Gardening and Hiking

Ken and Janae planted a garden this year...

We have lots of yummy tomatoes and zucchini, as well as some basil, peppers, and a couple carrots.

On Saturday (August 31) we took a family hike up to Ralph Price Reservoir (Longmont's main water source).

We stopped along the way a couple times to have a snack...

...and take a rest after climbing up the sleepy lion trail. We even saw some bear prints and some birds. At lunch Janae asked, "why is it so quiet up here?"

The kids did really well, especially once we found walking sticks (which were an amazing mental tool).

The hike was about 5 miles round trip. Janae led the way and wanted to go hiking again (but not that day). Ken only carried Jonah about the last 3/4 mile. Pretty good for a six-year-old.

A bear at school...

Yesterday (8/19), the kids walked home from school (by themselves) and handed me a note that said:

"We received notice this morning that there was a bear roaming around in the neighborhood. After making the decision to keep the students inside the bear DID come on to school property. We chose to keep the students in for the remainder of the day. The police indicated to us that it was safe to allow the students to be dismissed at the end of the school day."

A bear!? On school property?!

We live at least five miles from the foothills of the mountains, apparently this bear got lost or something. Total craziness.

The first day of School!

4th Grade for Janae!

She got a new backpack and lunchbox...

As well as a new outfit and shoes (thanks to Aunt Rebekah!)

Jonah is in 1st grade!

He is semi-excited...

and probably a bit nervous too.

But, they are still ready to go (woo-hoo)!

Uh-huh!

Awwww!

In Jonah's own words, the first day went like this:
"I loved the first day of school. First we unpacked. We don't have cubbies anymore, we have our own lockers and desks. We had the funnest day on the first day of school. The end."

In Janae's words: "It was really fun, and really all we did was learn the rules again, like every first day of school. But we also got to have a lot of fun. We went to P.E. and did a new thing called writing lab, and a lot, lot more..."