25 June 2010

Sleep

Since arriving in Pagosa sleep has become a prized commodity.  Before leaving on this trip Pickle was a challenge at bed time and it has only gotten worse being out of her element.  In our current configuration we have the elder kids sleeping in the bedroom while we are on the sofa bed but we can't put them in bed at the same time because Pickle keeps her brother awake.  We have tried different scenarios where we put one down and then the other and then tried the reverse order the next night, but the end result is they have both been awake most nights until 9:00.  The picture below shows how darn cute they are sleeping in the big bed together, but it does not reflect how long and how stressful it was to get them to that point.  In fairness Bubba will just go in there with his flashlight and read until he decides to go to sleep . . . we could even put him in the same room with the baby and all would be fine, but Pickle is just too distracted by anything and anyone in general!  If anyone out there has some advice as to how to get a 2 1/2 year old to stay in bed and go to sleep, please let us know!
  Since sleep has been short at night they both crash pretty quickly once we get in the car for any length of time.  The pictures below are during the return trip from Mesa Verde on Tuesday.  For a bit we had all 3 asleep at the same time but Baby Sissa woke up hungry and disturbed the older two . . . payback for sure!

24 June 2010

Denver Leg


So our sojourn in the van took us up to Denver where some good friends of ours moved from Phoenix a few years back.  This was our first chance to visit them and they were kind enough to house and feed us during our travels.  Their son is a year and a half younger than our son and their daughter is about 6 weeks older than Pickle so it was a lot of fun for the kids to have some playmates and toys to entertain them.  We did many things but most involved neighborhood parks and bike riding.  Their neighborhood is very kid friendly and in the evenings after dinner they are often found riding the alleys while the adults socialize.
On Saturday we drove just outside of the city to Tiny Town which is a cute little park made up of tiny houses - many replicas of real Colorado buildings - and a small train for riding.
  All in all it was a great trip and boys and girls all had fun.  Pickle made a great friend and they had big fun having tea parties in the bathroom when parents weren't watching.

20 June 2010

Visit with Popsie & M'Lynn

We were very excited to have a visit from Popsie and M'Lynn who flew out for Bubba's graduation; of course Pickle thought they were coming to see her "owie." It was also good timing for them to see Baby Sissa.  As with any visitors, Dad was called in to action for book reading time.

18 June 2010

Riding Horses, Trains, and Tractors

Our first stop on our Griswold Summer Vacation took us to Cerrillos, NM which is just south of Santa Fe.  JP's Aunt and Uncle have a ranch there in the hills which provides many different avenues of entertainment for the kids.  There is the "work" to be done including feeding cows, gardening, hauling food scraps, and maintaining the road.  (This is where John Deere comes into play.)  This trip we were also treated to a visit from friends who had horses and they were kind enough to take the kids on short rides around the yard.  This was not Bubba's first ride on a horse - he has been on one of the little pony rides at a carnival before; but it was Pickles first ride and she was very excited.

 
Riding John Deere is the highlight of every trip we take to Cerrillos.  Bubba starts from the moment he arrives pestering Uncle Boyd about riding it.  As you can see from her smile Pickle was SUPER excited that she was allowed to drive it.  Boyd and Bubba actually did some work on the road with the tractor . . . it is not all fun and games at the ranch.


And on our final afternoon we took a ride on the Santa Fe Railway from the old Santa Fe rail station out to Galisteo Basin and then back.  It was a short trip (about 2 hours round trip) through the outskirts of Santa Fe and through some beautiful county.  With our family it is all about riding the rails . . . doesn't matter where you are or where you are going.  This was also Baby Sissa's first train ride!


Staying in Cerrillos is always a treat . . . the weather has always been nice (even the time it was in the teens), the food is always yummy - the kids were super excited about Root Beer Floats this trip, and the bed is super comfy!  I know everyone is wondering how our crazy excursion is going . . . so far it has been going pretty smoothly.  Pickle is behaving herself and has gotten better at entertaining herself in the car, Bubba stays busy with his Leapster, and Baby Sissa sleeps the time away.  JP and I still need to adjust our travel times to incorporate bathroom stops and lengthy feedings as well as letting the kids run off some energy now and then.  So far we have shown up to both of our first stops at least 2 hours late . . . .

Now we are in Denver and will be here until Sunday when we move on to southern Colorado . . . more pictures early next week.

10 June 2010

Nobody Likes me


This is an old picture. It is from our trip to Cuchara last year but I really like it. I see it all the time and recently printed one to have around to put in a frame. I think the part I like is Pickle isn't a frumpy, pouty, little girl. This was a snapshot of her as she stood outside in the rain and none of her cousins wanted to play with her because it was cold and rainy. She is the only one that wanted to play out there in the mud and frowned for just a moment but Christi caught it. The frame preceding this she is smiling in anticipation of the others coming out and the frame after she is waving to the camera when she notices her mom taking a picture.

08 June 2010

One Month

First Bath
Hard to believe she is already one month old!  Baby Sissa is truly the sweetest most contented baby I have ever been around including our other two!  She eats only 5 times a day and sleeps for long blocks of time and she only wakes once a night to be fed.

06 June 2010

The Graduate

Last night we celebrated Bubba's graduation from kindergarten.  He has been attending a nearby Montessori school since he was almost 3 years old and as I have previously shared, he has truly excelled. He reads at the 2nd or possibly even the 3rd grade level . . . enjoying chapter books voraciously.  He can write and do addition, subtraction, and even reason out multiplication problems.  His teaches call him Mr. E.B. (Encyclopedia Brittanica) because of his vast collection of knowledge and his desire to continue to learn about anything and everything.
All of the graduates looked adorable in their cap and gowns and the ceremony included a processional complete with the traditional step together walk that was almost comical in the deliberateness and concentration of each child.
 

The class also wrote reports on the Solar System and a planet.  Bubba was chosen to read his Solar System report in addition to his report on Earth and of course we all felt he was the best among all of the presenters.  
I can not believe he is six years old and will be going to 1st grade next year.  We are very proud of him and tried to make the night special for him by having a small party before graduation.  JP has been reminding me for the last month that this is the first of many graduations and it's really not that big of a deal, but this is this is truly a big milestone that I don't want him to forget.

04 June 2010

Joshua Tree National Park

We took the family to Palm Desert last week for a quick visit to Joshua Tree National Park.  This quick two day trip was a practice run for our summer of road trippin' and all three kids did a fabulous job in the car.  We are hopeful their good behavior will last during much longer travels coming up in June and July.

 
We spent all day on Friday driving through the park and stopping at the interesting points to view the scenery and do a couple of hikes.  Pickle loves going on hikes and will announce the whole time "hiking, hiking, hiking."  She would also firmly state each down step with "down, down, down."  My other favorite was when we asked her if she needed to hold a hand and she would say, "I'm fine.  I'll be fine." 


Bubba also completed his Junior Ranger badge bringing his Junior Ranger total to five!  I imagine by the end of the summer he will have twice as many Junior Ranger badges.