The "Big" weekend!

Hi friends... What a weekend!
We had a houseful of guests and spent quite a few hours in downtown Denver for a marathon and for the annual Step Up for Down Syndrome Walk.
Now, all our guests have left and Mom's looking at the house and thinking, "What a mess... maybe I'll get to that tomorrow."
Let me just give you the rundown of our last week or so.
Grandma and Grandpa Mustache (grandma's not too excited about that title, but that's how I identify them - my other grandparents are Grandma and Grandpa Glasses) came out to Colorado on September 12th and left again on the 14th for a week in Steamboat Springs.  We followed them out on Saturday morning and spent that weekend plus Monday with them.  G-ma and G-pa stayed there until the 21st.
In the meantime, Aunt Jenness and my cousin Marty flew into town on the 20th so that Marty could do a campus visit at CU the following day (they coordinated their trip with the rest of the weekend activities so that they could be a part of the action).
On Friday, the 21st, Aunt Julie flew into town in preparation for the marathon and half marathon on Saturday.  Later that day G-ma and G-pa drove back into town for the weekend.
Saturday's activities included the marathon and 1/2 marathon as well as set up for the Step Up Walk and then dinner out with all our guests.
Sunday looked like this:  Went to City Park, enjoyed all the activities of our 5th Step Up for Down Syndrome Walk, Vegged for awhile at home, brought Marty and Aunt Jenness to the airport, saw the last minute of Mom and Dad's softball game, had pizza with Scott, Andrea, Jillian, and G-ma Diann, and finally we were off to bed.
Yesterday we laid low in the morning then had a fabulous time at the park before we went to drop Aunt Julie off at the airport.
Now, I went to school this morning and G-ma and G-pa Mustache headed back to Iowa.
I enjoyed all of the extra attention this weekend brought.
Here are a "few" photos of the weekend (I could only narrow it down to about 30)!

One of the shots of fall color Grandma and Grandpa caught in the CO high country.

It was still warm enough to enjoy a couple hours at the pool - that doesn't always happen this time of year in the mountains.

I love hangin out by the pool with Daddy.

If there's a playground... I'm there!

We hiked with the grandparents to Fish Creek Falls... I've discovered a new found love for hiking.

Hiking amongst the aspens.

Grandpa letting Grandma think this will be their Christmas photo (looks like grandma's being the funny one, but grandpa's actually holding the branch in front of his face).

A nice shot of me with Grandma and Grandpa Mustache.

You have to stop and smell the flowers sometimes.

And other times, you just have to hug a tree.

G-ma and G-pa hiking through the forest.

All of us tried to hit the big rock in the stream with our little pebbles from the bank.

Enjoying a slide at Little Toots Park in Steamboat Springs.

Bonk!

Tada!

The times when it's ok to throw rocks.

Aunt Julie and Mom getting ready for the big run.

Dancin' to the music at the Denver Rock and Roll Marathon and 1/2 Marathon - I love music!

Aunt Julie finished the 1/2 marathon... she did Great!

Here's the fan club: Heather, Paul, Daddy, me, Scott, Andrea, Jillian (in the stroller), Marty, Aunt Jenness, Julie, Grandpa Mustache and Grandma Mustache (behind the camera).

Are they real?  Mommy finished the marathon.

Daddy and Mommy celebrating the finish of the marathon... yay for getting Saturday mornings back (Mom always did her long training runs then)!

I love enchiladas!

The whole gang celebrating the race accomplishment and Auntie Jenness's birthday coming up next week - you'll have to ask her what birthday it is.... she wouldn't tell me!

Mommy got a break from beautifying my hair... Auntie Nesser (another name for Aunt Jenness) has lots of practice with hair... my cousins Maggie and Maddie have lots of hair.

Team Lil' Lydia's headquarters.

I'm pretty sure this whole event was to celebrate me!!

The majority of our team - only missing Daddy (he's behind the camera) and maybe just a couple others.

My cousin Liv got a cool butterfly balloon at the Step Up Walk... Liv told my mom that she had a "Really good time at the Step Up Walk."

 

We took lots of pictures this weekend, but hopefully you feel like you can picture it all with the ones I've selected.

Thanks to everyone on Team Lil' Lydia for your enthusiasm and support!

Love you all,
Lydia

Step Up Walk 2012 announcement

This is the announcement that the registration page to join or donate to "Team Lil Lydia" is up and running.  Here is a link to my team page:

https://secure.ezeventsolutions.com/fr/MHDSA/2012StepUp/LilLydia

The walk will be on Sunday, September 23rd, at City Park in Denver CO.  We hope that many of you can come out and join our team for a great day celebrating me and the MHDSA.

Mom will be running her first marathon on Saturday the 22nd, yes that is the day before this event, so this will be quite the fun packed weekend.

Last year was a great success with wonderful weather and a great turnout.  This will be our 5th year as a team at this event and I am sure that it will be a success as well.

Most of the people on our team for 2011.  Dad did not get a picture will all of our team members.  Try a little harder this year dad if you don't mind.

Thanks for your support everyone!
Love,

Lydia

Hooray! Vacation!

We are home from a spectacular vacation to Yellowstone National Park.  We enjoyed the scenery, wildlife, and the company of some great friends during our week in the town of West Yellowstone.

In addition to vacationing, I've been participating in summer classes at Bal Swan on Tuesdays and Thursday mornings;  as well as a group Speech Therapy class set up for kids with hearing aids and cochlear implants on Wednesday mornings.  I enjoy class times, but look forward to playground times most.

I am looking forward to another big trip in a few weeks for my aunt Julie's wedding on August 4th.  I get to be one of the flower girls.  Mom and Dad don't have a lot of faith in me performing all my duties for that day, but, I plan to wow them all!

I think I can expand on vacation details more with pictures... however, there are over 500 pictures to choose from, so I'll try to narrow that down to about 20!

Here goes:

Getting ready for the trip... Mom said, "let's see if the backpack still fits you."  Not sure this is what she meant.

Entering Grand Teton National Park on the way to Yellowstone.

Mom and me in front of our resort.

We drove out on Thursday and on Friday we went to the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center located one block from our resort.  We were able to hear the wolves howling in the mornings, evenings and during the fireworks on the 4th of July. 

Eddie and I had a nice time at the discovery center.

Hello Mr. Grizzly Bear... glad you're in your cage.  Saw one of these in the wild off the road in Yellowstone, but didn't get a good picture of it.

Glad we saw these at the center - we didn't see any in the wild.

Later on Friday, we went for our first hike in the park.... "Where to next troups?"

This 'little' fella decided to cross the road between our car and Dave and Lori's car.

The whole group checking out one of the geysers... this one hasn't gone off in at least a decade, but when it does, you know it... it shoots several hundred feet in the air.

Just a nice shot of the many geysers and hot spring pools in this small area.

Hi friends!

Travel companions, Paul and Heather.

Travel Companions, Lori, Eli, Dave and Eddie

And, of course, Mom, Me and Dad.

Bullwinkle hangin' out by the river... a moose, just in case you thought it was a horse!

Saturday was a full day in the park.  We did the North loop and spent a lot of time at Mammoth Hot Springs pictured here.

Paul, Heather and Dad posing in front of a feature at Mammoth Hot Springs.

The stairs down to Lower Falls at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.

The Falls... quite nice.

Thanks for carrying me around Mom!

Sunday, we spent a beautiful day with Mom's college friend Mary and her husband Kurt and their kids, Andrew, Garrett, and Olivia.... unfortunately, we took mostly video that day - but that super fun too.
Here is a picture of Daddy and me in front of a geyser on Monday when we explored the south loop of the park, including Old Faithful.  Hey dad do you small something?

Here's Old Reliable!  Had a fun time waiting for it to go off... lots of fun characters in the park that week of the 4th of July.

On Tuesday we went west to visit Quake Lake.  Here's we are posing among the wildflowers.

One of my favorite moments of the trip was throwing rocks into Quake Lake with Eli and Eddie... splash!

The sunset from our condo... pretty nice setting.

Yup... we were really there!

The whole group at the park entrance just a 1/2 mile from our resort.

I know that was  a lot to take in, but we had so much fun that I wanted to make sure you got a good idea of what we all saw.

Hope you're all enjoying a great summer and enjoying some vacation times also.

God's creation is glorious!
Til next time,
Lydia