The dog days of summer

What better way to cool off from the heat than to have a popsicle! If Abby had her way, she would be on a strict popsicle only diet!!

A special place

I had to get a picture of Abby in one of the most special spots in Colorado. I know it doesn't look like a particularly interesting or special place but it has sentimental meaning to me. This is in Park Meadows mall, it is the spot where Andrew and I first met eachother. We walked around the mall together and then went and had lunch at Jason's Deli. Well, he ate...I just had a diet coke. I guess I was too nervouse to eat! Anyhow, who knew that 8 years later I would be taking our daughter to that very same spot?? I love you Andrew, I wish you could be here to share in all of our adventures in Colorado. But, I know you will be home soon and our family will once again be complete!



On a side note: Abby could have cared less about the special moment we were supposed to be enjoying. She was more interested in throwing pennies into the fountain!

The Lapp Wedding

Since I stayed in Colorado longer than anticipated I was able to attend the wedding of our close family friend, Randy Lapp. I was friends with his son Josh while when we were young, they used to live across the street from my dad. Anyhow, my dad has stayed in touch with Randy throughout the years and his new wife Pam and my step-mom have become good friends. The wedding was very small and intimate and a lot of fun. My brother Duke and his girlfriend Ashley watched Abby for the night! It was good to have a night out among adults and old friends.

The Bride and Groom:

Me and the bride, Pam.

With the bride and groom

Me and my Dad

Casa Bonita

No trip to Colorado is complete without a trip to good 'ol Casa Bonita. Oh, what a nightmare. I have fond memories of this place as a kid, but experiencing it as an adult is a whole other ballgame. The food is terrible and extremely overpriced. The lines are long and the service leaves something to be desired. The kids on the other hand had a blast! We went with my brother and sister and their friend Sydney. Abby did not like the long line to get the food, and getting her to eat after we were sat was wishful thinking, she was too interested in everything else the place had to offer. They have cliff divers, arcades, old time photos, puppet shows, a mariachi band, a scary cave to explore, a gift shop and more! Abby loved the cliff divers, she still talks about the man who jumps into the water and makes a big splash. By the time we left Abby was overtired and hungry, I think we will wait a few years before we go back!!

Here we are watching the "man jump" during one of the many diving shows

Here is Abby exploring Black Barts cave, she wasn't even scared!

"Hanging out, waiting to go explore"

Disciplining a toddler?!?

The title of this post is more of a question than a statement. As Abby approaches her 2nd birthday, the terrible 2 have been rearing their ugly head. I have been left without my better half to consult with on how/when to discipline Abby, so basically its been my call. Here is a cute story more for me to remember but a few of you might get a chuckle out of it. We were over at my dad's house and Abby was snacking on a piece of cheese. Our family dog, Roller, was eyeing that cheese and really bugging Abby trying to get a little taste. This was driving Abby nutty and she said "no, no, no Roller" and then hit her. Granted, the dog was being annoying but she shouldn't hit. So, I bent down to talk to her and told her not to hit and if she did it again she would have to sit in time out. Well, about 5 minutes later Roller was at again, bugging Abby and trying to get at that cheese and Abby hit her again. I whisked her up, told her not to hit and put her in time out. She sat for 2 minutes in the chair and cried her little eyes out. When her 2 minutes was up I held her and told her she is not allowed to hit and told her to say sorry to Roller. Well, that just sent her over the edge. She started crying even harder, sweating, turning red, the whole nine yards. She was getting more and more upset till she actually threw up right on the dog!!!! It was very sad but funny at the same time. I just don't really know what to do in the discipline department....she HATES being in trouble and it makes her VERY, VERY sad. This in turn breaks my heart and I don't like to discipline her. Its probably all a part of her evil plan ;-) Just thought I would share!!!

Catching up with Old Friends

I had the pleasure of meeting up with some old friends tonight! Jon and Amy Scofield were in town for a wedding and after a few missed opportunities we were finally able to meet up with each other. Andrew went to the Academy with Jon and after Jon met his better half, Amy, they were stationed up at Hanscom with us. They have a son, Gabriel, who is a few days younger than Abby. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get the kids together (Gabriel was with his grandparents while his parents took a well deserved vacation and Abby was at home with her Grammy and Papi with a cold). But, I did have a good time catching up with Jon and Amy. The military is a special way of life and it has allowed me and Andrew to make friends that now live all over the world. I feel grateful when I happen to be in the same vicinity as an old friend and we are able to hang out and catch up, things just pick up right where they left off. No matter where or how far the Air Force takes us, we have made friends that share our circumstances and it is just awesome to me that those friendships can pick up right where they left off and continue without a hitch!!! I would have loved to spend more time with Amy and Jon, we had a lot to talk about...but we had a good time and I am grateful that we were able to meet up and chat!!! I know we will see each other again down the line, who knows....maybe they will be stationed at Eglin next?!?! It was good seeing you guys!!!

Amy and myself

Group shot: Stacey, Ameer, Jon, me and Amy

Gymnastics

Abby and I started a parent/tot gymnastics (or as Abby calls it, Abbys sticks) class a few weeks ago and this was the first time I remembered to bring my camera. We had been watching Aunt Ana (who is a fabulous gymnast by the way) for a few weeks and Abby seemed very interested. I jumped at the chance to put her in a class at the same gym! Abby absolutely LOVES gymnastics and I can see improvement in her hand/eye coordination, balance, and listening to directions every week. Her coach/teacher is Lizzy and she wouldn't even let her look at her the first week, now she adores her teacher. She even gave her a hug today! It is a 45 minute class every Wednesday and she sure gets out a lot of energy while she is there! Here are some of the pictures I got today. Sorry they aren't the best, but as I said...this is parent/tot gymnastics and I am working hard too!!!

Here is Abby in front of the house on our way to gymnastics

The girl in the background in the green shirt is Lizzy, Abby's teacher.

Concentrating on the balance beam.

This is a pit with a bunch of styrofoam blocks. I thought Abby would be scared of it, but she jumped right in and slowly crawled her way all the way to the other side. It was a lot of work for her little body, but she was determined to make it. I was so proud of her!

Here was the prize at the other side of the styrofoam pit...a slide! She had a ball sliding down and landing in the pit!

At the end of every class, the girls sit on the yellow line and they all get stamps on their feet. Abby talks about the stamps for 2 or 3 days after they have been washed off!

She can melt my heart!!

Ever since we have "lost" the paci, we have had a pretty elaborate bedtime routine. I don't know if its due to not having the paci or if Abby is getting too smart for her own good. I guess its kind of a manipulation on her part to get to stay up just a little bit longer, but its cute. She has to say goodnight and I love you to everyone in the house including the animals and even the "stinky bag". The stinky bag is my brothers hockey bag and it does stink!!! Anyway, I was putting Abby to sleep last night and after saying night-night to Grammy, the 2 cats, and Bucky I was singing her a song and setting her in her bed. As I was putting her down she said "I Yuv Mommy" without any prompting at all. My heart just melted and my eyes teared up as I put my little one down for the night. Those 3 sweet little words make all of the hard days worth it! I yuv my little girl to pieces!!

Hot Sulphur Springs

While Abby was busy going to the pool, and camping with Papi and Grammy I was relaxing with my mom at the Hot Sulphur Springs. My mom and I headed up to the mountains on Sunday morning with a brief stop at Starbucks for an iced coffee. We spent the day laying in the sun, soaking in the hot springs pools, chatting, eating and reading. It was an awesome day, the weather was perfect and it was a very relaxing day for both of us. On the way home we stopped at a hotel right outside the hot springs resort where my mom had stayed years ago. She said the man that owned it was a character and really preferred not having any customers. We stopped in for a Diet Coke and I could see what she meant. When we walked in the owner (the same guy from years ago) barley lifted his eyes from the tv he was watching and grunted at us. My mom told him what we were after and he just looked at us like we were crazy and said, "you know you interrupted my nap". He was pretty annoyed with us but got our diet cokes and let us explore the hotel. It isn't the nicest place in the world, but it was clean and cheap ($44.00 per night, the same as the last time my mom stayed there) and it served its function. I would love to go back there someday with Andrew and stay there and enjoy the town and the hot springs together....maybe next time we are in Colorado together we can sneak up there for a day or two!!!

This was our favorite pool. It was about 110 degrees and the waterfall was even hotter!

Here is the view from the sun deck. It was beautiful and very peaceful!!

Here is the hotel

Notice how he spelled "single" and look at when the hotel is closed. Too funny!!

Camping

While I was enjoying myself in the mountains with my mom at the Hot Sulfur Springs Abby was enjoying her first experience with camping! She went over to the neighbors house and they had just cut down some of the branches from one of their trees. They set up the branches, a tent, and a BBQ and pretended like they were camping. This is where I found her when I came home from my little trip. She was having a blast in the tent and playing with the older boys next door. She even learned how to climb up the slide, every kid does it...I guess its like a right of passage.

Here is the campground, complete with tent, BBQ, forest, and car. The yellow slide in the background (under all the tree branches) is the one Abby can climb up all by herself. A little scary, but I just had to let go!!! She wanted to be one of the big kids!

Peek-a-boo!!!

Do you like my tent??

Bellevue Park

There are so many fun things to do here in Colorado and here is just one more example, the Bellevue Park. They have a petting zoo, a train ride that circles the entire park, there are tons of shady spots, a park, and best of all a shallow creek for the kiddos to wade in. Abby was not really into the petting zoo, she loved the train, and the creek was a huge hit. It was a really nice day and Mikey and Ana were big helpers, although I think they enjoyed themselves too!

This was the closest Abby came to petting the animals in the petting zoo. She only did so after I told her the goat was a Doggy!

This was Abby's favorite thing about the petting zoo, at the end you had to washy, washy!

Ana, Mikey, and Abigail on the train

The creek was chilly and we weren't totally prepared, notice there is no swim suit on Abby (atleast we had a swim diaper), but Abigail didn't seem to mind one bit!

Juicy! (and this makes 100)

This is a video of Abigail dancing and singing to her new favorite song Juicy by Better Than Ezra.

By the way this is the 100th post on my blog! Yay! Thanks Sam for getting me addicted to blogging. I love it!

Growing up too fast

I have seen many changes in Abby in the past few months, weeks, and days. She isn't a baby anymore, she is a toddler, and at times a kid. Just tonight, I was reading to her before bed and she made me scoot over so she could sit next to me on the couch rather than on my lap. We have kicked the paci habit, we are making great strides in our potty training efforts, we have started gymnastics, she is talking in sentences, and she is very opinionated and not afraid to share! I have been enjoying her new found independence and her longer attention span but the terrible twos are on the horizon and they rear their ugly head everyone in a while. Abigail will be a totally different person when her Daddy gets back from his deployment. I am sad that he hasn't been able to share in these milestones, as I am sure he is as well! I am excited about how far Abby has come and I can't wait to see what she does next. But...at times I miss the days when she was immobile, completely and totally dependent on me. When she would sleep in my arms, and smile at the sound of my voice. My little girl is growing up! I know its a cliche but they really do grow up before your eyes!!! Here are a few shots that show the progression in the past few weeks.

I know I already have this picture on the blog, but its the last picture I have of Abby with a paci in her mouth.

Here is Abby playing with (gasp) Barbies!!! And so it begins!!

Her first pedi! Like mother, like daughther...what a princess!

Missing You

Today marks Day 60 down here in Central America. Today marks the half way point of my time away from you. The days will start flying now, and before you know it I'll be home with you both. I'm missing you so much, and long for the day when I can gets hugs and kisses from you both. I don't need to explain to you the emptiness I feel without you by my side; because I know you are feeling it too. Thank-you so much for caring for Abigail all by yourself while I have been gone. You are a strong and devoted mother. I am lucky and blessed to have you as my wife.

60 down, 60 to go

Cheyna, I love you.

The Denver Children's Museum

This proves that learning can be fun. We had a blast at the Childrens Museum in downtown Denver. We were there for a few hours and enjoyed many of the exhibits. I was a little concerned that Abby might still be a little too young for something like this but, she had soooo much fun. We saw the Blue Man Group exhibit, we painted pictures for Daddy, did a puppet show, dressed up and danced, played with the bubbles, went grocery shopping, played in the locker room, and jumped and ran in the toddler section just to name a few. We had a lot fun and Abby still talks about the Blue Man. After the museum we met my best friend Josie at Brooklyns (which is the sports bar that I used to work at) for lunch. It was a very wonderful day!

The Blue Man Group Exhibit


This one was a lot of fun, Abby really enjoyed coloring and painting a picture for Daddy!




Puppet Show

Dancing....doesn't Abby look cute in a tu-tu?


Here she is hiding in the locker, this may have been her favorite activity and she was just the right size to get in there.

Choo-choo

Playing with the bubbles!