We had a fun trip this past weekend to Colorado.  It was great to see family and friends while we were there.

 The great explorer at Mueller State Park.

 Setting off on our hike that we thought was 1/2 mile.

 Colorado in the fall.  Such pretty trees and colors.

 Still hiking.

 Made it to Rock Pond.  We hadn't intended to hike this far.  We made a wrong turn.  Roundtrip we hiked 4.6 miles.  J and A were troopers.  It was good weather for a walk.  The walk back up the mountain was tough, but we made it.

 

 We took a trip to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.  We fed giraffes, budgees, and chickens. 

 We also saw elephants, grizzly bears, hippos eating hay, zebras, wolves, and lions roaring.  We saw later in the paper that there had been a lion fight, which is why there was so much roaring.  Glad we didn't see it happen.  It was a fun zoo.

 Next, we headed to Garden of the Gods.

Then it was time to come home.  Great trip, and now we are getting back to normal routines.

Go Big Red

A few weeks ago, J and I went on a tour of Memorial Stadium.  Unfortunately, A was sick and couldn't join us.  It was a lot of fun.

 Running out of the tunnel walk.

One random pic of A with her first ponytail from a week ago.



Turning 2!

Better late than never.  Here a few pics from Alyse's birthday.  She looks different now.  She's growing up.

Going on an Adventure

 Our adventure began  in the airport waiting for the airplane.  This was James and Alyse's first time flying and they were very excited.

 

 On the plane as we were getting ready to take off.  They were so excited and sat great on the way to Boston, our destination.

 Sleeping during our descent.

 We had a busy, yet fun trip.  (some of the pictures I wanted to share wouldn't load properly, so I can't share as much as I would like.)  This is Jonathan and I on the USS Constitution.  He and I walked the Freedom Trail through Boston, while James and Alyse went to the science museum with Uncle Aaron and Aunt Elissa.

Old North Church where Paul Revere hung the lanterns.

 Granary burial ground where John Hancock, Paul Revere, victims of the Boston Massacre, Samuel Adams, and parents of Benjamin Franklin are all buried.

This is a shark and sting ray touch tank at the Boston Aquarium.

 Tidal pool touch tank.

Pretty fish.

 

 Resting after a busy day.

 We were fortunate to take a trip to New Hampshire to visit my cousin and his family.  They live close to the beach so we went to see the ocean.  We had a great time of sticking toes in the cold water, building sand castles, burying James in the sand, and finding shells even though it was a cooler day. 

 

Also on our trip, we walked around Harvard, saw the world's only Curious George store, and Jonathan and I left James and Alyse with Aaron and Elissa to go to NYC for the day.  While, in the city it was a cold, rainy, foggy day.  We saw the 9/11 memorial, Times Square, Rockefeller Center, and Central Park.  We walked a lot.  The fog was a disappointment because it changed some of our plans, but we still had a great time.

 

We had a great vacation and it could not have gone any smoother.  We really enjoyed seeing new places and spending time with family.  It's always nice to be home, but we could've stayed longer.

Alyse's First Haircut

It finally happened. Alyse grew enough hair to need a haircut.  I liked it long, but it was getting to shaggy and messy.  She needed it evened out since the sides and top are still a little thin. 

 

Before.

During.  I thought it was going to be great.  She would sit and eat a snack and be fine.  Instead, she screamed and cried the whole time, but she sat still. She doesn't even get this upset at the doctor.

A little calmer.

After.  I miss the long, but she has a cute bob in the back and it is much neater and more even now.

 Time for James.  He did a great job!

Back home after the trauma.  Hopefully, next time will go better.  I will try to get a better after shot of her.

 



R is for Rainbow

 The past few weeks I have been doing a letter of the week with James.  He really enjoys the activies we do. 

We always make a letter craft, have some tracing sheets, or other fun games incorporating the specific letter that we are doing. I try to come up with other hands on activies when I can.

 

  For letter R I came across the idea of rainbow popsicles. I let James make them all on his own. He thought that was great. He made vanilla pudding and then we separated it into bowls where he added food coloring. Then he layered the colors into plastic bottles that I had cut in half, and used baby spoons for a stick. Then froze overnight.

Enjoying the finished product.

 They both enjoyed eating them.  It did make a big popsicle which neither of them could eat all of it, but it was a good solution since I don't have any popsicle molds.