Colorado Trip: Part II

Wally, Grandma Mary and I got to make the short drive to Boulder to visit our good friend Missie. Missie has been a special part of my life since middle school (though my parents and her have been friends since Pennsylvania before Jason and I were born). She had never gotten to meet Wally, so it was great. Wally often is shy of new people, but he walked right into Missie's house and gave her a big hug. He is a good judge of character. Missie gave Wally a squirrel that Wally promptly named Acorn.
Wally took this picture of the three of us. I wish we could get together more often.

My uncle Dave and aunt Sandy let us stay with them at their house during our stay in Colorado. Wally had a great time feeding Uncle Dave's Koi.

We all went up to the cabin for a picnic. Papa and Dave got to ride motorcyles together and the rest of us just enjoyed hiking around the cabin.

Long's Peak, and especially this view of Long's Peak, has always been special to me. It was so rejuvinating to be able to breath that air and look at that view.

Growing up, Mom, Dad, Jason and I spent a lot of time in the mountains climbing on rocks. It was special for me to get to do the same with Wally. Once we got the cabin, Pot Hole Rock became our favorite climbing rock.A little Wally original ditty about Pot Hole Rock...OK, so we got a slower internet service to save money. We don't really notice that it is slower, but apparently it is too slow to upload videos...I guess you will just have to come visit if you want to see Wally in action.

Wally didn't seem like a flat-lander on the rocks, which I loved to see. Admittedly, I did have to turn away a few times because I would get nervous that he would hurt himself. He didn't though.

Aunt Sandy and Uncle Dave.

Grandma Mary and Papa Randy...what are they giggling about?

Another fun thing at the cabin is playing the ring-hook game. There is a hook in the tree trunk and a string with a ring hanging from the branch sticking out. You have to stand where Wally is and swing the ring to hook it. Wally thought that was great fun, but had more fun just throwing the ring than actually trying to get it hooked.

Chocolate chip cookies in the mountains...life is good!

Wally disappeared during lunch and I found him sitting on the potty with no toilet paper. I had to run and get my camera because really, how cute is that! He'll likely disagree in a few years though.

Wally helped Papa straighten out the potty.

Papa of course couldn't visit the cabin without digging up a few aspen and cedar trees to bring home to the Reder Ranch. It was fun hiking through the forest with my daddy looking for the perfect tree to bring home.

A stroll down Aspen Avenue as I did so many times as a kid.

Wally's imagination is great fun to watch. Here, he was on his space ship flying to an alien planet.

This pot hole on Pot Hole Rock has always been a favorite of mine because it fits me perfectly as a recliner. However, in shorts and a tank-top with a 45 lb kid on you decreases the comfort, as does the pine tree that continues to grow.

Ah, Bear Poop!

After the cabin, we drove through Estes Park to my cousin Chris's house. It just happened to be Sage's 5th birthday that day, so we got to have a little party with them. Last time I had seen Greta, she was still in Abby's tummy. What a cutie!

I don't think an outsider would have guessed that these kids didn't really know each other before that afternoon. They had a great time together and needed no time to warm-up. I just wish we lived closer together so that we could all get together more often.

Long's Peak from Longmont. A view etched in my memory for ever.

Colorado Trip Part I: Jacq's Wedding

I realize that I am very VERY far behind in blogging. You would think that with Wally in kindergarten now I would have a lot of time for blogging. I guess I've been keeping busy with things that don't require sitting at the computer. Anyway, a few months ago I up loaded pictures for a couple blogs on our Colorado trip, but have not managed to write anything...so I will do that now.

At the beginning of June, Wally and I road tripped to Colorado by ourselves. We made the fun 14 hour drive to Longmont all in one day. The kid is a champion traveller. We stopped by McDonald's in Sterling, CO. It had the coolest play area with instruments that would play music when the kids climbed on them.
The main reason for our trip to Colorado was for my friend Jacquelynn's wedding. While I got to hang out with my buddies in Fort Collins and Loveland, Wally stayed with my parents and my aunt and uncle. Wally got to do all sorts of fun things like visiting Bob Barkers Wild Animal Sanctuary, meeting some family friends, seeing the house I grew up in, seeing where I went to kindergarten and much more. Basically, the kid was spoiled with my parents and my aunt and uncle...what is better than being the only kid with 2 sets of grandmas and papas??

OK, on to the wedding. Jacquelynn and Randy got married at Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch outside of Loveland. What a beautiful place. I am just so blessed to have such great friendships that have lasted for...20+ years! How did I get so lucky? Here, Jacq is opening her gift from Randy as we were getting ready for the wedding.

Jacq's littlest sister Averri did Jacq's hair and her other sister Andrea performed the ceremony. That family is full of talent!

I got to get ready for the wedding with my buddies Katie (friends since kindergarten) and Shaundra (friends since 7th grade). Jacq and I have been friends since 6th grade.

Jacq's dress was beautiful and fit her perfectly. It was an old-fashioned lace dress. Perfect!

A beautiful bride!

Being an artist, everything Jacq had for her wedding was beautiful. I loved how simple her bouquets were.

It was a beautiful day for a wedding, though maybe a bit hot if you were pregnant (Shaundra popped 4 days later).

Posing for pictures by Jacq's dad's old truck. Again, perfect.

A setting for a wedding couldn't get much better than this (accept maybe for me and Joel's reception, but I might be biased!). The happy couple, Jacquelynn and Randy.

Could this really be little Averri? I still picture her as a 4 year-old running through the stands during our basketball games.

Shaundra and Rob, almost parents!

Katie and Ryan. All four of us have been blessed with wonderful husbands!

Grandma and Papa brought Wally up for the wedding and stayed in the hotel with us the night of the wedding. Wally thought that was great!

The next morning, Grandma, Papa, Wally, and I spent some time enjoying the mountains and the ranch. Wally seemed to make a noose with a rope. Maybe it was too tight...hence the face. Or maybe Wally is just silly.

Pretty much a fun vacation with Grandma Mary and Papa Randy!

The ranch had awesome swings hanging from huge cotton wood trees. Me and my boy. I wish my big boy could have been there too. Wally found a fun tree house in the middle of a huge willow tree.

Did Papa really take Wally over that stream on that little one-log bridge?

My life would be complete if I had a swing like this. Papa seemed to enjoy it a bit too.

Wally and I went for a ride. It felt like we were flying as the ropes were so long.

After this, we said our good byes and headed back to Longmont. It was a great wedding and we wish Jacq and Randy a life filled with love. I miss my friends terribly, but am happy knowing they are all doing well and are happy.

SD/MT Roadtrip Part IV

Before we headed to Townsend, Wally needed us to take this picture with Cubby (I think it is Cubby). Joel hadn't told his Aunt Patty or cousins that we were coming up, so it was a great surprise. Wally had fallen asleep in the car on the drive up, and kept sleeping after we parked, so I stayed in the car (until Gramma Kathy came to sit with Wally). I guess Aunt Patty hadn't cried all day, but when she saw Joel show up, she lost it. That makes the whole 2600 mile drive totally worth it! The weather was beautiful, so we got to enjoy their patio with Great-Gramma.

Cory the graduate with "big" sister Alaina and "little" sister Hannah. I can't believe how much they have all grown up since the last time we saw them. Cory is quite the man now, Hannah is nearly as tall as me and beautiful, and Tyler is definitely no little kid any more. What a wonderful family!

Gramma Kathy got Wally the world's largest piece of chocolate cake that was about 50% frosting.

A happy pirate!

Joel, Parker (Alaina's son who is only a couple months younger than Wally), Wally, Gramma Kathy and I took a walk to work off some of the delicious food from the party.

Then next day, Monday, was our only day without travelling for our 8-day trip. We got to hang out in Bozeman. Wally, Joel, and I got to see Reder's preschool, and then visited the lab. It was strange to be back, but was great to see so many great friends. I just wish we could have had more time to spend with everyone and see those who we missed.

Jason has gotten into bee keeping, so I got to wear the totally attractive suit and "help" him look for the queens in his 2 hives. We didn't find either.

But is was so fun holding about a billion bees. I didn't mind the bees that would land right on my face mask, but when they buzzed that loudly in my ears, it was kinda unsettling. Maybe next time we are up we can get some Daughenbaugh honey.

After naps, we went up Hyalite for a little hike along the road. Man, was it nice to be in the mountains again and breathing that air. How spoiled we were when we lived there.

The kids had a blast throwing rocks into the culverts and watching them come shooting out the other end.

Much to Katie's horror (ha ha ha) I taught the kids how to dam-up the water running down the side of the roads (don't worry, I also helped them break the dams so that the water would not ruin the roads). Kids and mud are such a perfect combination.

Team Graff

What a view! It was strange seeing snow and ice (and eating snow - only the white stuff), as we were used to summer in Iowa. I definitely don't miss the long Montana winters. Breaking the dams.

Our good buddy Aaron came over for dinner. What a treat to get to spend time with our best buddies!

On Tuesday we drove to the Reder Ranch, though it took us longer than planned as the interstate and hwy 212 were closed due to flooding (did I mention it dumped buckets the entire time we travelled on that trip?), so we had to go up through Miles City. We stopped in Broadus to get Bubu (as we had left Wally's favorite stuffed animal at Gramma's house). We also picked up all of Joel's old legos. Wally has done nothing but legos since he got them. Here, he and Papa were working on building an airplane.

Ta-da!

We drove the rest of the way home the next day. What a super fun trip! It was a lot of driving. Over 2600 miles and I think it was like 48 hours of actual drive time...I have to say Wally is an amazing kid. Not sure too many other kids could do it!