Family, Friends and an AZ wedding

Arizona.  In August.  We did it.  It was hot but we survived.  All for a very good cause of course :)  We were lucky enough to find a cheap flight into Phoenix (where we could obviously see the Maes') the weekend of Aaron and Summer's wedding in Tucson which all our friends were going to as well and also happened to be the same time my mom and dad were in Tucson visiting Ashley.  All a nice happy coincidence. Did you get all that?! So we were ready for a weekend filled with all our favorite people!
We left Friday after Logan's preschool orientation (another post coming all about Logan and school!) to go to the airport.  All Logan talked about wanting before the flight took off was a drink from the drink cart as I forgot to refill his water bottle before we got on the plane, so we explained he had to wait until we were in the air before they came around.  Well he barely made it through take off without falling asleep, so he missed the drink cart...and the entire flight, he woke up right when we were landing.  I told Dom instead of packing his bag full of entertainment for the flight we just need to pack him a pillow!  Fiona did well on the flight too, as is her usual luckily :)  We landed about 3:30 in Phoenix and as soon as we stepped onto the jetway did we feel the heat woa!  Mimi and Papa picked us up and we had fun spending time with them at their house and going out to some yummy mexican food.  Logan was lucky enough to get to play with the famous Christmas train and go swimming with Papa.

Saturday mid morning we left Phoenix to drive down to Tucson to meet up with my parents and Ashley.  We were wondering if anything had changed on that oh so familiar drive... nope!  haha.  We met up with mom, dad and Ashley at Ba-Dar, our favorite chinese food place which we have missed a lot since we haven't been able to find one here that is as good!  After some delicious food and conversation we all went to the hotel we were staying at that night and got to play around before we had to get ready for the wedding and Ashley had to head back to Phoenix.  

Aaron and Summer's wedding was at Trail Dust Town and very close to our hotel so we planned on staying as long as the kids would let us!  Logan had fun watching the ceremony while holding Stella's hand and telling her "we can get married too Stella"... and hearts melted all around us ;)  Fiona was happy and quiet during the ceremony so that was nice.  Between the ceremony and reception the kids got to ride the carousel and little ferris wheel they had at trail dust town and that meant we got to have more one on one time with our friends while taking turns with the kids on the rides.  Logan and Fiona did well during the reception, Fiona fell asleep in daddy's arms dancing for awhile and Logan was having fun running amok with the other kids that were there.  They lasted the whole reception and that meant we had a lot of fun dancing and catching up with our friends.  I can't remember what time we left but it was maybe 10pm and everyone came back to the hotel and passed out!  

 Logan was very excited about drinking his sparkling juice for the toasts!

The next morning we went over to Will and Laura's house to have breakfast and play games with our friends.  We ended up staying for lunch since Will was making his famous ribs as well ;)  It's nice to go back to old friends and feel like you never left.  I think Logan and Stella felt that way too since they were busy playing the whole day.  We might not miss Arizona but we do miss all the amazing people in it!  Now if only we could convince them all to move out here with us ;)

 Cleo (2), Fiona (5 mos), Logan and Stella (almost 4!)

After spending the day with our friends it was time to head back to Phoenix for the night and see Mimi one more time before our flight left early Monday morning.  The kids did great again and flying in the morning or early afternoon is definitely the way to go for us!  When we got back to Denver Dom had to head into work and it was back to life as usual.  We were happy to be home in the beautiful weather that is Colorado, but we look forward to coming back to Arizona in the beginning of November for Jenny's wedding!

6 months....half a year!

I know I say it every month but time just keeps flying by.  Miss Fiona is already 6 months old and what a busy month we had!  Fiona has been thrown into a busy Colorado summer full of the outdoors every weekend and our daily schedule all amiss but she does great with everything.  I can't say it enough how easy going and happy she is.  What a blessing!

  Fiona got to join Logan and I at the butterfly pavilion and we had fun checking out all the bugs and watching Logan climb on everything.

We went to Estes Park for a hike in the Rocky Mountain National Park we ended up getting there too late to find a parking spot at the hike we intended to do so our plans changed a few times until we found a trail that would work.

The next day we went to Gross Reservoir to take the kayaks out with Mike and Erick.  We planned on checking out some camp spots that were near the edge of the water and taking the kayaks out from there but one of the roads was closed so we stopped and had a picnic before driving around to the other side of the reservoir to a better launch spot.  We are getting used to nothing going exactly according to plan haha.  The Reservoir is huge and while it was fun to explore, I ended up with lots of blisters on my hands, lesson learned.  

 We took a one night camping trip out in Nederland off an off road trail we had explored earlier.  The camp spot was big and nice enough but the trail next to it was very busy with dirt bikes and mountain bikes.  Logan had fun exploring, playing with flashlights, swinging in the hammock with Fiona and making s'mores.  Sleeping was as to be expected in the woods, I never sleep well camping but we had a lot of wind at night that was making a lot of noise whipping around the tarp so that didn't help matters.  Logan was exhausted from all day exploring so he barely moved all night!  Fiona on the other hand had a hard time sleeping and we ended up assuming it was because she was cold so she got in the sleeping bag with me and that seemed to work.  I've come to the realization that I enjoy all of camping until you have to go to sleep, then I'm not a fan haha.  The next day we packed up and took a picnic to Mud Lake for lunch and a short easy hike around the lake.

 Mud Lake

Another weekend Auntie Dre and her boyfriend Jack were in Denver for Jack's kickball tournament so we went to watch.  Logan wanted to know all about Jack and if he had a beanstalk and if there was a giant that lived there ;)  We had a nice time hanging out with Dre and watching the kickball games.  Somehow I got a sunburn while sitting under the shade the whole time, oops.
The next day we took another hike, this time with Jenny and to a place in Allenspark.  We learned once again you have to get hiking early so we can get a parking spot but this time we got lucky with catching someone leaving.  We had a good hike and went along the pace of the 3 year old so we didn't quite make it to where we intended to go but we saw some pretty falls at the river.

Our next weekend was a trip to Phoenix and Tucson to go to Aaron and Summer's wedding and see our friends and families.  My mom and dad were in Tucson with Ashley while we were there so it was nice to be able to see everyone in one trip, even if it was only for a few hours.  I'll write more about our trip in another post, but we had a great time and Fiona and Logan did a great job on the airplane.  We had an adventure for every weekend it seemed!  We are enjoying the summer and being able to explore more.

As for Fiona she has been busy too.  She's taken a lot of leaps it seems in the last month.  She figured out how to roll from her back to her tummy on 7/22 and has occasionally found her self in doing so in the middle of the night.  Most of the time she can get herself back over but some nights I've had to go in and flip her back over so she can fall back asleep.  She has been sleeping well lately, usually 7:45-4/4:30 when she wakes up to eat then goes back to sleep until 6:30/7ish.  There was a few weeks there where she just kept waking up in the middle of the night upset and having a hard time falling back asleep, I though maybe she was teething but there are still no signs of teeth!  Fiona has been finding her voice and while she's not exactly babbling yet she is all about squeeling some times which is always funny because most of the times she is so quiet compared to her loud older brother ;)  She has found her feet and enjoys grabbing on to them, they rarely make it to her mouth though.  She does like to chew on bath books and is obsessed with bottles, water bottles, beer bottles, anything like that catches her attention and she always reaches out for them.  She is getting better at eating but she is no pro yet.  She has tried a lot of different baby foods now, most I make for her, some I buy.  So far she likes squash, sweet potatoes, peaches and loves prunes.  Bananas and avocado were just meh, but we will try again.  She is now 14 lbs. 8 oz. with is the 21st percentile, 25" long which is 18% and her head is 16.5" in the 43rd percentile.  She was middle of the line for everything but this tine around she is on the smaller side, the pediatrician said 6 months is sometimes when you see genetics start taking over and she might just end up being petite.  Whenever anyone comments about Fiona they usually say one of two things (besides how cute she is) 1. wow her and her brother look so much alike! or 2. she looks tan.  Haha and she is, she has Dom's skin so she tans instead of burns like Logan and I, lucky.  She also always has a wide eyed look to her, must be taking everything in :). She is such a doll and I love this age!

big girl in a high chair now 

 ooo tupperware, interesting...

 supporting UofA in her cheerleader outfit 

 swinging is fun!

5 Months

What a difference a month makes!  This seems to be the biggest leap as of yet for Fiona, I feel like all of a sudden she grew up quickly.  She is now  13.2 lbs. (less then last month but maybe bc I'm using my bathroom scale) and  25.5 inches long.  There have been a few changes we have had to make since last month and she has taken to them all very well.  She was sleeping every night and nap being swaddled but she started to break out of it during the night and it would wake her up once her hands got anywhere near her mouth.  So we stopped swaddling and crossed our fingers it wouldn't be too much of a setback in the sleep department.  And of course she did better then expected, because she's Fiona and she's easy!  God bless her.  She only cries some of the time to fall asleep at nap time and her 2-3 hour nap has now turned into only an hour but that just means she takes more naps which is ok right now too.  Being the second child she has learned to nap wherever we are, it's not always easy but she usually just passes out.  The other change we made was starting her on solids.  Yes she is already that age, wow!  She started rice cereal and didn't really know what to think of it at first but once she got the hang of it, she got all excited when the spoon came out and she'd start kicking her feet in the high chair.  She has since tried peas (not a fan, it's ok, neither am I!) and sweet potatoes (ahhh that's much better!).  Logan likes to watch and pick out her bib and sometimes he likes to help feed her.  I keep telling him how Fiona is eating her veggies and he should try too...it hasn't worked yet haha.  Fiona has been enjoying sitting in Logan's old "car" walker and he loves pushing her around the kitchen in it.  She hasn't figured out how to move it yet, but it's a nice place she can hang out while I am busy in the kitchen.  Little girl has found her voice and has been talking and cooing and screeching a lot more now.  She also has this little moan she does for awhile to warn you that she's about to cry over being tired or hungry or needs a change of scenery.  Logan is good at making her giggle and Dom and I have succeeded a few times too but nothing compares to big brother!  It's always heart warming to watch them continue to interact and see how it evolves as she grows up.  She's become a wiggly worm and she kicks her feet and rolls side to side and somehow moves around a lot that way.  Mostly in her crib at night but she's started doing it while playing on her mat now too so Logan has been warned many a time about keeping his Lego's out of reach!  Before we know it she will be on the move!  She is working on sitting up too, she still needs assistance every time but she's getting more stable, so she should be there soon.  Can't believe how fast she is growing, time is flying by!

trying out her first tastes of rice cereal with big brother helping

 practicing her sitting up

 smiling for mommy

 celebrating our 8 year anniversary

 Love this one of them!

 Logan just loves to snuggle her!

Besides all those leaps for Fiona, we have been really busy the past month!  We got to go to the Renaissance Festival in Castle Rock, CO with Erick about an hour or so away from us and it was so nice to go when the weather is nice and you're in the mountains instead of a dustbowl!  I'd say it was smaller then Arizona's but much more enjoyable since you aren't sweating your butt off in an AZ February! 

 Auntie Dre was in Denver for a weekend visiting a friend so we got to see her one morning for breakfast in Boulder and a little play time at our house.  Lauren was also in Denver a different weekend so we got to meet her for breakfast in downtown Denver. We always love seeing the Roussel family no matter how short the trip!  

We celebrated Independence day a day early at our neighbors house.  They had a big party and Logan loves playing with their daughter so I practically didn't see him the entire night since he was having so much fun.  We had fun drinking with the Valania's, Erick, Jenny and our neighbors.  It was nice to be able to go home and put Fiona to sleep and then be able to go back to the party and not worry about her since the baby monitor worked still ;)  Logan got to stay up late and watch fireworks (that start after it gets dark so about 9:30pm here) then he went off to bed too and Erick and Dom kept the drinking up until I dragged them home about 12:30.  We had a fun time and it was nice to relax and drink and have fun neighbors around our age!  Although I'm not sure how fun it was the next morning for Dom and Erick!  I "forced" them to go out to breakfast the next morning too ;)    

happy 4th!

watching fireworks!

We joined Jenny and Bo at City Park in Denver for Jazz in the park one Sunday.  There were sooooo many people, wow!  We had a picnic and sat on the grass and enjoyed the music and company.  Fiona thought dancing with Logan was the best thing ever and she was giggling like crazy, so cute!  It was fun and anytime we can do something outside in the middle of July it's a great reminder of why we love Colorado!

I got to go to Jenny's bridal shower last weekend at a delicious crepe restaurant in Cherry Creek.  It was nice to go out sans kids and do something with adults!  We played a game where the winner had the craziest stuff in their purse and I had grabbed my purse that I used with Logan before Fiona came along and had never cleaned it out, so I won a bottle of wine for having a pair of underwear in my bag...it was Logan's ;)  After the shower I headed back home and found a wonderful surprise in the driveway.  Waiting for me was a new 4runner and a kayak on top!  I've wanted a 4runner for awhile and ended up with the CX9 instead in Tucson but now that we live in a place with snow and mountains and things to be explored, we were wanting something with 4 wheel drive :)  and I've always told Dom that I wanted a kayak when we moved to Colorado, back when Colorado was just a dream we had, and now believe it or not it's all here (which is the inspiration for naming the kayak Ripley)!  I was very excited and surprised that Dom managed all that with two kids!  Luckily Erick was there to help out with Logan (he even came armed with chocolate donuts and a toy haha he knows what works!) and Fiona was a sleeping little angel so everything went smoothly.  After checking out my new toys I was told we were going off roading with Mike in Nederland.  So off we went!  Logan thought it was the best thing ever taking the car off road (he wants me to just drive off in the grass all the time now) and watching Mike splash his car through some massive puddles.  We got to see some great mountain views and spotted some good camping spots too.  The next day we went to Brainard Lake with the kayak and had fun testing it out.  The lake was beautiful and not very crowded, we had great weather and the kids did great.  But by the end of this busy weekend of adventures they wanted to be out of the car!  Dom has went into more detail about the fun we had on his own blog that will be all about our off roading and kayaking and mountainous adventures, www.maesadventurecolorado.blogspot.com.  So I will leave it at that!

the beautiful bride to be

surprise!

view from off roading in Nederland

taking the little guy out on the kayak for the first time

Brainard Lake

taking a ride together while Fiona napped and Mike watched her

We had a lot of fun this past month and we are looking forward to another busy and fun month ahead including a trip we didn't think we were going to be able to take, to Arizona for a wedding and to see our friends and family!  We are super excited...even though it will be August.  In Arizona.  Please send rain to cool it down so we can survive!

Summer Camp

We officially have a preschooler on our hands!  I know technically Logan has been a "preschooler" since he turned 3 but this summer he went to preschool for 2 weeks for a summer camp so now I consider him a real life preschooler ;)  Right after we came back from our Texas vacation Logan got to start summer camp at the Wee School in downtown Erie.  It's small and cute and the teachers are too sweet.  I was skeptical that Logan would part with me so easily but we had been talking about what a big boy he was and how much fun he was going to have at school.  Since he has so many older friends that are already in school I think that helped seal the deal that school was cool.  And so he had a successful time leaving mom and dad, every time actually and that made me happy!
The first week of summer camp was a western theme.  Logan came home everyday with some super cute project he made and a story of what snack they ate that day.  The school provided them with a themed out snack too.  Hopefully that will get Logan to try more foods...although from what he told me he didn't eat anything new, oh well!  I asked him to learn the friends names that he likes to play with and in the beginning he kept saying he didn't know but eventually came home to tell me he likes to play with Emily.  Of course we were not surprised to learn that she was a girl and almost 5, that seems to be who Logan is drawn to...probably because they are the ones that talk just as much as he does haha.   Since these weeks of summer camp were everyday from 9-12:30 Logan was not so crazy about being home over the weekend, he wanted to go to school!  The second week of summer camp was a pond life theme.  Again he came home with the cutest projects and stories about what they had for snack. He had so much fun he wanted to do school at home.  So he chose a week of Dinosaurs, ocean life and a week of food so that has been fun too.  He likes to learn everything he can about the things he is interested in (lately he's been obsessed with Tornadoes!) and it's crazy how much information he retains!  He turned the corner in the last few months of being a 3 year old and turning into an almost 4 year old.  It blows my mind he will be 4 soon!  He is so grown up!
He starts preschool again in August but is only signed up for the Tues/Thurs afternoon class, so only a few hours twice a week.  I'm hoping space opens up in the Mon/Wed/Fri morning class but I'm sure he will have fun either way.  Until then he is doing swim lessons with daddy at the pool this summer and a gymnastics class every Thursday for an hour, it's a gym class in an old bus with a trampoline attached to the side, how cool is that haha.  He's been having fun playing with our neighbor, 6 year old Paige and whatever kids end up at the park when the weather is nice, oh wait it's Colorado, that's almost all the time ;)  We go to the splash pad at the Orchard shops too and he's getting better and better at being ok with splashing water in his face, baby steps for Logan, baby steps.  We spend one day a week at the library too picking up books for whatever his new thing is that week.  Last week he chose books on kayaking, scuba diving and jeeps ;)  He keeps us on our toes and always makes us laugh.  He's so inquisitive and talkative and smart he's going to be schooling us soon!

First day of summer camp!

 Our little cowboy after western week