Babies Playing

On Friday, we got together with friends to play. Our good friend Sherry and her baby came in town to visit, and we were SO excited to see her and her sweet baby Coan. He fits right in with our little ones, and it was so fun to see him. It's amazing how quickly babies change and grow! Then, on Friday night, a group of us hosted a bridal shower for our friend Allyn. She is marrying Matt in a week! We're so excited for them!

Walker and Ella (8 mos.) playing with the stethoscope

Walker is frustrated that Ella is taking his toy from him. And this picture of her cracks me up because she's in the midst of blowing a raspberry.

Walker and Ella

Coan (7 mos.), Ella (8 mos.), and Walker (5 mos.)

The babies were born on almost the exact same day (give or take a day) of their respective months, making it easy to remember how old each one is!

And she's off. Ella's had enough of pictures. She is so close to crawling.

She's a super-fast little scooter!

Here's a quick picture of the girls on Friday evening. It was such a fun shower and we were so honored to be able to do this for Allyn (green/tan dress, center). Congratulations, Allyn and Matt!

"Seasonings"

One of Lainey's favorite things to do is feed Reagan. She's gotten to where she's pretty good at it. She sometimes gives her too much food, but I generally figure that out before Reagan does. Last night, Lainey fed Reagan her dinner. I went over to remove some from the top (because, once again, she had put a little too much food on Reagan's little towel) but Lainey stopped me and said that she had put "seasonings" on top of Reagan' food. (Apparently, "seasonings" for dogs are the crumbs at the very bottom of the food container. You can see the crumbs on the top of Reagan's food...it does sort of resemble the seasoning I would add to something.) Lainey is a big fan of Cavender's Greek Seasoning (and really adding any kind of spice or seasoning to her food by herself). She especially likes Cavender's with her cucumbers. So, this must have been where she got the idea that Reagan would enjoy some "seasonings" too. :)

Home at Last

We made it!

Highlights of our travel day:

1. Lainey got car sick. Before today, she had never thrown up. Well, today she made up for lost time. She got very sick in the car, about halfway between Pagosa Springs and Santa Fe. We think she was car sick, because she was fine afterwards. She kept saying her "bottom hurt" but I think she must have meant her stomach. Anyway, we had to throw away her clothes and her binky. And Tuck and Emmy had the fun job of hosing off the frame of her car seat and washing the cover back at the house in Colorado. Gross, gross, and more gross. Lainey was a pretty good sport about it, thankfully. She was a bit scared and cried some but managed to hold it together while we stripped off her clothes and cleaned her up on the side of a New Mexico highway.

2. Walker cried almost the entire three-hour car ride from Pagosa to Santa Fe. The only time he wasn't crying was when we were dealing with Lainey (bless him for that) and when he managed to take a short nap. He would smile for a second - like when I attempted to sing a few songs or read him a book or play peek-a-boo behind the seat - but he'd quickly go back to crying as soon as I stopped trying to entertain him. I've never known a baby to go from content to sad/mad so quickly. I think - unfortunately - that he just gets bored easily. :( Thankfully, he slept the majority of the flight to Dallas (on our teeny tiny plane) and we were so grateful for that. I am sure that the other passengers were, too.

3. Our luggage took about an hour to arrive at the baggage claim.

4. No naps and no lunch (to speak of) made waiting for the bags a bit interesting. Both kids did pretty well while waiting for the bags to arrive. Ben and I were the ones getting a little cranky. :)

5. It's good to be home. We had a great vacation, but it's always nice to come home. Lainey said she'd like to go back to Colorado. I'm glad that she had such a positive experience. I hope that her memories will stick with her and that she'll talk about it for months to come!

Last Night in Pagosa

Let me explain these pictures before you take a look at them. For the past two nights, our sweet two-year-old child has decided that she prefers to go bottomless (no diaper, no pants) on our evening walk. And she likes to practice going potty along the way. Last night, she probably went "wee wee" in the grass about 5 times. Tonight, she only went twice. Whatever the reason, she loves the freedom that being without a diaper or pants allows her. We've stressed that she may not do this around our neighborhood at home. But, here in the mountains where the neighbors are rarely outside in the evenings, we decided to let the girl have a little fun. :)

"Ewww. Elk poop!"

(She was quite fascinated by the elk poop. Two-year-olds!)

the lookout, where Lainey loves to try to climb the ladder by herself

She's gotten quite good at pointing out propane tanks (the white cylinder thing on its side in front of the house).

Totally gross. But this is where she wanted to go potty. Right next to the elk poop.

Walker has no idea what to make of his sister.

So he'll just go ahead and laugh at his silly sister, along with the rest of us.

Lainey thought she saw a turtle crawl into the culvert that runs under my parents' driveway (the culvert is an underground device - like a tunnel- that allows excess water to flow). She really didn't - I have yet to see a turtle near that culvert. Well, being the funny Dad that he is, Ben thought it would be fun to pretend to be the turtle. So he got at the other end of the culvert and talked through the tunnel, pretending to be the turtle. The turtle sang songs and talked to Lainey, and she thought this was the funniest thing. And since one's voice echos in the tunnel, it made the conversations even more exciting.

giggling at the talking turtle

singing the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" with the turtle

getting down to peek through the culvert to see if she could see the turtle

I know Walker can't wait to participate in all the fun. It's hard being a baby sometimes!

_________

We had a wonderful trip to Pagosa this year. A big thank you to my mom and dad, who were gracious and wonderful hosts - as always. We can't wait for next year!

Pagosa Peak

Ben, my dad, and another friend named Cole climbed Pagosa Peak today. Pagosa Peak is 12,556 feet above sea level. Cole took these pictures of the hike. Thank you, Cole, for sharing them with us! Due to some recent issues I've been having with my back, I decided to not participate on the hike this year. That, and the fact that we're leaving tomorrow (I've been doing laundry and packing and cleaning like a mad woman!). I need to be on my a-game for our travel day! :) I hope to hike the mountain someday - maybe when my back is better and my kids are a bit more independent!

Ben and my dad hiking up

Dad (Tuck)

Ben is talking to me on the phone in this picture. Verizon, your service rocks. AT&T, yours does not. We were down on the ground at the VanCampen's house, using a mirror to reflect the sunlight, so the guys could see where we were. And they could see us! Ben said it looked like a strobe light from where they were on the mountain.

Ben, Dad, and Cole

a marmot
(I've always wanted to see one of these in person!)

Ponderosa Pines

While on our trip this year, I learned that Ponderosa Pines smell sweet. Very sweet. Kinda like vanilla. It's said to come from the resin that the tree produces - a sweet-smelling turpene, that when heated becomes turpentine. (We didn't know this particular fact until Ben tried a bit of the "sap" (resin) and suffered a 3-day-long headache!) You can stick your nose right up to the pine tree's bark and inhale deeply. You won't be disappointed. Unless you're Lainey, who didn't seem all that impressed by our newly-acquired information. Apparently, the older the tree, the more fragrant the smell.

a picture of the Ponderosa's yummy-smelling bark

Walker and I took a walk to the top of the driveway this morning to take a picture of the low-lying clouds. You can see them just below the mountain range.

a slightly better picture of the clouds

a doe visited my parents' neighbor's house this morning

iPhone Photos from Pagosa

Last night Ben and I went on a dinner date and afterwards took a drive up a mountain to see some sights. I just had my phone with me, so these pictures aren't great, but you can kinda get an idea as to what we were seeing. On our drive we saw seven deer and one porcupine. I didn't act quickly enough to get pictures, though. I get so excited when I see wildlife. I was especially excited to see the porcupine waddling up the side of the mountain!

little Ben, big mountains

a pretty view of Pagosa Springs

a double rainbow

I actually took this picture a few days ago. I was out walking, pushing Walker in the stroller, and came upon a couple of does and two babies. They didn't want to be friends with me. But one did pose for a quick picture!

Hanging Out

a typical scene: Ben, Sofi, Lucy, Lainey, Tuck, and Walker

hugs for Sofi

At the local arts festival here in Pagosa, Ben thought it would be fun to get an artist to draw Lainey. Well, as you can see, this picture doesn't really look like Lainey. The person who really seems to like it, however, is Walker. He talks to picture, stares at the picture, and laughs at the picture. We joked that we should just hang this beautiful artist's rendition of Lainey in Walker's room at home since he likes it so much. He does indeed love his sister. We catch him smiling at her all the time. Maybe he sees something in this picture that reminds him of Lainey...something that none of us are able to see!