Sleeping Beauty

There was a time when we were just waiting to find Addie asleep somewhere other than in her bed. These days it's more of a surprise for her to actually make it back into her bed! Here are some of our favorite shots of Addie not sleeping in her bed:








Soon she'll be moving into a true big girl bed (twin-size), when her bed gets converted back into a crib. Maybe she'll like that bed enough to stay in it!

Daddy Needs to Man-up

Addie has been playing with her Little People a lot lately, specifically a little train that carries the Mercer Family. It's really cute, she has us all picked out from her large group of people, and she tows us around on the little train.

Here's our little family:

Hopefully you've noticed a problem; where's dad? We'll apparently dad is the African Safari lady who rides the teeter-totter on the train:


Well maybe Addie didn't have any other options right? wrong, here are 2 options that i would have preferred, notably the Fireman


And here's video-proof of Addie's decision:

Wild Animal Sanctuary

Kassie once again found a cool thing to do in Denver; the Wild Animal Sanctuary. Kassie found out about the Sanctuary awhile ago, but we haven't really had a chance to get out there, and by "out there" I mean out there! This place is beyond Brighton, the area that most "Colorado Natives" probably don't know exists, but that's a whole 'nother conversation.

Anyway, we fired up Moses and jammed out beyond civilization, beyond paved roads, to the Sanctuary, a place where tigers, lions, bears, and other animals go once they are saved from people like Mike Tyson. It's not designed for the public, it's designed to keep the animals safe. They've built a large viewing balcony, high above the areas that the cats stay, so you can see all of them, but they're not really bothered by the crowds.

It was a little tough for Addie to see the bears and the camel we spotted, since they were far away, but we did get to see some awesome tigers and lions. they were incredible, just the size of the animals is so shocking.






they had all of these dogs roaming around, apparently when the cats are young, they get to interact with the dogs, until they grow too big. it was cool to see some english bulldogs and boxers, addie liked them!

as you can see the area is split up. Out in the far area were the bears, so we could see them but i doubt Addie really knew what they were.








and Addie only made it about 5 minutes into the drive home:

What a little winker!

Addie learned to wink! Well...kinda. At this point she hadn't quite perfected her technique yet :)

MN trip

We took a quick trip out to see family & friends in MN. We went to Kassie's 10 yr HS reunion and Brian enjoyed a few days at Sonshine Music Festival. This was Addie's first plane ride with her own seat and she was amazing! Seriously, we couldn't have had better travel with her! She was excited about every aspect of the trip; from the shuttle bus from the parking lot, the train ride to the terminal and especially the plane ride. She took it all in and helped us enjoy it when we were cranky due to delays and fatigue :)



Once there, we got to stay with the Baertschi's (thanks again!) and play a bit with Livie & her sweet rides!



Then Alan & Brian headed up to Sonshine, while Kassie & Addie when to see family in St. Cloud. While Daddy spent 2 days filled with loud music & sweaty crowds, Addie got to visit lots of fun parks and play with her cousins, Stella, Henri & Tristan. (along with Papa, Grandma, Brandon, Virginia & Great-Grandma) More pics avail here.

We had a great trip & miss you guys!

New ride

Following the lead of our friends, we caved and got a bike trailer...nothing heavy duty as it mainly goes to the park that is less than half a mile from our house. Addie just loves it. Now we need to get mommy a bike so she's not left at home when these two go for a ride.

4th of July

Addie's first experience with sparklers. She was a little freaked out & would hold it as far away from her as possible, but as soon as it finished, she asked to do it again!