Summer Travels, Part 2: Minnesota

The second part of our traveling brought us to Minnesota. After Grandpa Walt's party, we left immediately for Amy's family in Minnesota. This was probably the easiest leg of our driving for two reasons. First, it was only 4 hours, and second, we were able to do this part of the drive while the kids were sleeping so that we didn't have to stop even once. Unfortunately, it was nearly midnight by the time we got there.

The timing for this trip was also excellent, as Amy's brother Eric and his wife Gretchen and their son, Titus were also in town from Florida. We got to spend the first day out on the lake with almost everyone, as has become somewhat of an annual tradition. After the lake, we headed back home for short naps and then out to Amy's brother's baseball game. Tim had been hoping he was going to be able to play on Ryan and Todd's team with them, but he ended up settling for a bleacher seat along with the rest of us.

Our second and last full day with the Ulferts family was a much more low key event. It included a trip to the park, skipping rocks in the Mighty Mississippi, a fateful empty stroller containing one cell phone crash into the River, lots of Cornhole (at which Tim and I continue our undefeated streak), notorious Lee-size steaks, motorcycle rides, and a bonfire complete with S'mores.

Playing with Cousin Titus at the lake

Riding in the boat with Mommy. Sophia is still not sure what she thinks of the boat. We had to coax her into it, and once she had done it, she said it was fun. BUT, now that we are home, she says the boat is kind of scary. She got to watch Tim ski a bit, and every time she saw him go down in the water (intentionally or not), she would get worried and cry.

I've decided that it would be much easier to learn to ski if I had the opportunity more than once a year. Although I'm hopeful that it'll get easier and easier each time, even if it is only once a year!!!

Reading Cinderella with Uncle Ryan

Summer Travels, Part 1: South Dakota

This summer brought LOTS of traveling for the Nielson family (hence the minivan!). And we will all agree that we were so thankful for the van, considering all the hours we spent in it over the last month! Within 3 weeks time period, we had spent 48 hours traveling in the van, not including local trips and outings at our various locations.

All said, the kids did far better in the van than we could have ever expected. There was hardly any crying, whining, requests to stop, emergency potty stops, or any of those things we expected. In the first 11 hours, we stopped only twice. Once for lunch and gas, and once for Tim to go to the bathroom!

The first leg of our journeys took us to visit Tim's family in South Dakota (an 11 hour drive from our home in Colorado). We spent several days there on the farm with all kinds of new things to explore and play. We played in Grandma's little pool, helped feed calves, played on Grandpa's big sand pile, chased kitties, rode all around in Grandma's little truck (or "little tractor" as Sophia calls it), and even went for a few rides in the big tractor with Daddy.

This trip was special for a couple of other reasons. Tim's sister Julie and her triplets we were at the farm for this trip, so we got to spend lots of special time playing with the cousins. Sophia is fascinated with her cousins, and talks about them all the time and was SO excited to actually get to play with them. They are obviously used to having other kids around all the time, so I don't think she made quite as big of an impact on them!

Tim's Grandpa celebrated his 80th birthday while we were there, which was actually the reason for the timing of our trip, and we were so glad to get to be a part of that. It gave us the opportunity to see lots of family members that we don't always connect with on our other trips, and to even meet some new members of the Nielson clan.

For us, the most exciting part of this trip was probably Noah's discovery of his feet. FINALLY!!!! Most people tell me to enjoy the time before my children learn to walk, but most people don't realize that because my kids have both learned to walk so late, I am more than ready for the monumental event when it finally comes. Noah is definitely old enough that he understands boundaries and the word NO, so I don't have to chase him and keep him out of quite as many things as maybe I would if he learned to walk at a younger age.

Anyway, we were at Grandpa Walt's big party and Noah was playing on the floor with his Aunt Pam. He turned and saw me sitting behind him, and took a few faltering steps in my direction. You could see the realization on his face that he had done it all by himself, and he was only to excited and proud to show us that it was no fluke; he couldn't wait to do it again. He turned around and walked back to Aunt Pam. This continued for several laps, and each time, he would add more and more steps and Pam and I would stretch the distance a little longer. Noah was SO excited about his new skill. He temporarily stole the spotlight and ventured out all over the room to explore the territory- on his feet! FINALLY!!!

This was probably only hour 4 in the van- after I had crawled in the back to
entertain Noah for a bit.

Petting the kitty with Grandma

Playing in the sand with Leona, Gabe, and Sam.

Riding in Grandpa's tractor with Daddy

Come to Mommy!

Breakfast prep

We're very fortunate that Tim's job allows him to leave a lot later in the mornings than many other husbands we know. This means that more often than not, we have breakfast together as a family. For me, it also has the added blessing that if I am on the ball enough to get up early enough, I am able to get out of the house to workout or run in the mornings before Tim leaves for work. Sometimes, when this happens, I am not back before the kids are ready to get out of bed. Without complaint, Tim gets them up and going and started on breakfast before I get home. This was the case the other day, and when I finally did get home, Tim had some pictures of the breakfast preparations to share with me. So I thought I would include them all for your viewing pleasure. Needless to say, they are not quite what I was expecting! But it did explain why there was Tupperware all over my kitchen floor when I came in!

Apparently Noah wanted to help with breakfast this morning. So he climbed himself all the way INSIDE the cupboard, and proceeded to kick out ALL of the Tupperware and containers he found inside!

He was very proud of his accomplishment! And it was all fun and games until Sophia decided to shut Noah in the cupboard, and then he came tumbling out once he managed to push the door open from the inside!

Chalk one more up for the obvious differences between boys and girls! Although Sophia loved playing with these kinds of containers when she was Noah's age, she would have never thought to actually climb into the cupboard. Somehow, I think this kid's going to be into everything once he figures out how to walk!

New Addition to the Family

We did it. We bit the bullet and became the true "All American Family." A girl, a boy and a mini-van. What more could you dream of? Tim and I always said that we would NEVER drive a mini van. Well folks, never has become now! And as much as we wanted to fight it, there was no way around it. Once we opened the door to the possibility of becoming a van family, there was really just no way around it. If we had enough money to buy a big SUV upfront, it would have done nothing more than sit in our driveway. At nearly $4.00 a gallon, a trip to the grocery store might have broke our bank! And once we got over that, we started realizing that really, a mini van is the most practical. They have the most storage space behind the backseat for all the junk the kids insist on hauling back to the Midwest when we go visit. They are the easiest to get multiple kids in and out of. Etc, etc, etc. the reasons were too many to ignore, and so here we are. Proud owners of our first mini van! Yes, I did even say proud owners. We LOVE our van! And I do mean WE- everyone of us. I think the kids would be happy to say in there all day and night. They love to climb around and explore in it. We don't even have to go anywhere; they're just happy to have it in our driveway with the doors open, climbing around. Sophia especially talks about the van all the time. Her famous, definitive quote on the subject:
"This is NOT a car. This is a BAN!" (Which she very definitely corrected me on at one point when I said something about putting my seatbelt on in the car. Oops, silly me!)

2006 Honda Odyssey

Off for a ride in the new "ban".

P.S. Let me just dispel any rumors before they even begin. One of our friends, upon learning of our new acquisition promptly asked, "When are you expecting?" The answer, my friends and family, is WE'RE NOT! The van truly is the new addition to the family!

The Bolder Boulder

Bolder, Colorado, which is about 45 miles northwest of where we live, is home to one of the largest running races in the world. I am not a runner, and I certainly wasn't in any hopes of winning the purse for this race (which happens to be one of the largest non-marathon purses for runners), but every year since we've lived here, I've talked about doing the race and seeing what all the hype is about. EVERYONE in Colorado knows about the Bolder, Boulder. It takes place every Memorial Day (since 1979), and it's up to about 50,000 participants each year!

So this year was finally my year. I decided to bite the bullet, pay a ridiculous entry fee to run 6.2 miles, and join in the fun. There were something like 29 bands along the route, people with the slip n slides out on the front lawn if you wanted a brief detour, and even people with a "kegs and eggs" stand on the front lawn! The last short leg of the race takes you into Folsom Field (where the CU Buffaloes play), and it's a great way to finish up a race. There is a stadium full of strangers there to cheer you on and give you that last little bit of adrenaline. What a great way to finish. Needless to say, this "race" is much more of an event than a run! It was fun, it was definitely worth it to experience it myself finally, and I learned a few things. Running with that many people is more of a constant game of dodging the people slower than you! Next time, I'll make sure I'm placed in a wave that starts earlier so that most of the people around me are actually running!

This is our one very lame shot of me in the "action"!

Sophia waiting very patiently to see Mommy running

After the race

I'm pretty sure she was more tired than me!

Castlewood Canyon

By now, you would think we would know that our hiking adventures NEVER go as planned. It's just a general, customary rule that Tim and Amy should always have a plan B if the days activity involves hiking. After 6 years of living in Colorado, and adding two children to our adventures, I think we are just finally beginning to accept this! In our latest hiking adventure, we had planned to conquer Devil's Head, which is a favorite, well known, local hike. Amazingly enough, we had never been there before. But because it's so well-known, we didn't realize quite what we were getting into, and that popularity doesn't always mean simplicity. Neither Tim or I realized the elevation of this hike (which wasn't much for Colorado). But, given the amount of snow we've had and the earliness of the season, it should have occurred to us to check out the conditions before we left home. We're not that smart. Our second clue should have been the road closed sign that we passed approximately 10 miles before the trail head. Unfortunately, neither of us realized this was a one way road to nowhere with no other options. So we continued to drive the 10 mile mountain-like pass, and reach the trail head only to confirm that yes, indeed the trail was closed because of SNOW!!! Silly us. So plan B, this time, involved driving 25 miles in the opposite direction to Franktown and one of Colorado's many state parks: Castlewood Canyon.

Turns out, Castlewood Canyon was a great place for the kids. Sophia loved riding in the backpack, Noah loved everyone else's dogs, and we even got to splash a little bit in the "river" that runs through the canyon. The only problem was that there really wasn't that much hiking involved! It was paved trails most of the way into the park!

Sophia's got her baby in the "pack-pack" for to go "biking"! (Sophia's ridden in here before, but it's been so long that she doesn't remember. She was fascinated with the thing and couldn't wait to get in and try it out. We kept telling her we were going hiking, and I'm still not sure she ever distinguished that we were saying HIKING-not biking!)

Riding with Daddy

Riding with Mommy- we need a pack pack for this kid, too!

Sophia was dying to get her feet in the water- until her toes touched
and she realized how cold it was !

Looking for rocks to splash.

Mother's Day Pictures

You'll probably look at these pictures and think that I had a brainstorm for some great kind of Father's Day gift for Tim (if you know Tim at all and know about his love for baseball, that is). But just to prove that Tim's mind really can be one-tracked sometimes, the truth of the matter is that HE is the one who took these pictures to use for a Mother's Day card for me! And, some of them are pretty cute, especially for the guy who is NOT the photographer of this family!

"Play Ball!"

"Are we done yet, Daddy?"

"Do we HAVE to do this?"

Don't let her fool you, she may be cute, but she has NO idea what she's doing
with that bat in her hands!

Proof of the real culprit behind this photo shoot!