Staycation

Staycation: noun

A vacation spent close to home.   So this year due to busy work schedules, camp/preschool, and that new cutie pattootie we can Emmy we just didn't take a summer vacation. So we decided to take two mini staycations, where we stayed close to home.   For the first we ventured to the exotic Colorado Springs.  I had never explored this city just 2.5 hours away from L Town, and Seth hadn't been since he was a little guy.  I had heard wonderful things about the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo so we decided that would be the first stop on our adventure. First we donated to the animal of each persons choice.    In addition to all the animals we (the boys) rode a teeny tiny train!  And the highlight by far was feeding the giraffes, which was one of the coolest things I've ever done.  Who knew giraffes liked salad?  We spent the night in a hotel with two pools and ate dinner at a restaurant, always fun with 3 young kiddos, though Em slept like a champ.  The next morning we went to 7 Falls, getting there WAS an adventure thanks to the TomTom!  We ended up driving 30 minutes up a mountain, no where near the tourist trap that was 7 Falls. We did take an elevator 14 floors up through a mountain. Em's under the blanket:)  Then we started to walk up the stair and quickly decided it was too far and too steep for this crew.  So we climbed rocks (doesn't it look like they are so far up, really it's inches:)  And we watched an Indian dancing demo.  Even the boys got in on it! We also drove through the Garden of the Gods which was really cool and I hope to explore further once the kids are older.  The drive home was pretty bad taking 3 hours and lots of tears.   The second trip was just two weekends later and was up to the Haley condo in Dillon.     We met up with our good friends for some good times on Grampa unnamed boat, floating on the Res.  We eat chips while on the boat, and only then my kids know this and get unbelievably excited for the chips.  A pretty good family picture!  For dinner we joined the Nichols for dinner, four wheeling, and s'mores by a camp fire.  No fox this year:)  Best buddies! SO while we haven't ventured far since our little girl arrived we've had two good short, and close to home trips.  And are looking forward to a slightly longer, farther trip to the mitten state just Em and I in October!  And a full out family vaca, involving a mouse in November!

Emmy is 3 months!!

Baby Emerson is 3 months!  I will say it every month, but how can time fly like this?

This is an off month for the doctors, so all measurements were done by me, which severely widens the possibility for error!

I weigh her in at 13.5 pounds, 23 inches long with a 15.5 inch head.

Emmy consistently does an 8-11 hour stretch at night, every night!  I am the luckiest lady in the world! (ducking tomatoes)

She is going to bed a little before 8 and is still in her own bed until she wakes up

I am gone a LOT at night and as long as she's been fed recently (2 hours) she will go down for the night with a little love.  I come home and "dream" nurse her once I'm home from work or gallivanting.

She seems to take 3 naps a day, though sometimes each nap can turn into two or three cat naps, very predicable though it's great!

Morning nap on mom or in the swing, afternoon nap in mom's bed and evening nap on a walk or in the swing or being carried

She is in 3-6 month clothes, but still fits in 0-3, it's just roomier in 6 monthers

small fuzzibunz and size 2 paper at night

Still not a big pooper but it's increased a bit.  and when she does she is MAD about it!

Colin is still her favorite person and gets the most smiles, which she still hands out sparingly.  Colin has gotten her to giggle twice, but that is it. 

She likes to talk with me, alternating coos, SO cute!

The light blond hair is coming in full force, creating quite the do! 

Baby girl we are SO SO in love with you!  You're an amazingly chill little girl and for that I thank you!  You make being your mother easy:)  Everyone is still very much in love with you and your brothers tell you that every single day!

Another picture dump

These are in descending order.  This was last night at the Festival on Main, free train rides okay!!

 John and Finn in the car ahead!  I missed Will :(

 Little Emmy yesterday in her beautiful custom shirt!

 With ruffled bum!!  As an aside, the child with the most unique name had the most personalize items, hmmmm.

 Hanging out at the park:)

 Rocking a skull cap made by TT and a friend, in 90* heat.  It is SO cute but probably won't fit this winter:(

 A beautiful dress, and a silly brother...

 We made all of these broken crayons into new chunky crayons that Colin loves.  They turned out great!  This is how we did it.  And I found it on Pinterest, my new love!

 One of my favorite ways to take pictures, with all the kids stuffed in the middle, it's getting tougher as they get older, and bigger, and with the new addition...

 At the beginning of the month we took a "staycation" to Colorado Springs to explore, we went to the Cheyenne Mountain zoo where we fed giraffes, it was AMAZING!!!

Look at that tongue!!

Concert in the park

Quite possibly my FAVORITE thing we do over the summer is go to the free concerts in Roosevelt park. This year we took things to a whole new level with sportbrellas for shade, lots more friends, and food that would make Emerald say BAM, twice!

This is our Camp Sportbrella, home to many nursing babies and their families.

 This is a fine representation at the dedication we have to these "picnic" pork kabobs, grilled veggies, orzo salad and a beverage of the week.  Seriously, we're not messing around, no PB&J's are to be found, though the kids usually get a scaled back version of whatever we make.

 It's a trifle, Seth made it and though it rivaled the make your own s'more from the previous we in the kid's eyes, not in the parents, it was divine!

 This is just an outfit that Em wore a bunch this summer, but has now grown out of.  And because I know GG only comes for Em pictures:)

 This is John and his best friend James and the girl he has told me he is going to marry, Riley.  She is adorable and she is exactly two weeks younger, her mom and I met in birth class, how cute would that story be?  It may make the paper, but you know they'd have to have a good engagement story;)

 There are games and bubbles to keep the kids entertained, though usually they just play around Camp Sportbrella.

But this day we let them do crafts and bubbles, and running!
Boy do we miss the concerts over the winter, but it gives us something wonderful to look forward to for next summer.  Well that and the 100 different parades that Longmont does!  Today we kicked off parade season with the Fire Muster parade and play time.  As usually it did not disappoint, I'll post pictures from that soon!

BoCo fair

This past week was the annual Boulder County fair, with it being so wonderful, we went twice!!

 We saw animals!

 And 4-H projects!

 Road rides, hard to see John in the back:)

 Em broke out her gingham outfit that I LOVE!!  There's a hat too, that's a little big, but the beautiful owl clip makes up for it!

 One night Seth and Tim took the big boys to the rodeo, it was too late for Em and Mac...

My crazy boys!

iPhone photo dump :)

Today :)  Pretty girl in 3-6 month clothes!

 We are always calling her our peanut baby, and this is a shirt from the boys time.  (Aunt Ce maybe?)

Thumb sucker, so cute!

Colin and his lady bug

John showing us his lady bug

 

Three friends in a pool, not a great picture, but they were naked and this is the only one that is ok for the internet:)

Sweaty baby with a cute clip!