Weekend in Denver

It's always fun to get away from the norm.  So that's what we decided to do this past weekend.  =)

We spent Friday-Sunday in an amazing hotel (which according to Noah had a "very fun pool"), tried a bunch of fun/new places to eat, shopped, took the little man to ride the light rail (since he's a fan of trains), visited a pumpkin patch and just had fun spending time together for Jen's birthday.

Playing with pizza dough while waiting for our pizza.  He loved cutting it, smashing it, tearing it apart, coloring on it and throwing it (oops!).  =)

 

At the pumpkin patch!  He LOVED the goats.  "Those goats are really sweet, Mommy! I want one!"

 

"Where's MY pumpkin, Daddy?  Here it is!  This is the one I want!" 

 

Making us chase him through the corn maze.  Over 30 minutes we did this!  =)

 

 

Love.

 

Rubber duck races! 

 

He was absolutely beside himself with excitement.  Who'd of ever thought....  Most likely, you'll see us riding it again in the future for the heck of it.  =)

 

"Look, Mommy!"  Oh boy.....

 

 

And that was our weekend in a nutshell.  =)

 

 

"So, do you have any kids?"

(By Jen)

It's a question I get asked of often by some of my patients. 

My response: "Oh yes! I have THE cutest 2-year-old boy!  Wanna see a picture?"  The answer is always "yes."  ;)  I proceed to pull my phone out of my pocket and find the most recent and adorable picture of Noah.  They "ooooooh" and "ahhhhhh" and say "he looks like the most delectable little boy ever."  My heart swells with pride.  =)

What I SHOULD start doing, is to take pictures around the house - kinda like evidence - and then ask: "what do YOU think?"  ;)

Like a few of these for example, that I just so happened to capture on my phone.  See for yourself.  What do YOU think?  =)

Nose and lip prints on the window.  Cars lined up "just like the train outside, Mommy!"

 

"Look, Mommy!  I pushed all your handles up!" 

 

Found this under the fridge one night just before going to bed..... =) 

 

Found this one afternoon while dusting..... =) 

 

Went to get a mixing bowl one morning and found socks in his favorite hiding place.   

 

"Mommy, I put George in time-out." 

 

"Mommy, I picked out my own oatmeal!" 

 

Somebody found my heated mattress pad control and turned it all the way up on high - I found it late one afternoon..... it had been heating up my side of the bed for hours..... ;)

 

"Isn't my craft beautiful?"

 

"I wiped myself, Mommy!" 

 

 

L.O.V.E all of this. 

Wouldn't have it any other way or trade it for anything different. 

Ever.

Summer is OVER?!?!

Yesterday was the last day of Summer - can't believe how FAST it flew by.  =( Probably because we did SO many fun things!  =)

First off, our Arkansas Trip.  Boy, did we all have a great time AND a relaxing time.  Great Gran had a bunch of cars and trucks, a swimming pool, a squirt gun and bubbles waiting for Noah when he got there.  (Can someone say, spoiled?)  We also enjoyed doing s'mores out at her firepit, catching fireflies at night, hitting up all the flea markets, having fun shopping days, getting together with all the girl cousins, attending the annual reunion, feeding the ducks out at the lake, eating lots of fried food, helping Gran with chores and picking out things we wanted of Gran's to take home.  It was fun because Greg came out for a few days too!  (That was after he had surprise flowers delivered to the house for Jen.)  Auntie Cheryl also sent Noah a surprise package in the mail.  (Again, spoiled?)  Noah flew outstandingly both flights and was absolutely beside himself that he got to be in an airplane.  Couldn't ask for a better traveler.

So the rest of the Summer.... we did a LOT.  

We went to our favorite Rockhouse in Palmer Lake for ice cream quite a few times.  We also had to hit up a few fro-yo and slurpee places.  We went to Monument Lake and a few of the parks in Monument.  We visited Kyle at his new coffee shop in Old Colorado City and had an amazing latte!  Jen helped run VBS at church and Noah did awesome in the nursery!  We went to the Pueblo River Walk one evening after Noah's nap.  We've done a lot with our small group families and our neighbors.  Jen and Noah went up to Parker to go swimming with friends.  We went to Cave of the Winds.  We went to Evergreen Lake and did some paddleboating one morning.  We went to the Collins' house to celebrate Bob's birthday and Tucano's to celebrate Greg's birthday.  Greg and Noah went to the Father/Son campout at church one weekend.  We barely (and we mean BARELY) missed being 3 victims of a drunk driver one evening.  We had a fun bbq and did a little kids parade with our friends for July 4th.  We went to our neighborhood picnic and had fun hanging out with and meeting new neighbors.  We had a few date nights.  Greg biked Pikes Peak with a couple friends one morning.  Jen had quite a few playdates.  We hosted a bridal shower for Katy here at the house.  We had a few neighbors over for dinner, celebrating friendship and warm weather.  We mourned the loss of a friend at church who was killed in the war.  Noah had the honor of being the ring bearer (a.k.a. "ring security") at Katy's wedding, while Jen had the honor of being the wedding coordinator, and Greg got to run the sound.  To end the Summer on a VERY high note, Greg got a stellar promotion and a new position at work!! 

We've had a very blessed, fun and fulfilling Summer!  Maybe Fall will provide us with some down days.  =)

We took pictures of just about everything we did this Summer (no, really?), but instead of posting all our pics, we'll just post a few.  Enjoy!  Happy Fall! 

 

The Vacation of a Lifetime

The vacation we've been planning and looking forward to for over a year now, has finally come and gone.  We just got back from a week-long cruise to Alaska that started off by a 2.5 day sightseeing vacation in Seattle!  It was hands-down one of THE best (and most expensive!) vacations we've ever been on, but it was definitely worth it - and it really WAS "the vacation of a lifetime."

So first off, Seattle..... never been before.  Loved finally getting to see in person what we've always heard about and seen on TV.  (Instead of posting a lot of Seattle pics, just know we did all the fun touristy things: Starbucks, Pike Place Market, a ferry ride, the Space Needle, etc.....)

Next up?  Bon Voyage!  Alaska here we come!  (And since you already know what WE look like, we'll post pics that are mostly of the gorgeous scenery we got to take in - which is a hard task since we took over 700 pics!)  =)

 

 

Oh yeah..... one of the most fun parts about this trip?  Almost all of Jen's family on her Mom's side went!!!  =)  Such good times, lots of laughs, and amazing memories.  =)

 

 

P.S.  For more pics, look at Facebook.  =)