Labor Day Week and More

What a busy couple of weeks.  Casey and I flew to Virginia on the 1st of September.  We dropped Casey off at Grandma Gail and Grandpa Tom's house and they headed to the lakehouse for the weekend with Aunt Marcy, Uncle Stuart, Jack and Lily.  Casey had a blast running crazy with her cousins. 

Stan and I headed to Glacier National Park in Montana for Kirsi and Konlee's wedding.  The views flying in are amazing.  We rented a boat on Flathead Lake, did a quick hike up to Avalanche Lake inside the park, and of course enjoyed the wedding at Apgar Ampitheater and the reception at Green Valley Ranch.  The park is beautiful, we look forward to going back again soon.

We all spent the following week in VA.  Monday was the VT/Boise St game at FedEx Field.  Grandma & Grandpa kept Casey while we went to the exciting but disappointing game.  Tuesday, Casey and I got to picked Lily up at the bus stop.  She is now in Kindergarten and seems to love it!  We visited Jessica and her youngest, Jake on Wednesday.  Thursday, we met up with Aunt Marcy, Lily and Jack to go Apple Picking in MD.  Unfortunately, Casey was in a bit of a mood that day, so there was a lot of whining and crying and disciplining going on, but we made it and did enjoy some moments.  Casey ate a few apples and assisted Lily in feeding the goats some grass/weeds.  Friday, Grandpa Tom took gave me some flying lessons.  Though I was a bit rusty at first (made the plane take a short cut down a small grassy hill to get to the runway), I got better as the morning went on and I am now an expert at turns, 360's and take offs (at least in my eyes).  Next lesson, landings.

Friday we drove down to Roanoke to visit Gramma Lois.  We all went to the VT/JMU game in Blacksburg.  It poured down rain the whole game.  Casey was great!  She watched the whole 1st quarter, slept through the 2nd quarter and half time, woke for the 3rd quarter.  We left early because of the rain and got to listen to the loss on the radio.  Nuff said.

We're back in Dillon now.  Casey was a good little traveler, but was definitely ready to get back home.  She is quite the talker.  She loves trying to join in on conversation and she'll come out with words and sayings that are definitely influenced by Mom.  She's starting to be interested in playing with other kids.  At the playground on Tuesday, she found a little girl who was younger than her and went and sat by her and "petted" her (Casey's words, "Mom, I'm petting the little girl.") and kept saying, "awwww" and giving her awkward hugs.  She would go play on something, then say, "I need to go see the little baby girl."  She can do a somersault all by herself now.  She perfected them at Gramma Lois' house.  Looking forward to tumbling on Friday!

A belated Happy Birthday to cousin Lily who turned 6 on Sept 10th!!

Enjoy the pix.

Me and Kristi on Flathead Lake in Montana

Doing the bear "Roar" at Avalanche Lake inside Glacier National Park

The wedding was at the Apgar Ampitheater inside the park on Lake McDonald.

Our camera does not do the views justice.

Apple picking with Lily and Jack

Tasting the goods

Tantrum. 

After about 30 minutes of apple picking,

she decided she didn't want to walk on the ground with the smooshed apples.

Hanging with her cousins, eating apples

I'm a sucker for these cutouts

At the Hokies game in Blacksburg in her rain poncho.  She yells, "Go Hokies, Go Hokie Bird."

Two Weeks in August

It's been two weeks since our last blog. We've been busy at home! Casey has been back at school and having fun with all her friends and teachers. On the 20th we went to WaterWorld in Denver with Sarah, Rowan and Kristi. Everyone had a blast! And there were plenty of slides that the girls were allowed to go on. There was also a great toddler area with a shallow pool, fountains, slides, splash area and more. Unfortunately, the camera I brought did not have a memory card, so no pix:(

That following Saturday, Stan ran in the first annual Warrior Dash at Copper Mountain. A 3.27 mile run/obstacle course. He had to jump over cars, climp a haystack, run through tires, run up the mountain and down the mountain, crawl through a mud pit, climp over a wall and jump over fire. He got muddy and a little beat up, but he had a good time doing it! Thank goodness he survived, because he was in charge of kids that night, while I had "book club" at the house.

This weekend we went hiking around Cataract Lake in Heeney, which is about 30 minutes from us, near Green Mountain Reservoir. The hike was amazing!!

Aunt Kel is still living with us. So we've been trying to keep her entertained. We have all been playing some tennis lately. We have all improved our games a whole lot since the first day.

Casey quote:
Mommy putting bananas around her breakfast instead of in the syrup: "How's that?"
Casey: "it's perfect!"

Casey is still VERY two! She is testing me and aunt kel and stan constantly. Tonight as we were walking she kept saying, "Mommy, no talking. Mommy, stop talking!" She is spending more and more time in "time-out" or her crib, which she seems to prefer sometimes, instead of apologizing or agreeing to obey Mommy. Hoping this phase will end quickly:)

Enjoy the pix and video.

Eating breakfast with bear

Stan at the start line of the Warrior Dash

Stan, the one in the white shirt, running the tires at the Warrior Dash

Finished the Warrior Dash...a bit muddy

Casey...ready for fishing or biking...whatever comes first

hiking Cataract Lake...there is a waterfall in the background

Casey got to get out of the backpack and hike with Mommy and Stacia

Cuts & Bruises

This week, Casey went canoing twice!  Once with Mommy and Aunt Kel on Friday, then again with Mommy and Daddy on Sunday.  We found a nice beach on one of the islands in Lake Dillon.  Casey had fun riding in the canoe and playing on the beach.

Saturday we went on a bike ride to Frisco for Music on Main Street.  Casey loves her bike carrier and is very good at keeping herself entertained during the ride.  We met up with Sarah, Brian and Rowan, listened to some music, ate some dinner, then biked home at sunset. 

Monday night, we went to open tumbling at the rec center.  Casey and Rowan were the only kids who showed up, which was fine with them.  They got to play on their normal tumbling obstacle course stuff and then they got to jump in a moon bounce and on a trampoline run.  Casey def had no problem falling asleep tonight.

Casey is a very active kid and has been quite the 2 year old this week.  The mean girl in her came out this week and she started saying "no" a lot more, so we are having to step up the discipline a bit. She's being very independent, "no i do it." She can put her crocs on herself and they usually make it on the correct feet.  She likes to run, but doesn't always watch where she is going, so her legs are a mess.  Both knees are scratched up and she has bruises up and down her legs.  She's pretty tough though.

Enjoy the pix!

Enjoying the day out on the lake

helping dad paddle

the view from the island

playing in the sand

fishing with daddy

July

We were back on the East Coast for the month of July. Aunt Kel caravaned east with us and was a big help with Casey and Frisco! 

The 4th of July and the following week, was spent at Grandma Gail and Grandpa Tom's Lakehouse. Aunt Marcy, Uncle Stuart, Lily and Jack were there to play as well as our cousin Alex, Great Uncle Mike, Great Aunt Jeanne, Alli and Davis from KY. There was a lot of activity. Casey loved swimming in the water, jumping on the island (a big raft floating off the dock), riding on the sea doo's and swinging in the airplane and car swings. She also went kneeboarding (or in her mind..."snowboarding").

We then headed up to NOVA to see friends.  Casey got to play with lot's of kids.  We visited Jessica and her boys, Hunter and Jake at their house. She was frantic trying to play with each and every toy.  We went swimming with Stacey, her little girl, Cate and Dyani and her little boy, Harper. We went to Lily and Jack's pool, where all 3 kids went down the slide into the deep end over and over again. Casey has gotten very comfortable in the water, especially with her water wings on.  The wings have helped her learn to kick on her own...and she's starting to move her arms too.

We headed down to Roanoke for a weekend to visit Gramma Lois.  Casey had fun entertaining Gramma and a  good time at the new rec center splash park. 

We got back to Dillon, then headed out on our annual camping trip the last weekend of July.  It rained most of the weekend, but we did get to go hiking and canoeing, and Casey had a blast rain or shine.  We also stayed in our first B&B, right outside of St. Elmo ghost town, outside of Buena Vista.

Casey has gotten very verbal and very articulate. She talks non-stop, has lot's of questions and demands, wants you to "watch me" "look at me" and says "Mamma, Mommy, Mom" over and over. She has a lot of energy. She is good at playing on her own and loves to look through her books.

Sorry for no blog all month, but it was just too busy of a month!

Enjoy pix.

kneeboarding at lake gaston

on the way to va we stopped in ky to visit cousin wes, tricia, colin and leah

riding on the pontoon with grandma gail

frisco and casey pontooning

riding in the paddle boat with grandpa tom, jack and lily

riding the hot dog on land with her cousins

immediately after this picture, jack pressed the gas and the golf cart headed straight towards the lake...luckily, we were all gathered around and we stopped it in time:)

family portrait

grandparents with their grandkids

riding seadoo with daddy

july 4th weekend with wright family

lake kids

kneeboarding...or what casey calls it, "snowboarding"

we went flying over harpers ferry and along the shenandoah

swinging with hunter and jacob

walking frisco

 at gramma lois' rec center splash park

hiking near cottonwood lake outside of buena vista

more hiking pix

canoeing on cottonwood lake...casey slept most of the ride

cheese

Mary had a Little Lamp verse 2

Beach Week

After a rough travel weekend with United and Continental, we made it to the beach and enjoyed a week of great weather and good company. We were in Emerald Isle, NC last week with Stan's family.... Gramma Lois; Aunt Lisa and her kids, Ashlynne, Morganne and Max; Great Uncle Marvin and Great Aunt Linda; Auntie Cousin Blair and her little boy, Grayson. The weather was perfect.

The first day, Casey was a little unsure about the hot sand and crashing waves, but the next day and the rest of the week, she loved the beach. She would wake up in the morning and say, "I wanna go swimming." She had a great time playing with her cousins, Ashlynne, Morgie, Max and Grayson. She was very independent the whole week, going up and down the stairs finding things to do. "Where are my friends?" she would ask when she woke from her nap. She and Max were crazy together. One minute they were best friends, laying on Max's bed watching TV with their blankeys, the next minute they were fighting, taking things away from each other, crying, hitting (Casey's new thing), then the next minute they would be following each other around the whole house.

Our days were rough...we were on the beach from 9:00 to 11:30 every day. Casey swam in the ocean with a life jacket and swimmies. She would swim back and forth from Daddy, to Mommy, to Aunt Lisa. "I swim by myself." After swimming she and Max would snack under the shade tent, then play in the sand. Up to the house for lunch, then nap. She took the longest naps!! One day she took a 3 1/2 hour nap!!

There were no waves this year, so we rented an ocean kayak for a day. Even Ashlynne got to go out in it and paddle around. It was a fun week!

We got back to CO, Aunt Kel babysat Casey while I went to "book" club Monday night. Aunt Kel hung out most of the week, then went to Boulder for the weekend. This past weekend was mainly packing up the house. We leave tomorrow for VA for the month of July!

Casey wants to wish Gramma Lois a belated birthday! We got to celebrate with her at the beach!!

Here are pix.

Gramma Lois and Casey watching the others build sandcastles

Casey hanging with her cousins, Ashlynne and Max

Swimming in the Ocean

playing in the sand with Max

photo op with her cousins

ready for the beach

snack time with Max (and his yogurt mustache) and Grayson

the crew

Roanoke, Charlotte, Dillon

Memorial weekend was spent in Roanoke and Charlotte.  Casey and I flew to Roanoke Thursday.  Casey was an angel on the plane and I was the envy of many mom's, with my car seat wheelie attachment.  Casey got to watch a movie and then took a long nap. She was very excited to see her Gramma Lois and her Daddy at the airport.  Casey spent the weekend entertaining Gramma, Aunt Donnie, Aunt Linda and Uncle Marvin, while Stan and I drove down to Charlotte for our annual Coca Cola 600 Nascar weekend.  We all had great weather and a very fun weekend.

Last week, Casey got her first haircut.  She was perfect in the chair.  She held still and smiled the whole time. 

This weekend Geoff and Sarah visited from Denver, with their kids, Kaelin and Graham.  Casey had so much fun playing with them.  They played with the sand and water table, always in their "birthday suits," we took a couple walks, and had breakfast at ACafe.  We also went for a hike, and Casey experienced her first peeing in the woods.  Very exciting!!

naked sand and water table play

getting cleaned up after being all sandy

hiking Lily Pad Lake trail

Aunt Kel came up Sunday.  We celebrated her birthday with yummy cake and lots of "Happy Birthday" singing. Monday we took the canoe to Green Mountain Reservoir.  Casey liked riding in the boat and stopping off at different spots along shore and at an island, which we named, "Casey's Island."  She got her first fishing pole and Daddy showed her how to cast it and reel it in.  She can reel it in, but we have to cast it out for her.

figuring out her fishing pole

paddle! nice lips kel

enjoying the ride...and a fruit snack

Aunt Kel teaching Casey how to skip rocks

Daddy and Casey fishing...no one caught any fish this trip:(

in mid cast...even though it's already casted

fishing

Casey is still talking non-stop.  This week, every time I go to get her up from her crib she says, "I wanna go to beach."  She likes to say, "Wha happen?" "You Okay?"  She says, "No thank you" when she doesn't want something you offer her.  "Your Welcome" when you say thank you.  She has become quite a parrot too.  This morning Kel said, "oopsiedaisy" so now Casey has been say this all day.  She likes washing her hands a lot! and has now learned how to get the soap out of the pump by herself.  This weekend, she learned, from Kaelin, about putting lotion on after washing and drying her hands, so now that is part of her hand washing ritual.  She is starting to play a little make believe with her dolls.  She changes their diapers and gives them drinks of her sippy cup and asks them questions and then answers for them.

changing her dolls diaper

bear and doll diapers are changed

"here is how you put on the lotion"