Vacation Galore

Last Monday our family headed out west for a few days of togetherness and fun. Here are way too many photos from the ensuing fun.

We stopped for some ice cream on the first leg of our trip and Addilyn got her very first personal ice cream cone. Mmm.

And Asher thoroughly enjoyed running around and being social with all the other customers in the store.

This is our first campsite just across the Colorado border.

We had some issues with dinner...something about not having anything to cook our meal in or utensils to handle things with. Here Addilyn is enjoying our only normal burger. Tyler and I got to try out some gravel burgers. Mmm...crunchy.

This is our classic camping picture: Addilyn enjoying her first roasted marshmallow of the summer.

Do you think he has a sinking feeling?

This is the best of the three pictures we took on the assent of Pike's Peak.

And on the top.

Walking through Garden of the Gods.

And climbing things in Garden of the Gods.

Then climbing through things.

The triumphant pair after Addilyn climbed a big rock.

One of Tyler's favorite pictures of the trip.

Our second campsite.

And the landscape behind the state park we stayed in.

Asher seems to have taken a great interest in feet/shoes lately. Here he's distracted by his own feet while walking.We found this bridge on the route we took through the mountains. That was an awesome drive.

We wandered through some of my old haunts from my summer in Vail in college. Here the kids are enjoying some playtime at a playground in the Vail Village.

The children got a little tired and Daddy got to play the role of pack mule.

Apparently I didn't really think this through. If you open a can of formula at an elevation of 10,000 feet, it will explode.

While Daddy and Addilyn played a game of disc golf, Asher and I played in the car. Fun with the steering wheel.

On our final Colorado leg of the trip we stopped at a playground in Boulder. Addilyn thoroughly enjoyed climbing up and steering the rocket.

Navigating.

Addilyn mouthing every word of Curious George with Grandpa B.

And reading some more with Grandma B.

There. You just survived the longest post ever. Go do a victory lap.

Addilyn Sleeping

On the way back from Wichita today, Addilyn fell asleep. She hasn't quite figured out her new seat.

May Thus Far

Here are a bunch of pictures from May thus far. Most of them are of Addilyn mostly because our posts as of late have been a bit "Ashercentric."
Tyler took Addilyn and Asher on a bike ride one Friday when I was at work. Apparently Asher thought it'd be a good time to catch up on his beauty rest. So cute.

Addilyn is preparing breakfast for her polar bear. I think she was feeding him cereal. If you look closely you'll see that she even got him a bib and everything.

Addilyn and her super-cute outfit. She liked it a lot.

Addilyn playing with (or at least adjacent to) her friend from upstairs.

Asher destroyinated this strawberry. I love the look of utter carnage.

Asher climbed up here all by himself.

Addilyn taking pictures with her "camera."

Asher right before I started on his second haircut ever. I think he was watching "Finding Nemo" which we've decided is the absolutely only way to get him to sit still long enough to cut his hair.

Belly shot at somewhere around the 17-week mark.

Emotional girl.

We got Asher some new shoes. I liked how you could see his footprint on the bottom.

Enjoying some apple bits at Grandpa and Grandma J's house. Mmm...apple bits.

Addilyn showing off her dress from Grandma J and Courtney.

Look how tall she's getting!! Since when is she a head taller than the couch? Craziness.

That's all we've got for now.

Goodbye Chicago...for now.

We left Chicago for a little vacation and family time. We aren't exactly sure how long we'll be gone. Tyler has an interview tomorrow for a summer chaplain internship in Wichita. If he gets the position, we'll be in El Dorado for the rest of the summer. If he doesn't then we'll head back to Chicago in early June so Tyler can take some summer classes.
We did some major cleaning and prep work before we left our apartment. Here is our refrigerator. If we won't be back until August, we'll call our housesitters and have them throw out the butter and cream cheese. Yay for a clean refrigerator but wow that's going to be an expensive grocery trip when we get back!

We also polished off all our cereal before we left (except for Asher's special cereal). This is the emptiest our cereal shelf has ever been.

On the way here we clipped a deer. It smooshed our headlight, turn signal, fender and a little of our hood. I think the deer walked away from the incident and our car is still running fine. All in all...it could have been a lot worse. It definitely woke us up at 5:30 in the morning though.

Favorite Things

These are a few of Asher's favorite things right now:
Strawberries. He loves them and doesn't necessarily stop at the rind every time.

Being in control while eating. He insists on being in control of the spoon. It results in some food in his belly and a lot everywhere else. He doesn't seem to mind peas either.

Pulling down all the things on the undershelves of our countertop. He really likes these Pyrex measuring cups. I'm just really glad that they're Pyrex and virtually indestructible.

Pretending to drink out of things. He does this mostly with the measuring cups and toy cups but I've seen him do it with other things as well: the cup in the bath and Daddy's Nalgene (both of which he'll get things out of on occasion).

Chewing on things. Much like most children his age, he loves to chew and will chew on just about anything he can get his hands on.

Climbing on Addilyn's bed. He seems to prefer it when she's actually in it (at bedtime/naptime so he can "attack" her blanket and pillow and make her giggle) but will definitely take advantage of opportunities when she's not as well.

Wandering away. He's getting quicker so he likes to test out his new freedom. Explore little one.

Baby boy, you're one of my favorite things too.