Best Friends

While Super Mommy was off playing war games with the United States Air Force, Elizabeth and I were here at home all weekend holding down the fort - We had a great time! Its funny what you end up doing all day when you spend it with a 10 month old...

Today the weather was nice and overcast, perfect for some outdoor photos; so Elizabeth, Gregario and I headed out to the yard. We had a great time, got some fun pictures, and Elizabeth found the she enjoys eating grass - or maybe she just enjoys playing a game called: I'm going to try to see if I can get my daddy going by eating grass over and over again... Anyway, the pictures turned out great and we thought we would share some of the results. We hope you enjoy them!
These two have been inseparable lately! One of Elizabeth's newest little tricks is to try to feed Gregario her finger food - crackers, cheerios, cheese, whatever, and she just thinks its the funniest thing ever. Gregario obviously enjoys it too. They got off to a rocky start when we first brought Elizabeth home from the hospital, but as you can see here, they are the best of friends!

Some times you just get lucky and get this kind of thing on camera!

Look what I can do!

It is absolutely amazing watching our little Ellie grow. It seems like in just the last few weeks things are really starting to click for her. Initially when she started crawling we had to set up a gate at the top of a small flight of stairs in the house but she hadn't really thought much about climbing the other flight of stairs. Then, one day she just decided to give it a try, the most amazing part was that once she climbed the first step just just kept right on going and never looked back, all the way to the top and with no help at all - i was just there to make sure she didn't fall. Her she is climbing the last step.

Ellie and dady after summiting her first flight of stairs!
Elizabeth has also started to wave her hand, she does it all with her fingers, no wrist, and when you wave to her, she waves back, only her hand is facing her and not you :-)
One of the newest tricks in Ellie's repertoire is to use the high chair as a walker and push it all over the living room on the hardwood floor. Gregario is never far away when this is going on - he is usually watching closely any Cheerios to fall off for an easy snack - its rather amusing to watch.
And her is her newest fun little trick! It won't be long now...

Don't worry, he's still Adorable!

We have received so many comments on how sad and pathetic Gregario looks after getting his summer cut. Don't worry, he is still just as adorable as ever! Here he is post hair cut:

Summer Cut - with or without racing stripes?

Have you even been sick with a cold or the flu, laying on the couch for hours on end half watching one of the numerous moves in your collection that you have seen a million times half zoned out due to sheer boredom and cold medications when something catches your eye and you are suddenly struck with an over whelming urge to start some random project that you have been putting off for weeks? Poor Gregario was the victim of this very phenomenon just a few hours ago.

There I was laying on the couch watching a move i had already seen a dozen times before when I looked down and saw gregario laying there looking a bit shaggy. The next thing he knew I was headed for the horse sheers which usually means he makes a run for it but today I think he was actually thinking the same thing I was. "Its about time..."

Project complete - time for a shower and back to the couch for a nap. - jan

Everyone is Sick

After we each got back from a nice little mini vacation, sure enough, everyone in the house is sick - and just in time for the weekend. Little Elizabeth comes home from grandma and grandpa's in Texas with Pink Eye, at about that same time Kate comes down with what turns out to be severe bronchitis / borderline pnemonia. Of course since I had just spent nearly a week outside in some frigid temps in Wyoming and the Colorado high country and went immediately back to a stressful week at work, my immune system wasn't exactly up for a challenge. So of course I get the pink eye from Ellie and Kate is nice enough to only give me the sore throat and cold part of her ailments - so far no bronchitis...
Anyway, instead of working out in the yard and getting the place cleaned up from a long winter like everyone else in the neighborhood, we have been taking turns napping and watching the little princess. Since we haven't been outside working or burning money at home depot we did manage to get what everyone seems to come to our site to see... more pictures of Elizabeth! Enjoy! - Jan

Spoiled by the Grandparents

While Jan and Casey were fishing the freezing cold streams of Colorado and Wyoming, Elizabeth and I decided to head south to some warmer weather to visit Grandmom and Grandpa and get spoiled rotten. It was so much fun to see Elizabeth play with many of the toys from when I was little. Some of them, like the castle and Michael's Pink Panther, I remember vividly.
Seeing Elizabeth walk around and around the glass table in this picture brought back so many memories of my brother playing hotwheels on the glass top and making forts under the table. No wonder my mom can't seem to get rid of it!

Elizabeth's favorite adventure while at Grandmom and Grandpa's house was the sheep skin. She would rub her face in the fur and lay on it for minutes at a time (minutes at a time is a long time for our ever active, constantly moving Elizabeth). Elizabeth was even allowed to bring the sheep skin on the back porch to lay on while she was playing with her toys so that she would not get cold from the stone floor. Nothing is too good or off limits for the grandchild!

Spring Break Fishing on Grey Reef

Last year for my brother Casey's spring break, he flew out to Colorado from Michigan to get a jump start on the fishing season hitting some of Colorado's amazing trout waters including the South Platte, Taylor, Arkansas, and Frying Pan. It should be noted that the term "Spring break" is a bit of a misnomer in Michigan, it should probably be renamed to something like "it's still winter break" or "late winter break" or possibly even the "I've got the shack nasties and gotta get the heck out of here break"... you get the idea. Its cold and dark and its not exactly getting any warmer. Colorado on the other hand is a perfect spring break destination for those seeking variety. It not uncommon this time of year to be able to ski in the morning and golf in the afternoon... As far as the fishing goes, the rivers are starting to pick up a bit from their low winter flows and the fish are starting to get a little more aggressive as the water starts to rise in temperature. We had heard some stories about a stretch of river called Grey Reef up in Wyoming where the trout averaged 18" and fish over 5lbs are not uncommon. Now I don't know about you, but I have heard of places like this, and in fact we have some here in Colorado however what they usually don't tell the river is jam packed with people, the fish are no where near 18-20" and they fishing pressure is so intense that just getting hooked up into a fish takes an advanced degree in fisheries Biolology with a minor in voodoo, and even then the 5 lb fish may take years before you ever even see one let alone get a picture with it.

Grey Reef is completely different. The fish really do average 18-20" and 5lbers probably aren't that uncommon and the fishing pressure relative to Colorado fishing is non-existent.

We spent our first day with Guide, Dave Cook of St. Peter's fly shop in Ft. Collins CO, who rowed us down the river and tied (and untied) the knots - one of the great luxuries of having a guide!

Grey reef also have some great walk and wade waters below the dam in Alcova - Casey went to town the next day raking in the fish. It was certainly a memorable trip!