Saturday, October 23, 2010

Red Rocks


Sometimes I forget how beautiful Colorado really is - and literally in our own back yard.  Red Rocks amphitheater is about a 10 minute drive from out house and we met up with our friends Katie and Gary and their kids there for a little family photo shoot.  As you've probably realized from this blog, Jan and I have very few pictures together.  The ones that we do have in previous posts, most are taken with a tripod in which Jan presses the button on the camera and has 8 seconds to run into place.  Having Katie take some pics for us gave us the opportunity to get some great family photos and hang out with some great friends.  Thank you Katie!



Seattle Visit


Andrew, Elizabeth and I ventured to Seattle a few weeks ago to visit Michael and Courtney and the girls.  We had not been out there in almost two years and had a fabulous time.  We did so many fun things from going to the Air and Space Museum, watching Avery's soccer practice and game, to just playing with the kiddos.   Michael and Courtney's house is a short walk from the beach and the girls and Andrew had a fabulous time building sand castles and running and rolling around in the sand.  





The highlight of the trip, however, was meeting our beautiful Regan Eileen who is about 6 months old.  She is such a delicate little girl, especially when you put her next to Andrew.  The two of them played well together.  Andrew would often try to wrestle Regan but she can stand her own.  All it took was a little hair pulling and Andrew got the hint real quick.  


 This is one of my favorite pictures.  Double trouble here trying to get the gate figured out so that they can go downstairs to play with the big girls.




I took Elizabeth, Andrew and Madeline to the Air and Space Museum.  It was really fun to have Madeline all to ourselves and allow her and Elizabeth a chance to play.









Another highlight of the trip was taking the ferry boat from West Seattle to Downtown Seattle.  Despite the rain, the girls had so much fun on the boat and downtown.  We rode the carousel and played in the arcade (where Aunt Kate will go down in the history books (of Avery and Madeline anyway) for winning over 200 tickets on some game that I couldn't even begin to describe to you - the result: gummy bracelets, bouncy balls and stickers galore!)  And here is the highlight- food wise.  I am a huge seafood lover and I go through major withdrawal living in Colorado.  So whenever I get the opportunity, I eat seafood like it is going out of style.  I know my mom and dad are laughing right now as I have a husband who is an avid fly fisherman yet I never get to eat one.  Thank you Seattle family for a wonderful trip!  We look forward to coming out again soon!


Monday, October 18, 2010

Andrew 10 months old


My handsome fellow turned 10 months old while we were visiting Michael, Court and the girls in Seattle so we did a little photo shoot together on Alki Beach (which from what I learned in Elizabeth's Larry Gets Lost in Seattle book is where the settlers first landed in Seattle).    Andrew enjoyed his first sand experience.  He hated being picked up and just wanted to crawl around in the sand.  He tried eating it twice and quickly learned that sand does not taste very good.

Andrew has learned so many new tricks the past month, the most monumental being that he started walking.  He can take about 4-5 steps before plopping down.  He's realized that he is a super fast crawler and can get where he is going much more efficiently by crawling.  He has also really started to love books.  I don't remember Elizabeth being as interested as Andrew is at this age in books.  He sits there and really studies them.  Andrew and Elizabeth continue to be great playmates.  This makes mommy and daddy very happy as they can entertain each other for a little while!  They are able to get each other laughing and giggling about something or the other all the time.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Breckenridge Weekend

This past weekend we packed up the fam into the little Subie and headed up to the mountains for the weekend.  Kate and I both took the day off on Friday to start the weekend early.  Our first stop on the way up was the always amazing Eleven-mile Canyon to spend some time with the Kid-Os outdoors surrounded by some incredible scenery in all of its fall splendor and of course top notch fly fishing.  Its funny how the two go hand in hand most of the time.
The weather was almost perfect for us. Warm enough we didn't have to worry about anyone getting cold but cool enough no one was getting hot and very little wind to better facilitate dry fly fishing to those very smart trout in the canyon.

 Kate and I took turns fishing while the other was playing with the kids.  Kate was casting like a pro to the rising trout.  This particular little hole has a bunch of fish in it that see a lot of fishermen (a few fisherwomen too) and the water here moves fairly slow giving them plenty of time to inspect your fly to see if happens to have a hook in it.  Tricking one of these buggers to eat a hook is tricky business.  Kate did a great job making a nice smooth cast and delicate presentation.  She was able to trick a few into eating her fly - hooking them and getting them to the net was another story...


  In the afternoon the Trico hatch was on so we switched to some nearly microscopic flies and I was able to hook a few fish but with hooks this small, getting them to the net is once again difficult.
This nice Brown gave me a run for my money and Elizabeth enjoyed holding him for a few seconds before we had to release him.
Later Andrew took a little nap in the backpack and gave me the opportunity to fish more.
On our way out we stopped to take a few photos of the canyon.  This place is simply spectacular!

After a long day on the river the loaded the kids back into the car for a nap while we drove up to Breckenridge.
We had a great time up there as usual.  The kids had a great time in the condo and Kate and I enjoyed the nice escape from our usual routine.  
 The Blue River flows right through town and is a fun little place for Elizabeth to play in the water, get her feet wet, and climb on the rocks.  This time it was Kate's turn to go in with her.  The water is always cold, its a mountain stream, but in October it is REALLY COLD!
 Andrew just goes along with the flow and is happy to go along just about anywhere.
 One of our favorite places is Dillon on Lake Dillon.  The playground there has got to be in one of the most beautiful location in the United States overlooking Lake Dillon and the mountains surrounding the lake.  Andrew just enjoyed playing with his feet.
  There are also some fun sandy areas that Elizabeth likes to play in.




Back in Breckenridge there are some fun rock sculptures with some holes in them making for fun pictures of the kids.  Mommy too.  I guess I should have jumped in there too!

We had such a wonderful and relaxing time and what a blessing to be able to go up and enjoy the high country for the weekend.  We can't wait to get up there again.  Hopefully we will make it up there again soon!

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