NDSU/CSU Weekend in Fort Collins

GO BISON!! We had so much fun in Fort Collins for the CSU/NDSU football game. We stayed in Loveland at a Holiday Inn Express. The hotel had a great breakfast and a pool with a waterslide. Sweet! We stopped in Denver to take the kids to the aquarium, which was totally worth it. Charlie got such a kick out of all the fish and various animals. Can you see the otter doing tricks in the first picture? Such a crazy thing - swimming back and forth doing the same loop, pushing off the glass to turn himself around, repeat, repeat, repeat. Very entertaining! Charlie pointed out all kinds of things and really got a kick out of the aquarium. It was a neat place!

OHMYGOODNESS. Look at these two! Posing for a quick picture before hitting the pool. Love it.

Bison pep rally on Friday night! We hung out for a while and stayed through the formal pep rally before heading back to the hotel. We didn't know a single person there.

More waterslide fun on Saturday morning. We had the pool to ourselves on Saturday morning, and when we swam on Friday, there were a few other adults in the pool area; mostly in the hot tub and occasionally the big pool. Charlie loved the waterslide!! I even took Alanna down once, but that was all. :)

Charlie has become quite the swimmer! He can swim all around with his arm floaties on like it's no big deal. So proud of him!

So sweet!

Checking out CSU campus before the game. Alanna took a nap in the car on Saturday afternoon while Matt stayed in there with her. Charlie and I walked downtown for a bit and checked out some neat shops. There were so many! We could have spent more time there but shopping isn't a toddler's favorite activity. We stopped at the campus before heading to the stadium for the game. We found the student center and bookstore, and poor, tired Charlie fell asleep in the stroller! He hasn't done that for a looooong time - he must have been tired! He grabbed a quick 45-minute nap while Matt, Alanna and I hung out on the blanket in the shade.

Ready for the game!

Best way to keep kids entertained during a football game: SNACKS! Baby food pouches, CapriSun "squeeze boxes" (because I'm always saying to Charlie, "Don't squeeze it!"), popcorn, graham crackers, goldfish, fruit snacks, apples, etc. Don't judge.

BISON WON!! We had a great time!

Alanna Overload

Mmm... dinner!

Rotini pasta and green beans



Alanna's expression is so funny, but I wanted to document her wearing this outfit. It's on loan from Bergen and says "Who's the Sweetest?" on the bottom of the shirt. Well obviously whomever is wearing the outfit at the time wins the sweetest award!

Sky Sox Baseball Game

Trying to squeeze in all we could on Labor Day weekend, we headed to a Sky Sox baseball game on Saturday (9-1). It was a perfect evening to sit outside and enjoy the game. We sat in the left field grassy area figuring that the kids would appreciate a little more room to roam. As it turns out, the grade of the hill was a bit more than I bargained for - we had to watch Alanna closely so she didn't roll down the hill! Seriously. About the 6th inning, we moved to the bleachers close to first base to finish the game. Since it was the last night game of the season, there were fireworks after the game - so fun and so worth staying for! It was a late night, but the kids slept in the car on the way home.

Three of the sweetest expressions ever.

August Wrap-Up

We went to a kids carnival at a local church where they had storytime, a few bounce houses, face painting, a cake walk, fishing for candy prizes, and karaoke all for free! Believe it or not, this was Charlie's very first bounce house experience. He actually liked it a lot contrary to what his face shows. :S

8-24-12

8-24-12

We took a day trip to Buena Vista toward the end of August (8-25-12). It's one of our favorite places! We stopped at the farmers market located at a nice park in Salida on our way. After a quick walk through the farmers market, we walked downtown for a little bit before having a picnic at the park. Beautiful, beautiful day! We love a good picnic.

In Salida, CO

Park in BV. It's right by the river, has tons of grass, great equipment, big kid swings AND baby swings, and the local burger joint (K's) is maybe 20 feet away. We always want to get ice cream there but try not to very often. On this particular trip, we splurged and got malts (and a kids cone for Charlie). YUM.

We hiked/pushed the jogger on a closed forest service road for a short 2-mile hike. Obviously the kids didn't want to be in the stroller the whole time; probably because the road is really rocky so they were getting jostled pretty good! It was a great spot for a family hike.

Little girl, big shoulders.

On the hike down, Charlie, who didn't want to ride in the stroller, fell asleep on Matt's shoulders!! Isn't that HILARIOUS? I think the gentle, rhythmic rocking of Matt's walking did him in after a long day in the fresh air.

And if you look closely, you can see a piece of an evergreen tree in Charlie's right hand, holding tight to his piece of the outdoors even while sleeping. Oh, Charlie.

Not to be left out of the nap-taking, Alanna grabbed a quick one on the way back to the van. Unlike her bro, she actually transferred well and slept in the car for a while, too.

Can't resist a mountain shot!
Mt. Yale

On August 26th we headed to the state fair in Pueblo. It was a busy weekend! We stayed a few hours at the state fair, had lunch, a shopped a bit before heading home late afternoon. It was a fun time - not too hot (pretty close though!).

The lenses popped out of these glasses, but we gave them to Charlie to play with in the car. Matt turned around and found him watching his movie wearing the glasses like this. How cute is he? Especially since he totally seems to think he's got them on his face in the correct position. Haha!



Upon seeing the sheep, Charlie says, "Zebra!" We laughed and laughed and laughed. (What IS the purpose of their 'dresses' anyway? To keep them clean?)

The shade of red on Alanna's cheeks tells me it's about 2 degrees away from my heat max...

Remember the post about new foods for Alanna? This was 8-30-12 - blueberry pancakes and green plums. She ate and ate and ate... like the caterpillar from A Very Hungry Caterpillar.

8-31-12 Alanna stands up in the crib for the first time! I opened her bedroom door one morning and this is how she greeted me! Ok, she was a bit upset that I ran for the camera instead of picking her up right away, but she got over it quickly. Charlie was 10 months (just over) when we had to lower the crib for him, too. Funny!

Good morning, sweetie!

Charlie helped Matt lower the crib later that day. Ok, he helped put the tools away. Can't you just hear him saying, "What does this do?"

Canon City High School football game
We loved watching the huge moon rise!

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