Like Father, Like Son :)

No words are needed.

We have big news!

It is funny how life works sometimes. :)

As of Tuesday, Mike is no longer the Athletic Director at Broomfield High School--he is the new Assistant Principal at Angevine Middle School! This all happened pretty fast. Mike finally decided to put his name in for the AP job on the last day, and then interviews were a few days later. I was pretty surprised when he first mentioned moving to the middle school level, but then it seemed to make perfect sense the more I thought about it. He truly believes that he was meant to work with middle school kids--and he can see himself becoming a middle-level principal someday!

We are so excited, but it has been a hard week saying goodbyes to people at Broomfield. There isn't a better Athletic Director job in the state of Colorado, and Broomfield is just an outstanding school.

Angevine Middle School

Angevine is the feeder school into Centaurus. Welcome back to Lafayette, Mike!

Where can you find Carson and I this Summer?

Lifetime Fitness Health Club is where we hang out 3-4 days a week!
This place has everything--and it is literally 5 minutes away from our house. No excuses this time!! :) Carson loves to play in the child care area while I go to kickboxing or my new favorite, "Soul Groove" class. In Soul Groove, we dance for an hour--and it is no joke. No videotaping, please.

There is an outdoor pool with two big waterslides as well, and an indoor pool to use year-round. I got a massage in the Spa for Mother's Day, and they have a full service restaurant that is really good. LOVE IT!

Don't know where to find me? Check here first this Summer!

Casa Bonita: Carson's first time and Crystal's Birthday

Ahhh, the memories. You can't claim true Colorado citizenship until you have been to Casa Bonita. We loved going there as kids, and there is a lot of nostalgia when you go back...and usually a stomach ache after eating the food!! Some things never change :)
Crystal decided on Casa Bonita for her birthday celebration this year, and it marked Carson's first time at CB. Here is the whole group (minus Mike who conveniently took the picture above) before we entered into the Casa Bonita experience. Of course Carson is hanging out with Jeff, Chad and Crystal are standing by me, and Bob and his kids joined us; Julia, Mallory, and Brady. YES--Brady IS dressed as #11 known as Chris "Birdman" Anderson for the Denver Nuggets. Nice work, Brady!

When we went to CB as kids, we always got those glow necklaces and then rushed to put them in the freezer when we got home to preserve them. Nowadays, they have all kinds of light-up contraptions, and no glow necklaces can be found. Daddy bought Carson a nifty little spinning light up...thing. He loved it! In this picture, Carson and I are watching the lights in amazement :). One of my better pics, I think...

Bob bought his kids some light sabers, and Carson checked them out for quite a while. Use the FORCE, my son!

The FORCE is strong in this one...

Everything is still pretty much the same as I remembered it. Black Barts Cave is still there, the arcade is upstairs, the divers still perform, and the puppet show area hasn't changed a bit. There is still the talking Rock that introduces the show, and the skull rock is still in the back. Carson was captivated by the puppet show!

He sat and watched for about 15 minutes!

We went through Black Bart's Cave 3 times--Carson kept wanting to go back, but when we were in there he was all-business about moving fast to get out. After awhile, people started to not feel so good. I tried to warn them all to order the Nachos--I mean, how can you screw up NACHOS??? They didn't listen, and they felt ill. It was pretty funny :).

On our way out, there are some little kid rides that Carson got to enjoy. And Chad and Jeff..

Carson was ecstatic to be able to "drive, drive, drive", which is his favorite pastime as of late. He is easy to please--a trip to the grocery store where they have those car-in-front-carts is heaven for him!

As we left, certain persons not-to-be-named thought it would be funny to get a picture of Carson by the fish fountain looking like he was peeing. Ok, it is kind of funny :) Not proportionate, but funny.

Here is the fam posing for an inpromptu pic-

Well, Happy Birthday Crystal! It was a fun day :)

Tornado Alley? No--it's Thornton, CO

This was actually pretty scary. We were enjoying a beautiful Sunday afternoon when Johnny called us and told us to look outside. This is what we saw:
I have never seen a tornado this close before. And as we watched, it kept getting closer...

This last picture was taken inside the house and you can actually see debris being kicked up as it touched the ground. Right after this, we woke Carson up from his nap and all went down to the basement. Luckily, the funnel cloud went back up and no damage was done, but this tornado was 1/2 mile away!

In South Denver, another tornado tore through a mall and turned over cars, so we really were lucky.

When Carson and I played in the basement with toys the next day, he wanted to play the "night-night" game sitting in the corner with blankets. I guess I'm glad he enjoyed it--but I didn't!!

It was scary.

Another shot at a decent Family Pic...

Here we go again...can we get a decent family picture??

We were on our way to a wedding, so we thought we'd give it a shot. Carson said "no-go" in this shot...
and my left eye said "I don't think so" in this one. *sigh*

Oh well. We will never give up! Never.

By the way--Carson looks SO CUTE in his outfit, Cherish! He has already worn it a lot because it is so adorable. You have great taste!

I always love celebrating Bill's Birthday!

Bill's birthday is always my favorite. We have the exact same tastes in cake. I look forward to his birthday in May--which splits the year in half from my birthday in November...it is a good match! :)

This year, we decided to stay at the house and barbeque, because it is getting harder and harder for Carson to sit in restaurants without wanting to explore everything within minutes. This is Billy's cake from DQ...dripping in chocolate. Yum
Here is everyone relaxing in the backyard enjoying the weather and the company--

Collin and Carson (and Kava) played in the yard. Carson absolutely adores Collin. They are 14 years apart, but I have a feeling that Carson will look up to Collin forever!

Carson just loves to drive. Our friends down the street gave him this nifty stroller car, and he rides in it all the time. We takes walks almost every day.

I must have interrupted an important conversation...

The backyard is set up and ready to go for Summer, and we will spend many days and nights enjoying it. Thanks for another great birthday, Billy! :)

Summer activities 2009--and it is only June!!

After living here for 8 years, we decided to paint the house. We chose a dark green with creme trim, and it really turned out great. It is like a whole new house!
We got the idea to put a shed in the backyard when we got the house painted--thinking that they could paint the shed as well. However, Mike decided to build the shed himself, and thus we will paint it ourselves when it is done. It will really free up a lot of room in the garage.

Carson and I love to watch "Yo Gabba Gabba". We both love the "New Friends" episode with Jack Black in it. Carson sings the songs at the top of his lungs, and he is pretty good! I love our bonding time :)

We spend a lot of time outside, and eat out on the deck whenever we can during the summer. Carson loves to play with our next door neighbors; Jett, Jaylee, and JuJu. He has recently started looking for them every day by standing up on the deck railing and yelling their names. So much for any backyard peace, Lopez family! Sorry we eat breakfast so early. :)

The Orchard Town Center does a Friday night concert series where you bring your own chairs and come hang out for some great music. Last week, Hazel Miller performed and it was so much fun! There is a little train that drives around all year long, and Carson loves it. Jeff, Carson, and I took a ride on Friday night in the caboose. We plan on going back most Fridays because it is so convenient and fun!

Summer is the best! And there is SO MUCH MORE TO COME, which is even better.

Bolder Boulder 2009...I won! Just kidding.

Of course I didn't win--but this is actual proof, People! I finally ran the 6.2 mile Bolder Boulder race on Memorial Day. Crystal and I paced each other, and had a blast. I really enjoyed it!
In case you couldn't find us in the picture above, here we are:

As most sprinters would, we ran "through the tape" so to speak, and leaned at the finish :).

Mom and Dad met us at the stadium for a little while, and we enjoyed hanging out in Boulder for a day. We don't go into Boulder that often anymore besides going to Grandma and Grandpa's house!

I definitely plan to run this race again--and I was pretty proud of myself for finally stepping up to do it!