Block Party 2008

Be sure to check out the web album named "Block Party" for all of the pics...

We had our annual block party yesterday. The weather couldn't have been better - occasional clouds but still nice and warm but not really warm enough for water games except for water balloon toss.

Pretty much the whole street showed up so there were a lot of people. Many people who haven't come in the past years came yesterday which was great and the people who just moved in last weekend came up and fit right in.

There were 2 bouncy houses for the kids to play in as well as the usual toys. The big boys played Baggo and tried their hands at dunking a basketball. Everyone stayed busy all day long and had a blast.

When it started getting dark we set up the Blu-Ray scanner and showed "Alvin and the Chipmunks". The kids had seen it before so had a blast dancing to the music and for the most part sat still otherwise. The movie ended just before 10 and then the boys set off some fireworks in the middle of the cul-de-sac. The little kids weren't so sure about the noise but enjoyed the lights. The older kids even got to do sparklers. We all headed in around 10:30 and went straight to bed. Avi was up at 6:30 and we'll see how the rest of the day goes as we head to the pool for some swimming.

Sand Dunes Camping Trip

Be sure to see the Picasa Web Album named Sand Dunes for all of the pics...

We just got back from a long weekend camping trip. We headed south-southwest past Pueblo to the Sand Dunes National Park - about a 4 hour drive. We left Friday morning around 7:30am. The night before we had the softball team over for a BBQ and they all left around 9 so we put Avi to bed and spent the next hour or so cleaning up from the party and packing for our trip.

Avi and Cabo did really well for such a long car ride. We had to make a few potty stops but they were worth it! We made it to the park around noon and our neighbors Steve and Kristin were already setting up their campsite so we pulled in and started setting up our pop-up. Soon after Brandon had the pop-up set-up a site opened up a few sites down so Brandon and Joe rolled our camper down the street to our own site. We finished setting up camp and ate some lunch and then packed up to head down to the dunes.

We parked in the parking lot and lugged our chairs and snacks to the water. We found a great little spot to set-up our chairs for the remainder of the day and the kids had no problem hitting the water. As you can see in the pictures the water varied from 1 inch deep to about 10 inches deep and there was a sort of wake that would come through every now and then that provided a rush of water. We spent the afternoon at the water and headed back to camp around 5.

Steve and Kristin provided dinner for the group of us and then we had a campfire. Everyone was pretty much beat from the traveling, sun and fun so we hit the hay around 8:30. Avi crashed out right away and Brandon and Cabo snuggled in to their sleeping area. I could not fall asleep at all and was awake all night. It didn't help that a huge wind storm rolled through for about 5 hours. It ended around 4 which is when I started to drift off to sleep only to be awakened by Avi saying "mommy, i'm wet" so we did the middle of the night pants change and worried about the mess in the morning. Avi didn't want to sleep in her sleeping bag which happened to be dry because she'd wriggled out of it during the night so I had her fall back asleep in my bag (which is a mummy bag and not meant for 2 people no matter how big they are) and then I put her back to her spot and got roughly 2 hours of sleep before we had to wake up to make breakfast for the group.

Everyone dragged over to our spot around 8:15 for the breakfast we'd cooked up - eggs, sausages, bacon, fruit, etc. After breakfast we cleaned up a bit and then again packed up for the water. We spent all day at the water Saturday - we got down there around 10 and left around 4. Steve and Kristin had brought their gazebo which was really nice to have some shade if you wanted it. Joe had his "horse-balls" game which kept us busy too. The kids spent the entire day in the water running from downstream to upstream chasing the water. They had so much fun.

The dunes were cool to look at but the sand got so hot so early that we didn't do any hiking up them at all. The water was the biggest hit for all of us - it stayed nice and cool around there with the breezes and clouds that floated through.

Saturday night we had burgers and hot dogs and then another campfire. We headed back to our camper around 9 and kept Avi busy for another hour or so wear her out (she had taken an 1.5 hour nap when we left the water so had lots of energy). We lit up a glow stick and were throwing it around the camper and hiding it to keep her busy.

No wind last night so we all slept fairly well. Avi woke up around 7:15 so we started packing up camp and headed out around 8:30. We got home at noon and spent the next hour unpacking and doing laundry and are now relaxing inside - we've had enough sun for the weekend.

I'm pretty sure I've turned the corner toward feeling good all/most of the time as I really didn't feel ill while we were there but it sure was difficult getting comfortable to sleep. I'm 15 weeks pregnant today and we go to the doctors on Tuesday to hear the heartbeat! We can't wait!

Next weekend is our annual Deer Creek Court Block Party. We need to have it early this year because of vacations and baby due dates. It should be a blast!

Saturday - day trip...

Be sure to look at the web album labeled - Jefferson Lake for all the pics...The last pic isn't anyone we know - it's just something we've never seen and thought it was pretty funny!

Yesterday we decided against camping overnight and instead took a day trip up to Jefferson Lake which is west of Kenosha Pass. We've gone camping there before and the lake is big and the weather is cooler than here at home. We had bought Avi a fishing pole on Friday so she got her first chance to use it - Brandon found a grub but no worms but the fish were just as happy. Avi had fun reeling the fish in but obviously couldn't master the cast so daddy helped with that. Cabo took her turn in the water too but we didn't want to disrupt the other fisherpeople so she didn't do as much as she would've liked.

We headed home around 3:30 and Avi slept pretty much to whole way. It was 92* at home so we waited out the heat of the evening inside with dinner and then headed outside to play with the neighborhood - of course. We came inside around 8 and Avi took a bath and then headed to bed and woke up at 8 this morning - how wonderful! Of course, I woke up around 6 and drifted in and out of sleep until I heard her door open up!

Happy Father's Day! We'll probably head to the dog park and to the swim lake today since it's supposed to be hot again. I've also heard "Kung Fu Panda" is good so we might spend some time at the movies to escape the heat too. Go Celtics tonight!

Week 13...

So I've been feeling pretty good overall since Sunday - really not too nauseous and a bit more energy. I even had an appetite Wednesday night and was hungry yesterday without feeling too picky about what to eat. I took my pill last night and then tried Tylenol for a headache but gagged on the Tylenol and up came dinner - first time I've really thrown up this time around. Wasn't fun at all and I'm going to try to avoid it in the future!

We played outside a lot this week since the weather has been so nice. Avi loves to eat dinner outside too so she sits on the deck bench while we sit in the chairs and eat/read along with her.

Not sure what she and I will do today - it's supposed to get up to 80* so we might try a new park that has a stream flowing through it with a picnic area. She loves the water but doesn't love splashing yet so we won't go to the water park quite yet.

We're planning to go camping tomorrow night - leaving tomorrow morning and coming back Sunday afternoon/evening. Hopefully I'll feel alright tonight so I'll feel better about going away. The place we're thinking of going is near a lake so we can kayak and walk around the water and of course Cabo can go swimming. Avi just loves to explore too so we'll bring her butterfly net and go traipsing through the woods for bugs and other fun things!

Next weekend we're heading down to the Sand Dunes for camping with our neighbors and some other folks. Should be a lot of fun and we haven't been to that part of CO yet.

That's all for now - gotta go check on Avi and Cabo - I think Avi just fed Cabo her muffin...what a team they are!

Fun Friday and Saturday...

On Friday we spent the morning shopping for shorts for Avelyn and then met my friend Jessica and her little boy Landon for lunch. After lunch we headed to the park to play in the fountains for while and then home for a nap. Last night we were outside until 9pm with all of our neighbors. The men played Baggo (also known as corn-hole depending on where you live I guess) and basketball while the women cheered on (3 of the 4 of us are pregnant). The kids were all over - Avelyn spent most of the night with Alexia, Emma, and Kendall at Kendall's house playing in her backyard (a first for us to have Avi out of our sight for more than an hour but she loved it). Of course staying up late didn't translate in to sleeping in but what can you do.

Today we played around the house until it warmed up a bit and then went to buy some goldfish for our rain barrel. We brought them home and let them adjust to the water temp while we ate lunch. We released them in to their new home and so far we haven't seen them - it's pretty dark in that barrel! After lunch, Amanda, Matthew and Alexia came over and we fit their car seats in my back seat and we took off for Heritage Square for a day of fun and to see the children's theater production of Snow White. We got there early enough to ride some rides so the kiddos rode the carousel and the swings before the show and then after the show we did the balloon ride and then had an ice cream snack. The kids enjoyed the show and Alexia got to go up on stage as a Dwarf (they only had 3 dwarves so any time they made an appearance more kids from the audience got to go up on stage). The show was an hour long and Avi and Matthew did pretty well and the show kept them involved. On the way out the door Avi stopped at the wicked witch and told her she wasn't nice and then they took a picture with Snow White. Avi and Matthew crashed in their car seats on the way home and Avi took a nice nap after we got home and has spent the remainder of the day alternating from silly/sweet to grumpy. Brandon just got home from his fishing trip and now she's all excited to play with him for a bit so it will be another late night to bed. Luckily I get to work tomorrow and they'll get to play all day!

Work week done...

I was feeling great yesterday and today until about 5:30 and now I feel horrible. More nauseous than I think I've been this whole time. I probably went too long without eating so I had chicken noodle soup for dinner and now I feel like I have heartburn...but enough of that.

Avi's had a good week - she's still dry all day and night so I think we're officially saying she's potty trained! She doesn't even like pull-ups mentioned anymore. She's also been getting herself dressed for school in the morning by taking off her jammies and can do her socks and pants herself but needs help getting her shirt over her head.

Tomorrow we're going shopping for some more shorts for her and I needs some tops to wear as my shirts are getting a bit snug. Saturday it's girls day while Brandon goes fishing. We're going to go to the children's theater to see Snow White. It'll be her first play so I'm sure she'll be excited to meet Snow White after the show. She loves her Disney princesses! I have to work on Sunday which is a bummer but it's a must once a month!

Monday's activities...

We started our new class this morning...it's called Crocodile Rock...there are about 25 kids in the class and it's all about music. The kids get to start by telling the teacher what song they would like to sing that day and then the teacher sings a hello song to every child (she knew the new kids like Avelyn already). Of course we sang all of the classics - Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Itsy Bitsy Spider, etc but there were props for the songs - a long wand with a star on the end, a rubber spider, etc which got the kids more involved. The last song was all about marching to the music where each kid was allowed to choose their instrument and then march around the circle following the teacher and making as much "music" as they could. The final activity was the parachute - an age old favorite and although Avi didn't want to ride in the middle she took her turn helping the moms/dads spin the kids sitting in the middle and then had fun under the chute while it flowed up and down. I think next week she'll be a bit more animated and involved but if not that's OK too.

After Crocodile Rock we had to go to tumbling...believe me I don't believe in over-booking a 2 year old. :) CR only lasts 4 weeks and we only have 3 more tumbling classes left until we have to register for the next sessions. She loves tumbling and is really getting great at swinging from the rings and jumping high on the trampoline and walking across the beam - she still needs a hand for the high beam but can make it across the low beam without any support. She's just so much fun to watch and she interacts with everyone in the class and likes to be the helper passing out the circles for "wheels on the bus". When she's 3 I can leave her in the class and go workout so that will probably be the next time I sign her up and we'll spend the summer at the pool and fountains and parks.

After those 2 activities we went out for lunch and then grocery shopping - very exciting...then came home and each took a 2 hour nap. :) She's downstairs right now picking up the doll morgue (I'll try to take a picture the next time she does it) - she puts all of her dolls "down for a nap" and then covers them head to toe in a blanket all around the first floor of the house so we've started calling it the doll morgue.

12 weeks along...

I'm pretty much done with my first trimester thankfully...Still not feeling fantastic but it usually doesn't come on until about 5 PM each night and lasts until I go to bed. I can't say I have any energy during the day but I'm not feeling sick and nauseous either. We had our ultrasound last Tuesday and it went great - the baby measured 2.5 inches and everything looked great! Our next appointment is in 4 weeks to hear the heartbeat.

We've been busy around here the past few weekends. Last Sunday we had our neighbors over for a breakfast buffet with all of the fixins and then Johnny and Amanda had a BBQ that afternoon. Yesterday we had a tag sale to get rid of some of the stuff that's been hanging around our basement. Unfortunately I think the price of gas kept a lot of people at home but we still made some $. Then yesterday afternoon we set up the sprinklers for the kids to run through. Avi had more fun getting slightly wet and then rushing back to her towel to dry her hair. Today we've been outside the majority of the day and the kids just play so well together and are at a great age that they keep busy without getting in to trouble (too much).

Avi can now ride her tricycle without much help. She occasionally gets stuck going up the hill of our cul-de-sac but can sometimes push through it. Matthew likes to ride on the back steps of the trike and they are just too cute riding around the circle. She's also starting to get the hang of Matthew's scooter and today was pushing a few times and then riding for a while and then pushing again without losing her balance. Matthew wouldn't let her ride it without her helmet on too so that was too cute.

Tomorrow we have tumbling and a new class called "crocodile rock" which is all about music and instruments. I'm sure she'll have a blast. She still loves to sing and lately her favorites have been "do-re-mi" and "I am 16 going on 17" from the Sound of Music. She makes up a lot of the words but is really cute when she takes your face in her hands and sings directly to your face. :)