Pooch Plunge

There is nothing more chaotic or exciting at the end of the summer than the Pooch Plunge. It's exactly what it sounds like...a bunch of dogs, plunging into a pool. Pure mayhem. And Rosy and Nelly loved it.

Notice all the labs...

This is shortly after Rosy jumped in for the first and last time. She couldn't figure out how to exit the pool without stairs nearby and become a little "bottom heavy". Needless to say, Jesse had to pull her out by her collar and she now thinks swimming is life threatening. She still had fun running around meeting the other pooches though.

Nelly jumping in with no hesitancy... She swam more than any other dog there.

Never been happier...

Family Reunion

This Labor Day was an especially meaningful holiday for my family. My Mom's Mom turned 90! My Grandma Tina is an amazing woman who we celebrated with a family reunion this last weekend.  It was the first time in who knows how many years that Grandma Tina's 3 children, 16 grandchildren, and 11 great grandchildren were all together! It was an amazing time to catch up with all of our cousins and become reacquainted.

We all celebrated together at the Freeport County Club the first night. 

This is my mom, Alison, her sister, Lesley, and her brother, Tim.

Here are the 16 grandchildren around Grandma Tina. She looks amazing for 90!

The second day we all met at Krape Park. I have amazing memories as a little kid feeding the ducks, riding the carousal, and climbing the old fire engine at Krape park.

After we said our goodbyes, us Ormsbees headed to the Union Diary for some ice cream. Right next to the ice cream shop was the site of the Lincoln Douglas debates. Becka and I found Lincoln quite charming :)

After ice cream, my parents, Paul and Jaya hit the road back to CO. Abby, Becka, Tristan, Jesse and I made our way to chicago where we stayed the night before our flight the next morning. We first met at our cousin Dan's and his fiance Meg's condo. Dan then took us into downtown chicago where we visited a few touristy sites and then had a drink before we said our goodbyes.

Jesse snapped this amazing picture of the downtown skyline and the shiny bean

Here is the last picture of myself, Jesse, Becka and Tristan before they went to Taiwan. They, along with their friend Dusty, will be in Taiwan teaching english for about a year. I already miss Becka tons, but I am happy to say they made it safely and once they start a blog, I will post it here so you can see what she's up to.

Manitou

Jesse and I have been really missing Manitou. Especially the summertime in Manitou. If you ever have time to stop by with your family, it's a must visit. We can recommend quite a few amazing restaurants! Since Jesse and I moved to Castle Rock in April, we haven't had many opportunities to visit our old home. Fortunately, Jesse and I both had Wednesday off so we took a trip down with the dogs!!

Our first stop, of course, we the Colorado Custard Company (our favorite ice cream shop ever). If you are ever in Manitou, you must stop by and visit the owner, Vick, who is the wonderful owner.  He's even treated to free custard in the past for our anniversary :)

Here are Rosy and Nelly enjoying a little entertainment from the street performer

A little cool down in the fountain :) Yes, we let them jump in.... nobody was looking

Here's a video that Jesse took of Nelly playing fetch in the lake. We hiked around the Stratton open space near Cheyenne Mountain. Nelly would fetch in water for hours if we let her. She starts drowning after awhile, poor puppy!