The Finished Product :)

9-11

We did it. We actually did it! I can't help but smile every time I walk through the dining room. The table turned out exactly how I wanted it to. I'm pretty proud of this thing! But I'll stop overloading the blog with pictures. It's a wrap, folks! 

 Now that the new table is in the dining room, we put the old table in the kitchen. It's a great spot to eat breakfast and/or snacks, do homework and crafts, play play-doh, etc. On this particular morning, Molly and Alanna were practicing letters (ahem, scribbling for Molly) while I was reading and drinking coffee. So fun!

Lake Grandma and Grandpa Come to Town

9-8 to 9-11

Lake Grandma and Grandpa drove down to Canon City to come and see us for a few days! We were so happy to see them and to show them around our house. They can now picture us in our space, something my mom really loves to do. (It IS so nice to see where people are. It bridges the gap.) We had a lot of fun being together; playing games, reading books, playing outside, going for a walk, driving out to see the Royal Gorge bridge, working on the last few coats of sealer for the table, etc. Grandma and Grandpa even dropped Charlie off at school on Friday morning. (He guilted them into it by saying, "This is your only chance to do it!" He's showing his Legge roots by using guilt... :/ ) Mom, Dad, and I picked up Charlie after school on Friday and did a quick walk-through of his school so they could see his classroom and meet Mr. De Herrera. After that, we regrouped and then took a little driving tour out 8-mile to see the bridge and visitor's center. We took Skyline drive back into town and swung by our old rental house to complete the tour. It was a beautiful day!

Grandpa taught Alanna how to do the Usain Bolt move. Hilarious.

 Polycrylic... sand.... polycrylic.... sand.... repeat, repeat, repeat.

 Mom and Dad so graciously swung through Centennial on their way down to fetch some chairs at IKEA for us. We picked them out when we stopped through on our way back in August but didn't have the space to bring them home. Mom and Dad had more than enough room to transport the four chairs and one junior chair for us. It saved us a special trip up there! I'm so thankful that they were willing to do that. IKEA is a big undertaking no matter what you're going for - even if you're only buying meatballs. It's a maze of a parking lot, it takes 13 minutes to walk around and find the entrance, another 35 just to weave your way to whatever section you're looking for, 20 minutes to load up the merchandise, 4 minutes to check out, another 12 minutes to load the vehicle, 5 minutes to drive around to find the exit... it's a lot of time no matter how you look at it. Worth it, though! I love the chairs and they match the feel for our farmhouse table so, so well. The white color is actually more of an antique white and matches our white wall color perfectly. Awesome!

 Grandma and the big kids outside doing some science experiments on the back patio. Water, a few bowls and cups, food coloring, and some vinegar... waBAM. Instant science. :)

 I think I did three rounds on Saturday with two coats for each round. I may have done an extra round on the table top, but I think there are 2 coats on the base and 6 coats on the table top.

 Grandma and Grandpa with the Rustand spawn.

CandyLand seems to make an appearance every time Grandma and Grandpa come for a visit. :)

On Sunday afternoon, Dad and Matt brought the finished table into the dining room. It's a solid piece of furniture (a BEAST) and we were thankful for the help bringing it in. I need to finish painting and bench and then the whole thing will be done! I really love it. Especially now that it's in the space and I can see how it looks. It's just what I wanted.

 After one last picture on the front steps, we said goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa. We had a great time together and are so thankful that they came out to visit us! We love you!

Farewell, Jungle Hopper

9-6

Well, it's been a good run, Jungle Hopper. This crazy contraption has been a regular piece of furniture for so long. It has been set up and taken down in several different houses. (It comes apart and stores so flat!) It has been pooped on, spit-up on, drooled on, pushed on, pulled on, drug around, and put to work for many years. I have enjoyed this thing so much, and more than that, all of our babies have LOVED this thing. It has produced so many smiles and giggle from our babies. Thanks for the memories, Jungle Hopper. :) These pictures were taken because I purposefully put Hattie in there one last time before it was time to let it go. She is loving her independence and we found ourselves using the jungle hopper less and less as time went on. Pretty soon, I couldn't remember when she was in it last! I didn't want it to end like that so I put Hattie in there for one last session just so I could take some pictures. She lasted less than 10 minutes before she was ready to get out and move on her own. I actually caught Hattie pulling up to the outside of the jungle hopper a few times as well! We have loved this thing. On to the next family, JH! I hope you bring them as much fun and happiness as you brought us. :)

Julie's Solo Hike

9-5

Alanna was making Hattie giggle like crazy on Labor day morning. They were having such a great time! Who needs toys when you're the youngest of four?? There's always someone willing to play and entertain!

 Sometime earlier in the weekend, I mentioned to Matt that it had been a while since I have done a serious hike, or at least a semi-serious one. We have sauntered down trails with the kids for the past several years, but it has been a while since I have hiked at an adult pace down a trail. The result? Matt pushed me out the door to go hiking by myself. I was a little nervous (hiking by myself? am I prepared for that?) but it ended up being a really nice afternoon. I didn't leave Canon until close to 1pm which put me at the trail head about 2:15. I like the Lake of the Clouds trail in the Sangres, a trail that Matt has done several times. (Side note. One of those times was shortly after we moved to Canon and Katie came to visit. The four of us, Matt, Katie, Charlie (our only at the time!), and me, hiked for a while before I stopped with Charlie on the trail. The two of us ended hiking back to the car by ourselves, in the rain, ahead of Matt and Katie, when we stumbled upon a small/medium sized black bear about 25 yards away! What are the chances that this would happen again on the exact same trail, six years later? I didn't want to find out!) He instructed me well, packed a day pack full of snacks, water, supplies (ahem, toilet paper), tucked the CO gazetteer under my arm, and kissed me goodbye as I headed out the door. I set 4:30pm as my turn-around time so no matter how far down the trail I was, I could get back to the car before it got dark. I wanted to make it to the lake but missed the mark. I have no idea how far I got but I made it to a big rock slide area where I sat and had a snack before heading back down. It was fun to go at my own pace and to just think while I was hiking. I will say that by the end of the afternoon, I was ready for some company again. :) I made it back home around 7:30, just in time to help put the kids to bed. It was nice to get out and do something different, but as it turns out, I'd probably rather hike at our slow pace with my family in tow.

Later, after the kids went to bed, Matt headed out to the garage where he cranked out this seriously adorable bench that matches the style of the table. It's a tad higher than a standard chair to accommodate younger children AND it is just narrower than the base of the table so it can be pushed completely under the table. Oh, and Matt improvised and made up the plans himself. Genius. I absolutely LOVE it! Good work, Matt!!!

Sleeping Baby

9-4

I haven't taken near enough pictures of this little darling sleeping in her crib. I love her footie jammies, her fluffy hair from her bath, the completely relaxed look on her face, those kissable cheeks, and how she's nestled into a pile of pastel softies in her crib. She sleeps pretty soundly all through the night (and has for a while). A typical night is 7:45/8 to 6/6:30 when she sometimes cries for a minute but usually goes back to sleep until 7:15ish when I wake her so we can get Charlie to school on time. Hattie's daytime nap schedule is super erratic, but she usually lays down for a morning nap and then another one in the afternoon, though the time and length is different each day. If we're home, I'll usually lay her down for a morning nap around 10:30, and sometimes she will sleep for a few hours. Half the time, I will lay her down for another nap after we get home from picking up Charlie after school (around 3:00ish). I don't like her to sleep too late (not past 5 for sure, not past 4:30 is better yet) to wreck her nighttime habit. At least if her daytime naps aren't very scheduled, her bedtime is the same nearly every night. :) Don'tcha just want to reach in the crib and pick her up? She is so precious. How we all love our Hattie!

 

Labor Day Campout

9-3

Generally, our feeling of the big summer weekends (Memorial day, Labor day, Fourth of July) is that everyone goes out camping who normally doesn't get out the rest of the summer. Therefore we tend to stay home those weekends. Well, the lure of a quick overnight in the mountains won us over and we headed out for a super low-key camping trip about an hour from home. We found a spot that seemed quiet and got set up. We had no agenda at all, and we didn't camp near any towns, so we were just out enjoying the mountains and fresh air. Charlie was eager to see if he could spot some animals, or at least some scat or tracks or something. His dedication to wildlife is unwavering right now! Alanna even joined the fun and brought her new sparkly pink notebook so she could take field notes. Adorable. We got out for a little hike in the woods for a while and even managed to squeeze in a fire between bouts of rain. We had no idea it was supposed to be a tad wet! Oops!  

Hattie is at that awkward stage where she wants to roam and crawl around for herself but the environment isn't always conducive to an army-crawling baby on the floor/ground. The result: playing in the back of the Explorer until the camper was set up. :)

 Goodness, Alanna looks grown up here. Maybe it's the backpack. Don't her legs look super long, too? Or is it just me?

 Molly joined in on Hattie's fun!

 I wish I could remember what she was writing - I should flip through her notebook to see. She's great at writing words if you tell her how to spell them. She loves that notebook, too. Pink and sparkly, just like her. Charlie is instructing her well on how to properly fill up a notebook!

 Daddy and his little posse out on a nature hike. Hattie and I joined them after she got some wiggles out in the camper.

 Ergo baby!

 Matt was hoping to find some wild raspberries and sure enough we did! They were pretty sparse, but they were there. We all tried a few.

 Fresh mountain air = sleepy baby.

 Hello!

 Alanna brings the most eclectic things when we travel. This time she included some Magformers (magnetic tiles) and her stuffed poodle. Can't leave home without 'em!

 Charming Charlie.

 My mountain man.

We had a fun overnight, but it was pretty short-lived. We woke up the next morning and it wasn't raining at first but then started in again after breakfast. We high-tailed it home and called it a trip.