Sunday, June 12, 2011

Parker Days!

We had such a fun weekend together as a family! Friday we just ran errands and ate out at a new, near-by restaurant- Freddy's! We had yummy Butter Burgers and the boys favorite...french fries! Saturday and Sunday were spent hanging out with friends at a graduation party and hitting up PARKER DAYS!

Parker has a great festival each June and in the 6 years we've lived here, we've never gone! So now that our kids are a little older we thought it would be something fun for us all to do together!

First, we hit up the parade!
Heath loves balloons and shouts out "ball, ball, ball" every time he sees one, which was about every 2 seconds at the parade! There were a lot of them and many of them made their way up into the sky, which was even more exciting for him!

Handsome boys watching the parade!

Can you tell he loves his Daddy?! Just a little! :)

Here are some pics of Nolan's FAVORITE parade attractions...
Lots of horses...can you hear Heath growling at every single one? He sure did!

Nolan LOVED all the cars and wanted to know each one's name!

There were a bunch of really neat old ones!

One parade attraction was giving out, as Nolan called them, "juice pops"! He had never had one before and it was just what this hot boy needed as we watched the rest of the parade!

Oh Parker, I have a love/hate relationship with you...sometimes I really do feel like I'm living in the country!

And check out this cool Fire Truck!

After a lot of candy was collected and an entire preschool had marched down the street, that was it for the parade and our Saturday at Parker Days! It was time for good naps, air conditioning, and clean feet!

But we just didn't get enough of the fun and came back on Sunday too to meet up with some friends of mine from school and their families!

We came a bit early to play...
Having fun at Main Street Park!

My little swingin' boy!

Nolan thinks it's pretty cool that we will actually let him PUSH his brother! He never misses out on this opportunity!

Slidin'

CHEESE! Look, I'm actually in some pictures! Usually I'm the one taking them all!

Woo hoo!

Next stop, the Petting Zoo...a must for our little animal lover!
For some reason Nolan likes to pet their back sides and tails!

We didn't want to pay for Heath to go in because we thought with his previous track record that he might be freaked out by the animals, so instead we bought some carrots and just let him feed the animals from behind the fence! And much to our surprise...he LOVED them! He laughed and smiled and let them eat right out of his hands!

I guess next time we'll be paying for two kids to step on poop and pat nappy fur and almost get peed on! Ha!

Nolan said, "Mommy, I'm pulling his tail GENTLY!" Oh, good Nolan! Let's just hope he doesn't kick you in the face!

The llama actually had really soft, fluffy, nice fur! I even gave it a pat or two!

Next we moved onto the carnival! With unbelievable prices, we opted for just one ride!
We chose the $9 train ride! Nolan, as usual, was a little nervous at first, but ended up really liking it! I even got waves and smiles! Heath didn't really care for the lion in his face and cried a bit, but all in all it was a success! After riding Nolan did his "excited dance" and said, "I was brave! That was fun!" Next year, we'll try some more- it just might break the bank!

And of course, a day at a carnival would not be complete without some great, but not-so-good-for-you, food! And boy did we eat!
Enjoying some cotton candy while our friends rode the Ferris Wheel!

Then Nolan and Mark devoured this fried Twinkie in no time at all!

And of course, this little swiper got his hands on some of my funnel cake too! We were all covered in powdered sugar! But oh was it worth it! Yum!

Now we are home, laying on the couch in utter exhaustion while the boys are both zonked out taking long naps upstairs! It was a hot, busy weekend, full of fun! And Nolan is already talking about going back to PARKER DAYS next year!

Sunday, June 5, 2011

***Memorial Day 2011***

On Memorial Day we took our normal trip up to the Bosch family cabin for a day in the foothills! It is so nice to get away and spend the day outside with family! We had pretty nice weather and enjoyed all the cabin has to offer!

We started off the morning by doing some hiking! Nolan did AWESOME and hiked the whole way by himself, up big hills, down rocky paths, and over big rocks! We were really proud of him.

Nolan loved picking up rocks and throwing them over the edge and breaking off sticks and whacking everything in sight!

When we did this same hike on Labor Day he had to be carried for parts of it! Not anymore! It's amazing how much stronger and more independent he becomes all the time!

Rock Climbing!

Nolan and his Daddy taking a break from climbing to give me a nice smile!

Nolan got to take Sammi for a walk! He really asks me everyday if he can get a pet...sorry bud, seeing Sammi every once in awhile will have to do!

Checking out the tractor with Daddy!

Heath taking a tractor ride!

All the kiddos waiting for dinner!

We celebrated Cohen's 1st Birthday after dinner!
Nolan enjoyed handing Cohen his gifts!

We got Cohen his very own Rockies hat just like our boys have!

All the cousins always have to be a part of the birthday action!

Jayne made 2 delicious chocolate cakes!

Cohen was a bit unsure about his Curious George smash cake!
It didn't quite get smashed!

But he did check it out and take a few bites!

We love you Co-Co! And can't wait to watch you grow in your next year!

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Happy Birthday Payton!

For Payton's 7th Birthday she told us that she wanted us to take her to Build-a-Bear! We thought this was a great idea...and so did Nolan! He loved his first experience there and really wanted to take his cousin!

Of course we had to talk to him about how he would not be making his own animal and how this was Payton's special treat. And he did awesome. He waited patiently and watched Payton and helped her make her stuffed animal and not once asked for his own! Although, he did plan what he will make the next time he gets to go...a wiener dog in a hot dog costume! Too funny!

Here are some fun photos from our morning together...
Picking out just the right animal! It didn't take her long to know what she wanted! Unlike my sweet eldest son who took 30 minutes to pick out 1 Croc's jibbit!

Picking out her kittie's heart with love!

Pushing the pedal and fluffing up her cat!

The boys watching the action!

Rubbing kittie's heart on her nose so that it "NOSE" she loves her!

Getting stitched up!

Nolan helping Payton give her new cat a bath!

Making a birth certificate for her Siamese Cat and giving it a name!

Aren't these guys just the cutest?!

Payton proudly showing off her new friend: Fluffy! She wanted to name her the same name Nolan named his Build-a-Bear puppy. Mark tried really hard to get her to choose a more creative name like: Turquoise (the color of it's eyes) or Cookies 'n Cream (like it's fur). And Nolan even came up with the name, "Lovey". But I told them that it was PAYTON'S animal, so it was PAYTON'S choice...so "Fluffy" it was! She also got this cute pink carrier that you can wear in the front or on your back, sort of like a Baby Bjorn!

We took some cute pictures afterwards with her and her Build-a-Bear box and with our McDonald's smoothies, but my computer went wacky when I was uploading them and somehow they ended up getting deleted from my camera and weren't on my computer when it recovered! SAD!

But anyways, we had a fun morning together and we loved getting to spend time with our only and not-so-little anymore niece! She was so sweet, and looked beautiful, and we are amazed at the smart and talented young girl she has become!

We love you P.R.! Happy 7th!

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

18 months!

Heath is 18 months!
Wow! Where has the time gone?

Here are his most recent stats:
Height- 33.5 inches @ 80%
Weight- 25.8 pounds @ 45%
Head Circumference- 48.6 centimeters @ 75%

As you can see he is still a solid boy! But crazy enough, he weighs a whole 5 pounds less than Nolan did when he was 18 months! And now Nolan has just shot up and thinned out! It's hard to imagine what Heath will look like in a year or even just in a few months!

We are so proud of all that Heath has learned in the past 6 months! He is a walking machine and he is such a fun boy! He loves to tackle, fall into pillows, be tickled, shoot baskets, throw balls (or anything he can get his hands on), zoom cars, laugh at his brother, makes animal noises, copy words, play with his cousins, splash in the bathtub, swing, and give kisses!

He also loves to screech, scream, and cry LOUDLY when he doesn't get his own way! Just like his brother and Daddy, he is one stubborn dude! Not at all like his Mommy, ha! I pray that one day he'll use this feisty streak for good, be a go getter, and not stop until his dreams come true!

But then again, he is just the cutest thing ever with his huge, chubby cheeks and big, round, blue eyes and wide toothy smile that when he's shrieking, or throwing food off his tray, or knocking down lamps, you just can't get mad! He flashes that sweet smirk at you and your heart just melts!

He is definitely our wild child, or as Nolan likes to call him, our "Monster Baby"! But he keeps us on our toes and makes life an adventure! We are so blessed!