Nov 17 - Trucks are better than Nature

We met some friends at the park on Monday. There were lakes, little trails and bridges, mountain views, ducks, and a beautiful blue sky. Here are the activities the boys found most exciting:
- The Truck: Hands-down, most exciting was the Parks and Rec truck parked by one of the lakes. The boys circled it, stroked the trailer hitch and the reflectors, and were generally in awe.
- Standing on the bench and trying to climb over the back. Luckily, their legs are still too short.
- Sitting in front of the bench and playing with dirt. Sifting, throwing, etc. This was a hit.
- Walking back and forth across a bridge, over and over. This was mainly Isaac, who thought it was really interesting when he dropped my lens cap off the side of the bridge. Luckily, it landed on a bush within reach. He took it back, walked to the middle of the bridge, looked at me and said "Uh-oh." Then I took the lens cap back, he threw a fit, and we moved on to the next distraction.
- Last activity: walking up and down a little hill with a trail, just the right size and slope for brave little toddlers.

Nov 14-16, Weekend Getaway!

We spent the weekend in a little mountain cabin with a hot tub under the stars. It's in one of our favorite parts of Colorado - just outside of the town of Fairplay. It's less than two hours from Denver, but it feels very remote, and the mountains and sweeping valleys are incredible.
On Saturday, we took two hikes - one for Isaac in the morning, then he rode on Adam's back in the late afternoon so we could go a little farther.

Here are pictures of Isaac's hike:











His boots are a size too big, and they kept falling off. It was pretty cold, but luckily the sun was warm.

And here are pictures of our sunset hike on Hoosier Pass (about 12,000 feet):



This time, Isaac's gloves kept falling off, and it was pretty cold...So the hike was shorter than we would have liked, but it was still worth the effort. Isaac complained a little at first - he's still not used to this kind of cold, as we've had a very warm fall in Denver - but then I think he loved it too.

Morning Activities

We set out to meet some friends at the Children's Museum, but Isaac got distracted...He grabbed the car from the front porch, and we were off on a walk instead. Since I'm delighted that, as of yesterday, he's decided to wear hats again, I had to take a bunch of pictures. It was a beautiful, late-fall day - about 55 degrees and sunny.
We finally made it to the Children's Museum, and Isaac was off to his favorite attraction, up the stairs and inside before I could catch up. Just past the entrance, there's a fire truck with flashing lights, a button that sounds the siren, and all kinds of controls in the front. Last time we went, Isaac spent 20 minutes in front of the windshield making siren noises...
The last picture is from the car as we were going home for nap time...settling in with a book.

At a party on Halloween night

Isaac was begging to get in the pack-and-play, don't know why...so this is the only picture we got of him.

Oct 27 - Rock Creek Pumpkin Patch

I've been excited to go to the pumpkin patch with Isaac practically since he was born...It's that romantic notion of toddlers with pumpkins and sharing the beauty of the fall holidays with our little sponge who is amazed by the very simplest things. So we set off to the pumpkin patch with our friends Megan and Oliver. I had my camera and visions of Isaac running through fields of pumpkins, hugging pumpkins...
Well, we didn't actually get close to a single pumpkin. There were supposedly 100+ acres of pumpkins, but Isaac was only interested in the hay. We tried to look at the farm animals when we first arrived, but I kept having to chase Isaac as he ran away toward the huge pile of hay bales that had been torn apart...Finally I just followed him.
It was worth missing the pumpkins. Isaac threw hay, rolled in it, crawled in it, climbed over it, and wore it home on his clothes. He was gleeful - so of course, I was too! Enjoy the pictures.