Thursday, January 6, 2011

Outdoor adventurers…walking is fun, right? eh.

Well, since B has been walking since early summer, she is fully capable to go anywhere and everywhere pretty much including climbing. Mommy has a hard time slowing down enough to put her down (its so much faster for me to just pick her up and go!), but Daddy is so patient and allows her to explore on her own at any opportunity. Thank the Lord for wonderful husbands/fathers! I guess that’s what makes us such a good team :).

While in Colorado, the weather was quite strange. If you looked out our window in Woodland Park, it was a picture perfect summer shot until you peeked at the thermometer and realized it was actually in the 30’s or 40’s. No snow!! Thankfully, we were gifted with our final present of the season on our last day of the trip…a good 6 inches of pure snowfall blanketing our neighborhood! Yay! Please allow me to chronicle our outdoor adventure portion of our annual trip:

First off, we took our regular visit to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (my favorite!). In the Winter, the zoo hosts a program called “Electric Safari” when they open the facility from 5-9pm and turn on thousands of Christmas lights throughout the park. I LOVE it!

Here’s the happy couple at our very first Electric Safari in 2007:

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And Bridget’s 1st visit this year!:

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We enjoyed seeing the “ah ah ah’s” (B’s way of saying “cat”)…so scary!

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And saw many other crazy animals…

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Who can pass up a chance to feed the friendly giraffes?IMG_0401

Bridget is a bit of a giraffe expert. Here she is at her first feeding, this past summer:

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Fun lights everywhere! What a good time :)

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The next morning, we got a chance to spend more time with my Aunt Janine. Though we weren’t able to see my cousins Claire and Tanner (her kids) due to scheduling conflicts, Janine did bring Claire’s college roommate and BFF, Stephanie, to town to meet everyone. We popped over the nearby school playground to play. I want B to go to this school solely for the sweet playground!

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Look at those smiles! The wind was fierce and the temperatures super low, but nothing stops B from an adventure:

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I took her over to this particular slide and she dove into it headfirst before I could stop her…but why stop an adventure baby?? She loved it!

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Sleepy girl…

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A quick pause from the outdoor pics…B somehow got a splinter right smack dab in the middle of her left hand from who knows where. She wasn’t bothered by it and it was a good 1/3in long and completed embedded in the skin so we left it be for a while. After about a day or so, she knew exactly what to do when asked, “where’s your boo-boo?” and we could tell she was ready to be rid of it. After trying a dose of Ambesol on her palm (yes, I mean the stuff for your mouth…Daddy’s idea) and having her hold an ice cube for 5 minutes, we held her arm still and started going at it with the tweezers. Guys, it took us a good 10 minutes due to her pulling her hand away and me not wanting to hold too hard and breaking her wrist…but this brave little toaster didn’t cry but a few seconds at the end out of frustration! She’s amazing! Here she is with her proud Daddy after the job was done. She was more than willing to wash her hands in the sink…she loves running water! Love her :)

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Our 1st “hike” of the trip. It was a little late and B insisted on walking so we didn’t go far and didn’t stay long. But we certainly got some good pics of her in her cute, pink Tundra hat!

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Of course we found a furry friend along the way and had to say hello!

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Climbing with Daddy on the mountain bike training equiptment:

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We can’t go anywhere these days with the stroller without B demanding to push it. It’s a very slow and very unproductive process but it always provides entertainment :)

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Scrambling on the Red Rocks:

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The pic shows the amazing power of an accident when I’m taking a flash shot from one side of B while Mary snaps a natural one from another angle. It looks like a pro pic!mary's camera pics 230

Jonathan pretending to mow down some deer with a stick so we could all go up the hill in the backyard. We were having to swat those deer away like flies this trip! Enjoy the video of them “standing their ground”…to avoid an When Animals Attack moment, we took an alternate route.IMG_0484


The view from the top of the hill in our back yard:

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We we

re so pleased that the snow waited until B’s nap on our last day of the trip. This allowed us to capture her reaction to seeing her first snowfall of the season. She was a little distracted, to say the least :):

Let’s go outside, Mom!

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A little unsure:

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Brrr!

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Love this shot:

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A perfect way to chill our beverage be snuggling in front of the fire….ahh….

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See you in the summer, Woodland Park!

1 comment:

  1. It sounds like y'all had an excellent time!!!!! We are jealous!

    ReplyDelete