Canada Trip 2015

How I miss it already!

Our trip to Canada was simply the best. I LOVED Canmore. Loved the mountains and the little town and Tim Horton's and doing nothing and just being together. People asked us over and over why we were going. Here is the answer: I have always wanted to go to Banff and we got the chance to use a timeshare in Canmore so we went. We saved and planned and made it happen. I highly recommend just making things happen.

We did all of the touristy things. Lake Louise. The gondola. Banff. And then none of the touristy things. Went on long walks and hiked and barbecued. 

Casey was 15 months on our trip and traveling with him went better than I expected. He is busy but we went prepared with new toys and lots of snacks. He slept on the way there and back for about and hour. 

One of our first days we went on a walk to Quarry Lake. It was beautiful. And quiet. This was sone of our favorite days because we felt like it was just us. Banff was super touristy and busy. But we like how it felt to just be us taking in a new place.
And we saw a deer! Which ended up being the only wildlife we saw [other than a bunny rabbit in the parking lot of a gas station].

We had a lot of time just relaxing around the condo with Case. Which really, who could ask for more. He is simply the most fun.

Downtown Canmore was great. Lots of places to eat and shop and it wasn't quite as crowded as Banff. The mountains surrounding Banff are amazing... But the Three Sisters doesn't disappoint. There was great photography material everywhere. In fact, I barely used my digital camera. My Ricoh was my best friend on this trip.

While we were there, Canmore started to see some early signs of Fall. I did not want to leave. 

This trip definitely deserves it's own photo album, which I will be putting together with all my film photos. 

16 months.

I told myself I was going to write Casey notes each month. And 3 months have gone by and nothing.
So here it goes.

Casey, you are BUSY. 
I mean, very busy.
I am one exhausted mama. You don't stop moving from the time you wake up to the time we force you to sleep. Really, sometime I have to pin you in bed with my arm to keep you from getting up. It is a hard thing because you rarely get fussy. So it is easier to just let you play until you are tired enough to give into sleep. But still, you stay up later than most babies and it doesn't seem to bother you. 

You climb. Everything. And you have learned to scoot the chair around and use it as a step stool. Smart baby.
Last month, I caught you perched half on the back of an armchair, half on the window sill with one leg hanging down. I see stitches in your future. And also, I have caught you standing on the dining room table with your hands on our light fixture. I don't doubt you want to hang from it. And you have these schemes. I can see you have ideas in your head and you are trying to execute them. It is great to watch.
However, I can hardly leave the room with all of these new abilities. And no matter how many times you get the stern "NO!", you look up from your perch with the most proud look on your face. 

For the most part, you are still really easy going. When we took you to Canada and flew on your first flight... It was pretty great. You are not a high maintenance guy. We did not keep a schedule. You napped when you could, played outside, were a champ on the plane with only minor whining that we wouldn't let you roam. I feel like we saw your easy-going nature from birth.

At sixteen months, you are getting more words. The whole language acquisition thing is awesome. SO fun to watch. The weird part about you talking or not talking is that I truly believe I know most of your thoughts. You don't have to try to communicate that much to me and I just get you. And I feel like because I get you, I know your intentions as well. And you are such a nice kid. Keep that up. Like the time you poured coffee all over the floor during our small group and then ran to the kitchen to get a towel and got down on the floor to help clean it up. 
Here are the words you can say: Moon, yeah, yes, no, cat, dada, mama, nose, eye, lyly, and there are probably others that I am not remembering right now. And that is just receptive language... I can't even come with all the words that you do know. It is so cool to ask you a question and you can point and answer me. Or do a one step task. Like get your water cup. Baby, you are so smart!

You and Lyra are good friends. You really seem to like playing with each other. Brings major joy to my heart. She teaches you things and speaks for you. And you want to play in different ways that she goes along with. It is hilarious to watch you try and wrestle with her. You are such a boy with your flopping and rolling around. She doesn't quite know what to do with the wrestling side of your relationship but she seems to think it is fun. 

You threw your first tantrum. Like threw yourself to the ground, flailing. The biggest screams and crocodile tears. And want to know why? It was time to go and I said we had to put the toothbrush away. Also, the hitting? Why? Will be very excited when that phase is over. It is more of bopping I guess. Especially to Lyra and Rosie. A 'No!' and a bop on the head is the normal pattern. I have gotten it too and it makes me so mad. Let's move past that one, ok? 

The days till 5 o'clock seem to last a long time and there are times I feel lonely and exhausted. But you are so worth it. All the hard work. Your person-ness is coming out and it is such a reward.

Gosh, we are just amazed by you. Love you more than I thought possible.

July Haps

Trying to make up for lost time and filling in some of the blanks that was Summer 2015. Here are photos from Avila with the Bazemores. This year was super fun because Casey got to enjoy the ocean. Last year, he was just a lump. He had only been walking about a month by the time we went on this trip so he was very busy. Watching him run towards the water brought major joy to my heart. We did a lot of sitting around. A lot of eating. Cousin Molly came which was a real treat. And we got to see Auntie Robyn and James. All the details have kinda faded because I am writing about it three months late so, I will just let the pictures speak for themselves.

 All the cousins in their first photo together! Obviously, we have room for improvement!

 Lyra-Bug turned two on the trip and we got to celebrate her birthday!

There you have it! A random collection of photos. I enjoyed it. Hope you did too.

New priorities and goals

Before we moved into Verde Street, we wrote down a list of 5 goals that we REALLY wanted to accomplish within the first couple of months of moving in. We just celebrated our 3 month anniversary of living in our Verde Street charmer and I am proud to report that we have accomplished 3 1/2 of the 5 goals!

Here is the list that I wrote all those months ago:

1. Fences need to be repaired [this goal is not complete -- we fixed one side and made it secure all the way around but have not built the gate/fence we want]
2. Buy washer/dryer [check!]
3. Clean house/clean up backyard for Rosie [check!]
4. Replace French doors and back door [check!]

5. Reseal hardwood floors [ this goal is also parially completed -- Jay patched the floor where the floor furnace and filled problem areas, but has not sealed the floor yet]

While those few goals linger, we set a new goal for ourselves. The new goal has top priority.

The Backyard.

Now that we have a walker on our hands, he desperately needs a place to play. And being couped up in the house is just not working for me. The backyard needs some major help. And while we can't do anything too extreme right now, we can make it a safe place to play with a small patch of grass.

 These pavers were okay, but they are pretty uneven and not laid well. There is nothing worse than having a bunch of weeds growing in your patio, and that is what these pavers offer. We want a large patio slab of concrete. With patio furniture and an umbrella.

The backyard is just dismal. We are barbed wire and gym equipment short of a prison yard. And we decided it was time to do something about it. Got some quotes, talked some ideas, and decided to go for it. Let's get a patio. 

We told the concrete guy at 9pm that we wanted to do it and he told us we needed to move the pavers or pay to move them. And in true Ally & Jayson style, move the pavers at 9pm it is! 

And in one night, we moved all the pavers.

And three days later, we had a patio! No more janky steps! A place to play. We are really excited to have this done. Now I just need to add it to the To-Do List so I can cross it off [Anyone else do that??]