family

August 2014

The first week of this month we had a fun visit from Uncle John who was in town for work. The boys got to talk to their cousins, and then they worked hard keeping him entertained.

 Throwing rocks in the water and watching ferry boats...

 Pushing them on swings at the playground...

 and checking out Snoqualmie Falls.

 We didn't lose anyone on the trail, despite Caden's best efforts to stop and pick up every tiny pebble along the gravel path.  There were a lot of tiny pebbles to inspect!

 On our way back home from the falls, we stopped off for dinner, and Zane pointed out how cool the sky looked when we were walking back to the car.

The boys can definitely push each others buttons, but they can be very sweet with each other too.  One day Zane got an owie (a common occurrence around here with two little boys), and Caden said, "mooch it, mama!"

We also broke the news to the boys about the new baby on the way, and we made sure to explain that we didn't know if it was a boy or a girl in there yet.  Zane was excited that we were going to be a family of five, or six with Molly.  They were both excited, and they gave my belly a few smooches and some tickles.  The Monday after we revealed the exciting news to the boys, Zane shared it right away with his class at morning meeting.

Caden's counting is also evolving, and he now says "2, 3, 4, 5."  Someone else can get it started and say 1.

We set off on a fun adventure to Denver to meet up with Uncle John (twice in one month!), Aunt Ginger, Matthew, Lena and Mary before they all started back to school.

 Zane really wants to go back to the same hotel we stayed at because it had an indoor pool where Mary was teaching him to swim. :)  One day we walked to an amusement park, Elitch Gardens.

 Zane was tall enough to ride his very first roller coaster!

 Caden and I hung out on another ride, the crazy bus, while we were waiting on everyone else.

Afternoon thunderstorms gave us an excuse for some face painting.  Zane wanted to look like a cheetah!  Caden was snoozing through it all thankfully, since I don't think he could have stayed still long enough for it.

 We also checked out the cog railway up Pike's Peak.

 Despite our shorts and tee shirts, it was really cold at the top!  It even flurried a little while we were up there.

 The views were pretty amazing.

 And we got to ride on a train... does it get any better than that?

We all had a great time on our first ever joint family vacation!  On the way home, it was just Zane, Caden and me, and Daddy had a last minute change in plans to take a flight to San Francisco to be deputized for another adventure later in the month...

 The boys did pretty well on the flight (I only had to recover Caden's lovey from the aisle about 10 times!) and were pretty excited about getting their own snack boxes.  All three of us even squished into the tiny restroom together a couple of times.  Go team!

 Miraculously, all three of us made it to the car with all of the bags... one giant suitcase, the car seat back pack, Caden on my front in the ergo carrier, the diaper bag, my work bag, two little backpacks, and Zane holding one hand... whew!

 Zane and Caden both were out cold when we made it home.  It was pretty cute!  I was also clearly frazzled because the headrest from behind Zane's seat never made it back into its spot and just rode around wedged in between their seats... thankfully it stayed put the whole drive home.

We settled back into our usual, much less exciting, routine at home.  We did get to go to a really fun birthday party for one of Caden's best buds and his big brother.  They loved the fun dinosaur egg hunt!

 We also gave the boys their long overdue haircuts.

The boys got to celebrate their last day at their old school building with a pj day.  Pajama days are the best because they mean no battles when getting dressed in the morning!  The boys were home for the rest of the week during the annual closure, and Grandma and Grandpa came to stay with the boys Labor Day weekend.  We left them for the first time ever for a weekend trip to San Francisco for two weddings.  It was weirdly smooth traveling on our own, although we missed our trouble makers something fierce!  They had a wonderful time with Grandma and Grandpa, and Daddy did a wonderful job officiating Kevin and Amy's wedding!

 On our way home, we had this fun view of Rainier, and I was able to take a picture to show the boys since we weren't busy entertaining and distracting anyone.