WILD ANIMALS

I love these titles of deception! mwahahaha!  Well it was a somewhat busy week in the CO Heinle5 house this week in additional to our normal soccer routine.  On Tuesday the pub down town called Miners Tavern had their Red Hawk Elementary night.  What bars and schools have in common I am still trying to figure out, but the food was good and the kids had fun so who am I to complain.

On Wednesday we had were eating our dinner and discovered Ridge likes corn...what does Ridge like more than corn you ask?  He like corn on the cob; that boy was cracking us all up eating the corn straight off of a cob bigger than he is.  After thr corny experience we went for a walk to the gas station to buy some cookies....Oh yeah gas station cookies!

Friday was our big night of the week as I got off work went straight home helped Sarah load up all of the kids into the van and off we went to glorious Keenesburg Colorado.  You might be wondering what could drive our family so mad that we would go to Keenesburg, I will enlighten you.  The Wild Animal Sanctuary was the big draw for us.  The Wild Animal Sanctuary is a huge place that acquires animals from circus', private animal collections, zoos, and all sorts of other places.  They had tigers, bears, lions, ostriches, wolves, camels, leopards.  Though it was a little pricey for admission it was super cool.  They built a huge walk way right over all of the animals so you get a pretty good view of most of them.  The boys really seemed to enjoy themselves, but Ridge was another story.  He has entered his terrible two's a bit early so everything in public seems like a fight.  We were tempted to leave him there with all of the animals....seems he would fit right in.

Fun with FIRE!!!

OK not as exciting as the title sounds but still fun non-the-less.  Sarah and I had been discussing our fire pit for a while and contemplating building one with pavers so we decided it was time to pull the trigger.  Monday when I got home from work we all piled into the van and drove to Lowe's to purchase 30 pavers for our fire pit.  Weighing in at about 10 lbs each I am pretty sure we were making the van slightly unhappy loading about 300 lbs of bricks into the back...Oh well we got home so I guess that is what really matters.  Of course, the fact that the sun was setting and light was limited did not stop us NOOOOOOO!  I grabbed the wheel barrow and started moving bricks while Sarah began construction on our fire pit.  Fortunately, the kids entertained themselves on the trampoline while we built the fire pit.

No the photos above were not taken on Monday when we built the fire pit.  The top one was taken Tuesday night while Sarah was having a pot luck with her photography friends.  I built the fire got it blazing real good; then went in and let all of the gals know they could go outside and chat it up next to the fire pit.  I guess sitting in the warm stuffy house was more appealing because that is where everyone stayed.  Since no one was outside I went out and sat by the fire with music on my cell phone and played some Tetris (Oh yeah good old Tetris).  After a few minutes of enjoying the silence I got the kids and we toasted up some smore's while the hens clucked away in the stuffy hen house.

The lower picture was taken on Sunday evening after the Broncos lost to the Seahawks.  Yes we voluntarily watch football from time to time in our house.  Mom and Dad actually called during the game and in the conversations with each of them they asked "what are you guys doing?" and when I answered watching the football game they each asked "Do you have company?"  Obviously sports do not occur often in our house.  Anyway, after the game we decided to do smores again and enjoy our new fire pit.  The weather was perfect for it.

Another task we took on this week was some painting we had been promising to Weston ever since we painted Tanner's bedroom.  When we painted Tanner's room we drew a huge Bronco (yes like the football team, and no we don't have company) on his wall and Weston wanted something similar.  So we finally got out the projector and drew up this little number.

As you can see we are not finished yet, but it is coming along.  I will post some pics when it is finished; which will hopefully be next week.

Well that is all I have this week.  To be honest it is more than I thought I would have since I hardly pulled out my phone and could hardly remember what we did.  Oh did I mention the boys had soccer practice?  Well they had soccer practice and matches and that pretty much kills most of our time.  They both played really well;  Weston typically plays defense or goalie(yes I know the goalie technically is defense, and no we do not have company) but this week he spend a quarter playing mid.  He was really trying to hustle and even took a shot at the goal; while his shot was a little wide and he missed I was still happy to see him try.  He did, however, do great as a goalie blocking 3 or 4 goals...Good job Weston! (Yes Weston's team did win, and no we don't have company).

Let it snow!

Strange title for it not even being fall yet right...WRONG!  It has not happened yet but there are slight chances of snow in the forecast for this weekend and I am so excited about it.  Next week the weather is supposed to be back in the eighties which is one of the reasons I love Colorado so much.

Monday we had a pretty standard night nothing too crazy just bath night to get the layer of grime off of the boys.  I am not sure it worked but supposedly they are clean.

Tuesday was school night at Chik-Fil-A' so we all piled in after work and went to get some chicken... The boys always like it there since they have the play ground which Sarah and I like as well as it gives us a chance to let all three go without too much supervision though we always have an eye on them.  We were supposed to have soccer practice on Tuesday also, however, due to the city spaying for mosquitoes they cancelled practice for the evening so instead of running straight to practice we went to Costco to get a few things before heading home.  Costco is like our home away from home....Sad yes, but non-the-less true.

Since soccer was cancelled on Tuesday they moved it over to Wednesday so that was our night.  It was really nice weather and as usual Tanner and Ridge had a good time playing at the play ground during Weston's practice.  The hard part with soccer is it kills the entire evening so we get home and it is pretty much books and bed....bummer.

Thursday we got a little rain and we were supposed to take Weston to his regularly scheduled soccer.  So being the great dad I am I made the rain more than it really was and decided to keep the boys home and watch a movie instead.  In my defense it was sort of cold and dreary and the playground would have be soaked.  A wet playground with a five year old is no big deal but a wet playground with an almost 18 month old = no fun.  Weston did not seem to mind either as he always loves watching movies.  We watched Maleficent, which I did not pay as much attention to as I should have so I can not tell you if it was good or bad.

This weekend I was off to our churches Men's Retreat for the weekend.  While I was very excited to go to the retreat with my good friend Leigh I was slightly bummed because my brother was not able to make it.  One of the down sides to living in Colorado is being so far from family; I am sure Sarah feels that way too, but they are many good things to counter the bad.  Such as, the ability to walk outside without bursting into flames then melting to the ground like you do in Arizona.  The retreat took place just outside of Fraser, Colorado, and wow was it pretty.  With all of the Aspen trees changing color for the fall there was this bright orange explosion of color in every direction.  The weekend as a whole was really good; we went through lots of good discussions, and had a lot of good fun as well.

The Zip Line

In my absence Sarah took the boys to their soccer matches which apparently went very well.  Both boys won their games and Tanner even scored a couple of goals for his team; not too shabby for his first game of the season.  Weston played a lot of defense as usual and really made an effort to attack the ball.  I am really proud of them both.

Sunday was pretty relaxed; Sarah had a photo shoot and there was a Broncos game on so I turned on the game and sent the boys outside to play.  As I watched the game and did various other things I would check on the boys frequently.  When I first put them out they were happy a clams goofing around... 2 minutes later.

They were not only happy as clams, but just as wet too.  They really were having a good time with those water guns.  I guess I need to be more careful about checking to see if there are weapons of mass destruction in the back yard prior to setting the kids loose.  Unfortunately, I eventually had to end the fun and send them all to get baths.

Soccer, soccer, soccer....Bleh!

Not a whole heck of a lot to report this week.  On Monday evening Sarah and I made the executive decision that Weston had outgrown his bike...again.  So we scoured Craigslist and found a couple of options that might suit Weston and low and behold he choose a Trek 220 mountain bike.  After finding the bike was still available we decided we could go and look at it on Tuesday after soccer practice.  Which by the way now that the games have started it seems like soccer occupies every other day...Oh wait IT DOES!  and Tanner has not even started yet.

Enjoy it while you got it kid.

So big going down the slide alone.

So after Soccer on Tuesday we ventured out to Louisville to check out the Mountain bike and Weston loved it.  Since Sarah had a shoot that ran over I had all three boys in the Prius so we had no room for the bike so Weston got to ride his bike around the sellers house while we waited for Sarah.  After a couple of minutes she showed up and we could hardly get Weston off of the bike to go home.  Eventually we did and the whole way home Weston just stared off into space rather than play his DS or tablet like he would normally do.  Obviously he had bike on the brain.

The rest of the week was fairly mild I don't really even remember what the heck we did on Wednesday and Thursday other than soccer practice.  Which yes I have more soccer practice pics.  on Friday we all got in the car after I got home from work and drove to the jewelry store where I bought Sarah's new ring from.  The one I bought did not quit sit right stacked with her engagement ring and band so she wanted to see if there was something better.  The whole point of the ring (aside from me expressing my undying love) was so she could remove her engagement ring while doing newborn shoots but still have a ring on.  Otherwise, no one would know she is married when she hits the bars and clubs every night.  She did select a different ring which honestly does look much better with her existing jewelry than the one I chose.

Saturday MORE SOCCER!  Weston played his first game, and while I joke about it I really do get into watching him play the games.  His team did really well and won the match.  It is neat to see how they have progressed from the last soccer season.  Now they actually pass the ball to each other and sometimes work as a team.  Who would have thought we can pass the ball!

Weston not in action

Weston in action

and more action.

After our Soccer match we were off to the AOD plant company picnic in Loveland. We got there shortly after it started, it was pretty quiet so we took the boys over to the play area where lots of bumps and bruising ensued.  Eventually the boys got some water guns and hula hoops and had a great time playing around.  Thank you to AOD for putting on fun events like this.

Post injury

Back to fun

Water guns

Hula Hoopage

Solitude

      This week was horrible! Sarah went off gallivanting in Nebraska having all kinds of fun while I was left all alone in complete desolation with all three of my monstrous children...OK maybe I am slightly exaggerating.  Yes Sarah really did travel to Nebraska for some training and yes she did leave me alone with the boys but they were great.  We actually had a pretty darn good time.  Monday night after Sarah drove off the boys spent the evening playing with the neighbors and also played some soccer with Hugo our neighbor.  They really had a blast with him.  Tuesday Weston had his first soccer practice of the season and really seemed to enjoy that as well.  Tanner, Ridge and I hung out at the play structure during this time Ridge discovered a wealth of rocks to hand select then hand to dad....for an hour.

     On Wednesday Ridge and I decided to ride our bikes to pick-up Tanner from school.  It went great except I got a flat tire on the trailer about half way on the way to school.  With a bike strapped to the back of that little trailer and a flat tire it sure is hard to pull.  We made it OK though Tanner rode through it like a rock star.  In fact he only stopped one time for a drink of water and that is because I asked him if he wanted to.  Sarah got home from Nebraska that evening Saving me from the children and them from me.  LOVE YOU MOM!
     Thursday was our typical Thursday go go go with Sarah having shoots and Weston having soccer practice.  Tanner and Ridge both seems to enjoy soccer practice there is a park right by the fields and lots of friends to play with.

Just hangin' out

    Saturday we Sarah had more shoots but we still made the most of the day with a trip to the pool as well as church Saturday night.  Unfortunately I forgot my phone so no fun pool pics.   Sunday was pretty down day with a movie to complete the day.  Sarah had mentioned it so we decided to treat the boys to the 1990's hit film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles....It was worse than I remember but we still had a good time.  Ridge entertained us bit too with his knee jerk reaction to flashes.  Every time my phone would light up his would give me a big smile.

What a ham

Monday Sarah and I thought it would be nice to go out to breakfast with the boys since we had no other pending plans that day.  We had actually decided this on Sunday and I had prepared by calling our favorite little Cafe in downtown Erie to make sure they were open, the conversation went like this "hello are you open tomorrow, Labor day?" response "yes we are open Monday from 7-3PM"  to which I responded "Great! so you are open on Labor day."  "yes sir we are".  Now I could be wrong but I thought that highly intelligent well planned conversation covered one fact fairly well....THE CAFE IS OPEN LABOR DAY!  Back to Monday we all get up, load up, and ride our bikes to the Cafe downtown.  Guess what, they are not open on Labor day, which brought us to plan B ride home and go to another diner that was open.  We still really enjoyed the bike ride and I must say the kids did really good.  They were getting a little crabby at the end, but it was about a 4 mile bike ride with only one or two very short stops.  I call it a success!

Tanner crusin'

Weston crusin'

Sarah and Tanner

Ridge

Selfie while driving

Final break before reaching the house

I am sorry for the image quality but when taking family photos while riding a bicycle, it is difficult to hold the camera steady.  Monday panned out nicely with another trip to the pool which will be our last for the season as the pool will be closed as of September 2nd.  As well as some play time with the neighbors then S'mores in the backyard for desert.