Colorado Wedding

Well, the good news is that we are all still sane! (I think.)  Actually, the car ride well surpassed expectations!!  The kids turned out to be great travelers - Owen liked to look outside and contemplate while hugging Bo or playing on the iPad, and Hadley just slept the entire time!  

We did a big loop from Idaho through Wyoming down to Breckenridge, and came through Utah on the way back.  We got to see some really pretty fall color up in the mountains (it was more impressive in person).  I'm breaking it up into 2 posts, the second of which will cover Arches NP and the ride home, which was gorgeous scenery, by the way.  Without further ado, on to the pictures.  

We spent the first night in Green River, WY.  Not much there, but our hotel was really nice and had these interesting rock formations, which Owen and Daddy hiked up to before dinner.  The view from our hotel room:

That little speck to the left of the rock is Daddy, to give some perspective of the size and distance of these massive blocks.

At the local Buckaroo's, where we ate dinner, we were seated at the "Moose table".  Wonder why it's called that?  If this guy was alive, his drool would have dripped on my head!

Then we arrived to the condo in Breckenridge by late the next afternoon and met up with family.  The condo was a great set-up with 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, and housed 12 of us total.  The little balcony overlooked a chair lift; I'd love to stay there in winter!!

Owen really took to Drake (his second cousin) and followed him around happily, calling him "the boy" or "Jake".  :) 

Owen likes to take a bite from his cracker and then determine what animal/car it is shaped like.  :)

Saturday was filled with a hike up the mountain, the wedding rehearsal, and rehearsal dinner.  We took Hadley on the hike in the Bjorn (she slept pretty much the whole time), but Owen had already been on a hike that morning and didn't want to go with the big group (he took a nap at the condo instead).  More beautiful scenery and weather, although it was warmer than I was expecting!

The wedding rehearsal took place at the Sawmill Reservoir, which we had seen on our hike.  Very scenic and too tempting for a toddler to stay put.

The rehearsal dinner was a little crowded and emotionally charged, but Uncky Dan found a quiet spot for Owen. 

Finally, the wedding was an intimate affair on the lake.  Beautiful!  Congrats Aunt Loni and Uncle Lampe!

I especially love that Aunt Loni wore her grandmother's veil.  So special!

Last, but not least, the reception was at a resort restaurant.  The food was great, especially the cake.  So glad we could be there to help celebrate with everyone.

  

Hadley 2-month Portraits

These were taken at the end of August, so she wasn't quite 8 weeks old yet.  I was just impressed that she lasted an hour awake and was not fussy.  And we got some with big bro, too.  :)  Maybe we'll get them to smile next time!

Wedding Toast

2012 has been a busy year for the family.  We are preparing to journey to Aunt Loni's wedding in Colorado.  We decided to drive it (~11 hours) rather than deal with a toddler and an infant in an airport/airplane/rental car situation while hauling all kinds of seats/toys/food/diapers along.  Hopefully, we'll be able to maintain our sanity and find some kind of rhythm on the road, probably breaking it up into two, more manageable travel days.  Wish us luck!

In honor of the upcoming nuptials, I'm posting a picture that I wanted to get from Uncle Dan's wedding:

Cheers to the happy couple(s)!  

See you on the other side. (of a mere car trip, wedded celebrations, or sanity...? We'll see!)

We have a Pre-schooler!

This week, Owen had his first days as a pre-schooler.  We're trying out a Montessori toddler program two mornings a week (W and Th).  So far, he loves it!  He's so excited to roll his backpack into the school every morning, it makes me smile.  And he's had no separation issues, which I guess I can thank MOPS last year for.  I think he's ready for some structure and creative activities, while I enjoy a little break and solo time with Hadley.  Yea! (He was deliberately trying not to smile in this pic.)

Some funny things he's saying these days:
"pun-ioca" - tapioca pudding
"Mommy's 'puter" - breast pump
"Owen's 'puter" - iPad
"butter crackers" - crackers with peanut butter
asking Daddy "how was work today?" when he comes home :)

Hadley's smiling more and making cute little cooing sounds that sound like sighs.  She's also scooting around (on her back) quite a bit when laid on a blanket on the floor.

When she's in the swing, sometimes she has a random hand position for several minutes.  I think she startles and then is slow to go back to resting position...?  This hand was up for about 5 minutes.

And for those keeping track of my garden, we are deep into tomato and raspberry season now!  The cherry tomato plant has been really productive, and my racquetball-sized tomatoes are ripening now, but we've had a few nights with frost, so time's running out on the garden.

Open Wide

Owen recently made his first visit to the dentist!  He did great with the x-rays, but needed a little convincing (bribery) for the dentist's exam and cleaning.  It's a pediatric dentist, and their whole office is movie-themed, which would be great if Owen wasn't deathly afraid of movies!  (I blame our super-sized screen in the basement for this fear.  He loves TV on the smaller set, but won't watch anything remotely scary.)  They even had a screen on the ceiling above the chair, but once we removed the headphones and turned it off, he was much better.

Part of his after-dentist bribe was taking a tour of the local fire station afterwards!  He thought it was pretty cool, and he even got to spray some water.

Sometimes I lay Hadley's burp rags over her legs to keep her a little warmer since we're not quite in blanket weather yet.  Owen thought this was pretty funny and started layering items around/over Hadley up to her face.  Didn't I mention that he's helpful?!  Don't worry, this was a supervised activity!  :)