Denver, August 2012

We took our first family trip to Denver in August...even BK3 was in tow!  We had a wonderful time with friends from church.  The annual Family Ties Pool Party was the perfect occassion for us to swing through!  We enjoyed catching up with other folks at Wellshire on Sunday, hit the incredible Museum of Nature and Science all one morning, and overnighted in CO Springs to explore Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak.  Most surprisingly, the kids and I got Michael to Tiny Town, a "creepy" place that he vowed (before kids) NEVER to go!  Highlights also included carving out time for meals and visits with former co-workers, various Wellshire folks, college connections and other friends in town that we miss.  Not surprisingly, we had beautiful weather and confirmed our love---once again---for Colorado summers.

Garden of the Gods - Christmas Card Pic 2012

 

 

View from the Museum of Nature and Science

 

 

 

Tiny Town - Morrison, CO

 

 

 

Garden of the Gods

Looking tired and pregnant

 

 

First rock climbing experience!

 

Andrew was so proud of his balancing.

 

Pikes Peak - 14,110.  While the kids would have loved the Cog Railroad ride up, it was definitely the better choice to drive ourselves to the summit.

HAPPY BOY!!!

Chubby, chilly almost 2-yr-old cheeks.

Our bag weigh-in for the flight back...what are the odds?!?  

Slip N Slide with Grandma!

Grandma was here this weekend, so we pulled out the slip n slide.  What fun!  This was Margaret's first time.  It's fun to watch her progression from hesitantly crawling down it to demanding big pushes upside down and backwards:)

She started just crawling down it.

Daddy: Want a push?
Margaret: No.
Daddy: Just a little one?
Margaret: No!
Daddy: Are you sure? It's a lot of fun!
Margaret: Nope!

Down the hill she goes....but still crawling on the slip n slide.

And it's over and over and over and over again for Andrew.

Ready? Set? Go!

And she’s caught the bug now!

Can't get enough.

BK3 @ 16 Weeks

I've sort of been thinking girl with this baby, but only for two minor reasons:

1 - My first trimester with Margaret was worse than with Andrew, and they say that is common when pregnant with a girl.  But my first trimester this time around was the most challenging, by far.  The same fatigue plagued me, but I don't remember being so paralyzingly lethargic.  Perhaps it was because of the June heat, or now chasing two kids all day while pregnant, but the lethargy really made me quite mad.  I have too much to do for that!  And weeks 6-8 I just felt downright rotten.  I felt queasy and nauseous all day, which lead to more weight gain in this first tri.  "Surely another bite to eat will settle my stomach, right?  Or maybe I just need something salty.  Nope.  That didn't do it.  Let's try sweet....."

2 - The only other feeling for girl so far is that perhaps I sort of want a girl, just thinking that she and Margaret may have more in common long term than Andrew would with a little brother nearly 5 years younger. 

But all of this girl feeling may have changed at our 16-week US (which, once again, everyone in both offices gave us trouble for..."if you're not testing for anything, why are you here?").  That's another story.  We told the Ultrasonographer that we did not want to know gender, but I did catch her saying "he" one time.  Perhaps "he" is her default, or maybe that means something.  I was so focused on the screen that I didn't notice if she said it again, or alternated using "she", or said "baby" from then on out.  Then when she printed the shots, she cut three pictures out of the middle that she did not give us.  We didn't even ask.  Was she cutting out views of something obvious???  Hmmm.  Come January, we shall see!

Nascar Race Day!

One of our on-going jokes is how horrible I am at getting good gifts for Michael.  Early in our relationship, it was made clear that new things for the house were probably not ever top on his birthday or Christmas lists...nor was a bike rack for the car for my budding triathlon habit:)  So I have tried to get him things that are truly just for him.  After several more failed attempts, he is rarely surprised.  He may get every last thing on his wish-list, but seldom is he surprised by any of his presents.

Last fall, I took a leap of faith and jumped on a Living Social deal that landed in my inbox.  It was a 3-hour racing experience, including 5 minutes of driving yourself AND a 3-lap ride-along with a professional driver...at their speeds.  It wasn't inexpensive, but I decided to give it a whirl.  Hoping to ice the cake, I forwarded to his college roommate's wife to see if she thought it might make a good Christmas present for Mark, too.  The next thing I know, the best friends are set up to drive together.  Hopefully this would be a score!

There were several race tracks offering the deal, but one was just up the road in Richmond.  Perfect!  We could do a family day-trip with Uncle Mark, Andrew could watch his own Daddy drive a race car, and we could stop by Trader Joe's on the way home!   But of course that didn't pan out.  None of the Richmond dates worked for both Michael and Mark, so they booked a weekend in Charlotte.  Michael driving 9 hours total to be away from the kids all weekend after travelling during the week is not exactly the "present" that I intended to give him, but this portion was out of my control.   So off to Charlotte he went.  Here are the first few pictures I have received.  From what I am told, they had a really awesome day.  SCORE, finally!

Formula One race cars on display.

Sexy in a helmet!

Ready to go, in a Nascar.

Not sure if this was before or after clocking 126mph - nice work, babe!

Always better without the glasses:)