Christmas in August

There exists a wonderful place, just outside of Colorado Springs, called the North Pole. It's an amusement park dedicated to all things Santa and Christmas-y, and is a good place for Santa to visit when he's not actually up at the real North Pole. At the recommendation of some friends we saw earlier this year (thanks, Mel and fam!) we decided to load up the girls and make the two-hour trek south to check it out. Dustin even took the day off, so that we could go on a less-busy week day.

First order of business, of course, was to see Santa. Sabine had, fortuitously, just discovered the Chasing Fireflies catalog the night before, and had decided that what she wanted more than anything for Christmas was a Rapunzel costume from the catalog, and a costume for her American Girl doll. Santa took her carefully clipped pictures, and set them aside to help him remember which ones she wanted.



Aspen, unfortunately, only managed to sleep about 20 minutes on the whole car ride down, so she was a little hot and tired, and completely underwhelmed by the idea of sitting with Santa. So we attempted a wave, said "bye bye" to Mrs. Claus, and headed off.



We got on the train, first, and that sold Aspen. It was the highlight of her trip, I think.





Causing the only minute of slight consternation, when a) we couldn't just stay on it forever and b) mommy would not let her jump back on it when it passed underneath the chairlift ride we took next.







There were lots and lots of rides



























Some of which, Aspen was even able to go on, as long as she had an adult in tow. (Mommy's legs squished better than daddy's, so she got to do most of them.)













We had one quick break for Dippin' Dots, which were nice and cold (as Aspen is signing) on a really warm day.



Followed by a quick jaunt through the ornament/souvenir shop, where Sabine picked out a swan and Aspen picked out a Santa on a train for their Christmas tree this year. Then we were back to the rides, and then a final stop for funnel cake before heading home.



All in all, it was a huge success. Everyone had a lot of fun, and we can't wait to go back. Wishing you and yours a very Merry August Christmas!

Summer Living

Though we haven't been traveling, we've stayed quite busy this summer, with visits from grandparents



and friends





(Even Mommy and Daddy got out with some of THEIR friends, one night!)



Going out to breakfast



and checking out the new, local farm. It's less than a mile from us, and the girls are already very attached to the chickens, horses, goats, and pigs.



The garden store is another local favorite


  (Aspen is vigorously signing "FISH!")

Where we procured some necessary makings for a fairy garden.



Sabine is big into fairies these days. She loves checking out books from the Rainbow Fairies series at the library, she lost another tooth (third one on the bottom, and the top two are loose) and got another gold coin from the tooth fairy, and there has been some evidence of fairy activity in her garden. Ask her about it, sometime, she'd be happy to tell you.

We are also quickly becoming regulars at our fabulous, new local bakery. Both girls enjoy their Kouign Amanns and muffins very much.



We have also been "baking" at home--although this particular cake, for cousin H's birthday, actually didn't require any baking. We had fun carving and decorating a watermelon!



We took Daddy to the Butterfly Pavillion one weekend



...and it was humid but fun!



They even had some new play structures.



Aspen is showing more interest in doll babies these days



and her vocabulary is taking off. I would guess she has several dozen words, at this point, with more attempts daily. Some sound very familiar, so the signs have come in extremely helpful, as supplement when "mawn-mom" can mean "Grandmom," "lawnmower," "Elmo," or "meow meow." (All of which are extremely important in Aspen's world, right now.) "Bo-pul" can be "Opal," "Bumbo," "pepper," or "helicopter." (As in, "bopbopbopbopbop"). There are tons more, and she likes to greet people with a drawn-out "Hiiiiiiii!" and wave. She seems pretty social, much like big sister, and enjoys being outside, especially with big sister. Fortunately, summer is a good time for that!

Visitors

We've had several visitors recently, and the girls have (mostly) loved the added company and built-in entertainment. (Aspen is going through a bit of separation anxiety, so she has been a little clingier than usual, but she still enjoys people-watching, even if it's more from the safety of mom's arms.)

We had unusually rainy weather for the week that mommy and daddy's college friend, Melissa, came to visit, with her family. Not that it stopped us from getting out--in fact the big girls both have new-ish umbrellas, so this was the perfect opportunity to test them out!



We went to our favorite local bakery, Moxie, and the girls had fun playing the piano...as well as eating Kouign Amann pastries.



We also left Aspen home with her favorite sitter one morning, over nap time, while we took the big girls in to Pearl St. in Boulder. We played and shopped...









...and then went to the Dushanbe Tea house for lunch. That was pretty special!



We have been having a great time with the cousins, as always, on the weekends, and enjoyed their last weekend in the house on Sandpiper Dr. with good food and lots of outdoors time.







Then cousin Lara came in to town, and both girls were THRILLED. (So were mom and dad, but we contained ourselves a little more.) Aspen is still talking about "wra-wra."





And Sabine could not have been more pleased to have someone sit down and do some coloring with her. A craft-y afternoon is the best afternoon, despite the pouring rain.

17 Months

Someone turned 17 months old this week!



Aspen has had another growth spurt, she's longer and stronger, better at running, has a new pair of favorite shoes (yellow Crocks!), which she can put on by herself. Sometimes.

She loves buckles, this isn't exactly new, but the interest is definitely strong right now. She loves to practice with her car seat, her high chair, stroller, toy stroller, and restaurant chairs.

Aspen's oral vocabulary is growing slowly, she understands everything, but hasn't mastered the "k" or "s" or  hard "g" sounds, which are kind of important in her world. But the "d"s and "m"s and "n"s are in full effect, and "NONONO!" is still a favorite expression. (She likes to reprimand the cats when they are doing something wrong, like getting on the counter. I remember Sabine doing the same thing at her age.) She calls "Nana" by name now, as well as "Aunt Dani." She can also approximate both cousins' names. We also had mommy's cousin Lara visit while she was in town for work, and Aspen LOVED her. (loved loved LOVED.) We are still hearing about "wra-wra" with adoration.

Aspen is also great at hearing and announcing the local train going by. It has three crossings in town, and Aspen often hears it at the first one when the rest of us miss it, but she lets us know that it will be coming to the second crossing in just a few moments. She's also adept at pointing out airplanes, cars, trucks, and busses.

Both Aspen and Sabine have been sleeping fairly well recently, even sleeping in until close to 7:00 in the past week, which has been lovely for everyone, and we are trying to enjoy it while it lasts. It has also let Aspen push back her nap a little, she goes down closer to 10:30 or even a little after these days. And she'll often sleep for two or more hours, we call anything over an hour and a half a good nap. Sabine's Kindergarten schedule can't come fast enough, though, since I am having to wake her up more and more to go collect Sabine from preschool camp, mid-day.

Aspen has a range of emotions. She takes herself seriously, she's getting louder, she likes to make everyone laugh, and go to the zoo. She asks if we're going almost daily by signing "car" and then some combination of "elephant," "monkey," "giraffe," "tiger." She is very expressive, and has no problem letting you know what she's thinking. She often has more humor behind her serious expressions than it seems.


NO!


Incredulity


The ever-popular, "You can't be serious"


Smirk

All in all, it's been a great month, and a fun, healthy summer so far. (Knock on wood!) We've spent lots of time outside, between the park, the farmer's market, playing after preschool, and various trips to places like the zoo...not to mention our own front porch! Both girls have been growing and enjoying each other. It's fun to see their relationship develop more and more. I am suspicious they are going to share a lot of clothes and accessories as they get older.