A 6th Grader and a 4th Grader

 Here are the results of our traditional first day of school photo shoot.  They kids were in a goofy mood and I just kept on snapping photos.  Enjoy the results.  : )

Mammals and Decks

Amanda came home from spending the night at a friends house to find a bat roosting in the corner of her bedroom.  She was surprisingly calm about the find.

 We collected the poor critter in a tub and took him outside.

Logan and Amanda have also been helping me renovate the deck.  We are putting up a new roof so the old one has to come down.

 Look at the determined look on this girls face!  She was in the mood to destroy!!!

 WHAT A MESS!

Hopefully we'll have the new roof back up soon now that the weather has turned a little cooler.

Niangua River Float Trip

 We try to take the kids on at least one float trip each year.  This year we decided to take the dogs.  They all did great!

Colorado

Eric and I took advantage of both Logan and Amanda being at camp and flew to Denver for the week.  We met up with Eric's buddy and his wife and did some day trips with them.

 One of our day trips was to Pikes Peek.  We decided to drive to the top and WOW was that road windy.

 We discovered some cool animals at the top!

 The ladies did some hiking at the top, they guys wimped out pretty fast.

 On the way back down we did some hiking and geocaching.

 The next day we enjoyed some of the local breweries.

 Each morning Eric was kind enough to join me for bird watching.  I was able to add 7 new birds to my life list this trip!

 Our last full day in Colorado we did the big Coors brewery tour.

 I really enjoyed the bottling section.  I was plastered up against the glass for a long while just watching the cans, bottles, and boxes fly by.

 After the tour they give you some very generous pours of their beers.  While Coors is not my favorite, I enjoyed some of their other brews.

 We did some hiking, bird watching, and geocaching along some scenic mountains roads.

 Then headed to Boulder for dinner, shopping, and music.

4th of July WEEK

I feel like we celebrated the 4th of July for a whole week!  There were multiple days of lighting off fireworks and going to professional displays.  Here is my collection of photos from our 4th of July WEEK.

"City" fireworks - AKA the ones that are legal in town.  

 Making treats for the next Fireworks Celebration... Unicorn Poop Cookies.  YUM!  (Trust me!)

Then it was out to the farm for the not so legal fireworks.  These guys outdid themselves this year.

 There were many many day time fireworks - but the night time ones don't photograph well so you will have to take my word that they set off A BUNCH!