Butterfly Pavilion

Look at this, two blogposts in less than 48 hours!  Who am I and where is Noelle ?! 

Today we went on a field trip with Eleanor's cottage school class to the Butterfly Pavilion in Denver.  What a wonderful time we had admiring God's creative powers as we viewed gorgeous and unique butterflies in a rainforest setting, and observed other interesting insects, touched starfish and watched sea anemones, and even held a tarantula!

 

Side note: I've got a handsome husband!

Will waited and waited for a butterfly to land on him, and finally he got his chance!

 

 

 

 

This is what sweet Max did most of the day.  He is SO sweet I can't get over it.

This butterfly is amazing!  It looks like an owl's face when it's wings are spread.

 

 The kids were pretty unsure at first about holding "Rosie," but after I told them I was going to do it (gulp), they each worked up the courage to do it! 

Will looks like he's saying, "Holding a tarantula? Piece of cake!"

 

This picture of Max and I has nothing to do with the Butterfly Pavilion.  I  just like it.

Fall trip to Lake City

A week and a half ago we took a trip to Lake City (my old stompin' grounds, as it were!) with Andrew, Diana, and little Audrey, and friends of ours, Ben and Jaime.  The colors were beautiful and we had a relaxing time hanging out at my mom's and dad's beautiful home, taking a scenic drive, fishing at the pond, playing at the town park, and eating ice cream at the soda fountain I worked many a summer at!  The guys took a pretty intense hike on Saturday morning while us girls and kids took part in less strenuous activities.  :D

This was the first trip for both Max and Audrey.  The photos of my mom holding them crack me up!  Look at Audrey's expressions!

Somehow I came away without any photos of Andrew and Diana...trust me, they were there, we didn't steal baby Audrey away!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Max at 1 month (September 6)

 

 

 

 

 
look at how our little guy is chunking up!  and this was a few weeks ago!
we were listing things we were thankful for yesterday, and jack said, "that max is growing!"
yes, he is.

Balloon Classic

 We woke up this morning and headed downtown for the Balloon Classic!  The kids were so excited, yelling in the car as we saw balloon after balloon dotted against the mountains.  In addition to watching the balloons, we had a beautiful walk by the lake, played in bounce houses, explored a new playground, and had donuts...all before 11 o clock!

First Day of School (Photo Shoot)

It is hard to believe Eleanor is a first grader!!  She is doing a cottage program with a classical academy, so she attends class at school one full day a week and then we homeschool during the other weekdays.  I am pretty excited about it!  Here she is on her first day at the classical school; we will start our homeschooling next week!  I love my silly student.