smores?

We ended the night watching the sun set while we hiked 2 miles.

Mom's group playdate

My mom's group playdate was in our backyard. It was a perfect way for the moms to know that their children are safe and easy to watch...unlike at a park. We had 17 boys and 3 girls!

Sam and Greta-"where are our mommy's?"

Andy, Cohen, Silas, and Haakon enjoying lunch on the same bench.

My mommy friends enjoying the beautiful day under the apple tree.

The biggest hit was the trampoline! The boys took turns by partnering up with someone and just giggling at the kids on the tramp.

Frankie, Jonas, Asher, Ben, and Jack:)

Fire Muster

Today we joined thousands of kids at a fire muster(to come together) to check out fire trucks and learn about safety. Jonas and Silas were thrilled!