Colorado 2011-Estes Park

It's been a long time since we have been able to visit Colorado and stay at the YMCA of the Rockies, in Estes Park. The Y is situated right outside of the gate to Rocky Mountain National Park, one of the jewels in the National Park system. We hiked, rode horses, ate, hiked, ate, hiked, ate....you get the picture. We may be looking for a condo to purchase so that we can spend more time here. Olivia's comment after the first day of hiking was "That's hard!" It did not stop her from accompanying mom and dad the next day on a 10 mile round tripper though! What a trooper! The school year has now started and we'll be posting soon about activities and the like. Gymnastics still reigns high on Olivia's list and now we are adding band......OBOE is her chosen instrument. We hope that all have a great fall.

Holland 2011

We have made our annual pilgrimage to Holland, Michigan for a few days of warm days and cool nights. Ms. O has a new friend, Narissa, from Indianapolis, Indiana. The standard and yearly photo of the girls waving through the window in the pool is attached. Also included is the yearly sand castle project. Those who follow this blog know that Barb (Momma) and O/Emily/Matt/Shaughn always build a world class sand castle. Home today and life tomorrow. Wahhhhhhhhhhh........BUT! Colorado in about three weeks!

The Indy 500 (Holland, MI Edition)

Ms. O tries her hand at driving. It's only just beginning.

It's been a long time since we posted. Olivia is coming up on her 9th BD and we held her party today. Ten girls attended as we held an "Old Fashioned Birthday Party" here in our backyard. Pin the Tail on the Donkey, sack races, water balloon toss, slip-n-slide, hot dogs and real homemade ice cream were the events of the day. Olivia is involved in several activities. She continues to enjoy gymnastics and will be competing for the second season at US Gymnastics level 4. Her level 5 skills are coming along well but another year at level 4 will allow her to have an opportunity to hone her skills before jumping in to the more demanding level 5. Girl Scouts continues to hold her interest as Mom (Barb) is her leader. Barb has 28 girls registered for her troop next fall. It's as she says "We are the pig going down the boa constrictor." re: her troop and the local council. No other troop in the council is as large or as active. This is Barb's second go around with Girl Scouts as she was the leader for Olivia's older sister's troop....12 girls earned Gold Award. That's almost unheard of. Olivia is looking forward to 4th grade. Academically she fared well in 3rd, earning mostly As. Her reading skills improve weekly and we have her doing extra work at the local Sylvan Learning Center. Olivia enjoys this extra work and looks forward to reading more demanding literature. Olivia loves her animal friends....the three dogs and five cats that have taken up residence with out family. This picture is of Scout at Christmas.....the cats mostly left the tree and ornaments alone. Scout is our lone boy kitty....he never met a meal he didn't like....and is the most lovable cat we've ever seen. The newest adventure is Olivia starting band in the fall. She has selected oboe as her instrument. Should be fun. That's it for now. We continue to love every day with our terrific daughter. Never a dull moment.