Earth Keeper

I am a huge fan of exploring the world around where you live - and we're lucky here in Southern Colorado to have so many amazing places to explore. Pueblo Mountain Park and the Mountain Park Environmental Center are no exception to this rule.

The Environmental Center has a monthly Preschool Nature Hike" with Ranger Dave where the kiddos get some fun time in the beautiful mountains of Southern Colorado, and an educational hike to learn and have fun! (Plus some pretty fun music!)

This was our second time going, and Skyler and her friends had a TON of fun exploring, playing in the park and having a picnic afterward!

(I found this video of Skyler's favorite song from the event - it's the park's own youtube video and NOT from a time we were there - but fun to see, none the less!) 

Homeschool? Preschool?

A few weeks ago a friend of mine was telling me about a literacy program called Five in a Row, after reading about the program I realized it was exactly what Skyler needed, and she would LOVE it!

So I headed down to the library, checked out a copy of Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear and started the program right away! (Jesse Bear was my sisters favorite book as a kid, and our family STILL has the book memorized!) Skyler loves the book just as much as Katie did, so we'll be purchasing the book ASAP now!

Her first week with the program was great - we got some printables from the Homeschool Share website and set to work!

Basically, we read the book every day. Talked about what we read, and then did some activities and worksheets about the book. She LOVED it! We made a lapbook with her favorite worksheets, and she has so much fun flipping through the folder she made looking at her activities.

 

So far, aside from reading her favorite part has been picking out patterns - now she looks for patterns EVERYWHERE we go! 

August Recap

We had a really great (BUSY) month of August!

It started out with Ryan being home, and included a Campaign Rally with President Obama, A trip to Nebraska, Lots of time at the Splash Park, Football Practice  and the State Fair!

I've put together a quick collage of some of our favorite photos from the month to share with you guys! (Grandparents - if you want the full size image of any of them - or more - just let me know! I've got them all on my computer!)

 

Click the collage to see it bigger!

Skylerism: Of Monarchy

While watching the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics, I said to Skyler "Look! It's the Queen!"

Her response?

"Mommy, that's not the Queen. Queens aren't Grandmas, and they have Princesses and Princes with them."

What Have We Been Up To?

We've had a very busy two weeks!! I can't believe it's already July 14, but we've stayed so busy that it's just flown by! I thought I'd do a quick update with some photos of what we've been up to lately.

Skyler had her first Swimming Lesson at Pueblo County High School!   As expected, she loves the water and is just as fearless in water as on land! She's getting pretty good at the doggy paddle!

 

We had a pretty spectacular 4th of July! We started out at the Wet Parade in Pueblo West, which is basically just a city-wide Water Fight! And we came home soaking wet and ready for naps! After we refreshed, we headed down to the River Walk where we spent a good amount of time (2 hours!!) playing the fountains and then walked around a bit while we waited for the fireworks! 

 

We've spent quite a bit of time in the kitchen! Skyler helped make Pretzels - which were absolutely delicous!! (More info can be found on my 101 in 1001 blog - including the recipe!) 

 

For the first time since the Waldo Canyon Fire, we took a trip to Garden of the Gods! We met up with my good friend "Merica" (Erica, but Skyler prefers her version!) and hiked around the park snapping lots of photos. There are a few places from the park you can see the burn area, which is incredibly sad. But the park is just as beautiful as always.

 

We've made a few trips to the local splash parks! We've had a lot of 100*+ days, so we've had to find ways to stay cool! Luckily, the splash parks are a great way to kill a few hours!

We spent a morning in Beulah at Pueblo Mountain Park with Skyler's good friends (Mable, Avani and Abigail - in order pictured below from left to right) and went for a Preschool Nature Hike, then had a picnic and some good time playing at the park! 

 As you can tell, we've had a busy two weeks!! It's been a lot of fun and we've been keeping cool - despite the insanely hot weather here in Southern Colorado! Hopefully the second half of July is as full of adventures!