Aspen's First Manicure

Thus noted for the annals of history.





Something tells me this is only the beginning....

First Day of Preschool!

Today Aspen and her cousin H started preschool together.

They arrived in high spirits,

found their name sticks,

and promptly began jousting.

When the door opened, they were some of the first to rush in,

they answered the "Question of the Day" with their name stick,

and darted up the fort.

They told me goodbye through binoculars.

I picked them up after the goodbye song, and they were in even higher spirits, if possible! It was a very successful first day!

Boating

Some good friends invited us to join them out on Chatfield Resrvoir on a pontoon boat. We had a blast!

(Hopefully next time mommy and Aspen will swim, too!)

Solar Eclipse 2017

Both Sabine and Aspen got to watch the solar eclipse this year! We had about 95% totality, so it was pretty impressive.

Aspen and I watched from the front porch



while Sabine got to watch from school.



It took a while to happen.



One can get distracted, while waiting for the sun and moon to align.



Still, a neat experience!

Celebrating Grandmom's Birthday

We had a blast celebrating Grandmom's birthday at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, this year!



It was a wonderful trip, full of good food,









beautiful views,


(the three tiny dots on the far side are Grandpa, Sabine, and Aspen, out for a morning walk)



and lots of fun and relaxing time with family.

























Thanks for an excuse for a lovely weekend, Grandmom and Grandpa!

Sabine's First Day of Second Grade

Sabine went back to school on Wednesday, August 16.



Violette was there to help see her off, before she left the next day.



Friends were happy to reunite at the bus stop,



and there are a LOT of friends at the bus stop this year!



So far, second grade is off to an excellent start. Sabine loves her teacher, she has several good friends in her class, and catches up with everyone else at lunch and recess. She's a growing girl, who still loves Harry Potter, Taylor Swift, swimming, and traveling. She also starts piano lessons, and hopefully Girl Scouts, very soon.

Violette

The end of July and the first half of August brought a temporary third daughter to our family. Violette arrived as an exchange student from France, and the girls were eagerly anticipating her arrival! She fit right in from the very first second.



We had a great time showing her our hometown, including the farmer's market,



American breakfasts,



and cousin H's 4th birthday party!



We also had fun branching out into the rest of the state. Sabine and Aspen had fun taking Violette to places they know well like the Museum of Nature & Science in Denver,



and a Rockies game,



and new adventures for all of us, like the Renaissance Festival!





We made it to the Denver Museum of Modern Art,





and to the very American dinning experience: food trucks!



And the supremely Colorado dinning experience (emphasis on "experience" and NOT "dinning"): Casa Bonita!



Dustin and I also took Violette to Red Rocks for a FACE concert (a local acapella group) while Sabine and Aspen stayed home with a sitter.



Violette was also here for a really important moment in our lives, specifically, our good friends' lives!



The official adoption of a new baby sister! (Whom sadly, I don't have a picture of, she was certainly the woman of the hour, but it was such an honor to be there for that special time.)



Sabine and I also took Violette and her friend down to Colorado Springs to ride the Cog Railway up Pike's Peak.







Sabine was really excited to touch a cloud!

Once Friday rolled around, we gathered up daddy and headed up tot he mountains for a long weekend at the YMCA of the Rockies near Grandby. We stopped to see Grandmom and Grandpa along the way, to introduce them to Violette.



Once we got to Grandby, there were two moose at the cabin to greet us!



We had a fun trip with friends, with lots of time to just hang out





and eat!





The girls and I went on an hour-long trail ride. Aspen rode with me, and Sabine rode her own horse!





We all loved it! Aspen may look serious in this picture, but when we were finishing up, I pointed out the ranch to her and asked if she was ready to get down, and she told me, "No! I want to stay on the horse forever!" then there were some tears when the actual dismounting happened.



We managed to get Violette and some of the other students in her class up to the mountains one last time before they left; we went on a beautiful hike up to Lake Isabelle.





And we hit one last museum, the dinosaur museum in Golden.



Aspen and Violette had fun climbing in the dinosaur footprints.



It was a fun visit, and a wonderful experience to have an additional member of the family for a month! Come back soon, Violette!