Sunday, July 31, 2011
Holy Moley, that's a Lot of Pictures!!
Just a quick note today! If you want to see a BUNCH of pictures from this month Check out July's album up top and the Dragon Boat Festival on the right under Kodak Albums. Mommy took almost 675 pictures in this month alone!!! (Don't worry, she edited so you don't have to look at all of them!) But there are still a TON to look at! Enjoy!!
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Firsts for Everyone!
Hey Everybody! Guess what I did this week! I went to the dentist for the first time! Yup! They cleaned my teeth and everything. Daddy said I was really brave, cuz i just hopped right up and let them go to work. I even got to wear sunglasses!! Don't I look cool!!!
Daddy went too. But he had to get a cavity filled. He was brave too!! Especially to go home and eat dinner with his mouth still numbed, hehehe!
And one more new thing - Jayce can pull himself up on things now! Three days ago Mommy went to get him in the morning and he was standing up in his crib. She was so surprised! Then he did it again yesterday, and started pulling up on other things too - like the couch and my sit n spin. He's growing so fast! Mommy is always reminding me to keep my big boy toys (like little cars and things with small parts) picked up so that Jayce can't get them. Pretty soon she's gonna limit them to my room, since Jayce can get just about everywhere else now!
Next week Mommy is going to Nashville, and I get to stay at my friends Jackson and Tanner's house. Ryder lives there too, but he's a baby like Jayce so I don't play with him as much as Jayce does. We get to have a sleepover there and I can't wait!! It will be so much fun! I hope we get to make a water slide like we did last time I played at their house. Well, that's all for now. Mommy will probably tell you all about her trip when she gets back. Have a good weekend everyone!
Daddy went too. But he had to get a cavity filled. He was brave too!! Especially to go home and eat dinner with his mouth still numbed, hehehe!
And one more new thing - Jayce can pull himself up on things now! Three days ago Mommy went to get him in the morning and he was standing up in his crib. She was so surprised! Then he did it again yesterday, and started pulling up on other things too - like the couch and my sit n spin. He's growing so fast! Mommy is always reminding me to keep my big boy toys (like little cars and things with small parts) picked up so that Jayce can't get them. Pretty soon she's gonna limit them to my room, since Jayce can get just about everywhere else now!
Next week Mommy is going to Nashville, and I get to stay at my friends Jackson and Tanner's house. Ryder lives there too, but he's a baby like Jayce so I don't play with him as much as Jayce does. We get to have a sleepover there and I can't wait!! It will be so much fun! I hope we get to make a water slide like we did last time I played at their house. Well, that's all for now. Mommy will probably tell you all about her trip when she gets back. Have a good weekend everyone!
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Heat, Water, and SNAKES - OH MY!!
Oh My, Updates Overload!!! Either I'm way behind on letting you all know everything we've been up to, or we have just been way too busy the past couple weeks!! lol So, let's see . . . I'll try not to give too many pictures, but there's just so many to share!
So last week we had another MOPS park play date - only this one wasn't actually at a park. One of the Moms, Audrey owns a bunch of land in Wellington (farming community just north of Fort Collins) and has her own private lake! So we all went to Audrey's house to play on the beach and in the lake! It was so awesome - I'm totally jealous! It was Jayce's first time to play in the sand and he wasn't quite sure what to think of it. But Riley found some water guns and had a BLAST!! We also got a surprise visit from a VERY LONG water snake! All the boys were completely fascinated, and all the girls went screaming from the water! hahaha!
Later that week I gave Jayce another Haircut! He was starting to get "stringy" and I was fighting tangles all the time. So we gave him a little trim on top just to cut off the scraggly ends. It looks so much better, and it's still long. Other info on Jayce in the last couple weeks: He's crawling now!! It's kinda a Froggie-hop, but it's on hands and knees instead of his belly and elbows. It goes, hand, hand, hop with both knees - and it's so cute! He can also blow raspberries and get to a sitting position on his own. We introduced finger foods this week - "puffs" and he's not quite sure about those yet. I think he's gonna be my picky eater! He already shows a preference for tastes and textures.
ok, moving on! We made a trip to Walmart for some new folding chairs (we finally blew ours out over the 4th) and got the boys some kid sized ones - so cute!! And a baby pool (it's just been so dag-gone hot around here!!) So we've also been spending a lot of time outside in our Mini-pool and Homemade Water slide! I love how easy they are to entertain at this age!
This week we did a lot of running around too. Tuesday I found out that one of the outdoor malls in Loveland has a Free Kids Day on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays. They have games, balloon makers, face painting and more - all for free. So we went to check it out! IT WAS SO HOT THOUGH!!! I'm glad they have these little random squirt fountains! Riley LOVED it - once he figured out that it was ok to get his clothes wet. (I figured after about an hour in the 98+ degree heat even his thick canvas shorts would be dry for the drive home!!) So we played in the fountains, got balloons made (Riley a sword, Jayce a Monkey), rode in a horse drawn carriage, and got face paintings. Riley wanted a scorpion . . . OK!!
Then on Thursday we went on a hike with some friends to our favorite waterfall! And luckily there was still a LOT of water falling, cuz it was super hot again! But the main event - a Rattlesnake! It was laying right in the middle of the trail and after stomping on the ground near it, tossing stones at the ground and beating the ground with a stick (because snakes feel the vibrations) I had assumed that the snake was dead. There was absolutely NO movement at all through this including no flicking tongue. So, I proceeded to poke the snake before attempting to flip it off the trail with the stick. After about the third or forth poke, the snake decided it was time to wake up from it's deep slumber!!! And turned to coil, rattle and strike! Thankfully it was a baby snake (I only counted about four buttons on its rattle and it was about 20 inches long max) and my ranger training has taught me that rattlesnakes can only "jump" half the length of their body, so I got a stick that was at least as long as the snake knowing he wouldn't be able to reach me. So after that wake up call (for both the snake and the onlookers on the trail) he packed up and moved on . . . and so did we - rather quickly! I think the kids learned an important lesson that day - Let a trained professional handle a snake - even if you think it's dead!
And then, ANOTHER hike today!! This time with Daddy too! We went to Red Mountain open space and hiked the Bent Rock trail. There were a ton of biting flies and mosquitoes, but it was so beautiful and there was a nice breeze, so it was a fabulous time.
Overall we've had a great couple of weeks. It's hard to think that July has gone by so quickly! But I'm looking forward to August! At least the first week of it! The first weekend I'm off to a kid-free weekend with about 4000 other Christian Moms. Yep, it's time for MOPS Convention again!! This year it's in Nashville, TN. I can't wait for my mini-vacation and rejuvenation opportunity! And I have to say how grateful I am to have such wonderful MOPS Moms as friends! One of my friends is going to watch Jayce and Riley for us while Cameron is working and I'm gone . . . all so that Cam can save his vacation days and we can take a trip to Hawaii later this year!! Yes, I said HAWAII!!! I'm stoked!!! I finally get a beach vacation!!! More info to come about that later as details unfold. But that's all for now . . . have a great rest of July everyone - and stay cool out there!
So last week we had another MOPS park play date - only this one wasn't actually at a park. One of the Moms, Audrey owns a bunch of land in Wellington (farming community just north of Fort Collins) and has her own private lake! So we all went to Audrey's house to play on the beach and in the lake! It was so awesome - I'm totally jealous! It was Jayce's first time to play in the sand and he wasn't quite sure what to think of it. But Riley found some water guns and had a BLAST!! We also got a surprise visit from a VERY LONG water snake! All the boys were completely fascinated, and all the girls went screaming from the water! hahaha!
Later that week I gave Jayce another Haircut! He was starting to get "stringy" and I was fighting tangles all the time. So we gave him a little trim on top just to cut off the scraggly ends. It looks so much better, and it's still long. Other info on Jayce in the last couple weeks: He's crawling now!! It's kinda a Froggie-hop, but it's on hands and knees instead of his belly and elbows. It goes, hand, hand, hop with both knees - and it's so cute! He can also blow raspberries and get to a sitting position on his own. We introduced finger foods this week - "puffs" and he's not quite sure about those yet. I think he's gonna be my picky eater! He already shows a preference for tastes and textures.
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| Pre-haircut |
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| Blowing Raspberries |
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| Post Haircut |
ok, moving on! We made a trip to Walmart for some new folding chairs (we finally blew ours out over the 4th) and got the boys some kid sized ones - so cute!! And a baby pool (it's just been so dag-gone hot around here!!) So we've also been spending a lot of time outside in our Mini-pool and Homemade Water slide! I love how easy they are to entertain at this age!
This week we did a lot of running around too. Tuesday I found out that one of the outdoor malls in Loveland has a Free Kids Day on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays. They have games, balloon makers, face painting and more - all for free. So we went to check it out! IT WAS SO HOT THOUGH!!! I'm glad they have these little random squirt fountains! Riley LOVED it - once he figured out that it was ok to get his clothes wet. (I figured after about an hour in the 98+ degree heat even his thick canvas shorts would be dry for the drive home!!) So we played in the fountains, got balloons made (Riley a sword, Jayce a Monkey), rode in a horse drawn carriage, and got face paintings. Riley wanted a scorpion . . . OK!!
Then on Thursday we went on a hike with some friends to our favorite waterfall! And luckily there was still a LOT of water falling, cuz it was super hot again! But the main event - a Rattlesnake! It was laying right in the middle of the trail and after stomping on the ground near it, tossing stones at the ground and beating the ground with a stick (because snakes feel the vibrations) I had assumed that the snake was dead. There was absolutely NO movement at all through this including no flicking tongue. So, I proceeded to poke the snake before attempting to flip it off the trail with the stick. After about the third or forth poke, the snake decided it was time to wake up from it's deep slumber!!! And turned to coil, rattle and strike! Thankfully it was a baby snake (I only counted about four buttons on its rattle and it was about 20 inches long max) and my ranger training has taught me that rattlesnakes can only "jump" half the length of their body, so I got a stick that was at least as long as the snake knowing he wouldn't be able to reach me. So after that wake up call (for both the snake and the onlookers on the trail) he packed up and moved on . . . and so did we - rather quickly! I think the kids learned an important lesson that day - Let a trained professional handle a snake - even if you think it's dead!
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| Justin, Riley and Makenna cooling off after the hike |
And then, ANOTHER hike today!! This time with Daddy too! We went to Red Mountain open space and hiked the Bent Rock trail. There were a ton of biting flies and mosquitoes, but it was so beautiful and there was a nice breeze, so it was a fabulous time.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Happy Birthday Daddy
Happy Birthday to Cameron! Yesterday was his 31st Birthday, and we had a full day of activities planned! First, Laurel our wonderful babysitter came to play with the boys while Cam and I took a trip down to Denver. He has been wanting to go skydiving for a while, and since I have no desire to do that, I thought taking him Indoor Skydiving would be a good compromise. He gets the thrill, and I will do it too! So here is a video of our Skydiving Experience.
Let me just say - Even I enjoyed it! Cameron was beyond thrilled!! And I get to experience it, and say that I've done it. I like the idea of a controlled environment. Although I may have awakened a sleeping giant in Cameron . . . he's now itching for the real thing! So much as to get recommendations from our instructor! Oh, Boy! I may be posting video and pictures of that soon!
After Skydiving we stopped at Cheesecake Factory for lunch - can I say YUM!! Food was Excellent, and cheesecake was even better! Man, I wish there was one of those up in Fort Collins - but maybe with the prices it's better there isn't one! lol
Afternoon was quite relaxing, and dinner was steak and chicken on the grill. Cameron wanted steak for dinner . . . and since I don't eat it he made chicken for Riley and I. I think it made his more special for him, since he's the only one who got one . . . at least I hope that's how he sees it! Of course we were still pretty full from lunch, so lots of leftovers for today!
Cam's special request for "cake" was a lemon dessert from his mom's recipe. I almost never make it because I'm horrible at separating egg whites and yolks and you have to do it 3 times in this recipe. So another Special Treat! That's where we stuck his candles and sang Happy Birthday!
Then after dark - MORE FIREWORKS!!! Riley thought this was great, and I like the tradition of saving some of the 4th Fireworks for Cameron's Birthday as well. We did all the big fountains, and our neighbors joined in with some of theirs too. But he saved the best for last. A string of 5000 (yes THOUSAND) firecrackers!! It reminded me of some that we did in China (on a MUCH smaller scale of course) and everyone enjoyed it, except maybe Jayce who was sleeping up until that point!! Definitely have to find more of those for next year!
Let me just say - Even I enjoyed it! Cameron was beyond thrilled!! And I get to experience it, and say that I've done it. I like the idea of a controlled environment. Although I may have awakened a sleeping giant in Cameron . . . he's now itching for the real thing! So much as to get recommendations from our instructor! Oh, Boy! I may be posting video and pictures of that soon!
After Skydiving we stopped at Cheesecake Factory for lunch - can I say YUM!! Food was Excellent, and cheesecake was even better! Man, I wish there was one of those up in Fort Collins - but maybe with the prices it's better there isn't one! lol
Afternoon was quite relaxing, and dinner was steak and chicken on the grill. Cameron wanted steak for dinner . . . and since I don't eat it he made chicken for Riley and I. I think it made his more special for him, since he's the only one who got one . . . at least I hope that's how he sees it! Of course we were still pretty full from lunch, so lots of leftovers for today!
Cam's special request for "cake" was a lemon dessert from his mom's recipe. I almost never make it because I'm horrible at separating egg whites and yolks and you have to do it 3 times in this recipe. So another Special Treat! That's where we stuck his candles and sang Happy Birthday!
Then after dark - MORE FIREWORKS!!! Riley thought this was great, and I like the tradition of saving some of the 4th Fireworks for Cameron's Birthday as well. We did all the big fountains, and our neighbors joined in with some of theirs too. But he saved the best for last. A string of 5000 (yes THOUSAND) firecrackers!! It reminded me of some that we did in China (on a MUCH smaller scale of course) and everyone enjoyed it, except maybe Jayce who was sleeping up until that point!! Definitely have to find more of those for next year!
Tuesday, July 05, 2011
4th Fun
Another great Forth of July Weekend for the Louie's! We had a blast! Saturday we spent the evening with our friends the Felkers! They had a BBQ, Felker style (all out smoker!!) and it was yummy!! The boys had so much fun playing together in the sprinklers with all the kids (wish I would have gotten some pictures!) and Mom and Dad had fun having some adult conversations! We don't spend enough time hanging out with our friends! Also, I made a yummy Flag Cheesecake for the occasion. It's wasn't nearly as good as some of the other food (pulled pork, chocolate pie and 24-hr salad to be specific) but it was festive and I was proud of it!
Sunday we went "Camping" . . . in the backyard! I have been wanting to do a campout for a while, and with Jayce as touchy as he is about change I didn't want to experiment in a campground full of people, so we did a "test run" in the backyard. And I'm glad we did!! He was not a Happy Camper - pun intended! He only woke up twice during the night, but that's a lot for him since he usually will sleep 10 hours straight, and he was rather difficult to get back to sleep once he woke up. But Riley LOVED IT!! We set up the tent about 5:30 and he kept bugging us to go to bed (a first for him!) We finally went out to hang out in the tent around 8 when it cooled down enough to stand it (temps here have been horribly high). Then around 9 we went back in side to get ready for bed . . . I love being able to go inside to my own bathroom to brush my teeth or get a drink of water! We will be camping in the backyard a lot more often! Jayce feel asleep on the living room floor while we were getting ready for bed, and Riley wasn't far behind when we got in the tent. Come to think of it . . . neither were Mommy and Daddy! Cam had run a horribly long 20 mile trail run that morning and nearly passed out on trail from the heat. he made it back to the trailhead and called me withing minutes of me calling my Ranger buddies to go find him!
We woke up the next morning, had cinnamon rolls and went out for a hike! We hiked Devil's Backbone . . . the Wild Loop via the Keyhole. Riley Loved the Keyhole, and climbing on all the rocks! He didn't love all the other hiking as much, but he was a trooper and made it the whole way, almost 3 miles, by himself as temperatures rose to 90 degrees at 11 am. I'm so proud of him!!! Jayce did good too. This was his first hike in the backpack carrier instead of the sling. He didn't like it at first, but soon realized that he wasn't going to get out and learned to deal with it. Other than the heat, we did great!
Later in the evening we had our own version of a bar-b-que - brats, dogs and corn-on-the-cob!!! Yum Yum!! We love our corn-on-the-cob in this house!!
Then it was time for fireworks!! We did a few in the driveway: sparklers, smoke bombs, snap pops, etc. with the Felkers, then we all took a trip to Windsor Lake to watch the big show!! Minus a small shower just before showtime that sent us all running for the cars . . . it was a Great 4th of July!!
I'm So Thankful to live in a Country were we can celebrate the freedoms that we have, and remember those who have given their lives to keep it that way. God Bless America!!
One more thing to share - both Riley and Jayce had checkups last week. Both are healthy and growing! Riley has slowed down a bit since his 3 year checkup. He now weighs 35 lbs and is 42 inches tall. It's a good thing we bought that booster seat! Jayce is growing as well! He's still in the 1% for his weight gain at 13 lbs 15 oz., but he skyrocketed from the 45% to the 72% in his height!!! He's now 27 inches, and the doctor doesn't seem at all concerned about his growth anymore, she said "he's just putting all his effort in to getting taller!" That's how we Louie's grow 'em - Long and Lean!!! Jayce loves eating baby food too. I've been making it myself, and he eats it almost faster than I can make it!! I spent the last couple days making a few more batches. So we've added squash to the menu and some pomegranate pears, along with a couple more batches of the favorites sweet potatoes, apples and bananas.
This weekend is another Jam-Packed weekend of Fun! Cam's Birthday is Saturday and I have quite a surprise planned for him (at least I hope it's still a surprise! He has a tendency to guess my surprises long beforehand!) And if this heat keeps up we'll be making many more trips to the pool! Hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th, have a good week!
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| Setting up the tent |
Sunday we went "Camping" . . . in the backyard! I have been wanting to do a campout for a while, and with Jayce as touchy as he is about change I didn't want to experiment in a campground full of people, so we did a "test run" in the backyard. And I'm glad we did!! He was not a Happy Camper - pun intended! He only woke up twice during the night, but that's a lot for him since he usually will sleep 10 hours straight, and he was rather difficult to get back to sleep once he woke up. But Riley LOVED IT!! We set up the tent about 5:30 and he kept bugging us to go to bed (a first for him!) We finally went out to hang out in the tent around 8 when it cooled down enough to stand it (temps here have been horribly high). Then around 9 we went back in side to get ready for bed . . . I love being able to go inside to my own bathroom to brush my teeth or get a drink of water! We will be camping in the backyard a lot more often! Jayce feel asleep on the living room floor while we were getting ready for bed, and Riley wasn't far behind when we got in the tent. Come to think of it . . . neither were Mommy and Daddy! Cam had run a horribly long 20 mile trail run that morning and nearly passed out on trail from the heat. he made it back to the trailhead and called me withing minutes of me calling my Ranger buddies to go find him!
We woke up the next morning, had cinnamon rolls and went out for a hike! We hiked Devil's Backbone . . . the Wild Loop via the Keyhole. Riley Loved the Keyhole, and climbing on all the rocks! He didn't love all the other hiking as much, but he was a trooper and made it the whole way, almost 3 miles, by himself as temperatures rose to 90 degrees at 11 am. I'm so proud of him!!! Jayce did good too. This was his first hike in the backpack carrier instead of the sling. He didn't like it at first, but soon realized that he wasn't going to get out and learned to deal with it. Other than the heat, we did great!
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| Riley and Daddy at the Keyhole |
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| Riley became obsessed with Cacti during this hike!! |
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| Smoke bomb |
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| Yes, that would be my husband lighting a sparkler with a blowtorch! |
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| Greg was great at passing out the snap pops! |
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| Jayce Liked watching the big fireworks |
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| Riley, Lacey and Jax |
I'm So Thankful to live in a Country were we can celebrate the freedoms that we have, and remember those who have given their lives to keep it that way. God Bless America!!
One more thing to share - both Riley and Jayce had checkups last week. Both are healthy and growing! Riley has slowed down a bit since his 3 year checkup. He now weighs 35 lbs and is 42 inches tall. It's a good thing we bought that booster seat! Jayce is growing as well! He's still in the 1% for his weight gain at 13 lbs 15 oz., but he skyrocketed from the 45% to the 72% in his height!!! He's now 27 inches, and the doctor doesn't seem at all concerned about his growth anymore, she said "he's just putting all his effort in to getting taller!" That's how we Louie's grow 'em - Long and Lean!!! Jayce loves eating baby food too. I've been making it myself, and he eats it almost faster than I can make it!! I spent the last couple days making a few more batches. So we've added squash to the menu and some pomegranate pears, along with a couple more batches of the favorites sweet potatoes, apples and bananas.
This weekend is another Jam-Packed weekend of Fun! Cam's Birthday is Saturday and I have quite a surprise planned for him (at least I hope it's still a surprise! He has a tendency to guess my surprises long beforehand!) And if this heat keeps up we'll be making many more trips to the pool! Hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th, have a good week!
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