Sunday, May 30, 2010

Happy Birthday Riley!

Tomorrow is my Birthday!!! I turn three years old.  But since we had a Race Car Birthday, and the Indy 500 was today, we had my party today during the race!  It was lots of fun!!  The DiBenedetto's came (that's my Friend Jack and his family) and we ate lots of yummy food (like hotdogs and watermelon and corn on the cob!!)  They also sang Happy Birthday to me so I could blow out the candles on my cake.  (as you can tell in the video I was a little impatient though!!)  Jack and Evan -Jack's big brother - and I played Frisbee Golf on Daddy's basket, and raced our race cars that Mommy got.  We had so much fun!!  Then we opened presents!!  Jack got me a BIG toy tractor from Sprig (remember the recycled toys), and I got a Kitchen set from Mommy and Daddy!!  Grandma & Grandpa Louie got me some cookware and food for my Kitchen set - So I can make sandwiches now for everyone!!  And the Sandwiches stick together too - just like real ones!!!  What a great Birthday!!  Mommy says I should say Thank You to Grandma & Grandpa, and to Unkie Rodgie & Auntie Kathie for getting the decorations at last minute and shipping them to us!!  Thank you everyone for making this such a Fun Birthday!!

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

"Daddy Drives Upsidedown!"

We've been back from our Moab Vacation for a few days now, but we've been having computer issues with trying to get all the pictures and videos uploaded.  So I apologize for the delay, and thought I would let you know how the trip went, and try and get the pictures and videos up later. 

We had an Awesome time!!!  Everyone had a blast!!  Cam got the Jeep all fixed up in time (literally putting in new drive shafts the night before we left!!) and it performed GREAT!!!  (with the exception of one radiator hose that caused us to lose all of our coolant the first day).  Aliy took a TON of pictures and video (her favorite part) and even got over some of her fears of "going down" in the Jeep - some - not all!!!  Riley had fun just playing in the Jeep, and seeing all the other ones!  We got him a little toy Jeep (red like Daddy's) that he played with ALL THE TIME!!!  One of our favorite quotes of his from the trip was one afternoon he fell asleep in the Jeep, and woke up right as we were going down a steep hill.  We were nearly vertical (which happens often in Moab), and he says "Daddy Driving Upsidedown!!"  It was hilarious!!  We laughed the rest of the trip about that one!  I wish we could have gotten it on video! 

We spent Wednesday driving to Moab.  It took us a good 9 1/2 - 10 hours, with all the potty breaks we had to take for toddlers and pregnant Mommies!!  Set up camp late that night and went to sleep!  The next day we met a bunch of the other Jeepers there for the trip and decided to take a family drive on the La Sal Mountain Loop.  The La Sal's are a small Mountain range just east of Moab - and very pretty.  But while on this drive that darn radiator hose decided to blow, and we lost all of the coolant just as Cam stopped to let me take a few pictures.  We were able to let it cool and fill it back up with water from our nalgenes and cooler to make it back to camp.  Got everything fixed up and headed out to finish the other half off the loop! 

Friday was the first "official" day of the trip for everyone, so all the Jeepers got together and did the trail called Hell's Revenge.  We did this trail in 2005 when we went with some friends from Indy, but skipped a lot of the obstacles that time around.  So Cam wanted to do as many as possible, mostly Hell's Gate and Tip Over Challenge, now that the Jeep was "geared up" to handle it - and it did!!!  He discovered an issue with the power steering during Hell's Gate, but that was remedied later that night with all the tools and experienced Jeep mechanics in the campground!!  It was so fabulous to see the Jeep perform so easily over these tougher challenges!!

Saturday was our last day there, and Cam was itching to do the Tri-fecta.  A group of 3 trails that make a long loop and a Full Day of Jeeping!  We started REALLY early with a small group (only 7 instead of the 17 from the previous day), so that we wouldn't be on the trail into the dark.  First is the Poison Spider Trail.  This is just the first section of trails, but houses many obstacles (that aren't always optional) like the Launch Pad, The Waterfalls, and one called Wedgie!  Look for all of these in the pictures when I get them finished!  Next is the Golden Spike trail.  This section of the trail is the hardest with the most concentration of obstacles, like the Golden Crack, Commando Hill, And Double Whammy just to name a few.  The last section of trail is the Gold Bar Rim trail, an easier section with a few obstacles, most of which we skipped.  Cam had quite an experience right before this trail on the Double Whammy, so he took it easy most of the rest of the way!  (thankfully ;)  Then we drove home Sunday, and spent all day Monday catching up on stuff at home (like mowing and laundry) and trying to upload pictures and videos!

Overall it was a great trip!  We made some good friends, and good memories.  And Everyone (including the big red metal monster) survived!!!  We did learn that this may be our last trip to Moab for a while at least.  It was a tight fit for 3 of us with camping gear and tools for wheelin'.  So with the new one on the way our next trip will most likely have to be in two vehicles if Daddy still wants to take the Jeep!!  I'll try to get the pictures and video links up in the next couple of days, so keep checking back in!!  Next up: Riley's Birthday!!!  (And a special THANK YOU to Unkie Rodgie and Auntie Kathie for helping us get the decorations - Heaven forbid Colorado have anything race related in May!!!) 

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Howdy All!!! Man Have I got a lot to talk about today!! So I guess you all got to see the video I made for my Grandmas huh!?!?! Isn't it cute! Mommy and Daddy made me do it over and over and over again. Mommy says I should tell you some about the new baby. She says she's about 9 weeks along now, and is due on December 19th. She went to her first Doctor's appointment this week and everything looks good so far. She even got to hear the baby's heart beat for a tiny blip! I don't know what all this hoopla is about, Mommy just seems really sick to me! She sleeps all the time, and has to run to the bathroom a lot!!

Mommy also started working her boat inspector job this week (which may have something to do with why she's so tired!!) She wakes up very early, and even leaves the house before I wake up!! Daddy says when I wake up at 6:30, Mommy's already been at work for a half hour!! That's crazy!! But she picks me up from the babysitters house at my nap time, then we go home and take naps together!! I like that, cuz sometimes Mommy let's me sleep in her bed with her!!

We also went and got our pictures taken by Mommy's friend Cathy (Tanner & Jackson's Mommy). She took really good pictures, but I tricked her!! She kept trying to get me to smile, but I wouldn't!! Hahaha!!! She kept saying how serious I am! hehehe!! You can see the pictures here, just use Mommy's email address (aliylujah@yahoo.com) and the password riley. Mommy ordered some already to send to the family, so let her know if you want any, or any more and she can order them from Cathy.

Well, that's about it for now! We are planning our trip to Moab for next week. We leave on Wednesday and get back on Sunday, so Look for pictures after that!! I bet it's going to be so much fun!!! And then after that is my Birthday!!! (I heard Mommy talking about having a racecar birthday, and watching the Indy 500 at my party - woohoo!!!) Talk to ya later!!

Saturday, May 08, 2010

Thursday, May 06, 2010

May already!

Where has this year gone!  I sat down the other day and decided I had better start planning for Riley's Birthday . . . I can't believe he will be three years old in just a few short weeks!  Since his birthday falls on Memorial Day this year, and the child is OBSESSED with racecars (or any kind of cars for that matter!), we are going to hold his party on Race Day (for those of you Non-Hoosiers - that's the Indy 500 Race!!) and make it race car themed.  It should be fun - kids playing with cars in the backyard, adults eating good food and watching the race! 

I also wanted to share some funny sayings of Riley's at this age!  He's finally getting to say entire sentences, like I gotta go potty, instead of just whining "Potty!!!"  Some of the funny words are: cratch=couch, trucker=tiger, and poken= penguin.  Some funny things he's said recently includes "Uh-oh Mommy - Snowmans are coming!" when it started snowing, "oh shup-up" to the dogs when they are barking, and "Mark, Set, Go!!" over and over again until the red light we are sitting at turns green!!  We are working with him on a special Mother's Day Video, so hopefully it will all come together, - check back in on Sunday morning for that video!

In other news, I start my Boat Inspector Job on Friday, which means that Riley also starts at the babysitters again!  I'm kinda bummed to be working Monday-Friday (and terrified to be working a 6 am shift!!), but I guess I'll take it if it means I can get the weekends off.  I'm not sure if many of you understand exactly what I'm doing, or inspecting boats for, so here's a video put out by the Colorado Division of Wildlife that explains what exactly I'm looking for: Zebra Mussels Since all the water in Horsetooth Reservoir is piped in from the western slope (across the continental divide), these little buggers could competely clog our pipes and cut off the water supply to 3 cities and thousands of farmers - so we REALLY need to keep them out! 

We are still trying to get some pictures of Riley taken for his birthday, but the weather out here has been cold and crummy the past couple weeks.  So hopefully we'll get some sent out to everyone around the time of his birthday.  Also, in a couple weeks we will be taking another trip to Moab, UT!!  Cam's been working VERY hard to get the jeep ready for this trip, and it sounds like it's going to be a lot of Fun - with a lot of other Jeepers joining us.  Cam's got a whole list of trails he wants to do, so hopefully we won't break anything along the way and he can do everything he wants too!  I'm just happy that the highs are only supposed to be in the 80's this time of year - not in the triple digits like the first time we went!!  So lot's of pictures to come after that trip!

Well, that's about it for this time!  Hope everyone is enjoying spring time!  And Happy Mother's Day to all the other Mommies out there!!