Friends

A day at the zoo afforded me the opportunity to get some new photos of the kids with their buddy, Jack.  Xander and Jack are amazingly close, and Jack treats maya just like a little sister.  It's awesome.  We're so lucky to have these kids around!

A day at the zoo

The gang's all here!  Or, at least a bunch of 'em.  These kids had a blast!

The zoo has been doing construction for the last 2 years on a new and amazing Asian Elephant habitat.  The boys have been enjoying the diggers and other construction equipment and insist on checking it out every time they visit.

Dad's idea.....

Ice cream too!?!

Maya and her buddy Didier

Maya 1 Year Portraits

I'm loving having a real photo studio space at Erin's warehouse, but it does make it harder to do a 15 minute photo session with the kids.  After much ado though, we finally got a number of photos that we like.  Here's our beautiful little girl, one year old.

Maya is 1 Year Old!

Happy birthday to Maya.  Maya's birthday was a fun evening at home opening presents and reading new books.

Birthdays mean cake too, and Maya had her very own birthday cake.  Unfortunately it had been a bit of a big day, and birthday cake ended up being a bit overwhelming.  Instead Maya enjoyed one of her last bottles in mommy's lap.  

We tried birthday cake again a few days later in Crested Butte.  Round two was much more successful!

Birthday cake was finished off with a good book.  Yea for birthdays!

Well Deserved

As Xander would say, "We had a rough day."

Walking Practice

Maya out for a bit of walking practice.  Don't let the big puffy jacket fool you, it was fairly warm outside, that's body armour...

It's On

Maya is learning all kinds of new skills that are keeping Erin and I on our toes.  Maya is a very confident stair climber, and although she has no idea how to get back down the stairs that doesn't seem to concern her too much, and she hasn't tried to head down on her own yet.  I'm sure that is coming...  She is also getting very good at standing and can stand on her own for up to 30 seconds.  She hasn't started walking yet, but is in hard core cruising mode; if she can cruise to get somewhere, she would prefer to do that instead of crawl.

With all that work she definitely has an appetite too.  Three servings of pasta tonight!

It is so on in the Lewis household!

A Weekend Away in Crested Butte

Erin and I promised each other that after my marathon we would have a weekend away in Crested Butte.  Nothing extravangant, not just the two of us, we were brining the kids, but no work.  Well, that didn't exacly work out.  I had work that had to get done on Friday, and Erin had school work that had to get done, but none the less we were able to enjoy some family time together.

One of the things we like about Crested Butte is that once you are there you really don't much need a car. We can walk to the lift and there is a bus as well. Xander absolutely loves riding on the bus. Maya got her chance to ride the bus this winter too. She's already a pro and making new friends.

Xander was able to get in two more ski days while we were there, and I got in my first day.  So, that's Jake - 1 day, Erin - 2 days, Xander - 6 days of skiing this season.  My two year old is already getting in more days than me!  That's okay though, I'm having so much fun teaching him.

Erin and I were both able to take Xander skiing.  He is having so much fun I'm just amazed and pleased at what a good time we have.

Maya got her first taste of the slopes too, coming out to cheer on her brother sking.

Up until now Xander has been riding up the magic carpet to ski down the bunny slope, but he has been really interested riding the lift "just like curious George".  (Curious George in the Snow is a favorite book.)  So, Xander got his first trip up the lift.

About halfway up the lift Xander turned to me and said, "Daddy, I don't want to go home." "Where do you want to go," I asked.  "I want to stay at the mountain house!" Xander exclaimed.  That's my boy!

Xander skied down wonderfully with just a few little spills, that he laughed off and got right back up from.  His first chair lift ride was followed immediately by a second.  After two runs I decided that was enough, I want to be sure that he keeps having fun and although he begged to go again his little legs were completely tuckered out.  It was a great day!

 

Not all of our fun was skiing of course, we had a wonderful time at the condo too.  I showed Xander how to make a fort on the coffee table with his blankets and he and Maya both thought that was lots of fun!

All in all, it might not have been the work free get away that we had planned, but we certainly had a good time!