It's been a couple weeks. We "carved" the pumpkins we got from the Silverthorne Pumpkin Fest. They have been on our front step for 2 weeks and are really soft and rotted, but still standing good enough to keep until Halloween.
Stan and I made it to Arapahoe Basin's opening day on Wednesday, October 17th. We arrived at 3:00 p.m., parked up front, no lines, 1 run was open from mid mountain. We got 4 runs in before the mountain closed. After snowboarding, we picked the kids up from school and headed to the Lake Dillon Fire Station for an open house/free hot dogs/safety night. All was good until the smoke trailer added a bit too much smoke for Casey. The fireman wanted Casey to crawl under the smoke, through the trailer and out the window...Casey said "No Way!" Her momma didn't raise no dummy!!
Friday, I took Casey, Garrett and Rowan to the Denver Zoo. We met up with Amy and Ella and Sarah, Kaelin and Graham. It was a little overcast, so the animals were out and about. The Lion was walking around, the bears were playing with their toys, the monkeys were swinging around and the elephants were wandering. The kids got to ride on the merry-go-around and got chocolate ice cream on the way out.
Last Saturday, we went to Vail for a Fun Fest with Sean, Dillon and Connor and Sarah and Rowan and Ava. There was a bounce house, bounce slide, large bounce slide, blow up obstacle course, face painter, balloon animal guy...and Casey ran around for a good 2 hours and did them all while Garrett watched. On Sunday, it was another beautiful day, so we played bocce ball while the kids ran around playing basketball, soccer, hide and seek and on the playground.
This weekend, we drove 2 1/2 hours NE to go to Pope Farms Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch in Wiggins, CO. It was in the middle of nowhere, however, it ended up being a blast!! The corn pit was a huge hit, with the kids burying each other and jumping in, like a ball pit. There was a giant bubble you could jump on, a train, a tractor ride, duck races, a spider web, potato guns, and a huge corn maze, that we were for at least 30 minutes.
Sunday, the kids dressed up and went trick or treating at the Silverthorne Outlets. We made it to all 4 villages this year!!!
Garrett is taking steps. It has been very difficult to get on video. Whenever the camera comes out he decides not to show off. The most consecutive steps so far has been 6.
Happy Belated Birthday to Uncle Stuart!!!
Enjoy the pix.
Casey's Princess Pumpkin and Garrett's Goblin Pumpkin Potato Heads
showing off their new winter hats
opening day at ABasin. pray for snow!!
Ice Cream...a perfect way to end a day at the Zoo!
running through the obstacle course at Vail Fun Fest...
"I am a beautiful Butterfly!"
"Don't bug me...I am performing"
a quick "cheese"
Pope Farms Pumpkin Patch
Family Portrait
The corn pit...
Pumpkin Train...a wild ride
Lost in the Corn Maze
Skeleton and Bat Girl...Trick or Treat at the Silverthorne Outlets
Garrett loves school. He cries the minute I drop him off at Kids Korner at the Rec Center until I leave the room and then plays the rest of the time. However, when I drop him off at school, no tears, he just starts playing. I had to drop something off at lunchtime at the school this past week, so I peeked in at him and he and another little girl were sitting right across from each other (almost on top of each other) throwing a block back and forth. So he will get a check next to, "makes friends easily."
He doesn't eat or sleep much there, but he's happy all day. He takes 2 half hour naps, has been refusing his lunchtime bottle and food, and then will drink about 2 oz at 4 and eat his food. This past Wed we went out to dinner after we picked them up from school and he ended up eating 1 1/2 bottles during dinner!
He had turkey and mango this week and seems to like them. We think he is starting to do the sign language for "all done" and he is sort of starting to wave a little too. He is very into throwing balls and playing with cars. He even knows to make the "vroom" noise when playing with a car.
Casey is doing great. I think we finally have her completely potty trained during the day. I still remind her to go (even though she NEVER has to go when I tell her to go), but she is now going on her own and not peeing her pants at all. I know I'm going to jinx it, but she has not had an accident in a while.
Casey is a very dramatic 4 year old. The other day she was sitting on the floor looking at her toe and where it attaches to the foot she a little cut...she tells me, "mommy, my toe is coming apart!"
She is getting along very well with her brother and keeps him
entertained when he gets fussy in the car by playing peek a boo. He
LOVES his sister. Casey can now recite my phone number without any help. And now we are working on perfecting the writing of her name. She is also learning to use the computer and can now work the mouse pretty well. Playing on the computer has been a good way to work on her impatience. She has to calm down in order to get the cursor right on something to click.
Since our last post, Casey, Garrett and I hiked Old Dillon Reservoir. Then last Sunday, the whole fam hiked Tenderfoot Mountain, which we can see from our living room, to spread Frisco's ashes. Casey hiked the 3 miles without much complaint. This was twice as long as any hike we have done before. We bring lots of treats!
Yesterday we went to the Butterfly Pavilion in Denver. Casey almost held a tarantula...she got up close and personal, but pulled her hand away just before it was dropped into her hand.
This morning we went to the Silverthorne Pumpkin Fest. Casey was dressed as a witch and Garrett was a skeleton. Casey picked out a free pumpkin for both herself and her brother. After the fest, Casey and I drove to Denver for her friends Lainey's and MaKenna's birthday party at their Gymnastic Center. Casey had a blast on the trampolines, beams, bars and sliding into the foam pit.
Enjoy pix!
concentrating
his new favorite toy
Old Dillon Reservoir hike
Tenderfoot Mountain hike, Lake Dillon, Buffalo Mountain in the background, this is the spot we spread Frisco's ashes
Tenderfoot Mountain hike, Keystone in the background
Butterfly Pavilion with Connor and Dillon and some bees in the trunk of a tree...bzzzzz
Garrett started school this week. He is going for a full day on Wednesdays, along with Casey. He did great at drop off. I put him down, standing next to a fellow classmate, put a dump truck in front of him and he was good to go. No crying. He didn't eat lunch, kept pushing the bottle away, and his naps were short, only 30 min and 45 min, but he was happy all day long.
At home he is crawling fast everywhere. Pulling up on everything. Starting to understand the word "NO" and "Do Not Touch" but still likes to test us. He is eating more real food and definitely likes it better than baby food. He ate brown rice couscous, watermelon, bread, bananas, green beans, potatoes and carrots this week.
Garrett has 3 new body languages of the week: arching his back when he doesn't want to get into his high chair, stroller or carseat; straightening his arms in the air, losing his shoulders when he doesn't want us to pick him up; and headbanging, sometimes against furniture, sometimes against my head and sometimes just randomly in the air.
Casey is doing great in swimming. They are working on floating on their backs, feeling comfortable in the deep end and this week, they started working on freestyle. Tumbling is going well too. They got to go on the uneven bars last week which was very exciting for Casey. She ran over and jumped up on the low bar immediately and was first to volunteer for the top bar.
We are working on her listening skills and trying to stop the talking back. The talking back is a bit different then it has been.
Me: "Casey it's bathtime"
Casey: "It's NOT bathtime"
Not that she doesn't want to take a bath...she just wants to say something back.
She has started playing more with Garrett this week. She chases him around and then grabs him and tickles him and he just laughs and laughs.
