Pumpkins and Camping

On Columbus Day weekend we had 2 adventures, the pumpkin patch and a night of camping at Valley of Fire.

First, the pumpkin patch. This was our second annual trip to the Gilcrease Orchard to get our pumpkins. It really is a nice "orchard" for being in the middle of the desert. We were able to find 4 nice pumpkins and a 1/2 gallon of pear cider (YUM!).

Next up camping. Our plan was to go up to Mount Charleston for the night but...sometimes plans have to change. The nice thing about camping at Mount Charleston is that it is only 45 minutes away so, we could have always come home if needed but...Mount Charleston is over 6000 feet above sea level. Jim kept on asking me to check what the weather was going to be like on the mountain. Well, the Internet is wrong sometimes! When I checked the weather it told me that the nights were in the 50s but when we got there and talked to the ranger she told us that the lows have been around 29. This equalled a change in plans. There was no way that we were going to camp with the girls with it being that cold.  Next thought, Valley of Fire. This state park is on the dessert valley floor so, much warmer. Valley of Fire is usually only an hour away but not today since we were already traveling in the wrong direction. All that being said, we ended up with a great campsite:

The girls loved the tent:

Chewy was able to come with us too and he was one happy dog!

Getting him there was a bit difficult though. The back of the car was filled with all of our gear, the girls took up the back seat so, Chewy was int he front seat with me. Very crowded but it was worth it to see him so happy!

It was a lot of work to go camping for one night and Jim and I come home exhausted but the girls had fun and that is all that matters. Here are a few more of our camping pictures...

Stand...Walk...Run plus Teeth

Kera is days away from running after her sister...

Look how proud she is of herself!

On another note, look at her new teeth:

I can't believe we are a little over a month away from Kera turning 1. Time really does fly!!

Abby Loves to Sing

Check out Abby's new music video:

Zion National Park

The weekend of August 26th through the 29th we headed to Zion National Park in Utah and we had a great time! It was absolutely beautiful there. My dad reminded me that I had been there once before but...I was 6. I wish I could say that we camped but instead we stayed in the Lodge...the girls are still a bit young for camping...they need to sleep through the night first.

Here are some pictures of our adventures...

The lodge rooms didn't have any kitchens so we had to eat every meal out...this was fun and a bit trying at the sane time. The girls were acting their age but, that can be hard when you are in a restaurant setting. Here is picture from our first dinner out..and our best at Oscars:

We brought our bikes with us and, it ended up, that the bikes were the perfect way to see the park. The girls are not the best hikers yet but they are great on the bike.

We had a couple of great  short walks were we saw some fun animals...

The Lodge had a great grassy area that both Abby and Kera loved to play in and in the middle of the grass was a huge Willow tree...

And of course there were the great views...

We had a fantastic time!

but of course we couldn't end our long weekend without a dip in our pool...

Kera's New Favorite Activity

Kera's new favorite activity is definitely climbing the stairs. If the gate is not up at the bottom of the stairs then you can guarantee that she is on them.

Kera Turnes 9 Months!

On August 11th our little Kera Elizabeth turned 9 months. I can't believe how time flies! She is a very sweet, determined, and feisty little girl and my life is so much richer with her here.

Here are Kera's current stats:

Weight: 19 lbs 2 oz (50 percentile)
Length: 28 inches (75 percentile)
Head Circumference: 17.72 inches (75 percentile)

VERY Busy End of July, Part 3

Gwen and Regis left on Wednesday, July 27th at 4 pm and my parents arrives the very next day at 8:25 am...I barley had time to clean the sheets.

The reason that we had my parents come so quickly after Jim's was because we needed babysitters (and of course we wanted to see them)! Jim had bought me tickets to see Lifehouse in concert on Friday the 29th and we needed Pepe and Burrs here to watch the girls for us. Lifehouse sang our first dance song so it was the perfect anniversary present. The concert was at The Red Rock Cassino's pool. It was a great location!

The pictures are blurry but you can get the idea...

Funny story at the concert was...in the middle the lead singer took the stage to play acoustically for a bit while he was giving his band members a break. He was taking requests from the crowd on what songs he should do and someone suggested our first dance song, Everything. He played the chorus and it sounded great but Jim and I made the assumption that since he played it acoustically that there is no way that he was going to play it again with the whole band. Jim became really upset. He was complaining that the only reason for going to the concert was to hear that song and now it was pointless. He complained for the rest of the concert. The concert ended but they did come back on stage for an encore....our song was the very last song played...PERFECT!
The next day we all headed to the Neon Museum. I had been wanting to go to the museum for quite a while but you can only go by appointment only and there is quite a waiting list. I had to get our reservations months in advance. The Neon Museum is also called the Neon Graveyard and it is were they take all the old neon signs.  They were really cool to see. I wish I was able to look around longer but it was SO hot that day and I had to leave the tour early to get Kera our of the heat. Here are some of the cool old signs:

 The rest of my parent's visit was filled with a lot of playtime and pool time...

Burrs was also able to go see Abby's dance class...

Abby just started a new session of dance classes and at the end of this season will be her very first dance recital. On this trip my mom brought with her the outfit that I wore for my first recital...I was a bit older than Abby was and we were little ducks. Abby tried it on. It was a bit big for her but still very cute (even though she does not look very happy in this picture)!

My dance career was very short so, I hope Abby has fun with it as long as she decides to continue. Right now, it is her favorite activity.

Thank you as always for the nice visit Pepe and Burrs!