Our Town

As I was posting about our hike to the top of the "rock", I realized not many of our family and friends know what I am talking about.  So I thought I would write a little about our town and our rock!

Castle Rock is about 45 minutes south of downtown Denver, and 45 minutes north of Colorado Springs.  It is surrounded by open space, so while it is close to big city, it does not feel at all like big city.  We have a quaint little downtown with an outdoor ice skating rink, antique barn, restaurants and the normal city buildings.  On the other side of town we have a more commercial area with lots and lots of shopping.  There is a fancy outlet mall, which I hardly ever go to, because I am not very fancy!  The outlets are supposed to quadruple in size in the next two years, and I am not really happy about it.  I feel like the small town feel is on the brink with all the growth.  Castle Rock has a population of about 60,000.  When we first moved here 3 years ago, there were only 50,000.  The 2010 census had a population of 31,000.  So this town is growing fast.  The city has a lot of little small town festivities.  My favorite is the Starlighting.  There is a star on the top of the rock that they light up every year at Christmas time.  The day is full of hot chocolate, carriage rides, chili at the fire station, live nativity, face painting, and all that sort of stuff.  When they light the star, they have fireworks.

Castle Rock is beautiful!  I cannot take credit for these photos.  They come from a group of photographers here in town.


Do I need to point out the rock?

I can take credit for this one.  The Starlighting!

See why we love living where we do!?  After over 3 years, I still miss my own hometown and my family.  But I think if we could just pick both our families up and move them to Castle Rock with us, we would definitely be living in the best place on earth!

Fall Break

Fall was beautiful around here.  It was warm for so long! One of the highlights of October was a visit from my parents.  Yay!  I don't think I will every stop missing being close to home and spending time with them.  So it just makes it all the more special when they come and we get them to ourselves for a few days. 

When my parents come, for some reason it is all about food!  Somehow we schedule our whole day around it.  We took them to our favorite burger extravaganza -Crave, our favorite Mexican downtown- La Loma, our favorite ma and pa joint- Ruby's Diner, and after all that, we were too stuffed to eat anything else! 

I am also amazed at the stuff we always find to do.  We have been here for over 3 years, and we still find new stuff in our "little" town to do. This visit, my mom and I went to an antique barn and were there for hours! We took my dad on a hike to the top of the "rock", which was new for us, and Jordyn was a hiking champ!  And the ultimate fall festivity, we visited the pumpkin patch.  We also like to return to some of our favorite places- the museum and mini golf. 

Puppet show at the museum.  Jordyn would play here for hours if she could.





On top of the rock.  Dad wanted to make sure we got Pike's Peak in the background.

We were not expecting to climb like this, and it was a little tricky with Jordyn.  But Chad and my dad just lifted her right up, and she thought is was so cool!

Little Addy at the pumpkin patch.

Jordyn's chosen pumpkin.

We catch really great photogenic moments!

A kind lady gave us a ticket for a pony ride.  I think this was the greatest day of Jordyn's life!

Meanwhile, Addy played in the corn box.

We didn't want to pay extra for the hay ride, but sitting on it is just as fun!

Birthday Weekend

Both Chad and Jordyn have birthdays the last week of September.  We took a little getaway to Breckenridge over Chad's birthday.  We were so luck to have my mother in law come and stay with the kids while we were gone.  The girls had a great weekend with Grandma, and we had a great weekend without the girls!

We went to Breckenridge and thought we were getting a great deal on a condo.  Turns out our great deal was because it was the slow season between summer and winter, and most of the stuff to do in town was closed.  But we still found a lot to do, and more importantly, Chad got to golf.  I golfed too....sort of!  It was absolutely beautiful there.  These pictures do no justice.  It was the heart of fall with so many gorgeous colors.  We spent one afternoon just driving around taking in the scenery.

On top of our fun Breckenridge weekend, we got to spend a few days with Grandma.  We spent a day in nature and science museum.  It has been a while since we went to the museum and we got to go to the new discovery zone for the first time.  The kids loved it! 

 

And the cherry on top of the birthday weekend cake was a trip to Chuck E Cheese!  It was Jordyn's special birthday dinner, and we were lucky enough that Grandma got to come too!  Adalynn, our eater, loved the pizza.  And Jordyn, our gamer, loved all the games.  Win/win for everyone!

 



So often when I blog, I am reminded of how blessed we are.  We are able to do so many fun things together as a family.  We have so many great people around us.  We love the community we live in and the opportunities we have to find new things to do all the time.  We are truly blessed!

Jordyn Turns 4!

What a sweet little 4 year old we have.  She had a really fun birthday.  We skyped with grandparents, opened presents, and went to putt around the golf course with her new putter.  She also got to decorate her own cake, which might have been her favorite part!  A few days later, I took her out around the neighborhood to take her 4 year old pictures.  Here are a few facts about Jordyn at 4 years old:

• She is very imaginative.  She turns everything into make believe.
• She loves Disney, and princesses.  She may or may not have been brainwashed by her parents.
• She is so girly!  She loves dress up, pink, dancing, singing, and art projects.
• She is in her first year of preschool and loves doing the Joy School co-op.  She is getting really good at writing her name.  On everything.
• She loves to play outside with Addy, loves to golf with Daddy, and loves to help cook with mommy.
• She gets a lot of attention, and loves every minute of it!
• She is sweet and takes care of everyone.  She will let me lay on the couch and nap.  She will even get me a blanket, tuck me in, kiss my cheek, and sing me songs to help me fall asleep.

First Day of Preschool!

For preschool this year, I got together with some moms in the ward to do a Joy School.  Jordyn LOVES it!  She is learning a lot and can now write her name.  We have a cute group of kids, and they all have so much fun together.  I teach every four weeks, and another mom and I trade babies so crazy Addy is out of the way for a couple hours while I teach. The kids are so cute and I love being with them, and they say the cutest stuff!   The first day was just after Labor Day, so these pictures are a little late. 

Rainy Days

This summer was really wet here in Castle Rock.  I really think it rained almost every day in July.  It rained so much, I never watered my flower pots.  Not a single time all summer long.  There were a lot of times Jordyn would have her swimsuit on playing in the pool, and then came in and put her coat on to play in the rain.  A little backwards, I know.  But whatever makes the girls happy is usually what happens around here!

More Summer Fun

Adalynn got this little slide for her birthday from my mom.  Yes, she is obviously too little for it, but it was just right for Jordyn.  This is how we spent most of our summer afternoons.  Filling the pool with water and adding the slide.  After that got old, we got creative with the water before dumping it out for the night, only to fill it again the next day.  Addy never really got into the water.  She wanted to stay on the concrete patio and watch.  She didn't like crawling on the grass and was cold in the water.  So she smiled and pulled funny faces from a distance.  Summer days are good!