Fishies, Buterflies, and Dinosaurs, Oh My!

My Dad was out for a visit last week, and visitors always mean lots of activities. The weather was kind of blah so we did some fun indoor stuff. On Tuesday we headed out to the aquarium, we had never been there and I thought Holden would LOVE the fish. Well, she was mildly entertained, but much preferred running through the dim passages and hiding. However, the tank featuring Nemo, Dorrie, and sea anemones was a big hit!

Everett really enjoyed looking at everything and had even more fun than Holden. Well, other than this giant sea worm that was twice as big as him, it was a total yawn!



Wednesday we headed off to the Butterfly Pavillion. This place was a definite hit with Holden. They have a huge "creepy" room. Cocroaches, beetles, honeybees, HUGE spiders, snakes, etc. Rosie, the tarantula was out, but Holden was too scared to hold her, so was I actually. Then we moved into the "please touch me" section and I was convinced Holden was going to squeeze a starfish to death. Amazingly, she was very gentle and sweet with all of the sea life.



Finally, we arrived in the tropical butterfly world. It was really cool. Colorful tropical plans and flowers and butterflies everywhere. She didn't really stand still long enough to get many pictures. She just ran chasing butterflies for a good 30 minutes.


Yesterday, we had a perfect fall day and I took the little munchkins to the Denver Botanic Gardens to see the dinosaur exhibit. It was so peaceful and relaxing. They were so good and we had a wonderful time exploring the paths and gardens and hunting dinosaurs of course!


We had a quiet peaceful and relaxing lunch under the trees overlooking the water gardens. I have to say this was probably the nicest, easiest, and most pleasant field trip I have had so far with the kids. It was wonderful and reminded me of how grateful I am to be home with them and having the opportunity to do things like this together.

Crawling!!!!

YAY! Everett is army crawling all over the house. Stealing Holden's books, snatching her granola bars, and pulling her hair. It is so funny, She has the look of stunned confusion when he really gets moving and into her things. I guess she is going to have to learn about sharing...finally!

He was under our computer desk pulling out all of the wires...I guess my babyproofing has slacked off since Holden has grown up a little bit. I am now on the prowl, moving flower pots off the floor, locking baby gates, and picking all of Holden's, tiny little choking hazards (Barbie crowns, barrettes, and pebbles) off the floor.

He didn't perform well for the camera, but you can see his determination to try and get what he wants. It is amazing how he is getting better every day!

And the tattling begins....

I was in the bathroom blow drying my hair when I thought I heard Holden shrieking. I turned off the blow dryer and low and behold she was freaking out. I stuck my head out into the bedroom to see what travesty had occurred. Ev is sitting at his baby laptop mashing buttons and listening to lions roar and telephones jingle. Holden is laying on her back with her head in Everett's lap. I ran out to see what the problem was. Holden sat up and completely seriously, in a very authoritative and grown up voice told me, "Everett pulled my hair!!!" She sat staring at me, I assume waiting for me to reprimand my 9 month old son for hurting the poor dear. It took everything in me not to say, "paybacks a bitch." OF COURSE, I did not say that, I explained that Ev is a baby and he does not understand that pulling hair hurts (just like when Everett was one month old and you forgot that biting, scratching, and drawing blood hurts). Anyway, it was pretty funny and I noted that from here on our it will only get worse. There will come a day when the tattling is not cute and it makes me crazy. For now, I am enjoying watching these two monsters love, hug, bite, squeeze, and slobbery kiss each other. I am exhausted and it is a complete joy!

Always check the tent poles

Ian and I joke that he would never get along without me. So, there are a few important bits of information that would be necessary if he were left to fend for himself. He knows them by heart and repeats them often, so he doesn't forget...just in case. A couple are:

Always marinate the chicken
and
Respect the hierarchy of Snacks (save the gummies for true emergencies)

This past fun filled and action packed Labor Day weekend has added a new mantra to our list:
Always check the tent poles

I bet you can figure out where this is going, but humor me and I will share my tale of woe.

Long, long ago in a galaxy far far away I declared,"NO CAMPING THIS SUMMER!!!" These two children at this age did not seem like a recipe for a fun and relaxing camping experience. Just the four of us and Scout sounded like a lot of work, sleepless nights, and tears (mostly mine). I say just the four of us because I told Ian that if he could find some sucker to go camping with us, to help with the kids I would go....no takers! I had thought I made it. It was Labor Day for goodness sake. Then comes the phone call from Bill in California...uh oh. He and his wife Cristina would love to come and visit over Labor Day. The guys can do a fourteener and the kids and girls can just hike and camp. What could I do? I had to say yes. And that is where the turmoil began.

It seriously took me 6 hours to shop, cook, and pack. We had the brilliant idea to leave at naptime, so Ev and H would both sleep in the car. Hee Hee We hit I-70 thinking we were set, why would there be traffic on Saturday at 1. AHEM, apparently everyone started their weekend late because our 2 hour drive took 3 1/2. And oh yeah, Everett did not sleep, he mostly screamed at the top of his lungs while I tried to finagle my behind in between their car seats, no easy task. I fed him cheerios and sang a very animated and extended version of Old McDonald while we sat on the highway. Luckily, Bill and Cristina were driving in the other car.

However, we did finally arrive and by the grace of God landed a beautiful, quiet, and private camp site. We couldn't believe our luck. We jumped from the cars, unleashed Scout and Holden to explore and breathed in the crisp mountain air. We immediately started unpacking and organizing because we arrived late and the little munchkins would be hungry soon. I busted out the Exersaucer-well worth it- and Ev went to town jumping and playing.


Then, I heard a worried whisper, and then more whispers, then, "Kim......the tent poles are broken." Excuse me? This can't be, we have only used the tent twice. Not our huge luxurious tent that can fit a playpen, 5 people, and a dog? Those poles can't possibly be broken. Snapped they were. Both of the major ones.

OK, Bill and Ian were sure that with a few beers and 30 minutes the poles could be mended. So, we continued unpacking, 'hiking' with Holden and entertaining Everett waiting for the good news.






Cristina and I decided to set up the second tent while the guys worked on the firs one. AHEM, "Ian, these poles are broken too." You have got to be kidding me. This is not possible. But somehow it was. Four adults, two kids, one dog, and no tent. I took this as a sign from the gods that we were not meant to be camping. Like, we were going to be eaten by a bear if we stayed. No one else shared my thoughts and the fixing continued. Cristina fixed the smaller tent. But after 1 1/2 hours the large tent was a mess and I put my foot down, began repacking the car and got ready to head home. The guys decided to stay, Bill did fly out here to hike a fourteener after all. Cristina, the kids, and I were not up for any more excitement and left around 6:30 pm.

What happened next will be hotly contested for years to come. Since this is my blog, I will tell you my side (the truth). I had never driven down that way before and having spent most of this drive in the backseat doing a song and dance for my children, I had no idea where I really was. Ian told me, "Follow 24, back towards Copper to I-70." I said, very clearly I might add, "Follow 24 ALL THE WAY TO I-70?" He said, "YES." So what would you do in this situation? Follow 24 all the way to I-70. Too bad that took me 2 HOURS IN THE WRONG DIRECTION. All I will say is we got home at 10:30.

Kids were crying, no one wanted to sleep. Everet was up till after midnight. It was loads of fun. I am actually surprised Cristina didn't have me drop her off at the airport that night.

We recovered, believe it or not, and took the kids to the 16th Street mall to window shop and have lunch on Sunday. All of which went smoothly. The guys had a great time hiking and got home for dinner on Sunday night. Bill and Cristina had a great time exploring the kids toys, reading bedtime stories, and blowing bubbles. I just hope we didn't scare them out of having children!

9 Months and all is well

Little man went to his 9 month checkup yesterday and handled it like a champ. At his 6 month check up he was weighing in at the 10th percentile. However, over the past three months he has developed a love affair with solid food and put on some considerable poundage! We were convinced that he would be in the 75th percentile. I mean, some mornings I wake up with sore biceps from carrying him around the previous day! Low and behold he has grown, but not that much. He weighs 18.10 pounds (25th percentile) and is 27 1/2 inches long (35th percentile). Jeeze, how many chins would he have if he was in the 75th percentile (He has three now!)?

Everett was pronounced healthy and normal. I voiced my frustration that he isn't crawling yet and the Dr. asked, "Does he brace himself with his arms when he tips over from a sitting position?" Ha ha, no he doesn't and it's pretty funny to watch. Apparently the "parachute reflex" needs to kick in before crawling usually begins. So the Dr. picked Everett up over her head and simulated falling to see if he would stick his arms out. No, he just laughed. She did it again, and he laughed harder. Then it just turned into a fun game of Everett almost crashing into the ground. She told me to put him on a big exercise ball on his belly, tip him forward and roll him all around. Apparently this may foster that reflex and help this frustrated boy get moving.

I bought a ball today and Holden has been so helpful trying to propel Ev off the ball. "FASTER! HARDER!" she yells and she pushes the ball with all her force. So far I have managed to keep him on the ball, but I see some accidents in our future.

First Day of School and First Swim

No, I have not enrolled her in Kindergarten. I am not one of those crazy people who will put their kids in 50 activities and send them to school early. However, I feel like Holden gets bored with just me all the time so we decided that a bit of structured fun time away from mom and dad would be a great thing for her. Our Rec center offers a program called, Magical Mornings on Mondays and Wednesdays from 9:30-11. Holden gets to, paint, color, eat snacks, listen to stories, play in the gym, sing, and dance with about 10 other 2-3 year olds. She is loving it! I figured she would. She is usually pretty outgoing and up for anything, but I don't really leave her very often. However, she is all grown up and apparently doesn't need me anymore. I have to chase her through the room just to say goodbye.
Everett and I have been having fun on our own during that time too. I can't believe how easy peasy it is to run errands with only one child. What was I complaining about with just Holden? Last week, we had fun shopping at Sunflower Market and letting Ev touch the colorful fruit and then had a little picnic snack with our finds. Today, we spent an hour exploring the cool educational toys at the teacher store. I get to swim with Holden twice a week, but never really get time with just Everett and this is working out perfectly!
I think Everett is in the 90th percentile for his weight. He is getting bigger by the minute. He has about three chins now. He sprouted those teeth and now he is ready for steak!



On Sunday we felt brave and let Everett take a dip in the backyard baby pool with Holden. He has only been in a real pool once, but he loves the bath tub so we figured he would like it. We were a little worried that Holden would be too overwhelming for him, but she was really good.

Purple Baby is definitely not allowed in the pool so Dora had to join Holden.



You can see Everett is on to Holden's antics. He is not too excited about her hand on his back. Luckily, she controlled herself and just made him laugh all afternoon!


Here is the l;ink to some more pictures of our latest adventures. There are some old ones in the beginning, but new ones toward the end.

http://picasaweb.google.com/KimHanou/2009Aug24#

Rock Climbing

It is so sad that it's August and this was THE FIRST time Ian has rock climbed. He really loves it, but it is impossible to go with just us, Holden would be off in no time and Everett would be miserable to just sit alone and watch. So, we got Nichole, Ty, and Emily on board and we had a big day out. We met down in Castle Rock at Castlewood Canyon State Park.




The climbing area was great, very shaded and lots of little trails and big rocks for exploring.



While the guys roped up and climbed, Nichole and I took the kids for a hike. The girls had a great time looking for bears. "Mr. Bear, Mr. Bear, where are you?"



Holden had fun finding pine cones and giving them to everyone declaring, "Here, you will LOVE IT!"


Of course 5 minutes before we left Emily decided to take a "bath" and "get clean" with the dirt and dust.


And then we needed to finish the trip with a beautiful rendition of Itsy Bitsy Spider!