Hello from sunny Colorado! Well, not really today. Or yesterday. Tomorrow's not looking too hot either. It started snowing Tuesday night. It snowed all night Tuesday, all day and all night Wednesday, and it's still snowing today. They're predicting it to stop sometime around 6:00 pm tonight, so we'll see. I think this storm is a little bigger than the weather people thought it would be!
It's hard to tell in this pic, but Olivia is actually standing up, trying to pull her leg up out of the snow:
I won't be going anywhere for awhile (at least not in my car!):
Michael shoveled the sidewalk in front of our house when he got home from work yesterday. It's covered in snow again (obviously), but at least I could put Olivia down and not worry about her being over her head!
She had a little trouble walking in her snowsuit:
Snow drift against our gate leading to the backyard:
22 inches of snow on our grill:
Poor dogs! Bodine can push his way through and Rambler just follows behind him!
Not a chance this will all melt by Halloween, but everyone around here is really good at keeping the sidewalks shoveled (thanks to the HOA), so we should be fine to Trick or Treat. We have a Halloween party tomorrow that I hope we can get to!
Wow, time is flying by this Fall! I finally got Olivia's Halloween cards addressed tonight and hopefully will get them in the mail tomorrow. I've been really bad at losing track of dates, lately. We have 2 birthday's in October and both their gifts were late (sorry Ben and Papaw!). My days are running together! :)
I am so excited for Halloween this year. Yes, I know Olivia probably still won't have a clue, but at least I can dress her up and she can walk to houses to trick or treat. Last year she slept through Halloween!
Our Mommy's group is having a Halloween Party Friday with a costume contest. I think she has a good chance of winning, because her costume is stinking adorable. And it only cost (me) about $5. We're using something she already had and borrowing something else... You'll see... :)
We woke up to this Wednesday morning:
I hope we don't have to wear our ski coats trick or treating!
We went to the aquarium today with Avry and her Mommy (Kacy). We were last there in May when Mom visited (they were 9 months old). What a difference! An aquarium is the perfect place for toddlers. All the exhibits are right at their level and noone gets mad if they touch the glass. It wasn't very crowded, so we let them out of the stroller and they had a blast!
Lots of pointing and "Hi!!!" (to every fish).
Doing a little climbing:
And sitting:
Avry wasn't in the mood for pictures today- not even with Mom!
We turned a corner and saw this tank. Olivia just plopped down and watched the fish for the longest time!
Watching the sting rays, but they were more interested in splashing the water.
Lots of fun!
And last, but not least, I finished Aiden't Viking hat.
It was also my first hat with earflaps, which I thought turned out great! Now he can go pillage or whatever vikings do...
My cousin Mary Lee flew in last Thursday for a weekend visit. It was the first time she met Olivia and we had a blast! She got in late Thursday, so we caught up a little that night and hit the outlets bright and early Friday. We also had Avry with us, so we brought along the double stroller and lots of snacks. I was really excited, because these outlets are indoors and have a carousel. When mom was in town in May, Olivia rode the carousel for the first time and seemed to like it. Not so much this time:
Note the terrified look and death grip on Mary Lee's sweater. Funny, Avry wasn't a fan either:
I ended up standing with both babies (crying) in my arms about halfway through the ride. I felt so bad! Lesson learned... We found some rocking chairs and they perked up!
They were so funny. When they got tired of sitting in the stroller, they let us know-loudly. So I would leave whatever store we were in, take them out of the stroller and let them run around the hallway. Luckily, it wasn't too crowded. Of course, they ran in opposite directions most of the time, but I could say "Where's Avry?," or "Where's Olivia?," and they would immediately stop and look around for the other one. It was really cute. I got my workout in that day! We were exhausted when we got home! We knew just the place to visit Saturday. Mary Lee is a former science teacher (and coincidentally, now a school counselor) and was interested in seeing Dinosaur Ridge. Dinosaur Ridge is in Morrison, about 15 minutes from our house. In the early 1900's, a road was being built in Morrison and dinosaur bones and tracks were discovered. Apparently, there are many places in Colorado and Utah with dinosaur fossils. Michael and I have been several times, but this time was different. The Girl Scouts were having a patch award day with several booths set up. Lots and lots of little girls and their families. We were a little apprehensive, but it turned out great- we were able to see things we never noticed before by listening to the guides. Here we are with Red Rocks in the background, which is right next to Dinosaur Ridge:
Olivia checking out some footprints:
We went into downtown Morrison for lunch and ate next to a moose. Olivia was fascinated with him.
We stopped by the mall on the way home and Olivia had the mother of all meltdowns. We were walking by a kiosk selling the stuffed animals that make pillows (Pillow Pets). She saw a moose and immediately stopped crying and reached for him. As much as I tried to sway her towards a ladybug (to match her room) or a cow (he was cute), she was set on the moose. So we bought the moose and she's been attached to him ever since. Sunday was a gorgeous day, very mild, so we decided to drive up to Breckenridge. It was my first time visiting, too, and I'm already planning on a return trip! Such a cute little town, lots of shops and restaurants with beautiful scenery.
Olivia did a little skiing before we left:
She had a rough night Sunday, but we managed to get a few more pictures before Mary Lee left:
This picture cracks me up. Olivia and I were exhausted from the night before and Avry wasn't feeling well. We all look like we're about to fall asleep!
And that was our busy weekend! Lots of fun!
A few pictures from last week- I love this little dress. It was Aubrey's and I think it's so cute:
Michael started pulling her around on her blanket and she loved it. She cried when he stopped, so he was pulling for a while! It was funny, because after a few minutes, she just sat there like a queen on her throne:
You surely didn't think I'd go 2 posts without pictures of my latest knitting projects?! This hat is for Aubrey:
The brim flips up, so she can wear it longer:
I love this hat. It was my first time trying a cable stitch and I think it turned out really well.
I ordered specific yarn for Maggie's hat and it just wasn't what I wanted. Her hat is supposed to look like a cupcake and it does to an extent. The bottom is supposed to be dark brown and I think it looks black, plus the yarn looks fuzzy to me.
So, I'm working on another hat for Maggie. A ruffled brim hat with a flower. It's almost done:
This is another one I'm working on- it might end up going to Maggie and Aubrey, because I made it too big for Olivia. I'm going to try to fix it, so we'll see how that goes!
I have 2 boy hats in the works that I can't wait to start on! Wow, long post tonight! If you made it this far, thanks for reading! :)
It's been a COLD, snowy day today! Perfect weather for... the circus! Ringling Brothers/ Barnum and Bailey's "Zing, Zang, Zoom" has been in town for 2 weeks. We were a little apprehensive about taking Olivia, but she did pretty well. She was over it about 3/4 through, but I thought that was great for a 14 month old. She especially liked the elephants:
Munch, munch:
And you have to get cotton candy at the circus. She loved it!
We got this hat with our (ridiculously overpriced) cotton candy. She wasn't a fan:
I love the guilty look on her face here. She's going through my bag (again):
While Michael was out of town this week, we drove out to Evergreen to take some pictures. The leaves are really pretty and the tallest mountains are snow-capped. I couldn't find a good place to get the two together, but we got some good shots. We went to a park called Elk Meadows. The trail we were on was surrounded by really tall grass, which makes me nervous about snakes. I'm usually constantly talking to Olivia during the day, just a play-by-play commentary, but I'm never that sure how much she's taking in or paying attention. While we were walking on the trail I told her to keep her eyes open for snakes. She looked right at me and said "Hisssssss." Yes, dear, exactly. Guess she's taking in more than I thought! Here are my favorite pics from that day:
We stopped at Red Rocks Amphitheatre on the way home. This next one would be one of my all time favorites, if she didn't have keys in her mouth:
This one is from the park yesterday:
Hopefully, our fall weather returns soon! When we left the circus this afternoon (around 5:45pm), it was 27 degrees. Brrrr! I cleaned our carpets this week, too. She loves the vacuum and apparently, the carpet cleaner. I was letting it warm up and she walked right over to it. Wanted to check things out...
Notice the duct tape on the carpet cleaner. Yea. It's had some issues and Michael's worked on it for weeks. It works about half the time, so I think it's time for a new one... So, that was our week! We have company coming this weekend and you know how we love company! It means we get to play tourist, my favorite!
