Monday, September 26, 2016

31 Months

Aspen is 31 months old! She's happy, opinionated, and making good progress on potty training! She loves to sing, and during any moment of the day, can often be heard singing songs from Pocahontas, Frozen, or "Hush Little Baby."

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She's still very polite, quick to say "please" and "thank you" and is getting better about sharing.

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But Aspen's real happy place these days, does seem to be the farm. We go weekly, often with friends:

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and even with sister, when she gets a day off of school!

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And sometimes we go by ourselves...

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...though we can hardly say we are ever alone. Besides the other families who have discovered the treasure that is Sunflower Farm, there are, of course, the animals. Aspen knows them all, loves to visit with them all, and feed most of them.

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Belle the horse is an emerging favorite. Aspen keeps an eye on her the whole time we are there, and if it ever looks like they are going to suit her up for rides, we are almost always the first ones in line.

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Meanwhile, of course, we do manage to keep ourselves occupied the rest of the week. Both Sabine and Aspen still love to play dress up.


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And play with their cousins. Aspen and Hunter have always been good buddies, and seem to be getting nothing but closer as they grow up together.

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Sabine, meanwhile, stays busy with school, play dates, and swim classes. Her school recently did a Jog-a-Thon as a fundraiser, and Sabine got 11 laps in!

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Not to be left behind, Aspen joined as soon as Sabine took a lap to walk. She ran around the track THREE times! The final lap, she told mommy to go stand with the other mommies and clap as she went by. She could run herself.

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Sabine also made it up to the mountains last weekend with a friend for some day camping. They really hit the changing colors in the tree! It sounded like a fabulous time.

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Friday, September 16, 2016

Happy Birthday, Grandmom!

We spent last weekend celebrating Grandmom's birthday with Aunt Diana and Uncle Eric at Union Station, in Denver. We met everyone at the hotel on Friday night, and went out for a quick dinner nearby.

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More importantly, we got to have cake as soon as we got back to our hotel room! (Fortunately, they upgraded us to a suite, since they didn't have an extra roll-away for Sabine, so we ended up in a suite with two queens. The extra space was very welcome, and we put the little dinning area to good use!)

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Angel food cake, of course.

Saturday morning, we had fun exploring Union Station before heading out for breakfast.

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We went to breakfast at The Delectable Egg, and it was wonderful!

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Next, we took everyone on a walking tour of LoDo, right up 16th Street Mall.

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We even went in to show off daddy's office!

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And we rode the 16th Street Mall bus, which was Aspen's favorite part.

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We wandered over to Civic Center Park

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Enjoyed the fountains at Voorhies Park

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Checked out the Denver Courts

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And, of course, the Capitol

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There was an interesting Native American dance competition going on outside the Museum of Modern Art, but Aspen found the dumming a little overwhelming.

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Back to Union Station

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...for a quick dip in the fountain...

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followed by showers and a change of clothes for everyone!

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We had a photographer get some family pictures, here are the two sneak previews she sent us, we can't wait to see the rest!

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Then Sabine and Aspen changed into more comfortable clothes and our dear babysitter drove all the way to Denver to hang out with the girls and go out for mac & cheese while the grown-ups went to a fancy restaurant.

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It was a fun weekend, with lots of good family time. Here's the last shot of of the girls enjoying our beds one last time before we had to check out!

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And a sweet moment at our last breakfast downtown, before heading home!

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