Visit to Shorter - Fall 2014

Early this month, we packed up the girls and went to visit the family down in Alabama. This was Emily's first flight since she was just a tiny baby, so we were a little nervous about her. For the most part, she did very well. She even passed out for about an hour, which made the time go by much faster. Kara, of course, handled the flight like a champ... as long as she had a screen (Mommy's iPad or her LeapPad) to look at.

While we were down there, Justin, Heather, Sean, and Robin McD came down to visit us at Mimi and Papa's house.  We hadn't seen them in almost two years, and we'd never met Robin!  To paraphrase Heather, "Robin and Emily are best friends, they just may not know it yet!"  Emily and Robin got along pretty well.  For the most part they just played next to each other, though Emily was not too happy when Robin took a ride on her Mickey airplane (her favorite toy at Mimi and Papa's house).  The girls even held hands walking around outside, which was pretty sweet.  Kara and Sean got along really well, mostly because Kara led Sean around the whole time they were there and Sean seemed okay with that.  Sean was such a good sport doing crafts and even reading to Kara.  We also had a little birthday party for Kara.  Overall, it was great to see our friends.  Hope to see you guys again soon!

On the last full day of our visit, we headed into Montgomery to check out the Montgomery Zoo.  It's a really great zoo for kids.  It's not too big, so we could check out almost the whole zoo.  Plus, it has a pretty awesome playground and petting zoo.  We even got to feed giraffes!  The girls both had a really great time.

The trip home was just plain no fun at all.  An arctic front moved into Denver while we were down in Alabama, which caused delayed flights leaving Denver.  We checked our flight status before heading to the airport.  At that time it said our flight was still on schedule; however, about 15 minutes after getting dropped off at the Atlanta airport, we got notification that our flight had been delayed.  In the end, the flight was 2.5 hours late taking off, so we spent almost 4.5 hours at the Atlanta airport.  The flight went pretty smooth except Emily was pretty irritable.  We realized about halfway through the flight that she felt quite warm.  We hoped that if she could just get a good night's sleep, maybe she'd feel better.  We landed in Denver about 8:30 (almost 2.5 hours late) to single digit temperatures.  While Dad was waiting on the jetway in the freezing weather, Emily was throwing up in the terminal.  Fortunately, after that, Emily started acting much better.  Then, Dad forgot one of our bags on the shuttle while we were trying to get everyone and everything to the car.  He had to chase down the shuttle through the icy parking lot in 0 degree weather.  Whew, that was brisk!  Fortunately, the drive home went off without any hitches, and our travel day concluded safely.

All in all, it was a good trip, and it was great to see everyone!

Link to pictures

Halloween 2014

We got Halloween off on the right foot this year when we headed to Rock Creek Farm to pick our pumpkins in the middle of October.  There were a ton of great pumpkins to pick from!  Kara had a great time running through the pumpkin patches trying to find the perfect pumpkin.  Emily, however, wasn't impressed with the pumpkins and just kind of wandered around in a grumpy mood.  On the way out, Rock Creek Farms had set up some fun for the kids.  They had bouncy pumpkins, slides, a hay maze, and animals to look at.  Both girls loved bouncing in the bouncy pumpkins.  Not bad for some free entertainment.

The following weekend we headed to the Butterfly Pavilion for their annual Bug-A-Boo festivities. The girls, as always, had a great time there. They got to check out all the different bugs and decorate pumpkins.  Since we have an annual pass, it was also free.

One of the neighbors sets up an elaborate graveyard every year for Halloween.  We went there to check it out several days before Halloween (during the day, so it wasn't quite as creepy), and got a good video of Emily pretending to be scared (see below).

Halloween night was a lot of fun.  Kara dressed as Maleficent (the evil fairy from Sleeping Beauty), and Emily was a monkey.  We went back to check out the graveyard at night, which was a little spooky, but not too bad.  After that we met up with some neighbors to go Trick-or-Treating.  Daddy and Emily hit a couple of houses before heading home.  Mommy stayed with Kara to get some candy booty.  Kara cleaned up this year, almost filling her plastic pumpkin!  Until next year!

Link to pictures

Fall 2014

Happy fall, everyone! The girls had a very eventful fall.  We had so much going on, we had to split it into two blogs (see the other blog for Halloween).

The weather most of the month was quite mild with no snow at all.  That made for some good leaf fun!  There was also a fun visit to the Butterfly Pavilion with Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Amy.

Kara started the month with her last couple of soccer practices for the fall.  She's still not 100% clear on the rules (she thinks it more fun just to chase after people than to actually kick the ball), but it's a great way for her to burn off some energy.

Daddy and Emily took advantage of the extra time Daddy had by going to the rec center on Fridays to swim.  Emily is very fearless.  She'll climb out of the pool and jump off the side, whether Daddy is ready or not!  Emily has also figured out running and jumping, mostly.  She can now run at a pretty good clip (she can't quite keep up with Kara yet, but she's working on it), and she has also figured out how to jump, kinda (check out the videos below).  She is also becoming much more opinionated.  We're in the phase now where she knows what she wants, but doesn't really know enough words to communicate what she wants.  Ah, good fun.

Link to pictures

September 2014

The month of September was crammed with activities!

We'll start with Kara's month first. Other than our trip up to Breckenridge, Kara started preschool (she'll be in the Stepping Stones program Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings at the Rec Center); she had her first soccer practice (Monday and Wednesday afternoons); and Kara had her first camp-out with Daddy (surprisingly, Kara actually let Daddy sleep).

Emily is becoming much more vocal recently and is not afraid to make her opinion known.  She has been saying "No" for several months, but we were excited when she finally started saying "Yeah."  Emily tries so hard to keep up with Kara.  She is constantly trying to run and jump with her big sister.  She's getting pretty close!  Emily is also starting to show some interest in the potty.  She hasn't gone in the potty yet, but she has peed and pooped right next to it.  Mommy and Daddy aren't sure they're ready to undertake that process yet...  Emily's verbal skills continue to develop.  She's gotten pretty good at mimicking the words or sounds that we make.  It's just a matter of time until she's speaking in complete sentences!

On the less exciting front, Daddy's company lost out on a major contract, and he is out looking for another job.  We're hopeful he can find a job where we don't have to move, but we'll see.

Link to pictures

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