Outdoor Mall

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Well, the kids and I have had about 4 days of working in the house and garage, and today I got the "I'm bored" speech.......so, I thought I would take them over to the outdoor mall for some fun in the water! When we first got here we found this neat spot and noticed that a lot of parents bring their kids out in their swimming suits so they can play. Today seemed like as good a day as any, so about 2:45 we put on swim suits and loaded up the car. We were there by 3:00 and the playing commenced. Well, Cole only lasted about 3 minutes total! He said it was freezing, and he was right! Every time Annalisa would come close to me she would twirl around, slinging freezing water off of the end of her ponytail onto me! It was overcast, but still a warm day. I could compare it to running through the water sprinkler in Texas in December. Warm enough outside to wear shorts, but the water feels like it is running through the freezer. Annalisa and Jacob played until I made them stop--due to blue lips--at 3:30. Jacob was still pouting about having to stop when at about 3:33 the wind picked up and we could tell it was about to rain. We got to the car and at 3:35 it was pouring down rain! I guess it was a good thing they were already soaked. All in all it was a fun half hour for 2 of my kids....Cole sat on the bench and watched from a distance, not brave enough to go back in. Jacob loves water so much it doesn't matter to him if it is cold or not! Annalisa would run through, come over to get dried off and warmed up, then go back for some more! I think we are all gonna really love being here, because there was no where in Longview or Kilgore to do something like this on a Sunday afternoon.....the boredom was abated and now they are chasing each other through the house playing tag!

Colorado!

We have now been in Colorado for a full week! Woo-hoo! On August 7 the boys and Ben went with their Poppa (Ben's dad) to the Astro's game to celebrate Cole and Ben's birthday's. It was their last big night in Texas. We woke up at 5:30 on Wednesday morning and said our good-byes to Nana, Poppa, and Nanny, then we began our road trip to Colorado. We only made it to Amarillo by Wednesday evening, and Ben already had a hotel reservation for us. I am not used to long distance driving, and after 10 hours on the road I was VERY ready for a bed! We slept well, and woke up Thursday morning to finish the trip. We arrived in Aurora, CO around 3 p.m. Thursday afternoon. Melissa met us at Wal-green's so we could follow her to our new house. Even though we were totally exhausted, Ben was not going to be able to sleep until the truck was unloaded. Melissa had called a few of her friends, and they came over to help us unload. We got the truck unloaded, which was packed from front to back, and that was a load off of Ben's shoulders. As we unloaded the truck, the neighbors came over to introduce themselves, and the kids began making friends. Our neighbors have a boy who is 7 (Jacob's age) and a girl who is 5 (Annalisa's age). They have been outside playing every day since we moved in! We have a park in our neighborhood that is within walking distance, and we have been there a couple of times. The stores that we need to shop at are less than 5 miles from our house, and we are still not sure how to handle that! It is so convenient for them to be close by. The kids' school is 1/2 mile from the house and is very nice. The kids are on "C" track, so they start on Tuesday, Aug. 21. The kids (and I!) can't wait! It has been a long summer! I took Ben to the airport today so he could fly back to Longview. He has a wedding he is photographing in Joaquin this weekend, and the couple flew him in so he could still do it. However, after a few phone calls today I found out he was bumped off his flight from Dallas to Longview, (but received $250 in vouchers---the same thing happened to me when I was flying home from Vegas) moved to the flight from Dallas to Shreveport...then that flight was delayed due to thunderstorms that started when they boarded the plane! He has had a long day at airports! He got to the Denver airport at 12:30 and was supposed to arrive in Shreveport at 10 pm, but that was postponed. I spent the day trying to organize things in the house and garage....and I still have a LONG way to go! We are very happy here, and Ben already has a job--- he has started working with Melissa's neighbor. It is good to know we will already be making some money! We are loving the weather too!