Car issue

Walt returned from a trip and went to retrieve his car from the lot. That's when he learned that cars in the area...particularly new and well-sealed ones...are subject to " heat expansion". End result is when the heat builds up and/or there are dramatic temp changes, a window may explode. Normally it's a side window but not in this case. Insurance covered it but getting the shards out of the door took the repair guy over an hour and involved dismantling the whole rear hatch. Good way for one/all to spend a Friday afternoon!

Nana Rose's visit

Nana Rose was able to come out for a long weekend. Sending gifts just isn't as much fun as spoiling her in person. This included a trip to the local zoo and a new telephone toy. Caroline wasn't feeling very good one morning and was quite content to snuggle with Nana Rose on the couch.

Aunt Holly's visit

Hi all,

Sorry for the delays. Here are some updates.

Caroline's Aunt Holly was able to visit Colorado thanks to a conference. Fortunately, she was able to spend some time visiting Cindy and spoiling Caroline...who was only too happy to accept!

Here are some pictures from the visit.

Summer Fun

I finally figured out how to get the videos from my iphone to this blog page. So here are some of Caroline having fun this summer. Sorry if the quality isn't the best, it is from an iphone. Watch Caroline trying to get onto the slide. It is hysterical because she will only go down that one backwards. -Cindy

New Video

Cicily was able to tape Caroline when she was here recently. We had just come back from Pikes Peak and Caroline was in a mood to show off.

New toys!

Caroline was able to make use of some new toys this past week.

We bought a kiddie pool during last summer's clearance and finally made use of it. Unfortunately, the water was a little cold but she still liked it and we'll keep it inflated for later use. An unanticipated hazard was Barkley drinking out of it. At least he didn't climb in.

Also, friends of ours gave us a kid's kitchen set since their daughter has outgrown it. Caroline loves to play with it. The various buttons make sounds so she imitates turning on the stove, pouring water from the fridge and putting things in the dishwasher. She tries to unload the real dishwasher which presents certain issues but we'll deal with that later.

The kitchen also came with a toy phone. When the house phone rings, she sprints for her phone and tries talking to whoever is on the other end.

Granny visited Colorado!

Cicily was able to come out and spend a week with us. Caroline was (naturally) a little shy at first but warmed up to her Granny within a couple days. By the end of her visit, we were even able to get a night out with Granny babysitting and no tantrums! Caroline also assisted in making a batch of cookies. A bath may have followed. Cicily took more pictures than us so if you want more shots, she'll have to provide them.

We were able to explore some of the tourist places here in C-Springs like Pikes Peak, Garden of the Gods and a few other places. Note: we learned we will NOT be taking a squirming toddler on future trips up Pikes Peak (3.5 hr round trip on the train with less room than airline coach seats). Any future visitors will only get one of us!

Cicily also received a tour of the AF Academy - arriving just in time to see a recent (like 3 days) graduate come out of the chapel after getting married. Fortunately for all, the weather finally improved. Until the 3rd week in May, it had been in the 40's.

San Diego Trip

I know we've been horrible about updates so here's the first in a mass blast.

First a couple shots from St. Patty's Day. No surprise one is now my screen background at work. She put the hat on herself!

We also went to San Diego for our 5th Anniversary. If you're looking for a place to go for a long weekend, it's a great choice. We didn't see everything since we didn't have a rental car but it's just an excuse to come back again. Our main must-do was a trip to the Zoo. Caroline, riding in a backpack, had the best view in the house. Not sure if she liked the pandas, koalas or other animals more. We also hit the waterfront shops, took a trolley tour of the area (highly recommend it) and took a tour of the harbor (like a duck tour just with no annoying squeakers).

San Diego:

Winter Fun

Unlike the East Coast we have had very little snow so far this winter. We did get about 3-4 inches one night so Caroline and Barkley got to see what snow is.

Even though we haven't had much snow, it has been cold and we were missing the beach so we signed Caroline up for swimming lessons. She learned to kick, reach with her arms and put her face in and blow bubbles. She loved it. She is not afraid of the water and will jump right into the pool into Mom's arms without any coaxing.

Christmas 2009

Caroline had fun over Christmas visiting all of her cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. Here is a picture of 3 of her cousins, Cassidy, Brielle and Alex.

When we got home she had fun playing with all of her toys. Here she is already learning to multi-task while driving. She can ride her bike, read a book and talk on the phone.

She loves climbing through her new tunnel . . . .

And pushing her baby around, but a girl can't be without her purse.

Fun with food

Like most other children, Caroline sees food as both something to keep her going and something that should be played with at every opportunity. Normally when she starts playing with it, that's a sign that she's had her fill. Evidence of her creativity with her food is attached. One is with a banana peel, the other is what you can do with mashed potatos. Yes, we know she'll get even with us one day for posting these. Also included is a video - the bottle she chose to drink out of was a little big.

Dancing

Music has always attracted Caroline's attention. She loves the birthday cards that play music, music books and the TV or the radio gets her going. Her dancing is improving and she's adding new moves. Here's a demo. She kept this up for about 20 minutes.

Play time

Caroline loves her bikes. She has a smaller one and a larger one she received as a present but is only now big enough to ride. Here's a video of her after she bumped into the wall with it. She wanted some privacy.

Unfortunately for the dogs, she likes to climb on them too. Barkley runs away when she gets close. Bella, being the mild-mannered one (and a bit braver), stays put. Not sure she will keep it up as Caroline gets older. The second video shows why.

Snow storms

Hi,

We've had 3 snow storms since we've moved and another is due tomorrow. Fortunately, not a lot of snow in the first ones but the high winds made things difficult to ge around. We were warned our area gets higher winds since we're on a prairie area. Here's what it looked like.

Update from Colorado

HI,

Sorry for the delay in updates. The house is starting to resemble an actual living space and not a box collection. The computer is up and running so here are some pictures in no particular order from the last month or so.

Walt and Cindy

Giving Aunt Rosie a kiss!

Giving Grandpa a kiss

Caroline meets Lucy

The VCR bit me!!

I just gave my lunch to Barkley ;)

Now that I'm in here....

Think I can get up the steps before they know?

Caroline with her cousin Cassidy

Caroline's 1st Birthday

Hi,
Some way-delayed pictures from Caroline's 1st Birthday are below. She enjoyed her cupcakes immensely.

Moving status

Hi All,

We're set to move at the end of the month. Movers come for an early shipment of stuff on Monday with the rest being picked up next week. The first shipment will be basic necessities...aero bed, pots/pans, some dishes, some clothes etc. Basically what we'd need to survive.

Friends we have in CO are lending us baby stuff like a high chair and related stuff which will lighten our airliner load significantly. We already dropped off a duffle bag of winter clothes when we were there last week. They have a month to get our stuff there but I don't think it'll take that long.

The current plan, subject to change, is we fly off the island on Aug 27th. We'll be working out a direct flight to Denver so we don't have to worry about switching flights with the dogs. It's an issue in itself but when you add in the summer heat, not a good idea. Naturally, wrestling with the AF approvals requires extra work since we won't fly directly to C-Springs.

Walking

Caroline's walking abilities are improving with each day. I'll admit it's pretty funny watching her walk after she wakes up from a nap - balance isn't there. Once she's awake, she's pretty confident. The video below was taken this week in our back yard. The trip you see is about the 4th lap to the gate and back.

New House

Hi all,

Our househunting trip was successful. After seeing nearly 30 houses in 2.5 days, we put in an offer which was accepted. The house is in a town called Peyton CO located east of Colorado Springs. We walked away with a great deal, tt had everything we wanted and is only a 15 min ride to work for me.

If you want to look at the details and a virtual tour, the details are at the links below. We literally double the living area compared to our present house, get a very nice plot of land for the dogs to run around and (really important) a huge garage that'll handle our cars and probably a guest's as well! No more digging the car out of the snow after a storm. For visitors, we'll have 2 guestrooms. So you don't have to wait, here's a picture of the house.

FYI, Caroline did a great job and didn't get too upset despite getting in/out of the car every 20 min. She did have a mild meltdown the night before we left but with all that went on and having 2 new teeth coming in, no big deal.



http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/7203-Sylamore_Peyton_CO_80831_1107716519

http://tours.bo9.net/public/vtour/display/4052?a=1&

SHE'S WALKING!!!!

Yep, Caroline is mobile in every way!

The day care folks said she'd taken a step or two and we'd seen her try but it seemed to be more like the step before/during the impending fall. Tonight she changed all of that.

Caroline took 3 steps from her push cart to the coffee table this evening without any prompting from her parents. She did it again a couple more times later on so it's not a fluke. Our guess is when she thinks too much about it, she falls. The first steps we watched tonight were all driven by the need to grab her Dad's flying magazine on the table.

She knows it's cool too - you can tell she knows it'll get her more places and more stuff. The cheers her parents let out sort of encouraged that view.

We'll try to get a video shot and load it up. Just wanted to let you know we'll be working even harder to keep up with Caroline.

Hope all is well.