Colorado Adventures Part 1

Computer is up and running again and I have the time, so it's time I catch up on blogging! In early August we had the opportunity to go to Colorado again this summer. This was a family trip with Andy's mom's side of the family. We had everyone along from Grandma and Grandpa Wall, all the aunts and uncles, most of the cousins, and 6 of the 9 great children. It was a great trip! Here are some of the highlight.

My little travelers. The kids did great in the car. Two long days of driving. There were lots of books, toys, songs, and movies to help keep everyone entertained.

Brady hardly slept a wink. He didn't want to miss a thing!

This was one of the rare occasions when Alex did nap. He wanted so badly to stay awake, but did give in for a nap every now and then.Anna loved to play with her toys and she napped a fair amount too. She did fantastic on her first big road trip!We were blessed with a great playground set in the backyard area of our condos. That was the good part. The down side was it was literally a dirt patch...no grass at all meant tubs EVERY night since they were always filthy dirty. Alex says, "Who, me?"Bedtime stories with grandpa were a nightly event.

The day after we arrived the whole family loaded up to head into Rocky Mountain National Park for the day. We thought it would be fun to do a day there together as a big group. Just before entering the park, our vehical decided it was not our day to go. Our alternator went out and we were stranded with all of us pulled over on the side of the road. Here is the crew waiting with us as we called a tow truck...

Yep, it was dead. A tow and two alternators later, we were back in business and on the road again.Enjoying a little snuggle time with Aunt Sally and Grandma Wall.Andy, Brady, and Grandpa checking out the elk just down the hill from our condo.Nearly every night we gathered around the fire for drinks and good conversation. Brady enjoyed a little snuggle time with Uncle Matt.The tire swing was a big hit! The kids played on it every day.Mmm...smores!Brady enjoying his first smore. Not a huge marshmellow fan, but he loved the chocolate and graham crackers. Imagine that!Tuesday was family picture day. Here are the boys chillin' in their shades while waiting their turn. Shades are pretty stylin' huh? We are waiting to get the photo back and once I do we'll post some.Andy and me beside the lake where we took our family photos.We hiked around the lake when we finished up our pictures. It was perfect for the kids (and our stroller) because the path around the lake was nicely paved and not too far of a walk for our littest legs - only about a mile and a half.I really wanted some more pictures of the kids together in the scenery, but Anna was in great need of a nap by the end of our photo session. So, I brought a little nature to here for this precious photo instead!A highlight of this day was finding rocks with grandma to throw in the lake.This little guy walked along with us a bit and stopped often to take a look at the boys. They just giggled at him and thought he was so funny.Enjoying a little lake time with Grandma and Grandpa Wall.Alex had lots of fun riding on Uncle Patrick's shoulders when his legs got too tired from walking.

She did it!

On July 31 Anna did it, she rolled over! Four times all in one night. Now it's tough for her to stay on her back, she just rolls right away. Can't believe she is getting so big. Four months already!!

Random Pics

Hands down, Melvin Might? is Alex's favorite book right now. We read it over and over again. He can almost recite the whole thing himself. Here he is reading it with daddy the other night.

Brady found himself an audience. Don't you love his guitar face?We hit up a carnival in Owen Park the other night. The boys got to play games, have popcorn, get balloons and balloon hats and get their faces painted. Brady got a football.Alex got a baseball.They boys had a great time!

Our Day at Bear Lake

This past weekend we were blessed to be able to spend a day at Bear Lake with our Bible study group. The Koxlien's were our hosts and we had a fabulous time! It was the boy's first trip to a lake and they loved it!

The boys splashed around in the water all day long. The shallow water was perfect for an afternoon of playing.

Brady really liked playing with these squirt guns.Alex took a break from the water to play with the bat and ball. Imagine that!Kayaking with daddyBrady had his first experience fishing at the lake. He lasted about 10 minutes, thought it was great fun, and caught 3 fish! Not bad for his first time. Here is his first fish - a perch.Followed up by this nice size sunfish.Fish #3...not sure what it is.All five of us went for a boat ride. Our friend Mark has a great deck boat that is perfect for kids. We had a great time riding around the lake and watching some friends tube.Brady was brave enough to try out tubing for the first time. He went with our friend Todd and he LOVED it! I was thankful that Mark didn't drive too fast! :)While out on the tube, Brady told Todd "I want to stay out here forever."

It was a great day at the lake! Thanks, Koxlien's!

Busted

Alex is frequently busted trying to "do work" on the computer. On this particular night he was pushing buttons and making the songs skip around on iTunes. How fun...

One is just not enough...

His arms can carry three, so that's how many Alex needs!

My helper

My big boy is such a good helper with his sister. Brady is really "into" holding Anna again. He wants to hold her and help do things for her all the time. He just looks so old in this picture!

Anna at 4 months!

I can hardly believe that Anna is 4 months old already! She is 23.5 inches long and 11 lbs. 11 oz. Still our little peanut! Anna has really been enjoying time on the floor lately. She loves to lay and play with her rattles and be pulled up to sitting. She is getting pretty close to rolling over too!

I cannot get enough of that smile!Anna is getting lots stronger. She is getting better at pushing herself up when she is on her tummy.She tires of tummy time pretty quickly still. Just taking a little rest and chewing on her hands.At four months, she found her feet!My sleeping beauty. She always pulls at the little pillow on her papasan seat and in her swing when she sleeps. One of Anna's little "things."My mom recently got the kids the Clifford characters. Here is Anna having a little chat/look at all of her new friends!

Fair Fun

We enjoyed a fun night at the Northern Wisconsin State Fair last night with Andy's parents. It was a warm one, but the boys had a blast.

Enjoying a little snuggle while waiting for daddy to bring us some dinner.

Grandma got some snuggle time with Anna in the heat while she fed her a bottle.

Brady was dying to get to the rides. Dinner just could not end fast enough for him. His first ride choice was the race cars. He remembered this ride from last year as it was his favorite then.Alex was just tall enough for the little kid rides this year. He really enjoyed riding the cars with his big brother. Too hard to look at the camera though, there was just so much going on!The little hill on the motorcycle ride got him giggling every time!Both boys were excited about riding the big semi-trucks.Anna was such a trooper! She was a happy girl in the heat and even slept through about half of our time there. Amazing to me given how loud it was between all the rides, people, and bands that were playing.Brady's prize of the night - a REAL lightsaber!Big night for our big boy - he was tall enough this year to ride his first roller coaster. Granted, it was a kid one, but still a roller coaster none the less. He really wanted Andy to ride it with him. They got a front row seat.Andy...a ham like usual...Brady thought it was so funny that Andy put up his hands going down the little hill and shouted on the dips and turns. He made it really fun for Brady's first ride. Thanks for being a trooper, daddy!We took the boys on the carousel. Just not the fair without a carousel ride!Alex enjoying his first snow cone with grandpa.Andy played a baseball pitching game and won Alex a giant bat that he really wanted. The look on his face says it all about the size of this thing.Yep, it's bigger than he is!Diane and I enjoyed our annual funnel cake. Good thing we had all our boys to share them with!Brady's little legs were getting pretty tired by the end of the night. Andy gave him a shoulder ride for a good long while. What a great dad, sweaty, but great!The boys really enjoyed seeing all the animals. The highlight was definitely seeing and petting the horses.We finished off the night by looking at some of the biggest tractors that John Deere makes. Brady thought it was pretty fun to climb up the huge steps to take a peek inside this one. It was another great year at the fair!