More Denver

So my brother Jonathan is in medical school and he had to go do rotations around the country for about 3 months.  This meant his pregnant wife stayed in Denver with their two kids and limited grown up conversation.  So I decided to go mooch off her good cooking and provide her with some (sort of) grown up conversation for a few days at the end of September.  We had fun, and our kids played, and Jen made amazing food, and my kid was a monster of grumpiness and selfishness, not allowing his cousins Anna and Jonah to touch him or talk to me.  In his defense he was rearranging his whole nap schedule so he was tired all the time.

My cute piece of carry-on.

 It was Atticus' first plane trip and despite his initial reaction in this picture.  He did pretty well.  He liked looking out the window at first and then we just read books and played with toys and my tray table.  I was grateful it was such a short trip since Dan wasn't with us.

 The kids played really well at the park (and by that I mean, Atticus wasn't being a grump.)

I'm a really mean aunt.  Jonah fell and started crying.  The attention I gave Jonah made Atticus cry so I had to stop the love for a second to quickly take this picture.

I don't think Atticus realized Jonah was playing with him or he would have thrown a fit.  They were listening to the wheels spin. 

As long as we were outside, Atticus played nice.

A very nice cousin.  Or maybe a very bossy cousin.

Dance party!  (Jonah was potty training...)

They were trying to hide from Jen.  Atticus did not understand the concept of hiding.  He'd crawl under the table for half a second and then stand up and yell.

We went to story time at the library.  This library was amazing and they had this great room just for story time.  They told stories about castles, and kings and queens and then they played with dress-ups and puppets, etc.  The library also had a great play area for kids.  I wish our library was that big and full of awesomeness.
They had great crown name tags for everyone at story time.

Jonah playing dress up. 

 We also spent a day at the zoo.  Atticus was exhausted but he was still happy to see the animals.  Anna taught us all about penguins.

 They had this great area where you could go in and feed the birds some kind of nectar.  They'd come and land right on us.  Atticus loves birds and was thrilled to be able to watch them.

 Although, after a few minutes of bird feeding, he decided sitting on the plants would be much more fun.  He stayed there laughing for the rest of the time we were with the birds.

 Kid was so worn out that he'd even take naps on the big bed with me.

 Our flight home was a little harder with how tired he was but he still was pretty good until the last half hour, when fits started happening.  A lady next to us let us watch kid shows on her tablet until we landed.  What a life saver.  We didn't have a ride back to my parent's house (where my car was) for a few hours.  So we hung out at the airport.  Atticus was very good.  We mostly played with his dinosaurs or on the escalators (if I couldn't distract him from them) or the moving sidewalk (Atticus thought those were the best things in the world) until my dad was able to come get us.

We had a fun trip.  I'm especially glad we were able to see Jen and those kids for a few days as they won't be coming out for Christmas because Jen's baby is due on December 27.

Summer 2013

I sure love me some Summertime.  We had an easy and wonderful one around here.  We moved out to Nibley at the end of June and we have been enjoying all the advantages of a yard and country roads for bike rides.  We swam, and traveled, and played with our family, and etc.  

Enjoying our new yard and the summer heat.  (Which also tried to kill our grass) 

 So brave!

 He's a natural.

We moved in too late to plant much in our garden so it was just a box of dirt for Atticus to enjoy. 

 He's a good helper.

Two different zoos.  Willow Park Zoo with cousins Eli, Crew, and Lydia.

 Hogle Zoo with mom and dad.  

This is him being an elephant.

 I love him looking up at the giraffes

 Gorilla bum!

We got to have a puppy for a day.  The kid thought it was the peak of his existence.  He would love and cuddle it, but then if it approached him, he'd get nervous and run away.

 Laying out on the 4th of July

 I always love watching Jimmy wakeboard

Atticus loved the boat.  Even the times he'd fall asleep on the boat.  He loved swimming breaks the best.   

 These are my parents.  They're 55 years old.

We spent some time at the Bronson's cabin.  We love it up there.  It is perfection.

 He spends hours on the swings.

 Naptime with Papa Jon.

Enjoying our new country life in Nibley.

 Sharing means shoving a popsicle in my face.

 Hanging out at the fair and rodeo.

 Our favorite views from our new bike ride route.  This is seriously on our street.

Atticus has become an expert at staying hydrated.

I'm always sad when summer's over.  It puts boating, flip flops, and non-freezing roof sitting on hold.  But it helped immensely that the end of summer didn't mean the end of spending all day with my kid.  We are having a blast with no teaching to worry about.