Colorado Horseback Riding and other fun stuff!

In August we went to Fun Valley near South Fork and Pagosa Springs for a week and Sydney got to 

go horseback riding on Thursday. Her horse was named  "Milk Shake".

 The go for 2 hours up the mountain and back down. As you can see it was warmer on the way back.

 Sydney on the iPad one cool and rainy day. There is a game room that has wi-fi...some of the time! Sydney can't wait to wear this cool hoodie again...it's so cute! I'm ready for cool weather too.

You can rent bicycles rather than dragging your own which is great if you have limited 

space like we do. They have quite an assortment...I love this picture!

We had a great time and more pictures to share later!

Our School Days So Far

We always start school the Tuesday after Labor Day. By the time we get back from Colorado, unpack and settle in it just feels like we need a little more free time.  This summer was especially busy and we needed to chill and get organized before starting school.

It always amazes me how eager she is to get started and how well she adapts to the change in schedule. Me, not so much!  I don't have a problem getting up in the mornings but I do have a problem with getting moving! 

Sydney had a darling school desk that was a gift from my friend Tracey when we started homeschooling. She is so sweet and talented! Sydney treasures this desk and will be able to use it at least another year.  Tracey was my first mom friend when Sydney started school at TCA and it meant so much to me for Tracey to want to be a part of starting up our home school. 

 1st day of school 2012.

 Nosey Noel! Why do cats have to try out every surface in the house?

I hope everyone else is having good school days.

So Long Summer, Hello Fall!

...and I am so glad it's behind us even though we are still having highs in the 90s, cooler weather will get here sooner or later!

***CAUTION TONS OF PHOTOS***

So we had a busy and eventful summer just like everyone I know.  In June we started swim team for the 4th year...epic fail! Sydney hates it and I force her to do it and it's kind or torture for me as well. It was 106 degrees for our first swim meet and I was sick for 3 days after!  Practice is Tuesday through Friday from 3:30 to 5:30 (refer to temperature mentioned above) with meets on Monday.  In June we put my father in law in Hospice and he passed away on Father's Day so we only went to one swim meet plus the championship. I might add that was more than enough for me Next summer she will be doing dance or gymnastics...something we can both enjoy!

July brought Sydney's 12th birthday and Jam Camp number four!  Jam Camp is a music and drama camp our church puts on and it is superb!  It was the last week of July but we has rehearsals for her singing and speaking parts a few times a week for most of July. This is probably besides Christmas and her birthday Sydneys' favorite event of the year!

Early August, the day after Jam Camp ended we left for beautiful Colorado (Fun Valley). Ahh!  I can't say enough about this place! Temps in the 50s for this Texas gal were like heaven! We also squeezed in a trip to the American Girl store  and ice skating at the Dallas Galleria with bestie Taryn.

Fort Worth has a wonderful museum of Science and History and we frequently go with my bestie Jill and her 3 boys! The kiddos spent most of their time in this room creating. There were these amazing quotes hanging from the ceiling...museum pics were taken with my phone so they aren't the best.

We started school on September 4th and it is amazing this year. Sydney is in 6th grade and is actually reading on her grade level! She has worked so hard to achieve this goal over the past few years. Now we need to double down and see if we can get the same results in math and spelling! The funny thing is that my personal goal was to have her reading on grade level by middle school so it's big for both of us!

Homeschool Princess! Love the dress code! Glad you can't see what I was wearing!

Sydney has always wanted a locker so we found this at Ikea!

In the meanwhile I have had a little more face lift work done on my house and I will share those pics soon! I have to dig around and find before pics and they are all over the place. I will also do a separate post about our vacation!

How was your summer?