Moving Time

As some of you know, we have been looking for a new house for a long time. When Joel and I moved to CO almost 9 years ago (It is hard to believe it has been that long ) we had no idea where we were going, so we found a nice community close to Joel's new work in Boulder. Found a house we liked and bought it. Now we know Joel will most likely to be working in Denver when he finally gets off the road. So this means moving a little closer in would be a big help to his commute and it does not hurt that we will be closer to some mountain bike trails he likes. We also were looking for good schools for the kids. After looking for a house for about three years, we decided to get really serious. We narrowed it down to Superior and Broomfield, and started looking with our ever patient real estate agent, Simon, in March. Not really knowing how competitive the market is in Superior, we soon found out every house we looked at would have several offers in days of going on the market. Deciding despite this, it was were we wanted to be and looked at about everything on sale. We finally found a house that looked like it had all the things that we had wanted, and made an offer. Knowing how competitive this area is we were sure we were not going to get the house, because we had started with our best offer and were not going to negotiate any further. Shockingly our real estate agent called us and told us that the owners had indeed accepted our offer.  So happy and a little shocked we started down the road of getting everything ready to buy the house - mortages, inspections, etc.
We should close in a few weeks, and we agreed to give the old owners a little time to move out, so we should be moving in late June, or early July.
We are both happy and ready to start the next phase of our lives. Here are  a few pics.
We should be ready for anyone who wants to visit in by August :).

Front of the house

Nice deck in back

Pretty Kitchen - now I have to start cooking

Have a basement for all the kids toys (or as I call it junk). 

Playgrounds and Parachutes

We have had a wet and colder spring, which has made hard to get out and play too much.  Now it seems we have hit summer.  The temps have been the the 70's the last week and we made a bee line for the park.

Lauren climbing up the stairs

 We have started potty training little one, so this has made things harder for Cooper (since Mommy is always  trying to encourage Lauren to sit on the potty). Let's just say it is not going well and we are glad this is our last one :). So to encourage Cooper to be patient with us Dad had a surprise for him if he was good, a parachute toy.  Well he was able to earn it this week and they have been constant companions ever since.

Coop's gleeful face as he throws a parachute into the air

Can not forget about digging in the sand

Lauren has become a little daredevil on the slide - liking to swing a few times before going down

And away we go

More sliding fun

Ready for a great summer

 

Yet Another - But Much less Crowded Children's Musuem

When you are on vacation and you are needing something to do because of the rain, a children's Museum is the thing that you want at your disposal. It is common knowledge that I am not a fan of Children's Museum, due to the crowded nature and the overall rudeness of little kids.... but I must say that the Museum of Discovery in Little Rock is the exception. We took Cooper, Katherine and Lauren and everyone had a great time. They had a ton of hands on activities that were enjoyed by the young and old (if you can consider 4 yrs to be old :)) They had exhibits ranging from silly ( they had the traveling show Grossology) to atmospheric. I am very glad that we made the trip and would do it again.

Auntie Kim showing us tectonic movements

taking our turns dropping balls onto a plate

The most fun of the day was a tube system that would spit out handkerchiefs 

Looking up

Watching the handkerchiefs fall from the ground is much easier

Mom trying to make sure everyone is having fun

Sooooo much fun

Had to stop at the climbing wall. - Kate was a natural(love that smile)

Cooper really likes this balence game 

Finding out how long our intestine is  - is a group effort

I would recommend this museum to anyone with time in Little rock. It was interesting, educational and fun.

A great place to spend on a rainy day

Fishing Cousins

Since last fall, when Cooper first tried fishing, he has been very interested in trying it again. He was unable to actually catch one, so this is the goal of our trip to Grammie and Grandpa's house.

Checking out the water

Wetting our line

Girls trying their luck

Getting pointers from Grandpa

Now seeing what Grammie knows

Grandpa keeping Lauren entertained

Look at the bend in the pole

Success

A hiking we will go

Justin, Kim and Katherine try to come see the rest of us that live in the lower 48 once a year, so they made the trip to Arkansas this spring. The kids and I were able to go see them, sadly ( or if you ask Joel, thankfully) Joel was not able to make the trip due to a VERY busy work schedule.
 We landed on Sunday night and the Northern most Lovejoy's were a little late, so Dad and I took the kids to get food and head home for a bath and bed. Justin and Kim are coming into the house and I notice something strange. Kim's tummy is a little bigger then the last time I saw her. My brother and Sis in Law are having a baby... in 10 weeks !! I am thrilled for them, but not very happy to be kept out of the loop. I will eventually get over it, but still... not cool on their part . ( and of course to make it worse they did not find out what there are having :) ).
   We had planned on going over to the Buffalo River for a few days. Sadly rain came and made things a little more complicated, but we decided to head up anyway. We arrive early afternoon on Monday and thankfully it was not raining yet, so we get out for a short hike. We went over to the Lost Valley. It was a very beautiful place and kids loved running around.

Walking with GrandDad

Granddad with the Girls!

Checking out an Old Tree

Happy to be out

After the hike we headed back to the house for dinner and bath. Lauren learned a new trick.... to get out of the pack n play, making my life more difficult, so after books we had about an hour and a half of her getting out of bed.

Books with Uncle

Books with Grammie

With it raining the next day we went into Jasper, AR to the wildlife museum. It was not to big, but a great distraction on a rainy day. The kids loved the animals and being able to run around.

Lauren smiling in front of an elk

Walking with the animals

Enjoying the display... trying really hard not to touch anything... but not being extremely successful

Had a nice lunch in town and enjoyed the afternoon and the rental house. The next morning we checked out the steel river before heading back to Hot Springs Village. 

Family Photo at the river - sorry no Kim since she was taking the pic