Thursday, August 25, 2011

A trip to the zoo





I love the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.  I love to go for the animals, but also for the scenery.  It's right on the side of Cheyenne mountain, so you feel like you're in the woods on a nature hike.  And the view is spectacular.  You can see all the way to Kansas, or so Jeremy says.  Today was an epic zoo trip because...we went without a stroller.  Bridger wants to "do it" all by himself now, which means he wants to be unassisted in all areas of his life, included walking instead of riding.  But because he is such a runner, it's impossible (and annoying) to take him anywhere, now that he isn't strapped down.  A friend let us borrow her child leash and we tried it out today.  I LOVE the leash.  Seriously.  It has changed our lives.  We were able to walk the entire zoo without losing him or being stressed out from having to chase him everywhere.  And he was happy too.  So it's a win-win for everyone.  We got some funny looks from people who probably thought we were cruel and inhumane, but to those people I say, "If you had my son, you'd have a leash on him too." :)

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Biker Boys

This has been a monumental summer for Hayden and Gannon.  They have both mastered the art of bike-riding and are zipping around like professionals.  We took Hayden's training wheels off last year and gave it a try, but he didn't seem ready.  So in April, their good friends, Ian and Jed, learned how to ride their bikes and of course, Hayden, had to try it again.  Nothing like positive peer pressure.  :) Hayden only needed a little help and was able to get it in no time.  Gannon still wasn't sure about the whole balancing thing.  A friend told me that Razor scooters are great for learning balance - once they can master a scooter, learning to ride a bike is easy.  So, I bought Gannon a scooter and within a week, he could ride it all over the place with perfect balance.  I was planning on taking him out with his bike again, but Hayden beat me to it.  On the 4th of July, Hayden came running in the house, "Mom! Mom!  Gannon's riding his bike!"  And sure enough, I went outside to find him riding up and down the sidewalk with a huge grin on his face.  Hayden had taken Gannon out and helped him up on his bike and ran with him until he got it.  What a great big brother!

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Patience, Grasshopper

Finley might only be a puppy, but he's no dummy.  He's figured out very quickly who to go to for the goods. His favorite spot to sit is under Bridger's highchair because he knows that if he's patient, sooner or later (and usually it's sooner), the food will fly.  We've had to start putting Finn outside when Bridger eats because he has too much fun chucking all his food overboard.  Can you tell by the grin of his face?  They are quite the pair.