The past couple of years Jared's family has been much better about having family get togethers or family reunions. This year we ended up going camping in Vernal, UT. It was about 5 hours away, but being pregnant and not wanting to do the long drive with Brayden we opted to split up the drive. So on Thursday I drove into Boulder to pick up Jared and we head to Steamboat Springs. It took me longer to get packed up so we didn’t get on the road until around noon. We drove to Silverthorne, got out and did some shopping. It was good to walk around and let Brayden get some built up energy out. We continued driving to Steamboat Springs where we walked downtown to and old diner. Because we got away so late we decided not to spend much time there and get on our way. We stayed the night in Craig; about an hour away. We only had one queen bed so it was a tight fit with all three of us in the bed. I was shocked that Brayden slept in until 9. You have to love the dark hotel rooms. Jared went and picked up donuts, yogurt and orange juice for breakfast. Brayden really liked the donuts and kept trying to take one bite out of each of the different donuts. We only had a two hour drive to Vernal. We we arrived Jerry, Sandy, Amy, Lisa, Chase, Maddy, and Rachel were already there. We set up our camp area. Brayden thought it was so cool he could run and play everywhere. Saturday we drove up to see some petro glyphs, Brayden fell asleep on our way so I sat in the car with him while Jared hiked up to them. I heard they were really neat, but it was muddy and raining for most of the hike. Just as I decided to take Brayden we saw Jared heading down the train. We met them about 50 feet from the from the trail head, Brayden was pretty disappointed he couldn’t go for a hike. We then headed back to camp. Jason and Logan had arrived so after a few minutes we all headed to the Dinosaur Museum. It was pretty cool and Brayden enjoyed seeing all the dinosaurs. Outside they had several life size animals from the time period. Brayden thought they were really cool. On Sunday we spent the morning making and cleaning up breakfast, and then we decided to go fishing. We didn’t have much luck, but Brayden thought it was cool for about 15 minutes, but then he moved on to exploring. We had only been there about 45 minutes and it started to rain and after 30 seconds of sprinkling it started to down pour. We took cover under a tree as best we could; Brayden was in shock with what was happening. After about 5 minutes of getting dumped on we decided to head for the car. We didn’t realize we would be walking in the middle of a mud slide. It was a mess and we were all lucky to make it out without someone going down. We all had mud all over, and I was a little nervous I might end up sliding into the lake. That evening we went to Pizza Hut for dinner. After dinner we began competing in the 1st Annual Aurich Family Challenge. Jared and I had put together several events. Each team would complete for points, and after all events were completed the winning family would receive medals. We made matching family shirts and called ourselves “Team Jared”. Brayden loved saying, “Go Team Jared, go team Jared.” Jared and I tied for the egg toss. Brayden was really upset that the eggs broke. This was a lot of fun, and the highlight of the competition was the Chubby Bunny contests. It came down to Jared and his dad; Jared won with 17 marshmallows. At the end of the night Team Jared won. It rained on us as we packed up camp; so it took longer than normal. Once we were all packed up we headed for the showers. As Brayden was getting in he fell and split his head open. Blood started going everywhere and he was crying really hard. I ended up in the guys bathroom getting Jared out of the shower to help me. Brayden cried for about 10 minutes which is really unusual, but he seemed to be okay and no in need to stitches. I am sure it is just the first of many injuries. Someone told Brayden he was having a rough day, which Brayden repeated over and over, “Brayden rough day” in a very sad voice. The weekend was fun, but a little disappointing that we got rained on most of the time. We had a late breakfast before heading for home.
Jared and I decided we would try to take a vacation without Brayden before the new baby arrived. We had many thoughts of spots we wanted to go, and after much deliberation we decided on San Antonio, Texas. I have never been to Texas and thought San Antonio would be a good trip of relaxation with not too many attractions to wear me out. We left Brayden with my sister Hailey and it was harder for me to leave him than I thought. We arrived in San Antonio in the late evening so we headed to the hotel to get some sleep. The next morning we woke up and headed to Sea World. Sea World is a favorite of mine; we saw all the shows, feed the dolphins and went back and saw Shamu one more time before leaving. It was a lot of fun, but very hot. Several times we both mentioned how much fun Brayden would have had. After Sea World we drove around and finally got a bite to eat. The next morning we slept in; which was wonderful and then headed to a street market just down from our hotel so we walked. After looking around for a little bit we decided we were ready for lunch. We ate an amazing Mexican restaurant; it was delicious. From there we were ambitious and decided to walk to The Alamo. It was quite a walk and Jared was really understanding of me going so slow. We finally got to The Alamo and spent about 2hours listening to the audio tour. We were both wiped out after that. It was so hot so we decided to get a shaved ice. As we were paying for our shaved iced it started to rain. We sat under a gazebo for about 20 minutes until the rain let up. We walked around and made our way down to the Riverwalk. We had a great time taking the boat and seeing all the sites along the river. We got out and took our time walking back to our hotel. In true fashion we weren't able to decide on what to eat for dinner. We weren't that hungry and wanted something light. Finally, at about 9pm we ventured out to find somewhere to eat. After about 30 minutes in the car we settled on Denny's. We both loved our meal, it really hit the spot. We had a great time and thought it would be nice if we could do it again soon, but I don't see that happening.
Brayden and Kira enjoyed Grandma's visit. They also were excited that Libby also was able to come visit. These two are really the best of friends. They really try hard to share, but sometimes it is hard. Brayden loves the sandbox and can play out there for long periods of time; which I love. I do not love the sand that ends up all over...and I mean all over. We almost always have to have a shower after playing in the sandbox.
We had a lot of fun taking the kids to the zoo. I really appreciate when my family is in town and I have help on these types of outings. We had a lot of fun watching the gorillas, even though the kids still call them monkeys. Brayden likes to sit in his stroller; which amazes me. The kids doesn't still to save his life, but yet at the zoo he enjoys it for a little while, but I will take all I can get. As we were leaving one of the areas we came across these drums. The kids loved them. They would just run from each drum pounding on them over and over. I know Brayden thought it was pretty cool he could make so much noise and not have someone telling him to be quiet. He attempted leaving the drums several times before we were actually able to leave. We packed a lunch and were able to eat on some benches. The kids thought it was fun to climb up and down the steps. This is Brayden's "cheese" smile for pictures. You can see Kira doesn't know quite what to think of it. We had another great day at the zoo!We spent Friday morning at the Erie Rec center swimming. The kids seemed to enjoy it, but Brayden wasn't too interesting in showing off his swimming skills. I hope he hasn't forgotten them. On Saturday we all headed up to Brainard Lake to take a little hike. When we got up there we realized it was a little to early in the season; the road was still closed due to snow. We were able to get out and hike up to the first lake; Red Rock Lake. It was so pretty with the white snow and the blue lake. I felt like it took me forever to hike to the lake the extra baby weight was very noticeable. Brayden loved the hike and wanted to walk on the snow even if the road was bare. He would walk off the road so he could walk in the snow. He had so much fun "hiking". Once we got to the lake Brayden thought it was so fun to throw rocks into the lake. He would walk back to the path fill his pockets and hands with rocks and then walk over the snow to the side of the lake and beginning throwing them in. He was really sad when it was time to leave. He kept saying, "throw them in one more time". We had a little picnic when we returned to the car. Brayden dropped a grape on the street and a bird came and ate, so then many grapes ended up on the ground. We had a great time with our guests. It is crazy to me that the next time my mom is here I will be getting ready to have a baby. It is getting closer and closer.
We celebrated Brayden's birthday a week late so Grandma Chris could join us. It was a tractor themed event; which Brayden loved. His friends Kira, Max, and Crosby all came to his party. Brayden was a little overwhelmed with all the kids at our house. He was running all over in excitement. After Brayden finished eating I showed him is cake, he was in awe. I put him down and all we heard was dump it dirt and he grabbed the closest person; which was Uncle Cale and he made him show him the cake again. Cale would try to set him down and he would hold on so tight so he could stay with Cale and see his cake. He was very overwhelmed by the cake and when I sat it down in front of him, he didn’t know if we wanted to blow out the candle or grab the dump truck and start dumping. After 20 blows on the candle he finally blew it out. Then I left him grab a bit of the cake. The next 5 or 10 minutes are kind of a blur. As I tried to help Brayden eat his cake all I heard was “more dump it” and “dump dirt”, he wanted so badly to dump the dirt that was on his cake. Finally, I gave up just let him get down and get his other tractor and play with them. Brayden has so much fun with all his friends. He especially liked his bike.
He also had a really fun time after the party when he got to chase bubbles with Kira. He would chase them all the way to the neighbors yard. Uncle Cale was a big hit for making the bubbles. Earlier that morning Jared took Brayden to the opening of the Colorado National Golf Course and they took a picture of Jared and Brayden looking at Ralphie; it was in our local paper the next week. Brayden had a pretty busy birthday.
Saturday we drove up to see some petro glyphs, Brayden fell asleep on our way so I sat in the car with him while Jared hiked up to them. I heard they were really neat, but it was muddy and raining for most of the hike.
Just as I decided to take Brayden we saw Jared heading down the train. We met them about 50 feet from the from the trail head, Brayden was pretty disappointed he couldn’t go for a hike. We then headed back to camp.
Jason and Logan had arrived so after a few minutes we all headed to the Dinosaur Museum. It was pretty cool and Brayden enjoyed seeing all the dinosaurs.
Outside they had several life size animals from the time period. Brayden thought they were really cool.
On Sunday we spent the morning making and cleaning up breakfast, and then we decided to go fishing. We didn’t have much luck, but Brayden thought it was cool for about 15 minutes, but then he moved on to exploring. We had only been there about 45 minutes and it started to rain and after 30 seconds of sprinkling it started to down pour. We took cover under a tree as best we could; Brayden was in shock with what was happening. After about 5 minutes of getting dumped on we decided to head for the car. We didn’t realize we would be walking in the middle of a mud slide. It was a mess and we were all lucky to make it out without someone going down. We all had mud all over, and I was a little nervous I might end up sliding into the lake. That evening we went to Pizza Hut for dinner. After dinner we began competing in the 1st Annual Aurich Family Challenge. Jared and I had put together several events. Each team would complete for points, and after all events were completed the winning family would receive medals. We made matching family shirts and called ourselves “Team Jared”. Brayden loved saying, “Go Team Jared, go team Jared.”
Jared and I tied for the egg toss. Brayden was really upset that the eggs broke.
This was a lot of fun, and the highlight of the competition was the Chubby Bunny contests. It came down to Jared and his dad; Jared won with 17 marshmallows.
At the end of the night Team Jared won.
It rained on us as we packed up camp; so it took longer than normal. Once we were all packed up we headed for the showers. As Brayden was getting in he fell and split his head open. Blood started going everywhere and he was crying really hard. I ended up in the guys bathroom getting Jared out of the shower to help me. Brayden cried for about 10 minutes which is really unusual, but he seemed to be okay and no in need to stitches. I am sure it is just the first of many injuries. Someone told Brayden he was having a rough day, which Brayden repeated over and over, “Brayden rough day” in a very sad voice. The weekend was fun, but a little disappointing that we got rained on most of the time. We had a late breakfast before heading for home.
