Vacation Part 2

After the wedding in Vail our plan was to go to a cabin, in Estes Park, on the Big Thompson River.  However, I'm pretty sure that cabin is no longer standing as the Big Thompson River swelled to twice its size and is responsible for the major damage in the park.  Instead we headed to Steamboat Springs!

I just have to document, for the future if Kade ever reads this blog, the worst tantrum in history.  It was the day after the wedding, which he stayed up past midnight and woke up at 7:00 the next day.  We knew it was going to be a rough day.  We were ill prepared for how rough it was going to be.  We went out for ice cream, which should make any kid happy, right?  Wrong.  The ice cream was in the wrong dish.  We got a different dish.  The ice cream wasn't mushed up.  We mushed it up.  Finally, after 10 minutes of crying, he tried it.  He liked it!  Uh-oh,  it had melted some and there wasn't enough ice cream left, he wanted more.  I gave him some of mine.  My, different, ice cream touched his (although I can't fault him for that as I'm the queen of food-not-touching...but he isn't.  More than once he's dipped broccoli into ketchup and mustard and devoured it.  I think he was secretly testing my gag reflex).  Anyway, cue the loudest, piercing-est scream/cry ever recorded.  I literally picked him up and carried/ran him to the car which was 4 blocks away.  Erik was left to pay and apologize.  The worst part about the experience?  I still had ice cream left in my dish!  He owes me and some day I'll make him take me back to Steamboat Springs and buy me ice cream :-)

Notice our hands firmly grasping Kade?  That's because behind that innocent looking brown piece of wood is a sheer cliff.  Those are TOPS of trees directly behind us.  Kade had a hand on him at all times during this walk.  I have more than a few gray hairs after that little jaunt!

The waterfall behind us is the one in all of the Coors Light commercials!

This form of travel, on the way back from the waterfall, made me much happier.  A bonus for Erik too because he got a decent leg workout in :-)

We visited one of the natural hot springs, which gave Steamboat Springs it's name.  

Erin and I could even sit in them!  We usually have to avoid hot tubs because of the chemicals.  Although the hot springs did smell a little like boiled eggs but we didn't have anybody to impress :-)

Of course no trip is complete without a little game of pretend baseball!  Everybody managed to hit grand slams in this game!

The Blue Team throwing rocks into a mountain lake.

Kade must've taught Erin his Cheesy Grin!

He found the tip of a broken fishing pole during this hike.  It kept him entertained for awhile, til he broke it when he used it to dig for treasures. 

Funny story about this hike.  We were kind of in the middle of nowhere and there was lots of evidence of wildlife around us.  And it was elk hunting season.  Anyone who knows Kade knows that he's loud, he moves a lot and he never stops talking or making noise.  Ever.  I actually encouraged him to yell as loud as possible, as often as he wanted (which was a lot because there was a fantastic echo off the mountain sides up there!), to keep bears and mountain lions away.  How many gray hairs can a mother acquire on one vacation?!  Anyway, by the end of our nature walk any wildlife that was nearby was now miles away.  As we were walking out of the woods, 3 elk hunters were walking in.  You could literally see the devastation on their faces as the Tornado walked by them.  They had a loooooooong walk ahead of them if they were going to find any elk that day.  

After Steamboat we headed to South Dakota.  We only spent part of a day there before heading home.   This big guy greeted us as we pulled into the Black Hills.

We took a ride on a steam engine built in the 1880's.  Kade asked if it was Thomas the Train we were riding in :-)

All in all it was a great trip!  Kade did AWESOME in the car for that long and I can't wait til our next family vacation.  I think somewhere with a beach, sun and ocean is in order!  I wonder if Kade would object to wearing a life jacket 24/7 on this future trip....

Vacation Part 1

I missed a post last week because we were on the road to Vail, Colorado for Erik's younger brother's, Michael, wedding!  Neither Erik nor I are big fans of flying so we decided to take an extra day and drive west.  Kade did amazing, except for that minor issue, about half way through Nebraska, when he threw up in a plastic shopping bag.  He was watching something on the iPad a little too close for a little too long.  We stopped at a park after that for fresh air and play, miraculously his upset stomach disappeared!

We also had that minor issue of major flooding in Colorado.  Although the flooding was very near to where we were going, we never actually saw any of the devastation they were showing on the news.  Our only issue was a short road closure and stop-n-go traffic.  So, instead of getting to Vail at 1:00 on Friday, we didn't get there until 5:30.  I'd say we got off pretty lucky!

On the road! 

Park play, post-throw up.  

We had to stop at the bride's (Sarah) parent's house while we waited for the highway to open up.  Luckily they had some football gear to entertain the big guy.

While the wedding party had their rehearsal Erin, Kade and I took a shuttle into Vail Village for some shopping.  Well, technically, we took turns chasing the Tornado while the other shopped.  

Here's Sarah, second from left, with her future sisters!

The girls stole the bride for a little bit and took a nice stroll up the side of a mountain.  By "nice stroll" I mean 3.2 miles, 2000 foot ascension, pretty much straight up and down, glute and butt blaster!  That was definitely the toughest 5K I've ever done!  Well worth it though when you see the view we had!

Wedding picture time!!

Seriously, could this kid be any more handsome??!!

3 generations...

Yep, that's a real background!  It looks like a studio's fake backdrop!

Kade and Violet, the mini stars of the show, after the bride and groom of course!

Uncle Mike

Unfortunately, due to rain, the ceremony got moved indoors.  It was still beautiful though!

A farmer's work is never done, even in the middle of a dance floor!  That's a tractor and a bale of hay in his hands.

Grandma actually managed to get him to sit down for the speeches!  Otherwise he was on the dance floor the entire time. 

This picture is blurry because once the music started he couldn't stop dancing!  Look at those those rosy red cheeks!!

He made it to the very end of the dance!  Kade and I had an "after party" in our room with Doritos and juice while everyone else helped clean up :-)

Lots more pictures coming in Part 2!

 

My Favorite Cheesy Grin

As every kid probably does, Kade refuses to pose "nicely" for pictures.  If I can actually get him to stand still long enough to capture an in-focus picture, every time it's with the biggest, cheesiest smile he's got!  Not that I'm complaining because I do love that face!  

Is it possible to love someone so much that you just want to "eat" them?  Seriously, I can't get enough of this kid!  The things he says and does make me laugh so hard, beam with pride and count my blessings multiple times a day.  I can't really remember life without Kade, probably because it was so boring!

Cheesy grin pictures from just this week alone:

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In other news, we expanded the sand box by about 4 times it's original size.  Lots of construction sites can be built in the sand box now!  Here are some pictures of the "construction men" hard at work.

And finally, a picture of a kid that is just too cool...

Workin' Man

Kade's a man on a mission.  He likes to work!  When he goes to grandparent's homes he asks grandmas if they have a list of jobs for him and grandpas to do.  When Erik gets home from his job Kade pretty much cries until they get outside to work.  He loves watching construction workers.  He loves picking up branches, scooping horse poop, baling hay, washing cars, etc, etc.  He makes us bring his work boots with us wherever we go, just in case there's work to be done.  If he gets to Grandpa H's and he doesn't have his work boots on, Kade will tell him and "make" him change into them!  He can be a bit bossy.  I'd like to say that this is a phase but he's been like this his entire life!  I think he's destined to be in charge, whatever job he ends up at :-)

6:45 in the morning and he's already outside watching the "excagator".

Enough sitting around watching other people work, it's time to do his own jobs!  Notice the shoes?  Those were switched to boots immediately after this picture was taken.

Another excavator being unloaded!  There were 2 going at one time.  Kade was in construction heaven.

He was busy setting up "terrible traps" while I cleaned the inside of the Yukon.  He wasn't much help but he sure was cute!

A hay wagon ride after unloading a wagon full of hay bales.  Or, as Erik called them, "idiot cubes".  Apparently that's an inside joke for farmers?

Alright people, enough sitting on the bales!  It's time to unload them!

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Kade playing with 2 of his favorite people, Zach and Lauren.  Anyone who knows Kade knows that getting a hug from him can be a tough task.  When we left their house last Saturday, Lauren got about 8 hugs from him and she hardly had to ask!  What's her secret?!?!