September 2011...Fall is upon us!

I'm not sure what happened to the summer but it is gone! The months keep flying by....I only update this blog once a month but it feels like once a week! We continued our quest to explore Colorado as much as possible since this is quite possibly our last summer here, so fun times again in September :)

Denver Trip

For our 3-day Labor Day Weekend, we went to Denver since we live so close and still hadn't seen much of it except the Children's Hospital and Airport! So we stayed downtown at the Embassy Suites and had a great time. The weekend's festivities included the Aquarium, the Denver Zoo, the Denver Children's Museum, and a couple fun dinners out---fun, fun!

Looking out the window of our hotel....they loved seeing how high we were and there was a city rail train below as well they could watch go by :)

Below are a view pics from the Aquarium...

Some pics from the zoo...

Here are Lawson & Peyton waiting to ride the carousel

Lawson wanted to ride the peacock, and Peyton rode the monkey with daddy...go Peyton!

Above is a real lion we saw at the zoo...we even heard them roar! Below is Lawson with a lion statue :)

Now he's on a hippo!

Awww, we have to look at the giraffes, of course :) And look at the cute baby!

Below are some pics of Peyton at the Children's museum. We went here the last day on our way home, so Lawson was apparently too tired and cranky to participate. So daddy took him to REI next door while Peyton and I hung out at the museum...Lawson missed out because it was a fun place!

Cheap fun...after eating dinner at the Cheesecake factory, the escalators were the highlight of the evening!

"Ride for Heroes"

The next weekend we did the "Ride for Heroes" which is a 28 mile bike ride around town put on by Chik-fil-A and many other sponsors to benefit the Wounded Warrior project as well as all of our local heroes. The ride included the entire Garden of the Gods loop, as well as 2 other really steep hills. It was somewhat challenging for me, so I can't imagine how hard it was for Steven who was carrying at least 70lbs of cargo behind him! The boys did great (besides the occasional whining), and we had a great time---it was a gorgeous day and I was having so much fun that I had no idea it took over 3 hours! They had a big "party" afterwards as well, complete with a fire truck bouncy house, real rescue vehicles, a helicopter take off, and Chik-fil-A of course!

Here are the boys decked out in red, white, & blue! We put flags on the bike trailer and they are in their "Hooray for the USA" shirts

Below are some big horn sheep native to the area...it was our first time to finally see them as they were up on the hill during the ride...so cool!

The boys hanging out at our stop...

Yay, we finished!!!!

First Football Game

That same day, Steven took Lawson to his first live football game...Air Force vs. whoever! Lawson lasted about a quarter, which was fine since Steven was pooped from the ride anyway...but you can't pass up free tickets!

Downtown Springs

Here are a couple pics from our little trip to Downtown CO Springs one day...we forget what a neat downtown we have sometimes!

Breckenridge

We had so much fun in Breckenridge earlier this summer that we got a deal and decided to go again! It's only 2 hours away so we can just go up for the weekend. We had fun just hanging out this time and looking at land for sale (just for fun)....Lawson really wanted to go up the gondola again but unfortunately it was closed for the season :(

"America the Beautiful" Park

Finally, we went one day for the first time to the "America the Beautiful" park here in the Springs. We were a couple weeks too late to enjoy the water fountain that sprays out of this sculpture, but we still had fun!

Lawson Update

Not much to update with Lawson...he is just a really happy, energetic, smart, and fun-loving boy. He continues to amaze us with his memory and by what he knows and says sometimes. He still gets in trouble daily but is becoming more and more disciplined and polite as the days go by...we are praising God for more good days! He has also started going to "My Gym" once a week and is doing really well. Here is a picture from this month of Lawson helping me make our protein bars...

Peyton Update

• Peyton continues to talk more and more...his new words include all done, car, go, & down to name a few
• He is loving his Gymboree play and learn classes each week...he participates so well and loves Gymbo the clown....such a sweet boy :) I need to get some pics of him there next month!
• Although we were concerned about his last weight check since he had lost a little weight, it was all good news at the Pulmonologist this month. In just two weeks of giving him more fattening foods, his weight was the best it ever had been on the chart! Also, he sounded good, looked good, and his echocardiogram and scope came back PERFECT! Once again, they asked him "Are you sure you're a preemie?" So, unless he gets really sick this winter, she doesn't want to see him back until next May and then that might be his last pulmonology visit---praise God! Below are a couple random pics of this happy boy...

I think that is it for September...the rest of the month was spent preparing for our big cruise vacation! Both our moms came on the 28th, and we left on the 30th for an entire week! It was blast so can't wait to share about that soon :) Hope you all are having a wonderful Fall!