End of summer fun

We have kept ourselves very busy this summer, here is what we have been doing. In the morning we usually make it over to our community pool or to our splash park. Brayden has fun grabbing at the water and trying to figure out why it keeps disappearing. He usually ends up soaked. Sometimes there are birds around. Some of the birds let Brayden try to catch them. This bird had Brayden's interest for a good 10 minutes. He would follow the bird everywhere, even into the bushes. In the afternoons we head over to the park and sometimes we meet Brayden's friend Max there. Brayden has really been into the swings lately. He also likes going down the slide all by himself. It is funny because he sits down about 2 feet before the start of the slide and scoots his body over to the slide.
Some days it has been to hot to go outside for too long so we have some fun things Brayden likes inside too. He discovered this hat I put in his play room and he likes me to put it on him. I got that hat when I was a little girl. My parents brought it back from a trip they took to Boston. It is probably 25 years old.

We also spend time coloring.
One of his favorite inside activities is playing in the his giraffe tent with the balls.
He thinks it is fun to slide down and lay on them.
I just found a kids swimming pool I am going to fill with the balls, I am sure Brayden is going to like that as well, but for now he is happy in his tent.

Art playdate

Brayden's friend Max had us and some friends over to paint. Brayden has only colored, and after he is finished I have to scrub the table to get all the crayon marks off. So I knew it was not going to be a pretty sight after painting. Even though it was very messy Brayden and I had a blast. At first he didn't know what to do with the paint. I showed him how to put the brush on the paper and it would leave color. He tried painting the paper for a second before he realized it would be much more fun to paint his leg. Once he finished his first leg it was on to the next leg, then onto his belly and as the picture shows, pretty much anywhere he could get the brush. He did manage to get some paint on the paper and the floor, walls, me.
Brayden would get up and run over to the strawberries. I finally started running over to get the strawberries so he wouldn't leave footprints all over. He would sit on his paper covered in paint saying, "berry". We had a great time.

Here is the finished masterpiece.

First Game of the Season

I can't believe football season is already here. It has been a long month of fall camp for the family, but at least now we have a game to look forward to at the end of the week. We went to the parade of Friday night and Brayden did really good with the loud noise from the band. He had fun giving pounds and high fives to the players as they walked by. I was a little nervous taking Brayden to a game not knowing how he would do, and if I would be able to see any of the game. I was so proud of him. I of course brought food, books and toys for him, but we only left the game twice. Once to change his diaper and once to change him into his PJ's. I can't say that I saw much of the game, but I did see most of the key plays. Brayden had a great time, epecially when we scored and he got to put his hands up for a touchdown. The game was played at Invesco Field where the Denver Bronocos play, it was a crazy atmosphere. We were pretty high, but under the balcony. I am glad we were covered, because it rained pretty hard during the first half.
Colorado won the game 38-17. It was a huge win for the team, and I am glad that we were able to be there to see it.

Rest of the week

The rest of the week in Boise was a very busy one. Monday we headed to Guerber Park and played. Brayden liked going down the slides and crawling through the tunnel.
While we were there the splash pad started up and Brayden was soaked in a few minutes. He loves the water and laughs when the water hits him. You can see that Brayden is in desperate need of a haircut, so on Monday we had my cousin Amber trim him up. We have given him a few trims in the past, but we really took a lot of hair off this time. I thought it would be a good idea to give him a sucker to keep him still. He had never had a sucker before and he let a lot of juice out. By the end of the experience his shirt was red from sucker juice and was covered in hair. He was such a mess he rode home in just his diaper. He looks like such a little boy now. I spent a lot of time helping my mom with some projects she needed to finish. We picked out a paint color and painted her den. It was a long process, but it turned out great. Brayden was feeling a little neglected so we spent some special time making pudding together. He loved it, the minute I would put a bite in his mouth he would say and sign more.
Brayden has been blowing kisses and giving kisses. He would go from person to person giving kisses. He also does that with his "pounds".
My cousin Doug was in town for work, and he was able to fit us in. Teresa and him brought lunch out and we were able to catch up with him, and hear about all the Capitol Hill news. It sounds like a really fun job, and he is really good at what he does.We ended the week by going back to the races and to the fair. Brayden loved the animals. He wanted them all to touch his hands. His favorite animal were the goats. He would run to each one and put his hand out and laugh. I am really glad we went, even though we were out way past bedtime.

Surprise trip to Boise

The month of August is a lonely month for me. Jared spends most of the day at work getting ready for football season. The weekend before football camp started he came home from work and told me that I should head back to Boise for a while. We made the flight arrangements and decided that I wouldn't tell my family. It was a hard week trying to keep my mouth shut, and not blowing the surprise. I was busy all week getting ready for my trip and early Friday morning Brayden and I hopped on a plane heading to Boise. I had made arrangements to have Rhonda come pick us up at the airport and take me out to my parents. We would get to the house and I would ring the door bell and they would be totally shocked when they saw who it was. Well they were totally shocked. My mom answered the door and was in disbelief that it was me standing there. Libby quickly came to the door and the screaming began. The screaming caused Brayden to get a little upset. It was a fun surprise, and I still can't believe that I pulled it off. It was a great time to visit because of all that was going on while I was there. I think the best part was that my Grandpa Mac was staying with my parents for the weekend. Brayden had so much fun with him. He immediately wanted Grandpa Mac to hold him and loved stealing bites from his plate. The best was when Brayden tried to walk in Grandpa Mac's shoes. I just feel bad because I don't know how much sleep he got while we were there. Brayden was cutting a tooth and not sleeping very well in the night. Saturday was the Idaho Cup and while we didn't win any of the races we did run third and a fourth place. There was a lot of family that came to the race; it was great to see everyone. Brayden's favorite part of the horse races were the tractors that go around the track between the races. If you got to close he would get a little nervous and give you his nervous pinch.It was a very hot day and by the time we got back to the car Brayden was pretty sweaty, so his hair stood up very easily.

Brayden loves Grandpa's boots. He knows that when shoes are on he gets to go outside. Most times he will bring me my shoes so I will go outside. While we were visiting he liked trying on Grandpa's boots. I was surprised, but he actually could walk around in them. He would do "happy feet" in them and just think that was so cool.Late Sunday afternoon we headed down to see Teresa, and take a walk on the green belt. I love the green belt. We saw several boaters, birds, and dogs; which Brayden loved.

Brayden's eating habits

Brayden is a pretty good eater. He loves fruit and especially loves saying "nanas" (some call them bananas). I have to save the fruit until after he eats his meat and veggies or he just wants more fruit. He likes turkey sandwiches and has been loving pulled pork. Brayden uses a lot of signs while he eats. He signs "eat", "more", "drink", "please", and "all done". He usually signs "all done" and then starts getting out of his chair. Once I get him out and clean him up, it is basically a race back to my chair. He'll crawl up the chair and act like he is ready to have another meal. It is pretty funny, but can be a little frustrating when you have a plate of food that can end up on the floor so quickly. I make pancakes a few times a week and Brayden like them, and this day was no exception. I had just gotten him out of his highchair and cleaned up. I was finishing cooking some pancakes and I turned around and Brayden was crawling up on the table to get some. When Brayden realized he was busted he looked so disappointed. I had to get some pictures, which he loved, because he was able to sit on the table a little longer. He thought it was so fun to eat on top of the table.
Brayden loves corn and we have been eating mostly corn on the cob. I usually cut it off and feed it to him that way. When he saw how Jared was eating it he wanted to give it a try. So we left him take a few bites. The next day at lunch I gave the corn and he went to town on it. He thought it was so fun to eat it that way.

This is kinda nasty, but he is really getting some good bites.

CU Family Retreat

We have been busy and on the go all summer; this retreat was a great way to end Jared's summer. Our family and the rest of the CU football families drove to Glenwood Springs for the weekend. It was a wonderful time full of many activities. When we arrived on Friday we had dinner and then headed over to Glenwood Hot Springs pool. It is the largest natural hot springs in the US. It was a lot of fun, and Brayden was being really brave in the water. He would put his head under and was being thrown up in the air really high by his dad. When we got back to the hotel they had set up a fire pit and all the kids were able to roast marshmallows and make s'mores. Brayden liked saying "hot" the whole time, but not many could tell that is what he was saying.

The next morning a few of the families woke up early to take a bike ride up the canyon. This was so much fun. Brayden hung out in the bike trailer and even got a nap in. It was a beautiful ride up the canyon right next to the river. We got out and let Brayden play around for a bit. He loved throwing the rocks into the river. It doesn't matter what we are doing...he is always happy when we are outside.

When we got back from the bike ride we headed up to Glenwood Cavern Adventure Park. We had a great lunch and then headed out for a cave tour. We were only on the tour for about 3 minutes. It was during nap time and Brayden just wasn't up for listen to some girl talk about a cave. So we left, put Brayden in the stroller and he fell asleep 2 minutes later. While he was asleep Jared climbed the rock wall and I waited in line to go on Swing Shot. The ride launches you 1,300 feet above the river and you are going about 50 mph. It was crazy. I was freaking out as we approached the front of the line, but it was so worth it. The view was awesome. Jared and I both went on the Canyon Flyer, which is basically a single coaster and you control your speed. It was a lot of fun, but didn't compare to the Swing Shot. That evening all the children stayed with the babysitters and the adults went out to have a nice dinner. It was nice to have a break and have a few hours with the adults. I was having a great time until I called the sitters and check up on Brayden. They told me that he was really tired, but he wouldn't go to sleep and had been fussing and crying for about an hour. After I heard that I was ready to go get him. When we walked into the room I saw Brayden who was covered in green and blue water color paint and the sitter told me that he had put pizza in her ear. I have to say I am not surprised. The next morning we headed home from our exciting weekend.