fall

It was a beautiful fall here in Littleton. The trees changed vibrant colors and the leaves stayed on the trees for quite some time. I tried so hard to get a good family photo while the leaves were still on the trees. It was impossible. We took a zillion shots in our front yard. None of these are stellar, but it gives you a quick look into our growing and sometimes crazy family.

 

 

Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

This weekend, we've been down in Albuquerque, NM with the Cobbs for the International Balloon Fiesta. On Friday night, we went to see the 'Special Shapes Glow' - where all the different character balloons glow off and on for about an hour. It was pretty spectacular. The kids enjoyed watching the balloons, swinging light sabers, eating funnel cakes, and watching fire works.

On Saturday Morning, we went back to the fair grounds for the balloon ascension (bright and early - 5 am). It was a brilliant display. The first balloons to go up were the dawn patrol, sent up to make sure the conditions were ok for all the others. Then wave upon wave of balloons went up between 7:00 and 8:00 am. There were approximately 500 balloons. Simply amazing. The kids enjoyed seeing the balloons, being able to touch the balloons, eating warm fresh donuts and hot chocolate, and finally ending the morning with burning off the last little bit of energy by chasing Uncle Daniel and jumping in the carnival jump house.

first pigtails...

Here are Lily's first pigtails. Love them! What's Lily up to these days: she's starting to tell us 'all done' in sign language, she's still working on crawling - sometimes goes backwards, she wants to eat by herself and pick things up to put into her mouth (no spoon feeding mommy), she claps, she bee-bops to music, and she has started to say goodbye.

Jude has started to love preschool (he goes two days a week). He loves jumping, chasing, rolling, spinning, and anything rambunctious. He's really into pumpkins this fall and always loves racing cars.

24 hours of Leadville...

On Labor Day weekend, Daniel rode in the very first '24 hours of Leadville' mountain bike race. The goal of the race for as long as you can (or 24 hours max) around a difficult 17 mile loop that is over 10,000 ft in altitude. He and his friend, Keith, started at 10:00 am Saturday morning and rode all day and into the night. Both rode a fantastic race. Daniel ended up riding about 70 miles before having to stop because of not being able to see. He forgot his glasses at home and his eyes were dried out and burning up. When it's pitch black at nightHis buddy Keith suffered through and ended up completing 7 laps; he received 10th place. I was very proud of Daniel for his efforts. With each race, he gets stronger and learns more and more about how to fuel his body. The pictures below are from the start of this race.

This last weekend, Daniel completed his last race of the season - The Bearable (a short adventure race that includes swimming, running, orienteering, and mountain biking). He and his buddy, Drew, received 5th place for their efforts. Daniel had a blast and was excited to end his 'racing' season with such success.

thirteen months...

Lily is a little over thirteen months old. She sits up really well, rolls everywhere, army crawls a bit, loves to eat things she can pick up on her own (pulled pork, bananas, raisins, puffs, chicken, bread, blueberries), protests when brother bonks her or takes away a toy, and is still very pleasant and very smiley.

sick...again...

Jude and Lily were both sick with a fever two weeks ago. Then we had one good week. And now they're both sick with fevers again. Ahh...preschool...

first day

Last Thursday we went to Jude's preschool parent orientation. It was his very first day of preschool. He'll be going on Tues/Thurs mornings. Wow - I can hardly believe my little boy is going to school!

3 yr old soccer

Daniel and I registered Jude for a 3-year old rec league this summer. I'm not sure it was the best idea. It had tons of potential, but...well...didn't turn out as we had hoped. Mostly it has to do with our coach just not being as proactive and engaging as Jude needs. Oh well...




go get that ball Jude!


hmm...he's thinking about it...


good kick Jude...


off he goes...he's got it...


ur...oops...ok, well when you're 3 it often comes to sitting down and protecting the ball