Is Summer Over Yet?

The Colorado weather, for the most part, was great this summer.  The highs were mostly in the upper 80's, which is a little cooler than normal this time of year.  We took advantage of the nice weather with several fun outings.  We made a family trip to a nearby park that has water fountains.  Kara, of course, jumped right in, but Emily was a little more cautious.  She eventually warmed up to the fountains and had a good time.  The next weekend, we ventured to Broomfield Bay Aquatic Park, which is awesome for little kids.  They have a huge baby pool (deepest part is about 18 inches deep), which Emily had a great time just walking around.  They also had some decent water slides, which Mommy and Kara checked out.  They also had a small water slide in the baby pool.  After Emily's first time down, she couldn't get enough.  As soon as she got to the bottom, she'd climb right back out of the pool and up the ramp (see the video).

Kara's farm camp at Sunflower Farms ended at the beginning of August.  Her swim lessons also ended the first week.  Kara improved a lot during the summer.  She can now swim by herself (doing a form of elementary backstroke) and even jump off the diving board and swim to the side without any help!  Mommy has been spending the last couple of weeks trying to figure out how to occupy Kara's time.  Only two more weeks until Kara's preschool starts...

Emily's language skills are developing very quickly these days.  It feels like she comes up with a new word every day, such as: milk, wall, door, no (and she also wags her finger for emphasis), water, hug, bug, boo-boo (probably her favorite word), go, out, dog (which is usually followed by the sound of a dog panting), hop (which is usually preceded with a bunny or frog sighting).  She also has picked up an assortment of animal noises, which she enjoys sharing.  Emily also seems to really enjoy music (watch the video).  It has become tougher to catch these things on camera, though, since Emily has realized cameras can also play back videos.  Now, as soon as we take a picture, she'll grab for the camera (the dance video was actually 3 minutes long, but the last 2:51 of it was Emily grabbing for he camera).

Link to pictures

First Family Road Trip

Unfortunately, our first ever family road trip was not a success, but it wasn't a complete failure.  The trip got off to a poor start before we even left the house.  The night before we were going to leave (Wednesday night), Emily had a rough night of sleep (we suspect she's cutting another tooth).  She was fairly cranky most of the day Thursday, but Mommy and Daddy thought they'd give the trip a go anyway.

So, Thursday afternoon we drove down to Colorado Springs, checked into the hotel, and went almost straight to the pool for a swim.  Kara had a good time, but Emily wasn't really into it.  We then headed out for dinner, but Emily was pretty done.  Mommy and Daddy figured that Emily would pass out pretty quickly once we all got settled at the hotel.  Well, we were wrong.  The hotel supplied a Pack-n-Play for babies to sleep in, and Emily was not happy about it!  She screamed for about half an hour before Mommy and Daddy thought Emily might sleep better in the bed with them.  She went to sleep within a couple of minutes, which was great.  Unfortunately, Emily decided that it was time to get up at midnight after a few hours sleep.  She kept hitting Mommy and Daddy and saying "Up!"  She eventually passed again, but Emily, Mommy, and Daddy did not get a great night's sleep.  Fortunately, Kara was in the adjoining room and slept!

We got up and going early on Friday and got to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo shortly after they opened.  Kara got to feed the giraffes, a black rhino (see the video), and lots of birds.  She even got to pet a wallaby! There were plenty of animals to check out and even Emily had moments of interest and enjoyment.  She also screamed a bunch and eventually passed out and took a catnap in the stroller.

By this time, we had made up our minds to just head back home and skip our original Saturday plans.  After the zoo, both girls conked out car.  We took this time to swing by Garden of the Gods (which was very close to our hotel).  We walked around a bit and stopped by the trading post.  After that, it was time to pack up and head to Edelwiess German Restaurant for dinner.  Mommy and Daddy remember this restaurant fondly from when Mimi and Papa lived in the Springs.  The food and ambiance were just as they remembered, but of course the girls were tired and antsy by this point, so it was a bit of an ordeal....

Finally, we enjoyed a car ride home that involved a ten minute pit stop at McDonald's for the 4-year old and a screaming 1-year old for about an hour before she passed out. Ugh.  In the future, we will thinking twice about any overnight trips, prepare better, and hope for the best!

Summer Fun 2014

This summer has just flown by!  Unfortunately, Daddy hasn't been great at keeping up with the blog, so we'll just hit some of the highlights from the first half of the summer.

The last weekend in June and the first couple of weekends of July were spent picking cherries from our sour cherry tree.  They're not great to eat right off the tree (Emily and Kara would both disagree with that statement), but they make great pies.  We collected enough cherries to make about 4 pies.  Kara got into the action for the first time this year and helped pick a lot of cherries.  Emily grabbed every one she could grab (didn't matter if it was half eaten by a bird and rotting on the ground) and stuck it in her mouth, so picking cherries was a little tricky with her around.

Kara had Vacation Bible School (VBS) the week of June 16th through June 20th.  She had an absolute blast interacting with the other kids and learning new songs.  Mommy and Kara went to the church the Sunday after the camp, so Kara could participate in the "concert" the kids had.  All the other kids stood up with their age group and sang their songs, except for Kara.  She was up there singing with every age group.  Wish we'd gotten that one on video.  Kara had Farm Camp every Tuesday, which was the highlight of every week.  She talked non-stop about the zipline and the goats. She also got to interact with pigs, horses, peacocks, cows, and chickens.  Kara also started swim lessons every Wednesday and Thursday.  She improved a little bit every class.  As if that wasn't enough, Kara took ice skating lessons at a nearby rink every Thursday.  It was mostly just learning how to fall and get back up on your skates without getting hurt, but she enjoyed it!

Emily's summer was much more mellow than Kara's.  She's been working on running (which is currently a fairly quick walk).  She's also been working on talking.  She surprised Daddy one day when he took her to get the mail and she started saying, "Happy, happy" over and over with a big grin on her face.  She's such a sweet girl!

Link to pictures

Summer Already?

Kara finished with preschool, but has been keeping very busy with classes and camps.  She has a weekly ice skating lesson on Thursdays, Vacation Bible School (going on this week, only been to one, but she had a blast), and weekly farm camp.  She's also starting swim lessons next week. So much fun to be had!

Emily's new favorite game is sticking things in her mouth (like dirt and rocks) and then sticking her tongue out to show Mommy and Daddy and have us wipe it off.  Let's just hope this is a phase.  Emily seems to pick up a new word every day, but she still mostly relies on the old tried and true method of pointing and grunting.  She also shakes her head no.  Sometimes it's actually when she means no. :-)  She's becoming quite confident in her movements.  She can climb and go down the slide by herself.  We've even seen her dribble the soccer ball all over the yard.  Check out the videos!

Emily has long periods of just wanting to be carried around and essentially crying/whining because we're not doing what she wants.  This might have to do with not being able to communicate well with us, and teething.  Still, she's generally a very sweet toddler.  Mommy was putting her down for a nap and they both heard Kara crying (she had bumped her head on a table corner).  So Mommy and Emily went down stairs to check on Kara.  After seeing Kara crying, Emily walked over and gave her a big hug (complete with pats on the back) and kiss (puckered lips and all).  It was about the sweetest thing Mommy had ever seen.

Kid quotes:
Kara - "I'm sure Uncle Trey is the biggest person in the world" (shortly after stating she had the longest hair of any kid in the world)

Mommy - "I love you with all my heart."
Kara - "I love you with the middle of my heart, Mommy.  In the middle, I love our family. On the left side, I love everyone at Mimi and Papa's house.  On the right side, I love Grandma and Grandpa. In the bottom tip of my heart, I love stuffed animals and toys and things."

Kara - "I just want everyone for every second to play with me."  Shortly after complaining about having to help out with chores around the house like brushing her teeth, washing her hands, and pulling the plug after bath.  Ah, kids.

Kara - "I wish I was naked all the time. I could pee better, I could eat better, everything would just be better."

At a birthday party, Kara stopped to help a boy who had dropped his goody bag.  He replied with, "Now I know why they call you Kara.  Because you really do care."  Don't worry, Daddy has his eyes on that smooth talker...





Link to pictures

Summer 2014 Visit from Mimi and Papa

We had a nice visit with Mimi and Papa the last week of May.  Kara really enjoyed the extra attention (of course), and Emily warmed up to them very quickly this time around.  By mid-week Mimi (and sometimes Papa), was getting giggles and big belly laughs out of Emily.

The weather was a little hot, but we still managed to get out to the park a few times and play in the backyard everyday.  This was made extra special with the addition of a jump rocket the grandparents brought (see pics).

We also took the girls to Dinosaur Ridge one morning.  It's an area where you can check out dinosaur tracks on the side of a mountain (and a few fossils).  Kara enjoyed the tour, while Emily loved the plaster dinosaurs in front of the visitors center.

At the end of the week, Papa, Mommy, and Kara went to visit Daddy for family day at work.  There was ice cream, which was a huge hit with Kara!  Daddy also arranged for a simulator tour for Dream Chaser.  Kara's favorite part was one of Daddy's coworkers who has his cubical completely decked out with Hello Kitty! decoration.  Daddy also took Papa on a factory tour, but couldn't check out the Dream Chaser spacecraft since it is currently being overhauled.  Oh, well, next time!

We ended the visit with a trip to the Butterfly Pavilion.  Kara's favorite part was holding Rosie the Tarantula, but she also enjoying looking at all the cool bugs and butterflies. Kara was quite disappointed, however, that she couldn't get a butterfly to land on her.  Meanwhile, Emily treated us with saying her first word, or, at least, the first word that sounded exactly like it was supposed to.  She was watching the bees in the beehive and shouted "Bee!"  Other than the bees, she also enjoyed walking up and down the stairs and watching the butterflies.  We had so much fun that we got season passes, so let us know if anybody wants to hit the Butterfly Pavilion with us!

Link to pictures