Fun in Fort Collins..

In mid-July we went on our first family vacation, luckily it didn't look like anything the Griswold's participated in!  We went out to Colorado to visit our good friends Vinnie and Melissa.  We were a little nervous about the flight out there, we had a long stretch on the plane, 4 hours and 15 minutes.  Thankfully Miles slept for about 2 hours and we made good time out there so it went very well!  Miles started to get a little antsy toward the end, but lets be honest, who doesn't get a little antsy after sitting for more than 4 hours!

Miles adjusted very well to the time change, it was rather seamless.  We did so much out there, so I will share some of the highlights with you.

On one of our first days there we toured downtown Fort Collins, a little bit Burlington-like, great shops, yummy food, and lots of people watching.  We then visited one of the many micro breweries in Fort Collins.  This one is the O'Dell Brewing Company.  We got a sample of all the beers they make, yummy!

On Friday we headed to the mountains.  Vin and Melissa found a cabin in Winter Park, CO for us to rent for the weekend.  Our tour guides brought us through Rocky Mountain National Park....so pretty!!!!  Unfortunately, I was a bit affected by the altitude.  I was still able to appreciate the beauty though!  We got stuck in some construction traffic for about half an hour, which was okay, not a bad place to get stuck.

Vinnie ordered us up some elk and we were lucky enough to see a herd.

After a four hour, tummy upsetting, beautiful drive we arrived at our destination....

Bear Claw Cabin, a nice little cabin on a mountain side it had everything we needed....I can imagine it would be really great to stay in the winter as well!

We had a very nice relaxing time in Winter Park, went for a nice walk in the center of town and later went out to dinner.  After dinner there was a concert in the park we enjoyed for a little while.  We had to take advantage of a photo op!!!

Sadly, we did have to leave winter park, but we still had a couple days left in Fort Collins.  We went on a nice hike in the Poudre Canyon.  We had a great time hiking, such a beautiful day!!!!  Sophie had a great time too!!!

There were a number of water crossings that I didn't even attempt to rock hop, however, Dylan with is super agility and baby on board did a great job!

We miss these guys so much!  Thanks for showing us such a great time guys!!!  We love you!!!!

Unfortunately, like any vacation it had to come to an end.  We did have a great time, and can't wait to go back for another visit someday!  

Here are some other choice photos of from our vacation....  Hope all is well!

Jenny xxoo

Where did July go?

Wow!  I can't believe it is the end of July already!  I always mark my birthday with the "end" of the summer.  I know we have a month left, but it has already gone by rather quickly.  I have a couple posts I need to make, so I will start here.  The weekend of the fourth we spent our time up at camp ( in Alburgh).  We got to spend time (not a much as we wanted to) with family we don't get to see too often.  Unfortunately, I had to take Miles back to Gramma and Papi's house to nap because it was SO hot out he could nap at camp.  Oh well, we made the most of it when we could.

Miles got to spend more quality time with Grampy....

and time with Meme, I don't know what it is, but she has the magic touch that makes him melt in her arms as she whispers into his ears, I love the moments they have together!

He was also able to do some laundry with Jody, too cute!

We had a nice time up at camp, there are more photos out there somewhere, it turns out it is really hard to take photos when you are trying to keep your baby from eating everything microscopic thing he can find.  We stayed up in Alburgh for about 5 days and Miles was happy to be back home with all his stuff.  Just look at that face!

Friday night we decided we were going to make some pizza on the grill, we had tried it before, but it didn't go well.  Ann was telling me that she and Bannon had been making pizza on the grill and I was bound and determined to give it another try!  We had a little bit of a bounty from our garden to use, onion, zucchini, and basil.  We also had some leftovers to use, pepperoni (Dakin Farms), bacon, pineapple, broccoli...well you can look at the picture.

Doesn't it look so good!  They were delicious!  Oh yeah, by-the-way, all of these photos were taken with my new camera that my parents, Paula and Robert, and Dylan got me for my birthday!  Thank you guys I LOVE it!!!!!

Well, that was the beginning of our month, we then headed off to Colorado the next week to visit our dearest friends Vinnie and Melissa.  We had a great time and I will be making a couple of posts about our trip in the next few days!  Here are some more cute photos for you!  Hope all is well!

Jenny xxoo

A day at the beach...

The weather here has been a little unpredictable lately, one day is rainy the next is sunny.  We decided to make the most of our beautiful sunny day on Friday and head to Niquette's Bay in Colchester.  There are a few trails you can take through the woods down to a small secluded beach.  A really nice spot, especially on the week days, there were maybe 15 other people there.  We were also able to bring Bronson with us, which of course he loved, because if he could live in the water he probably would, and Miles would probably be right behind him!

We thought it would be a good time to try out our hiker pack....guess who loved it!

It was a great experience for him and a nice walk through the woods.

However, I do believe Miles' favorite part was sinking his toes into the sand on the beach.  The water is very shallow here and therefore is very warm.

Did I mention he also enjoyed eating the sand, just as he enjoys eating everything else!

That evening we went to one of our favorite places for dinner (American Flatbread) and then walked around downtown checking out the street entertainers and the cows on Church Street.

All-in-all it was a good day...hope all is well with you!

Jenny xxoo

Who wants more?

Okay, so it has been a little while, again, however don't feel neglected...we just haven't really done anything! We have been trying to enjoy the nice weather when it is here, how ever fleeting it may be. We did plant our garden a couple weeks ago (thank you mooma!) I haven't taken any pictures yet, but we planted tomatoes, basil, bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, zucchini, summer squash, lettuce, and cucumbers. Now last year, we did not have a very plentiful harvest. This year we already have two tomatoes and about four summer squash growing! I am crossing my fingers that we will have more to come! It's so exciting!

We did have some nice days, Miles has gotten very good at throwing the ball to Bronson in the house, he is really into checking out the chuck-it, I am sure it won't be long and he will have that thing figured out!

Bronson too, has been enjoying the nice weather....

One night we walked down to the restaurant by our house and had a couple drinks, Miles was so good, it's so nice to get out among the world again, the winter is so limiting when you have a baby!

We stopped over at Dylan's grandparents house for a little visit before heading out to see Grampa Dean and Gramma Ronda and the uncles. We were lucky enough to see Roger and Buck while we were there, it was Miles' first time meeting both of his great uncles...

We headed to Danville where the Degree family was camping for the weekend, Miles and daddy got to go for a swim in the pool with Uncle Adam, Gramma Ronda, and Uncle Nick.

We relaxed by the pool for a little bit, it was so nice, the sun was out, we had just had some delicious burgers and salads, what a fun day. The drive was so beautiful too!

Last weekend Mooma and Grampy stopped by for a quick visit. Miles and Mooma are checking out a little puzzle I pulled out the other day, Miles has so much fun pulling open the doors and checking out what is inside.

So this next picture shows you a little about what we have been going through these last couple weeks. We love that Miles is exploring all around the house and outside...(does anyone hear a "but" coming in?) so other parents already know all of this, but you don't realize how much you have that is accessible to a baby... We now store Bronson's bowls up on the kitchen table, we started to put the kitchen chairs in front of the tv because....

Miles has found the wireless router and realized that the dvd player opens and the tray is really fun to pull on! Needless to say, I spent a couple hours today fixing that problem... now I just have to find new homes for the plants.... ho hum....

I have a new video for all of you... Miles has hit another milestone... he now signs "more" I would hazard to say that "more" is his first word. I was so excited when he did it that I cried and then sent a text to Jamie immediately! We have spent the better part of two weeks trying to get it on video, of course when the camera went on he wouldn't do it... I even let the camera run for 15 minutes one night...nothing. Dylan was successful a couple days ago. Also in the video is a brief moment of Miles babbling. He has skipped right over mama, dada, buba and his babbling sounds more like giggle giggle, jigga, and tickle. I know it sounds crazy and trust me we are doing our best to get it on video! Enjoy!

It sounds a little cliche, but I can't even begin to tell you how much I love this little boy!!!

Here are a couple cute photos for you all to enjoy!  Hope all is well with everyone!

Have I told you before how much Miles loves the Wheel?

Ah, sweet potatoes!!!

See you soon!

Jenny xxoo

Maple Festival, Mother's Day, and New Toys!!!

My apologies to those of you who check the blog for updates and have not seen any....I have been a little busy with a little boy who can't seem to sit still for one moment! It is so funny that you look at your child and can't wait for them to reach these wonderful milestones and then when they do you, at times, you long for the day when they didn't move an inch! I wouldn't change anything for the world, but to give some of you some perspective as to what we are going through, we had to get a new trash can today because Miles kept pulling up on the other one and dumping it over. Twice was enough for me!

About a month ago we went to the Maple Festival up in St. Albans. We met our friends Ann and Bannon there, along with our favorite little girl, Ella. We had a nice time, got some greasy food, some maple treats, and took in a little craft show. Here are some pics of Miles and Ella....love the budding relationship.....

Doesn't it look like Miles is telling Ella a VERY important story!!!

Sharing toys.....

For Mother's Day we went to my parent's house. We had a nice meal, hot dogs (with Charlie's) and homemade mac and cheese. We had a very nice time, it was a very special day for me. Because Dylan had to work on Sunday, he let me sleep in on Saturday. I slept until 9:00!!!! That is the latest I have slept since my maternity leave. It felt really good! Mooma enjoyed her Mother's Day card from Miles....

The following weekend Mooma and I went garage saling for some toys for Miles. It is amazing how quickly he gets bored with what he has. Hopefully the toys we got him will suffice for now! This is his favorite one at the moment.... by-the-way it was only $3!

He also enjoys playing his xylophone.....

He really hauls back to whack it..... I'll try to get it on video sometime, it's really cute!

After the garage sales we went out to lunch with Miles, Dylan, and Grampy and then made a trip to Toys R Us for a swing. It has been so nice to sit outside in the evening. Miles will sit in the swing for half an hour.

Here are some cute photos of my little guy, I can't get over how much I love him!!!!

Here is a new little video too, remember how much he loves swimming in the pool, you can't imagine how much he loves his bath! Some of you have already seen this video, but I had to share it with everyone! Enjoy!!!

Hope all is well with everyone!  Take care and check back soon!!!!

Jenny xxoo

Our Last Day in NC....

On our last day in NC we took a little tour about Asheville, went to lunch at a local pizza joint, and hung out at the house on the rainy day.  We also visited the Grove Park Inn.  It is a beautiful place, I can imagine staying there would be pretty comfortable.  There was a famous person there the same weekend we were there, does anyone have any guesses?  Read on to find out who....  

Before heading out Jamie and Miles spent some quality time together....he loves his auntie Jamie!

We didn't really take any pictures of Asheville, as we took the "car" tour.  It was raining all day.  I look forward to my next visit when we might be able to explore the city a little more.  It is a nice looking city with some beautiful architecture.  

In the afternoon we went to the Grove Park Inn, if you clicked on the link above then you know it is a pretty cool looking "inn", not exactly a B&B....

Typically, you wouldn't see all of the scaffolding on the front of the building, right now there are going through a roof restoration project.  

This is the back of the Inn, you can just make out (maybe) the deck where you can eat meals.  I want to do that sometime.  

The stairs lead down to the spa that's on site....

All of the stone work is just amazing around this place.  There have been many famous visitors at the Inn, including quite a few of our Presidents....

When we visited the Inn they were having the....

We were able to see some that were selected as winners, here are a few of my favorites....

Aren't they cool?!  I love the Alice in Wonderland birdhouse.  

So, does anyone have any guesses as to who the famous person/people were????  There was a little hint earlier in this post.  Drumroll please.............The Obamas!  We didn't see them of course, we didn't even go near Asheville when they were there, it would have been a madhouse!  Still pretty cool that they were in town.  When we were driving from Charlotte there were people all lined up along a high wall to watch Airforce One fly in.  

After our day in Asheville we went home and had another yummy dinner.  We really had such a great time, it is always so nice to hang with family you don't get to see often.

The three two sisters and Meme in the kitchen.....

We had a little time to take some photos of us all....

Jody, Dick, and Miles.....

Miles waiting for his last bath in the luxurious whirlpool tub.....

He got so excited every night for his bath, I would to for a whirlpool bath.....

After all that it was time to settle upstairs for a little R&R.....

So that was our trip, my apologies for taking so long to record it all....  Hope you enjoyed reading about our trip!  Take care!!!  

Jenny xxoo