The Rest of September

Just one of my favorite pictures....

Labor Day weekend we had a fun potluck up in the mountains with some other families. Sopris and Sasha have been friends since they just turned one. Even though they now go to different schools, we still get together fairly regularly for playdates and family dinners.

Jack had just had his first haircut before the gathering--no more long whispies around the ears.

On Monday (Labor Day) we drove up to Pagosa Springs, Colorado for the day to go the natural springs. Phil and I had been there by ourselves a year ago and knew we wanted to return with the kids some time. There were about 25 different little hot tubs to try and Sasha also really enjoyed wading in the adjacent river which is also warm from the springs.

Jack and Phil playing together on a weekend. This week Phil leaves for Houston to take his oral boards to become "board certified" in neurosurgery. He's been studying hard for the last 6 months or so and we will all be glad when it's over!

As it is everywhere in the country, September was absolutely gorgeous here in Santa Fe with fields of gold and purple flowers everywhere, clear blue skies, and perfect temperatures. Here are some of my favorites that Phil took one afternoon.

Jack Turns 1!

Jack officially turned 1 on September 12. My how this year has flown by! We had an early birthday party for him Labor Day weekend with local family and some friends here at our house. After much deliberation, Sasha and I decided on a cat cake since at the time "kitty" was one of the few words Jack could say and because of his undying affection for our cat Burt.

We enjoyed some of Jack's favorite foods for dinner: lasagna, watermelon, corn on the cob (off the cob for Jack), garlic bread, and home-cranked coconut ice cream. The weather was glorious that evening and all the kids and babies had fun playing in the yard before/during/after dinner.

We had been practicing the "Happy Birthday " song for several weeks before the party to where whenever Jack heard the first few notes he would start clapping and grinning. He LOVED his yellow cake with chocolate frosting, making a huge mess and devouring all of his piece.

I saved a few cupcakes for his actual birthday (a Monday when Phil was on call and didn't get home until after the kids were in bed) Good thing we had the party earlier!

Jack weighed 17 lb. 4 oz. at his yearly check-up (2nd percentile) and was 29 inches tall (40th percentile). He started walking one week after his birthday. Things Jack is very into right now:
1. Cars and trucks--he zooms toy cars all over the floor and furniture with sound effects, spends as much time as I will let him in the garage walking around the cars touching the different parts and saying "CAR" over and over, his favorite books all involve cars and trucks
2. Climbing--he scales ladders, stepstools, chairs, etc. Yesterday he climbed all the way from the floor onto the kitchen counter via a small chair and had his hand on a sharp kitchen knife before I intervened. I was watching the whole thing and mostly just wanted to see what he was capable of!

Late summer

We really have enjoyed hiking again this summer. Last summer it was out of the question with me in my last trimester. This year Jack rides in the Bjorn and Sasha either walks or Phil carries her in the hike back pack (she still only weights 28 lbs!). This particular hike is our favorite through a forested canyon following a stream that requires at least 6 crossings through water (Sasha's favorite part by far) and then ends in a rather large waterfall and pool for wading. We always pack a picnic lunch and spend some time at the waterfall before heading back.

This was Sasha's first day at Rio Grande School. She goes 4 days/week and is in a class of 13 3-year-olds. She really enjoys all of the organized activities. Her favorite things to do there are circle time, looking for "treasures" in the sand box, science class, gym class, and cooking.

My parents were kind enough to take Sasha overnight camping. This is not a good age to take Jack camping for a number of reasons but Sasha LOVED it so much last year that we were feeling guilty about not giving her that experience this summer. Phil, Jack, and I joined them for dinner and s'mores and then went back home. Apparently Sasha slept great in her sleeping bag in the tent until about 5 am when she woke up freezing and just snuggled in between by mom and dad in their sleeping bag for a few more hours of sleep.

Jack dined in comfort at the campsite in his good old high chair that we threw in the trunk. He was perfectly content this year with his watered down plain graham cracker s'more.

Summer Vacation Part 3

These are some favorite pics from the week that Phil's whole family was up at the lake house. Sasha and Jack really loved being around their cousins.

This was a one-time picture op. We don't usually travel this way....

Sasha and Mary at the kids table. Meals were hectic but delicious. There are some great cooks in this family!

Jack's first jet ski ride.

Sasha playing frisbee in Lake Michigan.

The whole Smucker gang.

Just us.

Mama's boy.

All the littles.

Summer Vacation Part 2

One of the nice things about going to Lake Michigan every summer for vacation (Phil has been there every summer since he was born) is that there are all these great traditions and warm fuzzy memories that we associate with it. For the first time this year Sasha was really looking forward to doing some of the fun things we did last summer like running down the big sand dune, walking out to the lighthouse on the pier, having s'mores on the beach, and fishing off the dock. We did all that and more this year. We were by ourselves for the first week and then Phil's whole family joined us for the second week.

Sasha is quite the little runner and, boy, is she getting fast! She loves to race everywhere and jump off of anything high. She was not a big fan of getting into the water at first but got braver by the end of the week.

Jack kept us on our toes. He would make a beeline for the stairs so someone always had to watch him. He ended up sleeping in one of the bathrooms after few terrible nights in our room. He finally just started sleeping through the night when we got home from vacation at 11 months. I thought the day would never come! Now if only I could sleep like I used to....

Sasha had fun rough-housing with her Grandpa Jon.

Sasha's favorite activity this year was fishing off the end of the dock where the perch and bluegill were abundant and not very smart. Some of those poor fish kept getting caught repeatedly. Jack enjoyed crawling around at the water's edge and got his first boat ride and jet ski ride in.

Summer Vacation, Part 1

We decided to fly in and out of Chicago this year on our way up to northern Michigan. We purposely booked a direct flight which got us in to the city at a nice time of day--plenty of time to go get some deep dish pizza, or so we thought. Luck would have it though that our flight was cancelled and the rescheduled one that went to Dallas first was delayed so we ended up at our reserved hotel at 11:00 pm only to find that there was not a room for us. The hotel had been overbooked. So we took a taxi with 2 tired, crying kids to a different hotel (complimentary at least). The vacation improved after that thankfully. Sasha and Jack loved the children's museum at Navy Pier the next day.

We got our deep dish pizza at Gino's East finally. Sasha waited very patiently for 45 minutes while it baked. I took Jack for a stroll down Michigan Avenue. We enjoyed navigating the train to go see our college friends Lisa, Breck, and their kids Eliza and Leo that afternoon. The next day we did some shopping on the Magnificent Mile and ended up at the Rainforest Cafe (below) for lunch. Sasha thought she had died and gone to heaven. She relished every little contrived special effect in that place and recounted it to anyone that would listen the rest of the trip. The seizure-inducing flashing souvenir drink cup serves as a reminder of that glorious meal.

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July 4th

We had a great holiday weekend spent with our college friends Scott and Rachel Hochstetler. They drove out from Indiana and stayed with us for 5 days before heading up to Denver. Leah and Sasha were good buddies by the end of their visit and Jack and Aaron were so cute at their parallel play on the floor. Both of their kids are 6 months older than each of ours. Scott and Phil enjoyed going to see La Boheme at the Santa Fe Opera one night and we all enjoyed just hanging out at our house (the hot tub and zip line were particularly popular activities) and at various parks and restaurants around town. The only downer was the stomach bug that made its rounds through our whole family that weekend and then on to the Hochstetlers after they arrived in Denver. Sorry, guys!