Casey was a big winner this weekend in the 1st ever Strider Cup at Keystone. There were 24 racers in the 2/3 year old division. Casey got 2nd place behind her classmate Wyatt (who turns 4 in Sept). She was the only girl in the semi finals/finals. I don't think she even realizes how good she was, but she had a blast. There was an hour of practice and she would go down the track, then turn around and head straight back to the start line to go again. After each round, she would say, "I wanna go again."
Gramma Lois was in town for the big race. She got to Colorado on Thursday after 2 weeks in Miami. She is hanging with us until Tuesday. Casey is having a blast with her Gramma.
The week was a busy one for Casey. She went to the Dentist on Thursday and got her Summer haircut on Friday. For the teeth cleaning she wanted to sit up and was a bit nervous at first, but after Miss Becky let the toothbrush tickle Casey's finger, Casey was ready to let it tickle her teeth. By the time the Dentist came in to check her teeth, she laid back and opened her mouth no problem. Saturday was the race and then off to Dillon's 4th birthday party Saturday afternoon. Sunday we went back to Keystone for the Summer Mix party, including music, lunch, free snow cones and a little playtime with Dillon and Connor.
Update on potty training...she is much much better. She now tells us when she has to go #1 and #2. She does still wears a pull up at nap and bedtime.
On to pix and video...
at the dentist. no cavities. 20 teeth. 10 on top, 10 on bottom.
happy to have her gramma lois to hang out with
at the starting line during practice
in mid race
being smothered by Riparoo
at the starting line during practice with Wyatt and Asher (these 3 were in the final and place 2, 1, 3 from left to right)
on stage accepting her 2nd place prize bag
taking a moment to say cheese at Dillon's 4th birthday party
enjoying a snow cone with Dillon and Connor at Keystone's Summer Mix party
post snow cone. we'll see if we can get that shirt white again.
Just a quick update. Casey went to her 3 year old check up today with Dr. Britton. She weighs 30 lbs and is 3 feet 1 inch (37 inches). She is 50th percentile for both weight and height, which she has been since day 1. She answered all of Dr. Britton's questions and was very good during the exam. She got 1 shot, the new pneumonia shot.
She def takes after her mom on shots...she tenses up. She was sitting on my lap and I looked at the needle and tensed up too! We both made it through with just a few tears. Casey got a lollipop, a pencil and 2 stickers!!
Casey turned 3 on May 1st. We celebrated at Abasin Ski Resort, what is known as "The Beach." It snowed most of the day, but everyone had a good time. We grilled out and had cupcakes. Casey made one run down the bunny hill, then played in the snow with her friends. It was a joint party with Rowan, who also turned 3 on May 1st. After we got home and took a long nap, we opened presents. Casey loves all of her gifts, she has been playing with all her new toys ever since she opened them!
We're hoping 3 brings us a potty trained little girl (though she just peed in the kitchen tonight), less whining, and a lot more independence. She is definitely starting to be more independent. She can put her undies and pants on by herself, when she wants to. She likes to open things herself now (wrappers, bags, doors, everything really). She is showing a bit of shyness lately when she is in a new environment or around new people. She doesn't like to be the center of attention. We'll see if that changes now that she's 3.
I had a birthday on Friday, April 29th. Stan planned a trip to Denver for the night. We, including Casey, went to dinner at Vesta Dipping Grille with Chrissy and Andrew, who were still in town from NY, then went to the Colorado Rockies baseball game. We had great seats in the club level, which was nice since it started to snow in the 7th inning. The Rockies lost, but we had a good time. We stayed in a hotel in downtown Denver Friday night. Saturday, we met up with Mark, Amy and baby Ella for a "hike," which is more of a walk on a dirt road when you have a 3 year old with you. Casey did pretty good on the hike. She walked a majority of the way and had fun throwing rocks and sticks in the stream that we followed.
It's still snowing out here. We are hoping that brighter Spring weather will come soon.
Casey wants to wish her Grampa Tom congratulations on Retirement...time to be a full time Grampa!
Early Happy Birthday to Grandma Gail who will most likely be celebrating for the next 2 weeks, but whose birthday is on May 7th and to Aunt Marcy who's birthday is on May 8th!!
Happy Mother's Day to all Mom's!
enjoying the rockies game
the birthday girls
digging into her birthday cupcake
saying cheese before taking her own pix with her new camera
It's been snowing all week! We've been waking to 5-9" almost everyday. Got some final days of riding in at Breckenridge this week. Today was closing day for the rest of the big resorts. Not to worry, Abasin will stay open through May.
Last Sat, we got a babysitter for Casey, then headed to Vail with Kathy, Sean, Sarah and Brian to see the band Train, for free! Casey had a blast with the new babysitter and we had a blast without the kids:) Then, last Sunday, Stan took Casey to Copper for another free concert, a Guns and Roses tribute band, Appetite for Destruction. The end of the season festivities.
My friend Chrissy and her husband Andrew came into town this past Friday. We wandered around Breckenridge yesterday while the snow came down hard. They celebrated Easter with us this morning, then headed for a road trip, but will be back later in the week.
The Easter bunny was good to Casey. So were here Grandparents!! Thursday, Casey dyed eggs. Sat night the Easter bunnies hid them and Easter morning Casey was able to find all 12 without too much help. She was very excited about the hunt and her Easter baskets.
We then met Dillon and Connor in Frisco for another Easter egg hunt. Then after naps, we headed to Copper for a free concert, Reel Big Fish. They were very entertaining and Casey had a blast dancing on our shoulders. It snowed the whole time!
Though the snow is still coming down, the temps are rising, so the snow melts quickly, which makes it a bit muddy out here...mudseason.
Casey is getting better at potty training. She still has several accidents during the week, but not every day. More like every other day or sometimes every few days. And sometimes it's just a little accident on the way to the potty. She even told us a couple times that she had to go potty. We're getting there slowly. She still wears a pull up at nap and bedtime. We're just trying to get the daytime training done. Hopefully by her 3rd birthday we can say she's potty trained?? Doesn't hurt to dream.
Casey wants to wish her Grandpa Tom a very Happy Belated Birthday!! And Everyone a Happy Easter!
Enjoy pix...videos will come later...
dying easter eggs
daddy riding his new bike, casey riding her strider
I definitely jinxed myself a few weeks ago, when I said Casey was potty trained. After getting back from vacation, Casey regressed a bit, which is supposedly normal, but it has been a bit frustrating. For a few days it seemed like she was peeing her pants just because she could. We would have just gone to the potty and then she would look at us and say, "I just peed." This happened at least once a day for a week and after she pooped her pants on Friday while we were out to dinner, we were DONE. SO...we had to go back to the basics. We check her undies every 20-30 minutes or so to see if she is dry. If she is, she gets a treat. If she stays dry/clean all day, she gets a toy from her potty toy bag. We also make her go to the potty, instead of asking if she has to go, because the answer to that question is always, "No." So far it's been going well.
Tonight, we had Casey's parent teacher conference. Her teacher Jess had only good things to say about her. She is sweet and sassy, she is a "genius" and a sponge, loves to read books, play with the kitchen and dolls, LOVES any art project and can already use kid scissors very well. She doesn't let the boys push her around at all, which does not surprise me. She moves up from the Bumblebee room to the Panda room next month, since she turns 3 on May 1st.
Casey has been painting lately. She always says who the painting is going to be for. And she always wants to paint one for everyone in the family. She can usually only make it to about 4 paintings before she starts making a mess.
We have been playing the game Memory lately. If we use a third of the cards, she can make it through a couple games and she's pretty good.
She has started putting her hand on her hip when she is explaining something to us or talking on her phone. And she starts her sentences with, "So...maybe we should read a book." "So...can I have my goldfish please?" I've been told that comes from me.
She wants to help with EVERYTHING. She can put her pull up, undies and pants on. She can take her shoes and jacket off by herself (when she wants to). We've been working on her defiant attitude and she seems to be doing much better.
We took her skiing with our friends at Beaver Creek a couple weekends ago. It wasn't as steep a hill, so she could go down all by herself. Unfortunately, we forgot the camera, but we have a video from a few weekends ago at Abasin.
We've had snow the past couple of weeks, so a couple powder days!! Stan and I got to go Cat Skiing today on Freemont Pass for free! A guy Stan plays basketball owns 1000 acres and a snowcat. It snowed yesterday, so we got about 7 untracked powder runs on a blue sky day! Rough life.
Casey wants to wish Frisco a Happy Birthday. She turned 11 yesterday...old lady!
We are back from Spring Break. We flew to San Antonio on Sat, March 12 for a weeks vacation. We drove straight to Port Aransas, which is Mustang Island/Padre Island, next to Corpus Christi. We stayed at Port Royal Oceanside Resort, right on the beach. It had a huge pool and a few hot tubs, which is where we spent most of our time, because the weather was a bit chilly for an unheated pool. After a couple days at the beach, we drove to San Antonio Courtyard Marriott Sea World, our home for the next 4 nights. The hotel had a great heated pool with fountains that Casey loved. We spent 3 days at Sea World. Day 1 we went to the shows, Day 2 we set Casey free on all the playgrounds, including the new Sesame Street Play Area, Day 3 mom and dad got to ride the rides and we all enjoyed the waterpark, The Lost Lagoon. Sea World was fun! We had pretty good weather, cloudy in the morning, then sunny by Noon/1:00, in the upper 70's-mid 80's, so we all brought home a healthy glow.
Friday, we walked up and down Riverwalk in San Antonio. We lucked out and got a table for lunch right on the water. We took a boat tour and walked by The Alamo.
A whole week of no naps and a 10:30/11:00 p.m. bedtime tired us out! Casey was VERY good. She was fearless on the rides. The free fall ride, she laughed every time it dropped (see below, unfortunately, it's too loud to hear her laugh). The past couple weeks she's become extremely independent and very matter of fact. She mentioned today that she is turning 3 soon. When I asked when her birthday was, she thinks, gets that questioning look, I tell her May and she says 1st. Lately, when she is thinking she actually puts her finger up to her cheek and looks up with the thinker look.
Enjoy pix!
Port Royal Oceanside Resort in Port Aransas Texas
posing in front of the middle pool at port royal, at the beach resort in port aransas, tx (near corpus christi)
casey was too small to go down the slides, but we went down them...the water was brrrrrrr
an A-6 on the USS Lexington parked for good in Corpus Christi
our little pilot
hanging with Zoey
merry go round
fearless
playing in the fountains at our hotel pool
swimming at our hotel pool
riding the ferris wheel
hung out with Bert & Ernie
and Shamu
we all got to ride the actual log ride (Texas Splashdown), this is what we looked like
Smedley's alive...alive alive alive!
after a long day at Sea World
relaxing after another long day. what would we do without the dvd player;)
It's been a busy couple of weeks! Casey is officially potty trained. I hate to jinx myself, but she hasn't had an accident for 2 weeks. I still remind her/make her go to the potty, but lately, she is actually telling me when she has to go. She still wears pull ups during nap and bedtime and is definitely not ready to change that, though she did say the other day, "when i get bigger, i'll wear undies to bed." Sounds good to me.
A couple Tuesday's ago, Casey and I went with Sarah and Rowan to Abasin for a morning of skiing. We rented real skis and I even put on skis, which I haven't done in 12 years! We rode the bunny hill lift up and went down the hill with Casey in between my skis. The first run was a bit scary for me, but by the second run, we were both pros getting on and off the lift and skiing down the hill. Casey even skied down next to me the last run.
President weekend we drove down to Pagosa Springs for some powder skiing at Wolf Creek and some rest and relaxation in the Hot Springs. Pagosa Hot Springs Resort has 23 different "hot tub" springs ranging from 93-110 degrees. There was also a hot springs pool that was 85 degrees. Casey loved it there. There were a couple pools that were in the 90's and shallow so it was like she was in a bathtub.
Casey is still taking 1 nap a day, usually around 1:30 or 2:00. It's much needed for both Casey and Mommy. However, if we are out and about, she can sometimes make it without a nap...she just gets a little more defiant at the end of the day. She is definitely a 2 1/2 year old, testing her limits, she says "NO" a lot and spends a fair amount of time in short time outs, before apologizing for talking mean, or for hitting, or for not obeying. She is starting to realize consequences for bad behavior are not that fun. Getting toys taken away because she won't clean them up is starting to work. She is actually starting to notice.
But she is also a very sweet 2 1/2 year old. She enjoys having her Daddy around the house and loves to help with chores. She feeds Frisco dinner most nights, all by herself.
"Casey, do you want to feed Frisco?"
Casey: "Oh Sure!" (that's her answer every time we ask her to do something somewhat interesting). She talks about her best friends and likes to share certain toys with them, even when they are not around.
Casey wants to wish her Daddy an early Happy Birthday (Friday, March 4th)! Can't wait for cake.
Enjoy the pix.
Skiing at Abasin
Ready to Ski
On the lift with Mommy
Casey & Rowan
Pagosa Springs overlooking the San Juan River. This Spring that Stan & Casey are in was about 102 and had a waterfall.
What are you looking at?!
Tracy & Casey behind the waterfall. Not Casey's favorite moment.
