The last weekend of September we ventured into the mountains to "hunt" for leaves. It was suppose to be the peak weekend for viewing beautiful colors. We didn't have to hunt very far before finding ravenous mountain slopes of yellow, with splashes of orange and the occasional red.
This is near Mueller State Park.
This is the southwest side of Pikes Peak.
We started our adventure with a loop drive to encompass as many colorful leaves as possible. We ended up with 3 backseat nappers (which was awesome) so Derrick and I were able to thoroughly enjoy the ride! Our destination was Mueller State Park where we planned a picnic and hike. Here we are gobbling up our PB&Js at the picnic spot. There are some scavenger birds that I'm sure are used to being fed in the picnic areas.......although no complaints, they provided up-close and hair-raising entertainment as they dove for our crackers.
Kai and Addie found a tipee/cave in the rocks to play in not far from where we had our picnic.
Eli and Addie gearing up for our hike....... one or both of them was carried almost the entire way.
Here's Addie perching on a bed of moss we found on a walk around a tiny pond along the trail.
This is a cute pic of Addie double fisting the buckets! We came prepared with sand toys for collecting rocks, sticks, leaves, etc. Last year I remember spending much more idle time around the picnic area, probably due to a nursing Eli who was only 3 or 4 months old. But we ate and were off on our hike this year. This pic of Addie is the only time I remember the buckets being held.
A semi-serious look from my little rider, Eli. He did hang in there with no nap except for the brief car snooze.
Kai has learned the on-command smile when we ask. He was on cloud 9 the whole day in the mountains. He wore his hiking boots, had his hiking pants on (better known as jeans), brought all his hiking supplies and got to use daddy's special outdoor tool (which he called a GERBER).
Kai came "strapped" for the hunting trip (play pistol and rifle), whether it was stumps or trees or dirt he was determined to spend as much time as possible using Daddy's GERBER (well, pliers were the only thing he was allowed to use).
Mueller State Park 2010
Mueller State Park 2011
Eli's 16 months now. He's on the go, growing and exploring all the time. He's starting to run. Addie tries to get him to chase her all around the house....it won't be too long before he's fast enough to keep up! We no longer have baby gates on the stairs so he roams the house freely with the other kids. Although, we have learned the hard way that we need to keep the bathroom doors shut (we have a toilet water/TP magnet on our hands)! Eli plays well with both Kai and Addie, mainly following their lead or just following them around. Like my last blog post, he gets wrangled into some of Kai's dress up and imaginary play OR he sits and looks at books with Addie or snuggles and tends to all her stuffed animals and babies.
He only has 3 or so distinguishable words but he understands multi-step commands (ie "put your book on the toy box and go get your blankie" or "go get your shoes and bring them to me"). He's starting to make sounds/grunts for lots of new things...so I think he's communication is in the growing stage as we speak. He's really loving books lately so we're trying to be intentional about reading with/to him by himself to help with communication skills. He still has stellar facial expressions when he's trying to convey something that do all the talking.
This has been one of my favorite ages with Eli. He's been a SUPER snuggler (which I'm taking advantage of). He is constantly smiling and has the best chuckle when you hit his tickle spots. His momma is diggin' this phase! He's such a blessing to all of us.
Little Bronco Buddy
String-o-drool from those molars!
Mommy's helper. Not long ago Eli would cry hysterically whenever we turned on any kind of vacuum, now he chases the upright vacuum and cries when I take this one out of his hands.
Eli's first go at Playdoh with his big bro and sis.
