Wild, Wild West

Could Cadie be a nature lover and adventurer like her Uncle Eric?

Hiking with Uncle Preston - in the cabin.
Canoeing with Tidoo (the dolly) and Big John - we lasted 5 mins. before Cadie and I were too nervous and asked Big John to go back.
Hunting for rocks, we haven't quite worked up to animals or even bugs.

Riding a bucking steer - sort of.

Well, after reviewing the evidence it seems she may be more along the lines of her Mom and Dad and consider a night at a Motel 6 roughing it. Either way, we had a great time with the Walsh Family on our Colorado Adventure.

Big Girls

We are back from our big trip to Colorado and my pictures are terrible. I am not a very good picture-taker in general, I can't seem to figure out the settings on my camera and Cadie is terrible at posing. All that combined = 0 decent pics. Big John said he had some good ones so hopefully I can get those. Despite the lack of pictures, we had a wonderful trip. The weather was cool, the accomodations were comfortable, I had lots of quality time with Cadie and we all traveled fairly well together. I am thankful for the time to relax.

One thing that is funny is that at even at just 20 months Cadie is already all about the "big girls." The Saturday before Cadie and I left for Colorado our cousin Lauren came over to babysit and Cadie was glued to her from the moment she walked in the door. When Grant and I left Cadie just said Bye and shooded us along. Not sure why, but she wanted to play with Lauren in the hallway. Then at Sky Ranch Cadie loved a little girl named Abby. Abby was really patient with her and Cadie would run to her at all the activities and meals. I love this pic because you can just see the admiration plastered on Cadie's face.

I pray for good female role models for Cadie as she grows.

Slide

I am feeling a bit worn down this week and Cadie had a nice surprise for me last night. We went to dinner at Chic-Fil-A and I sat down at a table to cool off for a minute as she ran into the play area. As soon as I had turned around she was up the jungle gym and down the slide all by herself! It was great because I was actually able to eat my salad while she played. Up until now I have needed to be in the play area to watch her and usually end up taking most of my salad home to eat.

At the beginning it was all girls in the play area and they were very kind to Cadie. As soon as a few boys came in I had to take Cadie out because they don't worry as much about running over the littler kiddos. Anyway, she got to play for about 30 mins. and it was great for both Cadie and Mommy.

Brownies

Cadie and I have had a lovely weekend including attending the final t-ball game for cousin Seth, swimming at Dylan's 2nd bday party, Sunday school this morning, lunch with DD and trip to Target. However, we both miss Daddy. He has been in Hawaii for work (don't we all feel sad for him) since Saturday and he hopes to be back by Thursday but that is somewhat dependant on the case he is working on.

This evening we made brownies. Cadie takes cooking very seriously and she actually talked to Daddy a bit about the cooking on the phone. It was her best phone conversation yet. Most of the "conversation" up until now have been Cadie listening with complete silence but now that she is a jabbermouth it seems that is translating to her phone conversations as well.

Taking the stirring very seriously.

I think we can all agree that licking the spoon and/or bowl is the best part of cooking.

Cozumel, Part 2

I tried really hard to get some family photos, but it was very difficult. Between the heat making Grant and I look red and sweaty (plus my hair was terrible in the humidity), Cadie's frustration with posing for pics, and overall lack of patience - I am surprised we even got a few decent ones.

This is one of my favorite pics. Cadie has started to hit and even occasionally throw in a bite. She is typically a sweet girl, but we want to stop that habit in its tracks so she has to go into time out immediately when she hits. This is time out at a restaurant for hitting me. She has to stand with her face and hands to the wall. It is sad and adorable at the same time.

Cozumel, Part 1

We just got back today from almost 4 days in Cozumel. Big John and DD (Grant's parents) went with us and we had an amazing time. It was wonderful to be able to enjoy Cadie, but also have some time to ourselves. Cadie was just about perfect on the trip. She traveled well, slept great in a pack and play in the room, loved the pool and beach, was flexible enough in her schedule that we stayed out until 9 or 10pm every night and she received compliments from everyone. Her favorities activities were...

Jumping in the pool! She could do this for what seemed like hours. She especially loved it when Big John or Dad or both would throw her high. She kept asking for "air." Although these pics make it look like I didn't make her wear a suit, they were all taken in the evening when I liked to let her be a bit free. She was great about wearing her hat and swim shirt all day and she didn't get one bit burned.

It took her a little time to warm up to the beach. Big John and I spotted a hermit crab and Big John showed her how to cover the crab with sand and then watch him crawl out. As soon as she saw the crab she dropped to her belly to get a better look. Once she realized the sand was fun she was all about exploring and collecting sea shells. She liked sitting hear the little foot shower so she could rinse her hands or her seashells easily.

There was a bridge between our room and the pool that went over a lagoon that was filled with turtles. She wanted to watch the turles and throw food to them every time we crossed the bridge.

She even liked playing with the towel shapes and animals in our room every day. Really, I couldn't have asked for a better 1-year-old-traveler, or better in-laws for that matter.