Bridge over Lovely Waters

The grand finale weekend of our “summer of fun events” dawned early Saturday morning at 4 a.m. We had penciled the Colorado Balloon Classic on our calendar back in June, unsure of what the summer would bring and whether we would actually be able to make it happen this year. In fact, up until Wednesday, we had toyed with the idea of a last-minute quick trip to Texas to help celebrate our twin nephews’ first birthday. But when it came down to it, the Texas trip didn’t really seem do-able for many different reasons, and we decided to stick with a less stressful route for our three-day weekend together.

So at 4 a.m. on a Saturday, we bounced out of bed, too rushed to make coffee and too early for Starbucks. It’s mornings like that that I realize I don’t really need coffee, as much as I enjoy it. :-) By 6:15, we were in downtown Colorado Springs in search of a parking spot, and it was quite cold and windy. But as we fought traffic, we realized that cars were driving away from the park, and people were walking away from the park. We asked a police officer, and sure enough, the event had been canceled due to 40 mph gusty winds! Apparently you can only fly hot air balloons in winds less than 10 mph (or 11.5 “knots,” said in a hoity-toity voice). :-)

We were so disappointed! So…what to do, an hour away from home, at 6:30 on a Saturday morning?? We decided to go out for breakfast, but everyone else had the same idea. We tried three different Denny’s/Village Inns before we found a wait time we could live with.

After breakfast, we headed southwest for the next part of our plans…The Royal Gorge!

But first we had to had to take a detour at Skyline Drive, which Ryan and I both had childhood memories of driving with our families. It’s a very high, narrow road with scary drop-offs on both sides at times…

View from the top…

Ryley was not too pleased with the situation!

The next stop was the Royal Gorge Bridge. Neither of us had been since we were teenagers, so we were really excited to show Ryley!

Look at that! Doesn’t it make you feel so small and vulnerable??

We decided to walk across, and Ryley was very leery of being out  of arm’s reach of one of us at all times. (Like we could have helped if the bridge collapsed!)

Ryan shows Ryley how you can see the river between the slats. And of course, the bridge is swaying the whole time!

The Arkansas River…

I love the shadow of the bridge on the canyon below.

Look how casually I’m leaning against the ledge! At the time, it felt pretty safe, but when I look back on it, what if the railing had failed??? Interesting factoid: They replace 250 wooden floor boards on the bridge each year. Ryan noticed some were missing bolts.

Whoa, Ryley….Don’t fall over the wall!

Of course we took the cable car across….

Then we took the incline railroad to the bottom…

Sidenote: While we were in line for this incline railroad, we were right behind this mushy sugary-sweet family with four little kids. They all had matching shoes (even the parents), and they were constantly hugging, kissing, and dancing around to the music playing nearby. I mean, we are the mushy, huggy, kissy, dancy type as well, but this was over the top. The dad was even keeping a dance beat at the bottom of the gorge, where there was no music. Then his wife would join him and dance to his beat while swinging their baby around. Oh wow. Ryan and I were having trouble keeping ourselves from dancing to their beat!

So I noticed their son was wearing a shirt advertising a chiropractic practice. Well, seriously, who buys a chiropractic shirt for their kindergartener? Unless you are a chiropractor! I took note of the name, and get this: when we got home, I googled it, and I found them! Both the husband and the wife are chiropractors for this practice in another state. I found out their names, and I found Facebook pages and kids’ names, etc. I know I’m crazy, but these people just fascinated me! It is amazing what you can find on the Internet. And kind of scary, too.

And now, whenever Ryan or I start tapping a beat, the other of us starts dancing. And Ryley joins in. ;-) It. Is. Awesome.

Ryan had some fun with a new panoramic app on his phone! More on that later!

It was a perfect day in so many ways. Even though our balloon plans fell through the cracks (pun intended), the trip to the Royal Gorge was really nice. We had perfect weather, and we were all in good moods. Haha!

But the weekend wasn’t over just yet! More fun was in store for Sunday as well. Stay tuned for Part 2…

Craving Fall

Ryley started 3rd grade yesterday.

After dropping her off, I cried all the way to work. And then some. :-(

Because, look:

Kindergarten:                                      First Grade:

2nd Grade                                           3rd Grade

I don’t remember her growing and maturing this much.

Her face is different. I think the difference between 2nd and 3rd grade is especially pretty drastic.

Let this be a lesson to my friends with younger children: enjoy every second of babyhood while you can. Soak up every stage. Someday they won’t want you to walk them to their classroom. And they’ll only be eight years old.

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Back-to-School Night was last week, and she got to see her classroom, meet her teachers, etc.

Very fun! The first day couldn’t come soon enough!!!! :-)

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The Broncos games are also back! Does this mean fall is on the way???

We only have two tickets this year. Look at that rain storm in the distance!

Ryan and I went to the first pre-season game and had a great date night. We ended up walking around the stadium and taking a lot of pictures…. I love these pics of downtown Denver and Elitch’s. The clouds were so beautiful that evening, and the weather was lovely.

Pre-season games are perfect for moseying around the stadium because once the season starts, it’s all business!!! :-)

The next weekend Ryan and Ryley went to the pre-season game. They had a really great time!

Ryley got to meet Thunder.

Bring on the fall!!!!

What I’ve Learned (and Writing It All Down)

It’s been a different kind of summer. Despite the ongoing issues we’ve had with bedtime, irrational homesickness, silly fears, and tummy aches, it’s been a fun few months, and I hate to see it come to an end.

Ryan gave me the sweetest compliment the other night as he was folding up our telescope: “Joy, I have to admit that though your planning was a little annoying at the time, your ‘summer of fun events’ turned out to be really fun. We did a lot of things we may not have done otherwise, and I’m appreciative of all the research and planning you put into it.”

The fun is starting to peter out, though, as the first day of school approaches. Bedtime is getting earlier and earlier. The school supply list didn’t include scissors or construction paper this year, a sure sign that 3rd grade is here, and our little girl is growing up. When she told someone the other day that she loves the first day of school because usually they just do crafts all day, I told her not to be so sure! :-)

I am realizing that, if anything, I have been humbled in my parenting this summer….I have learned that you can do all the right things and do everything in your power (and then some) and max out your creativity in discipline, etc., etc., etc., and still your child can get the best of you.  You can wonder what other parents do that works so well, and you can wonder where you went wrong, and you can feel sorry for yourself and think that nobody in the world has ever dealt with these issues you are dealing with. But in the end, you remember that there is nothing new under the sun. And really, truly, God is the only one who can help, and even if it doesn’t seem like He’s helping, He is quietly doing His work, deep below the surface of your child’s heart. And you know that God has special plans for your child….that the over-sensitivity was placed in her heart with a purpose, and with patience, God will mature it and develop it to be exactly how He wants it. And despite my best efforts to mold her how I think she should be, God has the last say. And I must learn to back off and let her learn from Him herself. The very things I am fighting in her character are very possibly there for a purpose, and instead of smoldering them, I must prayerfully help her redirect them.

That’s what I’ve learned this summer. That’s what I’m still learning this summer.

I’ve also learned how much I LOVE being with Ryan. I mean, I’ve always known it, but now that he’s home more, I am feeling it more.  We’ve been playing the board game “CLUE” as a family on random evenings, and I remembered that  the last time I played CLUE was the summer I visited Ryan and his family in Florida for a week when we were 19 and dating.

It was that brother-sister banter and silliness during an innocent game of CLUE that made me realize I wanted to marry Ryan…that I wanted to build a family with this man. And now, here we are, almost 15 years later, with our sweet girl laughing and pronouncing it “leed pipe” and “Co-lon-el Mustard.”  And we’re a little family.

And we’ve had several perfect weekends of doing things like meeting each other’s eyes above our daughter’s head as Jackie Chan hums a cheesy Chinese lullaby during the “hit” children’s movie “The Spy Next Door.” And we’ve been sleeping in, talking, cheating together at CLUE to make the game go faster when bedtime approaches, laughing at the hidden innuendos in the reality show “Hillbilly Handfishing,” and generally catching up on all the time lost when he’s worked evenings the last 12 years. And I just really, really love him. :-)

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Images from the last few weeks:

Having a little chat on the patio…

We stumbled across the Budweiser Clydesdales just a 1/2 mile from our house last Saturday… How crazy is that??

Looking at the moon…

My boss gave me a “spa day” for reaching the 5-year milestone with the company, so I took a few pictures to show Ryley…

I was particularly fascinated by the hot stone massage, which was a first for me…

Ahhhhh. That was a great day. :-)

Then, Ryley’s been hanging out with me at work for a few days this week since her daycare is closed for the summer, and school doesn’t start until the 29th….This is her camp-out under my desk…

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The other day we were talking about “Little House on the Prairie,” and Ryley asked, “Why is Laura Ingalls so famous?”

“Because of her books,” I replied. “Everybody loves them. Don’t you?”

“Yes, but there were thousands of pioneer girls just like Laura,” Ryley responded. “Why is she famous and not them?”

“Because she took the time to write it all down,” I answered.

So, I’ve been pondering that for a few days. Everybody is unique, of course, but when it comes down to it, why do we care more about some people than others? In the grand scheme of things, our lives are like fading flowers, and our stories aren’t super different, from one person to the next. I mean, just think about all the blogs you might read, and everyone is just living life and putting their own spin on it.

I think about all the pioneer girls who were just as special as Laura, but because their stories aren’t written down, we know nothing about their existence. It’s actually kind of sad.

I love the power of writing, and even though my stories (at this point, anyway) are simple and nothing more extraordinary than recounting the events in our lives, I am doing this for Ryley and for the history of our family. Someday in the future it will be treasured, and this moment in our lives will not go unnoticed or forgotten...

…Because I took the time to write it down.