Tuesday, August 27, 2013

1st day of 1st grade

1st grade

Landon started first grade today. In some ways first grade feels like he's really getting to be a big kid. But then again, he wanted to have his blankie and Brown-B with him in the first day of school photo I made him do this morning. So I guess he's still kind of a little guy.

Monday, August 26, 2013

Lil' Laxers

When I was in maybe 5th grade we started playing some lacrosse in gym class and not long after some of my friends got sticks and were playing a little at recess and lunch. I asked my parents for a sick of my own and my dad took me to the Gart Brothers Sports Castle. It wasn't until years later that he admitted to me that he only begrudgingly took me and that he thought the stick was a waste of money that'd I'd probably only use a few times and forget about.

But he was wrong. I played all throughout middle school then in high school and even college (probably I wouldn't have gotten accepted where I went to college, had it not been for the sport). My dad even became a fan of the game and for a while, after I'd gone away to college, would got to some local high school and college games himself just to watch.

I had some ups and downs in my time playing. The highest point was probably helping to lead, as co-captain, an admittedly rag-tag team to the Colorado high school state championship in '96. My collegiate career (Division III) started strong but fizzled out into a pretty unremarkable disappointment. My time playing in old men's leagues around town after school came to an end when I blew out my knee. And in the years that have passed, I've attended the untimely and really unthinkable funerals of three of my high school teammates, each of whom was a wonderful teammate and person in their own individual ways. 

So it wasn't all roses and puppy dogs but I did truly love playing the game and I made some great friends and had some wonderful experiences along the way. 

I'd love for my boys to play. But I don't want to force them.

So when Kari suggested we sign Landon up for lacrosse at his school this fall, I was interested in the idea but a little uncertain. He's pretty resistant to trying new things and, with the exception of getting into skiing and biking and swimming, he's not exactly the prototypical athletic kid (to put it nicely).  But the class is just one hour a week with a bunch of his buddies and is taught by a really laid back coach. So we decided to just sign him up, tell him he was doing it, try and be encouraging, and hope for the best.

We recently broke the news to him and he took it a lot better than expected. Yesterday we took him to get a stick. Admittedly I share some of the same reservations my own dad had but he was really excited about getting it. We even played some catch (sort of) in the back yard yesterday evening. We'll see how it goes but I consider yesterday a success and it certainly was a nice day as a dad. Adler got a little guy stick of his own so he can play with us too. And I finally broke down and took the long titanium defensive shaft off of one of my old sticks and replaced it with a regular size one so I can play with the boys without looking too much like an old guy clinging to the good old days. A little but not too much.


Monday, August 5, 2013

Jackson Lake State Park

 Shawn and I took the boys camping for a night at Jackson Lake State Park, about an hour and a half northeast of Denver.  Neither of us had been, but from the website, it looked like there would be a lake and sand to dig in.  We loaded everyone into one car and set off.
 It had a lake and sand like, and really nothing else.  It was a really hot day, but that didn't stop the boys from digging homes for animals and a river connecting several sand castles.



 After a few hours, the heat was unbearable and so we went into the water to cool off.  Little did we know, the water was extremely warm and didn't exactly cool anyone off.  It was also very shallow.  We all walked several hundred feet out and everyone could still touch.  After awhile, all three boys plunged their bodies into the murkey water.
 We headed back to our campsite for some dinner just in time for a huge wind storm.  It was perfect timing for leaving the water and beach.  Not long after dinner Shawn noticed this full rainbow across the entire lake.  It was beautiful.  We went back down to the beach to look at it and the boys ended up finding some rocks to climb up and down.


 Even little Adler was loved climbing the rocks.


In the morning we found several of these enormous bugs, a snake and a tiny boxer puppy that someone abandoned.  I held myself back and didn't bring the boxer home, but she sure was a sweet girl.

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Bear Creek State Park

 A few weeks ago we headed to Bear Creek State park for a day of sand, water and friends.  The boys just want to dig in sand and dirt with their friends, so we have tried to find a variety of places for them to do so (I need a change of scenery, they would be happy everyday at the park down the street).
 On this particular day, we met up with Zack, Joseph, Isaac and Ewan and his brothers were supposed to be there (they got lost unfortunately).  It was a hot day, but perfect with the cool water close by.
 Before long, they had a whole group of other kids helping them build this huge water system for tiny fish they found and named "zippys".




I wish the summer were longer and we could go do all these fun things over and over again, but we will definitely be back to Bear Creek next year!

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Bellview Park

 We made our annual trip to Bellview Park about a month ago with the Platt boys.  Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of the boys playing in the stream, which was really the fun part, but I did take these two on the train beforehand.

Throw



Friday, August 2, 2013

Art Museum

On the second Wednesday of each month, the Denver Art Museum hosts a "Create a Playdate". The boys and I have gone to several of them and they have all been fantastic.  Each one features an artist and then has a project for the kids to do related to that artist.  On this day they created bracelets that make noise and have all kinds of different shapes an patterns on them.