Crawling!

Daddy's Little Mini-Me's

Could they look any more like Anthony?? Something about the chin and the affinity for scientific genius....

Vail!

We've been here a day and we're already having such a wonderful time. This morning the boys and I headed out early for a bike ride around town, before it filled with pedestrians. Cody just got his two-wheeler a few weeks ago so I was a bit worried about his balance and use of brakes, but he did great! We visited the pirate ship playground where Luke made good use of the swings and Jacks battled a dragon and climbed all the way up to the crow's nest...and ended up at the Children's Fountain, with promises to come back and swim in it later in our trip.
Oh and guess what? Luke is crawling! Just a week short of 9 months....video to come.

Rocky Mountain High

We just had our family reunion in Colorado Springs. Despite the slightly, shall we say, "rustic" accomodations, the boys had a blast with all their cousins. They rode bikes, played in the sand pit (known to adults as a volleyball court), went swimming, and generally enjoyed running around like a gang of hooligans.

Here's Jacks with his best 'cuz, Carter...
We visited an old Ghost Town, where the boys rode in an old stagecoach, panned for gold, and took aim in a shooting gallery.
Jacks went on a train ride up Pike's Peak with Grandad (pics to come later once we get them off G'Dad's camera), and since I wasn't sure how Cody would do with the elevation, Gramma, Luke and I took him to a Dinosaur Resource Center instead. We have a hilarious picture of Cody and me screaming in fear at a T-Rex, but I'll have to add that here once we get home since I need to scan it). Here's Cody with one of his dino buddies....
Luke's not in many of these pictures, but he was there!!! Here's Jacks giving him some brotherly love: We went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, and I have to say, I think it might be the best zoo I've ever been to. We got to see a pair of grizzly bears rough-housing in their bath water just a few inches from our faces, and giraffes came up and ate crackers right out of our hands (check out their big black tongues!) There were misters everywhere to help us cool off, but Cody got a bit enthusiastic with them and ended up drenched....and mad about it. :P
And now, we're off to Vail!

Happy 6th Birthday Jackson!

It's official. The big man is 6 years old.

It's hard to believe that 6 years ago, he was born 6 weeks early, weighing 6 lbs and 6 oz (ok hold up, what's up with all the 6's?), and that he was taken to the NICU pretty immediately for breathing issues and an infection that turned out to be pneumonia (after it collapsed his lung).

But despite that rough start, he's surviving, thriving, jiving! He's our original rock star and resident know-it-all. And we're so proud of him.

Happy Birthday Jacks. We love you!

Birthday Favorites Quiz
Age 6

Book: Dinosaur Atlas, Magic Treehouse series
Song: You Know My Name (Casino Royale soundtrack)
TV Show: Sponge Bob Squarepants
Movie: Jurassic Park
Restaurant: Boston Market, Cheesecake Factory
Car: FJ Cruiser
Color: red and orange
Animal: elephant
Class in School: art
Place in the World: Colorado
Event of the Last Year: Losing first tooth

What are you going to be when you grow up? Zookeeper to lizards and snakes

The Many Faces of 5

His very last day as a 5 year-old! How can that be? He just looks so much like Anthony in all of these. Pretty soon it'll be impossible to tell them apart!!

Little Picasso

Jacks has been doing art camp this week, and he is loving every minute of it. The theme is rainforests, so he's getting to draw, paint, and sculpt animals to his heart's content. Above is his masterpiece from Day 1. Yesterday they worked with clay, so I'll share the finished product once it's fired and finished.