Road Trip to CA, Part 1: Cedaredge, CO

In mid-October we rented a car to make the trek out to southern California to visit Jeff's family.  We took a few days to get there, and spent some time with our siblings along the way.

 

Our first stop was to Cedaredge, CO - about a 5 hour drive into the mountains from our house.  Cedaredge is where my paternal grandparents were born and raised.  They built a beautiful home next to a creek many years ago.  They have about 7 acres (I think...) and a bing cherry orchard.  My grandfather passed away last year, and my grandmother currently lives closer to family, in Loveland. 

 

My oldest brother, Zack, and his family moved from Michigan to the Cedaredge homestead this past September.  Of course, we had to stop and see my brother and also get in some quality time at one of the most beautiful places around.

 

The morning after we arrived we drove up to Lands End.  I've been to Lands End many-a-time, but it never gets old.

This was Jeff and Austin's first time to Lands End.

 

Other than the views, the best part of Lands End is feeding the chipmunks.  There were only a couple of brave and hungry little critters out this day. 

 Austin having a staring contest with the chipmunk.

We brought up freshly harvested walnuts from a tree on the Cedaredge property.

After Lands End we headed back down the mesa and stopped to see my Great-grandfather's cabin off of Alexander Lake.  It's recently been added on to (new wood to the right) but we couldn't get inside.  {Maybe now that Zack's family is in the area we can get access to a key again...} When I was a kid we used to come up for a day and fish on the lake, hike and play games in the cabin. 

Zack and Jeff

 Alexander Lake

The cabin from the lake shore.

 After our morning trip up to Lands End and the cabin we stopped for some lunch and came home.
Uncle Zack got out the mini John Deer for Austin to drive around - He loved it.

It took some concentration for him to figure out how to press down the pedal and steer at the same time...

Pretty soon Zack started chasing Austin around in the Gator (or "Big Motor" as Austin called it)

Austin loved taking a turn at steering the "big motor"

 Before it got too dark we went to the cemetery to visit my Granddad's grave.

And to finish our fun-filled day we picked up some pizza at a local pizzeria and watched Despicable Me.
Thanks Zack for letting us come hang with you for a day!

Circus Birthday Party

 We had a perfect window of good weather for the party.  It was raining just before the party started, and started pouring not 10 minutes after the last guest left.

Austin's circus party was partially inspired by Dr. Suess' "If I Ran the Circus."  We had to have pink lemonade because it's in the book... :)  There was also popcorn and pretzels for the kids to enjoy during the show.

We stained the playset a week or two before Austin's party.  I bought some 'home gym' mats to put on the platform to make it safer and more comfortable for the kids.  Between the mat and stain Austin thought we'd purchased him an entirely new swing set.  "Mommy, who got me this cool slide?" "Came with the house sweetie..."  He has never gone up the ladder or down the slide on his own until this day.  Now he loves it. :)
 

Meet Nathan, our talented guest performer. Nathan just turned 19 and is now on a mission for our church in New York. We saw him perform at a talent show back in March and Austin LOVED his juggling. Jeff and I knew we had to have Nathan do a show for Austin's birthday before he left (which is why we celebrated Austin's birthday a couple weeks early).

 

 Everybody in a trance watching Nathan's mad juggling skills.

Wearing the juggling rings

Austin, Nathan, and Harrison 

Nathan told us he could juggle babies.  He wanted to try with Austin.  He tossed a couple balls in the air and switched Austin from one side to the other while he tried to catch the balls with his other hand.  Austin is a lot heavier than a baby and didn't move so freely.  It was pretty funny. (Addison is checking out our 'Ring of Fire' in the background)

Lillie, Harry, and Austin checking out the juggling stuff after the show.  [Nathan made homemade juggling balls out of rice and balloons for all of the kids - what a cool dude!]

It was a great party, I'm so glad so many of Austin's friends could make it.  We had a blast!

The Packed Month of October!

September and October are always busy months for our little family with each of our birthdays every two weeks.  This particular October, however, was especially packed with fun (and slightly stressful) activities!

To be done in 3 posts:  Austin's 3rd Birthday Party, Road trip to CA, and Halloween!

Get ready!

We also squeezed in a trip to the zoo with these two hams.

 

Yahtzee and bedroom picnics

 Guess who rolled a Yahtzee their first time playing the game?  Yep, this little man did.  His second turn of the game and up come 5 fours.  Jeff later rolled a Yahtzee as well.  Lucky boys!

 Austin asked me for a picnic today, but it was raining, so we decided to have one in his room while we listened to the thunder.

Showing me his 'fire truck hat' {even though it's a construction hat}.

Maxi Skirt Project

Yesterday was very productive. 

Up at 5am for Zumba at 5:30am. Showered, ate, and cleaned the kitchen and a bathroom before 8am.  Helped with nursery at Institute (weekly religion class) from 9am-11am.  Friends over at 11:30am for projects and playtime for the kids.  Project done at 4:30pm.  {Forgot to thaw ingredients for dinner, sorry sweetie} Volleyball from 8:30-10pm.  Bed at 11pm.  Phew...  Today Austin and I are being lazy at home while it rains. :)

Here is yesterday's project:



 I found a tutorial on Pinterest for making a maxi skirt.  It seemed simple enough so my friend, Richelle, and I went to Joanns a couple weeks ago and picked out some fabric for skirts. 

{i had to stand on the coffee table in order to get a full-length shot} :)

 It probably should have been a 1-hour project to complete the two skirts, but the tutorial wouldn't load and we had to wing it. After a break for lunch and a couple fixes, we finished two skirts in about 4 hours. Not too bad for learning and executing at the same time.

Divergent Book Club

In June I hosted Book Club for the ladies from church.  We read Divergent by Veronica Roth.  This was the second time I'd read the book and I would read it again in a heartbeat.  I went a little overboard with food, but I just couldn't help myself.  There are 5 factions (communities/groups of people) in the book:  Abnegation, Amity, Erudite, Candor, and Dauntless.  Throughout the book the author describes each faction and mentions what color of clothing they wear and occasionally, what kind of food they eat.  This sparked the idea for me to make either the food that a particular group ate, or food that represented the color of their clothing.

There was a ton of food... well worth the preparation. 

(Unfortunately I forgot to bring out the camera while people were actually present. I'm pretty sure everyone had a good time.)  :)

(Jeff thoroughly enjoyed the leftovers of this chocolate zucchini cake.  He even said he wanted it for his birthday.  Good thing zucchini is in season... we'll be making this again in a couple of weeks!  Yum...)