Fall?.... Winter?... Depends on the day!

Hello from the frozen north (depending on where you are in comparison to me)... quite a few of you are probably north of me, but I liked the sound of the greeting!  I haven't heard an official snow fall total for today, but according to the height of the snow when I was walking through it, I'd say we got a good thigh high snow fall today (interpretation:  about 10 inches).

Nothing changed because of the weather, school was still on, Dad still went to work, the only difference for me was the crazy amount of clothing I had to wear - it took some coaxing before I realized that I could in fact walk in my boots in the snow.

Today was a big change from Monday when we had an 80 degree record high.  They say we should be back to regular Fall weather by Friday.  Until then, I am enjoying playing in the snow with Boscoe!

Here are some pictures from the last week, enjoy:

We plan to carve these before the weekend... for now, they look good with their snow hats on!

"Walking in a Winter Wonderland"

I don't think the tomatoes survived the storm... oh well, I don't think they had survived Mom's experimental gardening before this happened!

Boscoe loves the snow... he had quite a time finding his ball each time we threw it.

I was happy that I could still ride my bike in this weather thanks to the covered patio.

I love the contrast between the white and the orange of the leaves.

Everytime I tried to wipe it off, it would get worse!

Changing gears to last Friday - visited a pumpkin patch

Can't wait to pick out my favorite pumpkin!

"Guys! I think this one looks good!"

Just us pumpkins!

Come on guys, I gotcha.

Good Donkey.

This one was great, except for the fact that it would soon be dropped - don't worry, it survived and is currently coved in snow on the front doorstep.

There you have it, winter and fall all wrapped into one blog. 

I have been having a ton of fun at school lately and look forward to dressing up in costume for school the next two days.  I'll try to get some pictures of that as well.

That's all for now...

Love,
Lydia

2011 Step Up for Down Syndrome Walk

Hi all!

What a great and busy weekend we've had.... I got to go to Steamboat Springs with Mom from Thursday afternoon until Saturday morning.  We went to see Grandma and Grandpa Iowa (Mom's parents) who were on vacation there.  Mom and I had never been there, so we enjoyed it and hope to go back again sometime when Dad can come along!

After we returned from our trip, it was time to kick into high gear to get ourselves and our spot for the Step Up walk all ready for the big day on Sunday.  We had another successful year of fund raising and recruiting people to walk with our team.  We had 34 walkers with our team and raised almost $2,200 for the Mile High Down Syndrome Association!  Thanks to all of you for your thoughts, prayers, participation, and donations for another great year.  This was our fourth year participating in the walk and all four years so far we've enjoyed picture perfect weather - it's great to live in Colorado this time of year!

These events led to some great photo ops - and since Grandma was along, you better believe I have about 300 shots to choose from.  I tried to keep it to a manageable amount for the sake of you, the viewer!  Here are some highlighted shots:

It was not overly hot out - maybe 65 degrees - but it was nice and sunny and the water was warm.  I loved splashing grandma, grandpa and mom and making them chase the ball when I threw it!

Even on vacation Mom put Grandma and Grandpa to work on the buttons for the Step Up Walk.

On Friday we headed to Fish Creek Falls - it was an easy enough hike that I was able to stay in my stroller even though that was not always my choice of transportation, I wanted to walk most the time, but I never like to go the same way as everyone else. 

Here we are headed to the falls through the forest.

Here are the falls and Grandpa went where I wasn't supposed to and we all praised him and took his photo - would've that happened if I had gotten my way?!

This horse was outside a western store in downtown Steamboat.  A worker from the store insisted that I needed a cowgirl hat to have my picture taken by the horse - I wanted to buy some cowboy boots there, but Mom didn't think they were necessary.

Here we switch gears.  This is the setting for the Step Up Walk at City Park in Denver.  There were just over 3,000 registered walkers this year.

Our tent in the Team (Tent) Village.  I like to make sure my teammates are happy, we brought some Panera bagels and pastries and we had some nice shade from our tent for our team to enjoy.

Here's the majority of our team - a few straglers didn't get the memo that the picture was being taken... oops! 

I walked for awhile during the walk, but I preferred to be on Daddy's shoulders!

Here I am with Daddy, my cousin Liv and my Aunt Lauren - it was so fun to have them there!

Here are the family members accounted for on the day of the walk:  Grandma and Grandpa Colorado, Uncle Jason, Aunt Lauren, Liv, Daddy, Me, Mommy, Grandma and Grandpa Iowa.

We are Blue Bunny people, but when Blue Bell is giving out free samples, I think we can deviate for one day - besides they gave me a cool hat!

Oops, this is out of place, but here Mom and I are enjoying the Falls by Steamboat!

   Well, that was the big weekend.  Yesterday we spent one more day hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa before they headed back to Iowa this morning.  We spent the day yesterday hanging around in Boulder and got a tour of Daddy's work.  It was another beautiful day!

Here we are working in the lab!

Here we are riding the "bus" at Chataqua Park in Boulder.

That's all for this post.  Hope you enjoyed the update!

Love you all,
Lydia

Aye-aye Lydia!

Ahoy Mateys!
I got to test my sea legs a few weeks ago with my friends Scott and Andrea and their sailboat!
It was a fantastically beautiful day and we spent four and half hours on the water.
Here are a couple photos from the occasion:

I was a little hesitant when we first climbed aboard.

Once I realized I was safe in my life vest, I got to sit behind the wheel!

Mom just wanted a photo with me too.

Captain 'Scott Sparrow'?

I enjoyed myself so much on the boat that I needed to have snooze.

As you can tell, we had a great time on the water!

One more photo:

Paul, Dad and Scott on the roof watching an airshow by our house!

As for everyday life, I'm having a blast going to preschool four days a week.  I go two days to a private school and the other two days at a public school.  So far I enjoy them both and love learning all the other kids' names.

That's all I've got for today, hope you enjoyed the nautical journey!
Love,
Lydia

2011 Step Up for Down Syndrome Walk!

Hello everyone.

Lydia has allowed me to post a little info on her blog to plug her team for this year's Step Up for Down Syndrome walk.  We are excited to get to walk together to support our special little lady Lydia.  Please visit our team page if you would like to register to walk or make a donation to support our team.

Team Lil Lydia website: http://secure.ezeventsolutions.com/fr/MHDSA/2011StepUp/LilLydia

"We get to walk together again to support the MHDSA?"

Join us for a fun-filled day benefiting a great cause! Mile High Down Syndrome Association (MHDSA) needs our help to promote acceptance of all people with Down syndrome and raise much needed funds for their vital programs.

15th Annual Awareness Walk & Fundraiser Sunday, September 25, 2011
9:00 a.m.
City Park, Denver

Thanks for your support!

Love,

The Tripletts

Okoboji Fun!

Hey everyone!  I am still trying to get back to normal after a fun-filled vacation to the Iowa Great Lakes.
We headed out to Iowa to hang out with Mom's family on August 11th.  Before that we were busy entertaining some friends and getting the house ready for house guests.

This is me and Sabrie... Sabrie is my mom's friend Val's baby - I wasn't quite sure how to hold a real baby!

Val and Sabrie came to hang out with us while Jer had some meetings in Denver.  We had a super fun day with them - Sabrie gave me lots of smiles!

I took some time while Mom was packing to "help" and go through and try on all my clothes.

I thought this would be a good beach look for Lake Okoboji.

After we left for Iowa, Todd, Gena and Koen came to stay at our house while they got their new house move in ready... it was nice to have someone around to watch the house and collect the veggies from the garden.  I haven't really enjoyed the produce, but Mom and Dad have (I'm a little on the picky side).

Just before leaving for Iowa, we got word that Auntie Julie and Trent got engaged!!  What big news!  Congratulations, Julie and Trent!

Here's Julie showing off her new 'bling' good pick Trent!

Once we got to Okoboji, we got to spend time with Mom's whole family for one day.  When we all get together, we tend to take over any space: the pool, the condo, the dock, you name it!

Here are some of the many photos taken during our trip, enjoy:

Grandma always needs a 'girls' picture whenever we're together - here's the most recent one!  Left to Right - Aunt Jenness, Aunt Joni, Grandma, Mommy, and Aunt Julie.

We also need to have a family photo, but I just don't like to make that as simple as it should be.

Here we are taking over the pool - Mom is a such a brute... poor grandpa

I really enjoyed the pool with Dad and the cousins!

To wrap up our day all together, we got to celebrate Maddie's birthday!

We spent so much time at the pool during the rest of the week - thanks to Erin, I never wore the same swimsuit during the week!

This was my first experience with a beach - I was reluctant to leave my towel.

Dad coaxed me out to the water with promises of throwing rocks.

This is as far as I ever ventured into the lake water via the beach - I managed to get my clothes wet.

Mom persuaded me to add this photo because it's one of few that turned out well of the two of us.

Three of my cousins ended up staying at the resort with us for the week.  Max, Maggie and Maddie helped keep me entertained for the week - it was a great decision - thanks Mom and Dad!

Here are my cousins getting ready to go canoeing - Grandpa was a big help... most of the time, right Maddie and Jenness!  We didn't rent a boat or anything, but we were able to use the canoes and paddle boats from the resort.

I loved watching the action from the dock - Mom and Dad didn't trust me though - notice Mom's grip on my pants.

Dad and Max enjoying a ride on the lake.

Fortunately, Auntie Jenness had a life jacket that fit me so that I could enjoy the paddle boat too - I rode twice and was lulled to sleep by the waves both times.

There were two paddle boats, notice we have family members on both! 

One of my favorite activities at the lake was 'pushing' my cousins into the lake... off you go, Maddie!

After teetering over the edge of the dock, making my parents and grandparents nervous, mom lowered me into the lake to swim with the cousins.  I was not terribly fond of swimming in the lake - I prefer the pool, but the lake is quite pretty!

One day we went for a litle hike - we had such a beautiful week to explore at the lake.

This was a bit precarious - I can't believe my parents let me on the canoe without a lifejacket!

This is a typical sunset at Lake Okoboji - great way to end a beautiful day at the lake!

There's a jacuzzi at each of the units at the resort, here I got to share my bathtime with the cousins... nice form Ken!

On our last day at the lake, the cousins left and I tried my hand at the beach one more time with just Grandma, Grandpa and Mom and Dad.

Here's a pretty good family photo taken at Terrace Beach - it was another beautiful day!

This photo, I felt, really summed up the way I felt about my vacation at the lake!

When the week at the lake came to a close, we spent one more day in Iowa at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  We spent some more time with grandma and grandpa and we also got to see Trey - he's a great friend who we like to keep up with.  After seeing Trey, Mom and Dad decided they needed a double date with Uncle Andrew and Aunt Jenness. I got to have a babysitter from Iowa - Emily was awesome, we played with my babies, yay!  Then we took our second trip to the Blue Bunny Ice Cream store in LeMars, IA.  Love that place!

Here's Trey and I are hanging out at Grandma and Grandpa's

Well, I guess you should feel pretty up to date on our trip... now back to everyday life.  I've started preschool again already and the next exciting thing on the books is the Step Up Walk on Sept. 25th.  Go to our team page to see more details at:  http://www.stepupdenver.org/fr/MHDSA/2011StepUp/LilLydia

Okie-dokie, hope you enjoyed the many pictures.... thanks for reading,
Lydia