A visit to South Carolina

Congratulations to my Grandmother Jackie, who turned 79 this year surrounded by all her children and most of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren!

Congratulations to Nichole and Steven Luckie, who were married on July 3 in a wonderfully fun ceremony which doubled as a family reunion!

We took a few extra days to be with my family and the cousins, watched the fireworks at Meg's, went boating on my parent's lake, and had hand-made ice cream.
We have lots and lots of photos (400) of the happy events, but here are a few of our favorites!

-Erin

The Luckie Couple!

Great-Grandma Jackie's Birthday bash

History between time

June 6, 2010:
Between our visits to Crested Butte, Jake had to go to Philadelphia for work.  He'd been there several times, and really enjoyed the city.  He asked me if I might like to come along this time, and bring Xander to see some of the sites.

Philadelphia is a city full of culture, art, great food, and most of all, history.  The city has done a lot in recent years to bring in more tourists, and they've improved their focus on the preserving sites and presenting the personal stories of important historical figures, most notably Ben Franklin, who made Phili their home and helped shape the system of government we all benefit from today.

Ben Franklin is everyone's hero in Phili, so of course Xander and I had to do a walking tour "In Franklin's Footsteps" where we got what was actually a private tour, since we were the only ones signed up! 

One of my favorite things was this sculpture of Ben Franklin, which was made from the donated keys and pennies of thousands of schoolchildren across the US! How cool!

Recognize these scenes from the movie "National Treasure?"

  

We also visited the Liberty Bell, the first depiction of an eagle as the national symbol, the room where the declaration of Independence was signed, the room where the first US Constitution was signed, and the room where the Bill of Rights was signed. The last one gave me genuine goosebumps and put a lump in my throat, just to think about it!

The new US Constitution Center had a spectacular multimedia display on the history of the US and the Bill of Rights from the founding days until today. They also had an extra exhibit on how Roman history influenced the founding fathers and our government, which was great, except for the part where Xander, having had quite enough of being carted around and restricted to his stroller, started yelling his fool head off. I couldn't plead, cajole or bribe my way out of it, and left bowed under the stern and disapproving glares of little old ladies who should have been more sympathetic. We didn't get any pictures.

I'd been to Phili before as a kid with my family, and remembered certain places, but it was great to really appreciate it as an adult.

I also appreciated having a little extra time with my husband, and being able to treat ourselves to a few nice dinners together!

Back home in Crested Butte

June 5, 2010:
It may be one of the craziest things we've ever done, but buying a home in Crested Butte has been an amazing experience for us already.  We just love it up there and every time we catch site of "our" mountain, our hearts just fill up and we feel so happy!  We just want to be there as often as we can! 

In early June we headed up to CB for a quick weekend gettaway, which we felt was much needed.  It's amazing what a little change in scenery can do!  And what scenery we had!  The streams were overflowing with the runoff from the quick warm up of the still snow-capped mountains.  Flowers were popping up around small snow banks, and under the newly green branches of tall aspen trees.  We went on two hikes over the weekend, one where we got quite a workout only walking 3 miles, but through collapsing snowpack and cold mountain streams, and one where we more wisely chose some higher and sunnier ground where we were warm and dry the whole time.  Jake also managed a run towards his training for his first 1/2 Ironman coming up in early Fall!

June 22, 2010: We returned to CB just 2 weeks later to work with the Fossums and all our HOA neighbors to paint the exterior of the townhomes.  Xander really got into it!  I mean it- he dumped half a can of paint all over himself!  He had to be hosed off immediately (so we didn't get a photo, but you can just imagine, right?). Getting hosed off was lots of fun for him until he realized just how cold that snow-melt fed spicket water really was!  Luckily, a proper warm bath came right afterwards.  Yikes!  Xander has no fear at all of climbing- he climbed right up the ladder to see what Jake was up to!  Who taught the kid to climb ladders??  Stairs, sure, but ladders?

We stayed an extra few days this time, and got to do more hiking and biking.  Jake even went to Meridian Lake, aka Long Lake, which is *perfect* for open water training, since it is probably a mile long or better, and has a nice shallow the entire way down the shore.  Xander and I went along to cheer him on, and dip our toes in the cold water.  Some other time Jake and I want to come back and take advantage of the kayak and canoe that are left there for the public.

Jake, looking particularly athletic!

Yes, Tha't me with the wonky hair letting my kid eat lake weeds.... not very tasty, said Xander.

Learning to use chopsticks

May 22, 2010: So now we ar all the way back up to May (if you missed it, go back to some of the posts we managed to get posted closer to real time).  In May, Xander learned a very important 1 year old's skill: chopsticks!

My father, Grandpa Charles, assures me that from the photo evidence Xander did quite well, and comparable to any one year old in the far east.  Well done Xander!  Next up, peas with chopsticks?

Xander's inner artist shines through

April 22, 2010:
There is a local buziness here which has a simple premise and a loyal following- create one big play room for kids 7 and under with bouncy houses, basketball, jungle gyms, music and art areas, and make sure to serve yummy gormet coffee and tea for the grown-ups.  Little Monkey Buziness!

(Apparently there is another branch geared for even older kids, Monkey Buziness, which some of you might want to check out but we won't be ready for for many years yet.)

Anyway, back in April Xander and I met Sarah and Leah there and had a blast, here are a few pictures that I couldn't resist sharing, even if they are 3 months old! (Yes, we will eventually get to the more recent stuff, I promisse!)

Think we can get these kids rock climbing next year?  I do!

Xander had never looked better!

Xander is growing up

So you already know that Xander is walking, but we never did get to show you all how fast the transition went from assisted standing unassisted standing, to assisted walking, to walking (and now, occasionally, running!).

Here are photos from April 16, when I caught Xander standing on his own- as long as he thought he was holding on to something- in this case, the big 5 gallon water jug for the dogs.

By early May he was getting really good at walking around holding on to things, or "cruising"

By June 5 he was walking!

But of course, sometimes his feet were just a little too big for him and the whole walking thing didn't always go as planned; there were a few bumps and bruises.... this was his best battle wound:

But he didn't seem to phase him much.  Mom was more upset than baby!

And now, in July, he would rather walk exclusively- crawling is for babies!  Little Leah, 6 months older, was enjoying "pretending" to be Xander by crawling, and is a little surprised to see him walking so well  now!

Time to catch up?

Goodness gracious it has been a long time since we have properly updated and maintained our blog.  We have been traveling as a family quite a lot, and Jake has had additional travel for work.  We should all be home, and hopefully healthy, for the next few weeks.  Jake and I have promised each other, and you, our faithful readers, that we will catch you up on all the wonderful adventures we've had.  So, the next several blogs are going to be a bit of a time warp- they'll be postmarked as they are written, but we'll include the event dates at the top... ready?  Here we go!

A Perfect Day

(subtitled: Look out world!)

What a perfect, amazing, incredible day!  We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast at one of our favorite Crested Butte restaurants, met some puppies on the street (Xander insisted, with his ever increasing vocabulary), chatted up some of the locals (with Xander charming everyone) and got some advice on local trail conditions from the Alpineer.  When we got back to the house, Jake and I talked landscaping and painting with neighbors and put together a new gas grill (works great and was a bargain!) while Xander got himself thouroughly dirty playing in the yard.  After a good nap for Xander, we headed out to hike the Elk Creek trail, where we saw an absolute wealth of wildflowers.  We saw glacier lillys and candytuft, lupine and dwarf lupine, corn lilly (known locally as skunk cabbage), bluebells, and a small 5-petaled white flower with 3 pink stripes per petal growing in clumps which we don't yet have a name for.  The water was running high, and there was still snow, so we got a little wet, but we didn't mind at all.  It was lovely!

In the late afternoon, Jake took a run and I got dinner ready.  Then, after dinner, the day just topped itself!

We've been saying for months now, that Xanader is on the brink of walking.... but today he proved that he just needed to do so  in his own time.  He started our his walking career with 10 whole steps on his first try!  There have been hints, but we weren't sure what to expect.  Jake and I were able to watch him together, in utter amazement, jaws down and holding our breaths, trying desperately not to destract him from his triumpant moment and monumental achievement.  When Xander sat down again, we erupted in a loud and spontanteous cheer for our son, our incredible child, who has once again made us the proudest parents on the face of the earth. 

With Xander asking for MORE MORE! we spent the next twenty minutes shuttling him back and forth between the two of us.  Mostly, he walked, but occaisionally he lunged or crawled into our laps, giving us a huge hug each time, and delighting us with his infectious grin.  There is simply no better feeling in the world.