A trip to Rocky Mountain National Park

It was the perfect weather to make a day trip to Rocky Mountain and see if the Aspen trees had started changing colors yet.  The girls were a bit angry that we wouldn't let them watch a movie in the car on the way up (our family rule is that they can only watch TV in the car if we are going to be driving for longer than an hour), but soon we started hearing comments like, "This is beautiful", "Look, the trees look like they are on fire", and "This is the best day ever".  So, even though Mike and I couldn't chat as freely as we'd have liked due to the fact that the girls' ears weren't covered with headphones, we loved that they were appreciating the beauty of nature and taking in the fall sights. 

The view from Trail Ridge Rd.

Apparently, Jessie was very kissable today.

See what I mean?  No one can resist!

After stopping to enjoy the view and driving along Trail Ridge Rd. for quite a ways, we decided to stop and have some lunch at one of the observation areas.  It was the perfect place for a picnic, until the very aggressive chipmunks decided to show up to the party.

These little guys were crazy! They would literally come up to you and try to steal the food right out of your hand.  After a couple of close calls, we packed up the food and headed back to the car and drove to the Gem Lake hiking trail.

Though we didn't make it anywhere near the 3.4 mile round trip hike (and needless to say, we never saw even a glimpse of "Gem Lake"), everyone was in a great mood and Mike didn't end up carrying anyone the entire time!

Nothing like a little dose of Mother Nature to bring sisters closer together.

Taking a break inside the mouth of a little cave.

Our last stop of the day- the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory- where we spent $25 on two caramel apples and two little bags of gummy bears! As you can see, everyone seemed to think it was worth the splurge!

All About Me

Rian had her first show and tell presentation at school today.  She had to fill out a book titled, "All About Me" and share it with the class.  It was very cute how she drew pictures of herself and her family, wrote about her favorite food (pizza) and her favorite thing to do with her family (play Cadoo), etc.  She even included a photo of herself with her kitten, Sugar.  She was very nervous when it was her turn to share.  She didn't want to go up in front of the class, but Mrs. Themm let mom go up and sit next to her, and hold her book for her.  When she finally got the courage up to speak, her voice was barely more than a whisper. But, she did it and we were all very proud of her for being a "risk-taker" (an IB character trait) and sharing in front of the class!

Sunflowers and Rainbows

Keeping with our annual tradition, we snuck into the Sunflower Fields in Longmont to take some pictures of the girls with the flowers.

Later that same day, we walked out onto our deck after a rainstorm and saw a bright double rainbow.  Hayden took this picture of one of them.

How many birthday celebrations can one kid possibly have?

Today we celebrated Rian's birthday with her friends at Lollilock's Salon.  They did a spa theme and all the girls got their fingers and toes painted and a fancy hairdo.  They rocked out to music while playing their guitars, made some lotion using the magical lolly potion, did a craft, and ate cupcakes to celebrate.

Scarlett's fancy up-do

Rock-n-roll queen

Jasmine's fancy dancy fingers.

Rian with her pony tail veil.

Sarah with her elegant braids in her spa robe.

Tara sporting a teased out bun.

Making lotion: mango, cherry and strawberry.

Ripping into her present from the Kensoras.

A beauty salon set for Rian's American Girl doll.

Rian with her BFF Jasmine

A Golden Birthday

Since it was Rian's Golden Birthday (she turned 6 on Sept.6), we decided to give her a very special present- TICKETS TO THE TAYLOR SWIFT CONCERT!!!!

In Mrs. Themm's Kindergarten class, Rian picked her friend Kami to be the sun and she was the earth and she had to walk around the sun six times  representing how many times the earth has rotated around the sun since her birth.  Then the class all sang Happy Birthday to her.

Then, Rian got to sit in Mrs. Themm's very special purple chair while everyone in the class took turns saying nice things about her ("I like playing with you."  "You're nice."  "I'm glad you're in my class", etc.) It was a great afternoon for the birthday girl.

Enjoying birthday treats in class.

An early celebration!

 The Sunday before Rian's birthday, we had a small family celebration with grandma, grandpa and Aunt Jody at Austin's in Fort Collins- Rian's favorite restaurant!

                                      Happy Birthday Boo Bear Thomas

                    Aunt Jody ALWAYS finds the most fashionable presents!

Rian with her favorite gift- the Ipod she has been asking for "forever".  Grandma and grandpa and mom and dad went in on it together!

Rian was very excited to get a Target gift card from Grandma and Grandpa Thomas.

Rian's best gift was that her Aunt Jody came from San Diego to help her celebrate her golden birthday!

Rian with her cake pops!!