Nash Bash 2011, Pt. 2 -- Pirates, Slip N Slides, and Golf

Hello again...it's me, with a few more memories from our Colorado family reunion a few weeks back...

Specifically, a few PIRATE memories!! Perhaps the fates had aligned...or perhaps one particularly vocal family member was in a "pirate-y" mood. Whatever the case, Grandma Nash decided to throw a pirate-themed party for all the grand-kids. What fun!

We set the tone by sitting down as a family and watching "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" (a.k.a, "The One That's Actually Good")...

...and then it was time to don our pirate garb, seize our cutlass, and shiver some timbers!

There was also a pirate "booty" treasure hunt in the backyard, and games indoors designed by cousins Abby & Elaine. The kids had a blast--and the adults enjoyed it too!

In other "pirate" news, the Denver Museum of Science & Nature had a pirate exhibit featured while we were in town, and we were strongly tempted to take a look, to complete our pirate-themed adventure. While we decided against visiting that particular exhibit (too darned expensive to take so many kids along!), we did pay a visit to the rest of the museum. Sadly, I forgot my camera, but I've blogged about this museum before. We have a great time every time we visit!

Other shenanigans that took place in the grandparent's backyard included Slip-N-Slide shenanigans: something my children have never had the privilege to experience, on account of us living in houses with all-rock backyards. Here are some of the photo highlights:

My kids, however, tired of the Slip N Slide relatively soon because the water was too cold. Apparently, they're too used to swimming in the hot hot AZ sun, which heats all water to nice 'n toasty...


A few other family outings included a bowling trip (for which I had no camera...it's okay though, since we were all too busy rockin' the lanes to take photos anyway), and later, a trip to the mini golf course:

The Barrett extended family is really into golf. In fact, that's all that some of them do in their spare time (I'm looking at you, Grandma & Grandpa Barrett). As for Nathan and I, that may be a hobby for another time in our lives. For now, we are content with the "less celebrated" art of mini golf, and with educating our kids in such an art.

This was Celeste's first time playing mini golf, and she was very proud of her club, and her putting skills. Aurora enjoyed the outing too, but wasn't quite familiar with the nuances of the game...

...nuances like, "Leave Mommy's ball where she hit it, and let her putt it into the hole." Aurora took it upon herself to help me out. And when that game got boring...

...she took to wandering all over the course, climbing all the decorations, exploring the water traps, and generally having a fine old time.

I can't wait to do this again!

By the time we hit the putt-putt course, my sister & brother and their families had both left town. Just a day later, it would be our turn. Luckily, we were able to go home the same way by which we arrived. Our plans had been a little uncertain, following the news that huge wildfires had closed down I-10 in northern New Mexico (Raton Pass, our usual route). Luckily it reopened a couple of days before our scheduled departure, so we were able to drive through the now-smoking mountains:

Not the greatest picture, but I assure you...half the trees were burned to a crisp, many were still smoking, and the whole air was hazy. The haze got worse as we drove through north New Mexico; at one point, the sun turned red and the sky literally darkened, so it felt hours later than it actually was. Creepy. We were far from all the actual fires, but seeing their powerful impact on the area left us humbled and concerned for the locals.

Thankfully, we arrived safely home on Sunday the 19th--Happy Father's Day! Although we didn't really celebrate Father's Day this year due to being on the road, Nate's "present" came the following day, June 20th--he was offered a new job that he's been hoping for! On July 20, he will start work as a Senior Transportation Planner for the Pima Association of Governments. We're all very proud of him, and excited for this big career step.

We had lots of fun with my family in Colorado! Although I miss them, I was really grateful to have that time with all of us together. Those times are all too few these days. We managed to pose for a group photo before we all went our separate ways (I will add it as soon as I get a copy!):

The photo will be out of date in just a few months, though...Jocelyn is expecting a baby girl in September, and Ray & Ade are trying for their second kid as well! Heck...maybe Nate & I will jump on that bandwagon, too...who knows? I just hope we will see everyone again soon.

Nash Bash 2011, Pt. 1 -- In Which We Also See A Few Barretts

Happy Independence Day weekend, from all us weirdos...

But that's not why I'm writing today...I'm here to talk about our annual summer vacation to colorful Colorado! This was the first time in two years that my extended family (the Nashes) had all been together. Two new babies had been born since then--Aurora in January 2010, and her new cousin Caroline Nash, Ray & Adrienne's daughter (born on Christmas Eve, 2009):

As you can see, she is quite the adorable little girl, even when asleep. Caroline was very smiley & had a lot to say, but she was a little shy of the "pressing throng" of extended family. I'm sorry to say that I didn't get to snuggle with her as often as I liked; maybe next time! At any rate, she was still lots of fun to photograph.

We spent the first weekend just hanging out as a family. We all managed to fit into Grandma & Grandpa's house, and it was pretty snug. However, we ate barbecue, played lots of games and generally relaxed & joked around. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera for the first weekend, so you'll have to imagine these idyllic scenes in your mind.

 Our first big outing as a family was to the Denver Zoo; we all ate lunch together on the lawn before entering the zoo park. Here are a few of the highlights:

 Of course, Nate was willing & able to give "helicopter rides" to all the little grandkids...

Isn't my littlest daughter beautiful? She looks like a little doll in this picture!

There was a splash creek for little kids inside the Zoo, so of course Celeste had to try it out...

This is Lorelai, posing next to an eyelash viper, a snake she'd learned about in kindergarten a few months before. She was so proud for recognizing it! We really enjoyed the Tropical Discovery wing of the Zoo; it was probably Lorelai's favorite part, since she had read about many of the animals beforehand. Aah, applied learning!

Simon & Caroline (heck, everybody) loved the lizards!!

And here's the biggest of all...the Komodo dragon. I won't lie...these things scare me. I'm glad there was a bunch of Plexiglass between me and the giant lizard.

 
Our adventure had actually begun that morning. Our van wouldn't start when it was time to head to the zoo! Needless to say, this caused us some concern. We were able to jump-start it in time to go, but for days afterward our car hemmed and hawed quite a bit every time we tried to turn it on. We finally went & bought a new car battery, and that seemed to fix everything. We're grateful this mishap took place when we were already in Colorado; it was good to have family around to help!

We were also able to spend some time with the extended Barrett family while in Colorado. In fact, we even spent a morning at the Barrett family business...

Nathan's older brother Grant, and his wife Molly, own Abilene Awards, a trophy/engraving shop that's been in the family for more than 15 years. As you may have read about recently, Lorelai was on a soccer team this spring. Sadly, we missed her last two games of the season due to our vacation. However, we made up for this by providing trophies for all the players and coaches---at a very good rate, I might add. And best of all, our whole family was able to visit the trophy shop one morning and assemble the trophies ourselves!

First Nate inputted the team names into the engraving program in the computer...

Then we all started assembling the trophy pieces together.

...although I must confess, I am a bit of a fumble-fingers, so it took me a while.

Of course, the kids were goofing off with their cousins all through the shop while all this was going on.

Then we glued the plaques on each trophy, and lined them up to ship out that very day! Well, except Lorelai's...she got her trophy right away...

Well, we like our daughter better than the rest of the team...and our family is the owner of the trophy store, so...yeah, Lorelai gets the biggest trophy. We admit it. Anyway, thanks again, Grant & Molly and Abilene Awards, for your patience & help while we invaded your shop for a whole morning!

That same evening, we had a large BBQ at the Campbell's house (Nate's sister Kelli, her husband Taryn, and their 4 cute boys). The food was good, the company better, and the view was, as always, magnificent:

(That's their backyard. Yeah...the whole thing. I love visiting their house!)

Here's Nate with his wonderful dad & mom:

And here are two of Nate's brothers (that's Grant, the trophy shop owner, in the dominant position over youngest brother and former wrestler Evan), in their typical family reunion position.

 And after dinner, the girls relaxed...together...

It was wonderful to spend a relaxing evening in the beautiful Colorado mountains...thanks, Kelli & fam!

Up next: more summer vacation hijinks.

Our Family in Pictures

We're about to leave on vacation, but I just wanted to share one more quick blog post...our beautiful family portrait that was taken by our friend Margie (I mentioned her in this post). We had a lovely photo shoot in Madera Canyon (about half an hour from our neighborhood), and then had a nice picnic dinner together. We were excited to finally get a new family portrait--you know, one that actually included Aurora! Needless to say, we've proudly hung a print of this on the wall.

Here are a few more of our favorites:

Thanks so much, Margie--we are so happy with our pictures! I have to say that my family is very good-looking (and I managed to clean up okay for once :) ). Nate & I are coming up on our 10-year anniversary this December; this is a great way to see how far we've come.

Well, we're off to Colorado for our summer vacation this week...I'll hopefully post about it when we return!

Talents & Such

We haven't updated the blog in over a month, but that's because it's been springtime, when a young mom's fancy turns to HOLYCOW I AM SOO BUSY AARGH! Finally, though, school is finished and summer is here--and with it, a little more free time. Here's my proud kindergarten graduate, with her equally proud mama and kindergarten teacher:

Yes, she looks a little crazed. But happy! I can only guess at how much she'll wear me out this summer...

However, despite our busyness, we've been (mostly) enjoying ourselves. Many of the events on our calendar have been our various extracurricular activities. Nate's had a few including his work on the Town of Sahuarita's Planning Commission and his church calling as Elder's Quorum Secretary. I've had a few "extras" lately as well--I hosted a Pampered Chef party for the first time in Sahuarita, and I held the end-of-year recital for my four piano students.

Teaching piano is a little tricky with 3 young kids, but I've had a great time doing it, and I've really enjoyed working with the kids. I have definitely become a better teacher as the years have gone on, and I think in the long run, that will make me a better piano player as well. It's also made me weirdly possessive & proud of my students' accomplishments. A few weeks ago, the local intermediate school held a talent show, and my longest-tenured student performed one of her pieces. Even though my kids don't attend that school, I snuck into the audience just in time to watch my student's performance. I was so proud of her!

If I get that excited for the performance of my piano student, then you can believe I have been pretty invested in my own daughters' extracurricular activities this year. This is the first year we've really tried out any out-of-home activities for our kids (that weren't play-dates, that is). Lorelai participated in a "Kinder-Choir" in the fall & winter (see their bone-chilling Halloween song here), and this spring, she finally got her long-awaited chance to play soccer:

(ahem...yes, her shirt is a little big. Her uniform order was screwed up and so she had to wear one of the coach's shirts that day)

It has been interesting seeing Lorelai participate in sports for the first time. For a kid who loves running around as much as she does, she has a hard time keeping track of the ball and kicking it while in motion (to be fair, the same can be said for most of her team!). She really loved playing goalie, though, and she got the intense "bear stance" crouch down pat--not many goals got past her when she protected the net!

Okay, true--her team is made up of kids 6 & under, so it's not the most "organized" sport you'll see. And the first couple of games were really painful to watch (for me, anyway); their opponents scored many many goals, while Lorelai's "Team Narnia" never even made it to the other side of the field. However, it always made me smile at the end of each game when she came up to Nate & I and asked, "Did we win today?" I'm glad she's still having fun out there, even if she doesn't know the score (update: they did finally get a win, as well as a tie).

On the more feminine side of the spectrum, we have Celeste, who started her Creative Dance class in January. Long story short: she loves it, so much so that I'm probably signing her up again in the fall. It's a fun way for her to get some wiggles out, as well as sashaying, twirling, singing, and generally acting like a princess--which are all things Celeste really enjoys doing. Plus, it was all worth it for me to see her adorable costume for her spring recital, which took place over Memorial Day weekend:

Seriously...this is why all you parents put your kids in dance class, isn't it? The almost overwhelming cuteness? I just wanted to grab her & shower her with kisses when she flounced around in her little tutu!

Watching 3-year-olds do a coordinated dance is amusing, to say the least. Not too many smiles on their faces, just looks of vague concentration as they attempt (and mostly fail) to stay coordinated with their instructor and with each other. But it's all good (by which I mean cute); check out their take on "Itsy Bitsy Spider" (mine is the little spider on the left):

And then, to come full circle on this "developing our talents" theme--Lorelai asked me to start teaching her how to play the piano this summer! I know it doesn't always work out when a parent tries to teach their child something like this, but I so want to do this for her! I hope that, if we take our time, we can make beautiful music together:

I've been reminded of the many different activities in which my parents enrolled me when I was young (dance, soccer, viola, and finally piano). It will be a busy (but exciting) journey as I see my children develop their talents & abilities, and grow to reach their highest potential. I can't wait!