Breckenridge 2014

During the weekend of September 11th, we took our second family road trip up to visit Breckenridge with Grandma and Grandpa S.  Compared to our first road trip, this one was a wild success!  The big difference was that this time we headed up first thing in the morning instead of trying to head out in the afternoon.  Emily was able to take her nap up there and get a little acclimated before bedtime.  We also took it pretty easy that first day, mostly hanging around the hotel room and visiting the pool.

The second day, Friday, we took a gondola ride up to the Summer Fun Park at the top of Peak 8.  They have all kinds of fun activities like an alpine slide, putt putt golf, and a zip line.  Emily was a little too young to do most of the activities, but Kara was just old enough to try out the Bungee Trampoline.  Kara was a little tentative at first, but once she got the hang of it, she was shooting 20+ feet up into the air.  Next year, I think she'll try out the flips.  After the trampoline, Kara played a bit in an inflatable castle, but we didn't stay up there too long.

After quiet time for the girls, we headed down to town to check out their annual Oktoberfest.  The adults tried out the vast selection of beers, while the girls munched on sausages and pretzels.  Kara also got a hummingbird painted on her face.

We took things pretty easy on Saturday.  Kara, Daddy, and Grandpa went for a short hike in the morning, and we just hung out at the pool for the afternoon.  We headed home early in the morning Sunday.  Unfortunately, Emily picked up a little cold the last night and didn't sleep well.

We're already looking forward to Breckenridge again next year!

Link to pictures

Visit from Mimi - August 2014

Mimi came out to Colorado to visit us the last part of August.  We all had a great time catching up and the girls loved having an extra playmate!

Some of the highlights of the visit included a trip to the Boulder farmers' market, the Butterfly Pavilion, and the Denver Zoo.

Kara and Emily both really seem to enjoy looking at the bugs and butterflies at the Butterfly Pavilion.  Emily especially got a kick out of the Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches....ew.  And this was her first trip to the Denver Zoo, though she has been to the Cheyenne Mountain (Colorado Springs) and the Brevard Zoo (Melbourne, FL).

The girls also enjoyed just spending time with Mimi.  They all had a good time blowing bubbles, playing with scooters and striders (Emily got a new strider while Mimi was visiting), and, of course, splashing in puddles in the backyard! :)

Kid Quotes:
"Despite being called Flying Squirrels, they don't actually fly.  They just glide."  Tell us more, Professor Kara.

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Kara's Weekend at Grandma and Grandpa's

Kara spent the weekend of August 16th hanging out with Grandma, Grandpa, and their dog Ruby.  Kara had a great time, mostly she had two (and for a bit three while Aunt Amy was visiting) adults at her beck and call.

While Kara was gone, Emily had an explosion of words!  We're not sure if it was the fact Mommy and Daddy were able to give her their undivided attention, or if it was just that Kara wasn't there talking over her all the time, but either way, Emily was showing off her verbal skills.  She has been learning the names of the Sesame Street characters (though she's never actually watched Sesame Street, just read the books).  We took Emily to the library during her weekend, and she immediately gravitated to the computers, which had a picture of Elmo (the pied piper of children, as Heather has said).  She also knows the Count (she throws her head back for Mommy and Daddy to say "ha ha ha"), Cookie Monster ("cookie"), Bert (which she can say surprisingly well), and Zoe (though she calls her "I dunno" and shrugs her shoulders because that's what Daddy did when Emily first pointed her out).  Emily also had her first peach during the weekend, which she inhaled.  She's also been saying "Thank you" (sounds like tee go, but close enough) and "welcome".  Such a polite little girl!

Link to pictures

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!