Mid August fun

Bri and I were lucky enough to be able to go on a date to the Bronco's game Saturday night! It was perfect weather.
Its not hard to tell, but we were about 15 rows from the very top of the stadium, but we didn't care.
My brother shares season tickets with a co-worker and had preseason seats for last Saturday night. He and Madeleine weren't able to use them and kindly offered them to us. My parents watched the boys and we had a great evening out.

My friend Brendan goes to every game. He told us to meet him at his "Bronco Bus". Honestly I was a bit unsure if I would be able to find it, but clearly, its hard to miss. Bri and I went out to dinner before the game and enjoyed some quiet alone time and so we got to the game after the tail gating party had ended and the Bronco Bus was empty. I did snag a picture of it.
As we have mentioned many times before, Renee (Sofis mom) and I used to teach together and often we had dinner at Brothers Bar during our first pregnancies. We wanted to relive that time with the kids and went there last Friday night.
LT loves the Medina girls.
Sofi loves her daddy (Papa).
and Adler loves Ofelia's hair. Deja vu? I think so. I am pretty sure if I looked back through the blog, there is a picture of LT doing this to Sofi at Brothers Bar.
One would think this was a game of basketball, but really it is LT playing his "money game". We aren't entirely sure how you play it, but you definitely need some pennies and the basketball hoop.
LT started his new school today, the jefco open school. It is an ECE-12th grade program. We really love the school's philosophy and its a pretty popular (and small) school, which makes trying to get in for Kindergarten difficult if you haven't gone to preschool there. His buddy, Tino, is in his class. The two of them were cooking serving some pizza at the back to school pot luck last week.
Renee went back to teaching this year. Luckily, Sofi's school didn't start yet and there was a day that she needed coverage. LT and I were happy to have her play with us yesterday. I even managed to take the three kids (Ofelia is going to daycare with Renee) to the park.
They insisted that I empty the water table of sand and put water in, which is quite a task. The second I finished, the two kids dumped all the sand back into the water.... 3 year olds.
LT and I made playdough for his new teacher. We kept a bit of it for our house and the kids played with it.
The highlight of the day for the three kids was watching the trash truck empty the dumpsters into the back. I thought Sofi would be bored, but I think she was more fascinated than my two kids!
Last week, we went to the last summer patio concert at the Highland Cork (formerly Cafe Caliente). They have a cute little kids music performance on the patio for the kids while the adults drink wine! It was a perfect evening. I was sad that this was the first one we went to this summer and also the last one. We will definitely go back next summer!

LT and pink

Grandma has pink crocks she wears in the garden. LT saw them awhile ago and has asked several times for pink crocs like grandma. On Saturday, Bri stayed with Adler and I got some one on one time with LT. We went to REI and threw sticks in the water, played on the playground, wandered around the store and bought pink crocs! They are really the only shoes he wears anymore.
Brian took him a few weeks ago to get some new pull ups. They came home with pink pull ups!

Happy Adler

Trying to jump off the train at the zoo.
Watching elephants.
What better thing is there than riding on a car?

The latest

Here are the boys latest adventures:
House, a restaurant very close by (same restaurant I went into labor with Adler at!), has a toddler night every Tuesday night. They have a band that plays music for all ages with instruments for the kids to play with. The boys had a really fun time!
LT loves the "tar".
Seeing how many pull ups you can put on and still walk. I think he had 5 or 6 on.
Riding the Thomas train at grandma and Paps house.
Eating frozen yogurt at the new Yogurtland with Becky, I am so excited we have one in Denver now! Apparently LT is too. He chose every brightly colored gummy candy to put on his peach yogurt. Silly kid.

Swimming at Anderson with Maria and her kids and Becky.
Bri once told me he's not good with kids, I would argue differently. We had dinner with Isaac and his family at House and Bri played with the three boys in the water for quite some time.
Friday was papas birthday. I know how much he loves hiking so the boys and I took him hiking to help him celebrate. LT is a goof and loves to be carried, so I carried him the whole hike.
Adler loves the pack too, but had to stop for a snack.

Playing Trains

I am not very good at being hurt. I usually can't sit still for more than a few minutes unless I am sleeping. But, not being able to drive, as hard as its been, has allowed us to play lots of trains at home. Today, the boys and I played trains for a few hours. We built tracks on the train table, then on the floor. We built special ones for Adler (so he wouldn't ruin LTs, how thoughtful of LT!). We managed to create and recreate new tracks, with bridges, without bridges, with tunnels, small and large tracks, wow, we were really busy! Adler loved it too!

Cupcake Truck

My friend, Becca, texted me a few weeks ago asking if I had ever seen the cupcake truck featured on NPR that drove around our neighborhood. I had never heard of it. Bri and I did some research and tracked it down. It is actually from a great little cupcake store in Park Hill that LT has been to with Zack and also with Baba called Crumbs. The truck, named Clementine, drives around and stops at a different location each day (I know this because I follow where he will be each day on Facebook). Each day he has a mystery flavor. One of the places he goes is to the jazz concerts in City Park each Sunday night. Last Sunday, we met up with some friends at the park for the concert and LT and I went on a mission to find Clementine. LT got a lemon cupcake and I got vanilla party, LT has better taste. His was exceptionally tasty.

Cousin time

We had a busy last week with cousin Nicholas in town. Scott's mom had her second hip replaced last week and so Nicholas and Ying flew out to help her. The little boys and I were super excited to hang out with him for the week while my dad went on a bike ride in the San Juans, Bri went to Vegas and mom worked. However, plans changed. I was in a little bike accident, and dad decided it would be better if he stayed to help out with the three boys. I am sad he wasn't able to go on the bike ride, but I think we managed to have lots of fun and keep him busy. Here are some highlights (from my phone of course so not great pictures).We did lots and lots of swimming!
Nicholas was a huge help playing with LT and even read him his bedtime story.
Adler did some sleeping.
Grandma bought the boys matching sleeping bags with their names. LT said one of his favorite times of the whole week was playing in the sleeping bags with Nicholas.
We went to Lakeside on Friday night. Neither Bri nor I had been in years, but it was actually really fun. LT rode the train around the lake at least twice, Nicholas rode on the roller coaster a few times, we wandered around the grounds, rode the carosal, and stopped for a little food. LT decided he really didn't want to come home when Bri and I left to take Adler home to bed. He said he was going to sleep at Grandma and Papas. Honestly, I didn't think he would make it through the night without calling, but he did. He hadn't ever slept away from us, and the only night he didn't have either Bri or I at home with him was the night Adler was born. I think it was harder on Bri and I than it was on LT.
We met up with them the next night at Casa Bonita to celebrate Nicholas's 7th birthday. Above, LT was watching the talking rock at the puppet show.
Nicholas played a few games, and we all played a lot of skiball. Again, when it was time for Bri and I to take Adler home, we tried to take LT. He said, "mom, I told you, I am not coming home, I am staying at Grandma and Papas". So, he did, again.
As sad as it was not to have LT, we did get some alone time with Adler, and some time for Bri and I to talk. We took Adler to a coffee shop that was one of our favorites when LT was a baby. It was a struggle to get LT to come home the next night, but we managed to. I really think the only reason he managed to stay away from us was that cousin Nicholas was in town. They love playing together and really are very close (especially considering the age difference).