Catching up

Hello friends! Just checking in and catching up in the midst of a busy, busy summer. As we mentioned in the last post, we had a great trip to Iowa, followed by getting Jack into a new big boy bed. We are happy to report that he still loves his new bed, and he still sleeps like a champ. In the past month it seems like he's grown so much! We need to start keeping track and actually measuring him. He is so much more of a little boy now and less of a toddler every day. His favorite book right now is "I Love You, Stinky Face," and his favorite question seems to be, "What are you doing?" He hasn't started with the "whys" yet, but I think it's only a matter of time.
After our trip to Iowa, I got to take a trip to Chicago for work. I was there long enough to catch up with some good friends, attend a great conference, and even sneak out one afternoon for a river/lake architecture tour. The week after that was the 4th of July. With the holiday being in the middle of the week and already having taken our summer vacation, it was pretty low-key. We pulled out our recently purchased bike trailer and took it out for a spin. Jeff did a great job of pulling it behind his bike, despite having to change a flat tire and some very hot weather! We went to a local reservoir, so we were able to cool off at the end by dipping our feet in the water.

After the holiday, we've had visits from Kacie and her friend Laura, Jeff's friend Brad and his brother, and Grandma Janet and Grandpa Steve. It's been busy!! Grandma Jane and Grandpa Randy got here on Thursday, for the first trip they've made since last fall. It's a long overdue trip, and we are counting our blessings that Jane is able to visit her grandbabies again. They brought Jack a batting tee, and it's quite a hit! The video below doesn't do justice to his skills--he's actually doing pretty well with it--but it was too funny not to share.

Finally, we had our family pictures taken a few weeks ago, and they turned out great! Here are a couple of our favorites.

Summer vacation!

I owe a much longer post about our fantastic week in Iowa, but I'm feeling lazy. Suffice it to say that it was wonderful! As with most of our trips home to Iowa, the same is true here: we got to show off Jack to everyone, visit with friends and family, drink, eat, watch a thunderstorm, drink some more, and eat some more. This trip had the added bonus of bringing good news about Jane: her cancer is almost gone! The latest CT still shows a couple of spots, but because they are so small, the CT can't accurately diagnose whether they're cancer or scar tissue. Hurray! Jeff said that the doctor was beaming when he walked into the room after she had her CT. Can't ask for better news than that! (For Jane's blog, click here.)It's hard to just choose a few pictures from the many we took, but here are some favorites:

Riding go-carts with Jeff at Fun City in Burlington

Deep in conversation (and goofing off) with cousin Connor

Grandma Janet's grandbabies

A quick family picture before celebrating the wedding of Megan Moeller and Jesse Hammes with Jeff's athletic training classmates

Also, while we were away, Jack often fell asleep on a regular bed before we put him into the crib. When we got home, he told us he didn't like his crib anymore. We knew he would probably be ready for a big bed sometime this summer, and it turns out, he told us when he was ready! We converted his crib into a toddler bed and bought him a new comforter. Last night was his first night. After about 10-12 trips back to bed, he was asleep, which we consider a success. Today at nap, I only had to go in once. And right now (after only two trips in), I hear him talking himself to sleep saying, "I got a new bed!"

Helping Jeff make his new bed

Busiest weekend ever

This past weekend we had a visit from Steve, Janet, James, and Teagan. It was Teagan's first visit to Denver, and we showed her the sights! I think we're all still exhausted from the activity. It was a fantastic weekend though, and we can't wait to do it again. The weekend started Friday afternoon when they got to town. We grilled out in the backyard, and James showed Teagan and Jack how to climb trees.

Saturday morning was nice and lazy, with Teagan entertaining Jack, and the rest of us laughing along. Teagan was a great baby-sitter for Jack all weekend, and he ate up all of the attention from his "big sister."

 

Around mid-morning, we packed up and headed to Water World, which we think is the biggest water park in the country (or very close)! It was huge. The weather was perfect, and it wasn't very crowded. We had originally planned to bring Jack home early for a nap while the boys stayed with Teagan, but it was so much fun we couldn't bear to leave. Jack was a trooper without a nap and being out in the sun all day. This is Teagan on the "Screaming Mimi" with Jeff:

After sleeping in Sunday, we drove to the top of Mount Evans. It's one of the few 14-ers in Colorado that you can drive all the way to the top. The views were fantastic, but it was COLD! Even with our coats and hats, we couldn't stand to be outside for longer than it took to snap a few pictures. And as you can see, Jack was not very excited about the picture part.

We ended the weekend on Monday with running the Bolder Boulder. It's the biggest road race 10K in the country, with over 50,000 runners. We beat our last time, which Nike was especially proud of because she hadn't run that length since before getting pregnant with Jack.

Thank you to the Roe clan for making the trip out to Denver. We had a wonderful time!

First family vacation (kind of)

This past weekend we got to take a last-minute trip to Taos, New Mexico. We were supposed to have friends in town, but when they had to cancel, we were facing a weekend with no plans. We had heard great things about Taos, and since it was only five hours away, we thought it would be the perfect chance to check it out. As we were driving down there, we realized that although we've taken trips with Jack before, this was the first one we took that wasn't home to Iowa or to another destination where we were meeting other family members. Hence this post's title: our first family vacation (sort of).

We left Denver around 4 on Friday and after hitting some afternoon traffic, we got to Taos around 9:30 or 10. We rented a 1-bedroom vacation home, which was great for lounging around. And that's how we started Saturday morning:

Our rental was within walking distance of Taos Plaza, where we found lots of shops and galleries. We had a good morning of exploring. It wasn't quite as relaxing as Jeff and I had hoped. Jack was good and patient, but it's kind of hard to leisurely walk around an artsy-crafty store with a 2-year-old!

We did find a special treat for Jack though: a toy store with a very big playground out back!

On our way out of town on Sunday we stopped at the Rio Grande Gorge bridge, which was well worth the 20 minutes out of the way. The pictures don't do it justice, of course, but it was pretty cool.

We finished the trip with a five-hour drive home, during which Jack napped for exactly 0 minutes! Needless to say, it was a long drive. We're really glad we went, and we had a great time--if not as carefree as we had hoped for. Jack is really good, but he's testing his two-year-old limits. It's funny because in some ways we're so proud of him for learning to explore, expanding his language, and really learning to be his own person, but it can also make for some challenging parenting moments. Next up: a visit from Steve, Janet, James, and Teagan! Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day weekend to me!! I am celebrating this weekend with lots of Jack and Mama time. Jeff made a trip home to Iowa to visit his parents and to drive Kacie home for the summer. I took yesterday afternoon off to go shopping and pick Jack up early from day care. This morning we went to the rec center where I got a long run in while Jack played with the other kids at the drop-in day care, and then we went swimming! It's been a pretty fantastic weekend so far, if I do say so myself. I wish we were at home with Jeff, but it's easier to be away knowing that we'll be home to visit in just a few weeks. Not much exciting to report around here--Jeff and I have spent the last few weekends working on lots of projects around the house: we finished painting and redecorating our bedroom, doing some spring cleaning, planting flowers, a Rockies game, and several trips to the zoo. Here are some pictures of Jack helping out with the planting:

He insisted on wearing gardening gloves, even though he lost all dexterity by doing so.

We've been working on "faces" the past week or two. This is his "happy" face. Can you tell?

While we were cleaning off the front porch last weekend, Jack found his snow boots. So obviously, he put them on. They were the perfect match for his Hawkeye basketball outfit that he also insisted on wearing. I'm sure they improved his shot.

Next up for the Flemings: a visit from the Burgarts (Jason, Melissa, and Emma) and Katie! I went to law school with Melissa and Katie, and we're trying to make more regular trips to see each other every six months or so. Emma will be about 11 months old, and it's the first time she and Jack have met. It will be fun to watch the babies play together and, of course, spend lots of time catching up. Happy Mother's Day weekend to my mom Janet, Jeff's mom Jane, my grandma Sophia, Jeff's grandma Shirley, and all of our other mom friends and family. Sending you all lots of loves and hugs!

Happy Easter!

We got all dressed up for church last Sunday, battled the crowds, and then, as my Grandma Sophia says, Jack tried to leave all of his devil behind at church. He was awful! There was a pregnant woman and her husband behind us, and I guarantee she was thinking, "I will never let my child behave that way in church." It's funny now, of course, but it wasn't so much at the time. We couldn't get out of there fast enough.

After church, Jack was an angel. He had a great time running around the yard finding the few eggs we hid for him. We were even able to snap a few family pictures.

What, Mom? I don't have any candy in my mouth.

As most two-year-olds, Jack is FULL of energy. Luckily, sometimes all it takes to burn off that energy is some good old fashioned tickling and wrestling.

And finally, we might have an athlete on our hands.