Elephant? In the Park?

Wow, has it really been over a week since my last post? Time sure does fly!

Well, last Sunday (Father's Day), I took the girls to the Childrens Museum in Denver. We met up with Courtney's friend Addison and Addison's sister and mom. We got there a few minutes before it actually opened, but that was ok because they have a pretty cool playground for the kids to burn off some energy on. Finally we went inside.

That place is perfect for Courtney. There was one area that was great for Kasey, the rest of the museum not as much, but she tried to keep up with her sister. But Courtney and Addison had a BLAST. I was trying to find a good picture from the museum trip, but there are so many that are so good, it's hard to decide! If you get a chance, you should go check them out.

Monday started Princess Dance Camp. Courtney was in my room at 6:23am asking "is it time for Princess Dance Camp?" Ugh, that's early. So, I explained that no it wasn't, but it would be soon enough. After breakfast and getting ready we finally left. This was a little dance camp that Courtney went to at a local dance studio. They whole idea of the camp was to get the little girls ready to be princesses. Such as teach them manners, to curtsy, along with a little tap and ballet routine. It was very cute. Class was Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning. Then following the class on Friday the class gave a small recital. It was adorable. Courtney had a good time.

They are also having an encore camp she will be attending in a few weeks. Same thing, Monday, Wednesday, Friday. This time Hubby will get to see the little recital at the end.

Hubby did make it back to town late Friday night. His plane was delayed a few hours, but he did finally make it. I picked him up at the airport at 11pm Friday night.

Maddie, our cadet who graduated in May, was back for a visit this week. Her boyfriend Toby is getting ready to enter his senior year at the Academy, so she was back visiting him before leaving for Australia for a few weeks. She will be back mid July for a few days before she drives back to MN with Toby.

So, we got to enjoy a lot of Maddie this week. On Thursday Maddie went with us to a play date at a park. The MOPS group I attend is having play dates at parks on Thursdays all around the city. This one was down at Bear Creek Park, down on my old end of town. Maddie was such a help to have there! She played with Courtney while I stayed with Kasey.

After the girls ran around in the heat for an hour, we headed to Rudy's! Rudy's is a new restaurant here in town. It is primarily based in Texas, and Hubby has eaten at several when he is down there. So, we were super excited to get one here in town. It opened about a month ago and it has apparently been PACKED. I had never been before, Maddie had though. And having her with us also got us a military discount! It was good. I highly suggest the brisket if you ever get the chance to try one out. Rudy's is a BBQ/gas station joint.

I started this post a few days ago, and finally am getting a chance to finish it.

Our weekend was busy. Hubby drove Maddie and her friend to the airport in Denver to leave for Australia. I took Courtney to a birthday party for her friend Addison. She has been to several parties for her friends turning 4 now. It is starting to feel like she will never turn 4! But at the same time, I am ok with her not growing up...

Speaking about Courtney growing up, she is so excited to go to the school at the end of our street. It is our local elementary school and she was accepted into the preschool program there, so she will be starting there in the fall. She is so excited about it that she points it out every time we go by. I, however, am not looking forward to it (in a way). I guess to me it just feels so much like real school because it's at an elementary. I am struggling with it, I want her to go, but at the same time I feel like screaming "no, she's still my baby!" Jeez, if I am this bad with the first one, can you imagine what will happen with the second? Hubby will probably have to pry me out of the classroom!

Sunday we purposefully had a quieter day. Courtney and I went to church in the morning, then we had a quiet rest of the day. We all needed it.

Monday we watched Hailey while Kinsey went to a doctors appointment. So, it was like a play date as far as the girls were concerned. You know they are getting older when I don't have to sit and referee constantly. In fact I really only had to intervene once between them. And another time I caught Courtney drawing on her mirror with my eye pencil, but that was all my kid. It's such a change for them from where we used to be! It was very enjoyable!

Last night we headed up to Denver, just Hubby and I (kids were home with a babysitter) to meet his Aunt and Uncle who were on a night's layover in Denver before heading on to their vacation. We met up with them, as well as Hubby's cousin who lives in Denver and his girlfriend for dinner. We went to an Italian place right by their hotel. It was nice! We had a great time catching up, I always enjoy spending time with family. We are so lucky that we have great family too!

Today after bible study at church, I headed out a different way than normal because I had to go pick something up at someone's house. Because of the way I went, I headed by the park in the middle of town. I was sitting at the light when I noticed an elephant in the park. Yes, I said an elephant. And I do mean a REAL elephant. I showed Courtney and we decided to see if we could find a parking spot. It was meant to be, because when I turned the corner to start looking for a spot, a car pulled out! So, we took that spot and headed to the middle of the park.

We have a Renaissance Festival here in Colorado every summer. The elephant is down from the Ren Fest as we call it, with several people in character too. They were all promoting the festival. It also happened to be the elephant's 23rd birthday. So, we made it just in time that we were able to feed her some pellets and then sing happy birthday to her! They made her a cake of watermelon, apples and carrots. It was so cute! 2 news stations were there, as were several photographers.

In fact, that afternoon Courtney and I showed up in some pics: http://www.pikespeakparent.com/profiles/blogs/renaissance-festival

I follow Pikes Peak Parent on Facebook and they posted it there. Kasey was there with us too, but you really can't see her. Several women from my church also stopped to check out the elephant with their kids. It was a big elephant! I took pictures with my camera too (another reason I always carry my camera with me) so you can see more pics on our website.

Well, this post is long enough! Time for bed!