Arc Picnic and other fun and games

Hey folks,
We've had a busy summer so far and it doesn't look like it's going to slow down for at least another month - but I'm ok with that, because that means I have lots of people to see and things to do!

Since my last update, we've been swimming, doing more hiking, going to museums and attending other special functions.

Unfortunately Mom and Dad are getting more forgetful about getting the camera along to each thing, but there are those rare occasions in which they remember.

Here are a few photos from when they remember:

Mom was just trying to catch me at my best here... My baby and I have crazy times together!

Here we go again!!

Here you go, Baby... I know you love your stroller.

Just yesterday we went to the Arc Picnic... they have a little get together every summer so that we can all socialize with the new friends we've come in contact with over the year. Arc is an organization that provides services to people with disabilities - we've met some really great people through them.
Here I am walking to my friend Ania who's going to help me pick out a stuffed animal.

Koen and his mom came to the picnic too... in this picture we were watching the magic show and playing with our balloon shapes.

Mom and I are just hangin' around and I was sportin' my new shoes with my orthodics.

We're kinda bummed that we didn't get any photos of when my mom's cousin Greg and his family were out for a visit. We went to the Children's Museum in Denver and had a great time. After that adventure they came to our house and we got to play and have dinner (supper - if you live in the Midwest) all together. I had so much fun with my cousins, Allison, Jessica and baby Trevor - I wished they could stay a little longer.

We also took another hike last weekend - the wildflowers were beautiful and Mom was kicking herself that she left the camera at home. It was a very hot day for a hike and Boscoe thought he was going to keal over - he kept running from one shady spot to the next.

That's all for this update.
Til next time,
Lydia

4th of July hike, 2 year picts and more...

Hello friends and family,

Sorry I did no have a chance to blog this past week but there has been lots going on of course. We enjoyed a 4th of July celebration at Scott and Darci's house where there was good food and fireworks. I enjoyed the fireworks from inside the house through the window. Dad had Monday the 5th off so we went for a family hike up in the mountains. Turns out I really enjoy my hiking backpack and being out in nature. Mom and Dad think they will try to take me on a few more of these this summer and see if we are up for an overnight camping trip. We will see about that.

Entering the wilderness

Columbine flowers on a mountain meadow

Into the forest we go.

My friend Kristi took my second year photos before my birthday party last month. Here are a couple of my parents favorite pictures of the group. Kristi was also nice enough to take some candid pictures during my birthday. Enjoy!

Here is my buddy Eddie with his dad Dave. Where is his twin brother?

Here are the older kids at the kids table. You know this is where Boscoe will be hanging out.

Thanks for the help mom.

Hanging out with grandma and grandpa "T"

What a thoughtful card.

Yea! Thanks for the wonderful gifts everyone.

This is a nice card that my friend Lisa put together for me. She is indeed my fabulous girlfriend.

Have a wonderful week and I hope to have more fun and exciting things to share with you in the weeks to come.

Love,
Lydia

Summer vacation in Utah

Hello friends and family,

We had a very exciting trip to St. George, Utah and the surrounding sights last week to ring in the summer and boy did it feel like summer with temps in the high 90's to 108F. My aunt Julie came out from Iowa for the vacation and my friends Paul and Heather joined us for the first 3 days of our trip. Here are several pictures from our trip. Enjoy!

We arrived at our resort. Lots of room for me to spread my toys around but no stairs.

Looking out our back door to the pool. We spent a lot of time in there.

We took a day trip to Las Vegas. That town is very busy with so many things to see and do.

There's a reason why they call it the city of lights.

Pool time! Don't be fooled by this picture, I did not really spend much time in my floaty. I preferred to be held and bounced in the pool.
I also like to jump off the side of the pool, with a little help from mom or dad of course.

After some pool time we headed to a little higher ground in Zion National park for a day of hiking and seeing the canyon. What a wonderful place to spend time on my comfy ride. Thanks mom!

This is right beside the trail looking straight up. They call these these the hanging gardens since the vegetation grows right out of the rocks because of the water that seeps out of the rocks. In some places it is estimated that the water takes 1000 years to get from the top to the bottom. Dad had a hard time believing this little fact.

That ride is so comfy that I fell asleep on the walk up the trail.

We then went up another trail to the emerald pools. There were three and I am proud to say that we did them all. The trail got a little narrow in places.

The pools were emerald indeed.

Look at that color in the cliff wall. This wall must be at least 1,500 feet tall. Wow!
We also took a day trip up to Bryce Canyon. This was a little further than Zion but it was well worth the drive. This is called Inspiration Point. Appropriately named if you ask me.
Hold me tight dad.
What fun rock formations.
Desert moon on the rise. It was a lot more orange with the human eye.

We had such a good time in Southern Utah on our first vacation of the summer. Our next trip will be to Branson MO for grandma and grandpa E's 40th anniversary. I hope you all are having a fun summer and let me know what fun things your are doing.

Until later. Love,
Lydia

Can you believe I'm two?!

Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me....
Looks like I'm now two and I need to share some stories with you about how I celebrated the big day.
Today is my actual birthday, but we did most of our celebrating on Saturday with a party at our house with close friends and local relatives - I don't understand why my Iowa relatives don't want to travel the 10-12 hours to go to my two hour birthday party, what's the deal with that? - just kidding everyone!
Let me run you through how everything went leading up to the party and following the big event.

On Thursday Mom and Dad went and got me this great kitchen set as my big girl birthday gift. Now they expect me to make them coffee and dinner all the time.
"OK, Mom. Can I take your order?"

On Friday Mom needed me to keep occupied while she made my birthday cake, so she let me play with all the towels and washcloths - I'm not sure she knew I would be having this much fun.

This was Mom's finished product - Not exactly what she had in mind (it was supposed to be Zoe from Sesame Street), but I'm told it still tasted pretty good... sorry to say, I'm not a cake fan!

We spent a lot of Saturday outside since it was such a nice day and it worked out great since another gift that I received was a slide - in addition to so many other extraordinary things!
Here I am with Grandma and the slide.
I was telling G-ma that I'm not quite sure about this.

Later on, Nik and I were having a super time playing on the slide... I was like, "Yo. Nik. Get movin', it's my turn!"

Anyway, so that's just a little of what happened at my birthday party. Mom and Dad didn't have time to take a lot of pictures since they were so busy entertaining my peeps; therefore, Kristi not only took my two year pictures, but she also took some candid shots of me and my party... be looking for those in a later post.

Since the party we've been busy just being us... Dad injured his back while making room for my kitchen set in my play room, so he's been laid up, but I think he'll be back to normal soon. In the meantime, I've had fun having my Daddy around more since he hasn't been able to make it to work - yay Daddy!

Keep it real,
Lydia

Tulip time

Hoi (that's a Dutch word for hi) everyone,

This was my first year of visiting the Tulip Festival in Orange City and I do believe there will be many more in the years to come. It was wonderful weather and there was just so much to see and do and so many people to wave at. My friend Gena made me a Dutch costume for the event and it matched both my grandparents costumes as well as Gena, Todd's and Koen's costume.

Here I am in my Dutch costume. I actually did not pull on my hat or necklace.

Koen's hat is very cool. It's the tops.

Sitting near the Tulips.

I also got to see my buddy Trey at one of the parades.

Max and some of my other cousins were part of the festivities and did some Dutch dancing.

Here are a couple of cute Dutch girls. Maddie and Maggie were also in the Dutch dancing and games.

My dad helped my grandpa carry the kaas (cheese) in the last parade. I did not recognize him at first and then once I did I wanted to grab his big red hat.

My other friend Gina who lives in Sioux Center gave me my first hair cut. It was quite an event.

On a more sad note my great grandmother Annette passed away on Monday May 17th. We were all very saddened to hear this new but she was a great lady that lived a long and full life although we would of all loved it if it could have been longer. On Thursday we went to her funeral in Kanawha, IA at her home church of Wright CRC. She will be missed and remembered fondly.

Here we are at the front of the church. I wanted to give a big smile for my great grandma.

We are getting ready to head back home to Colorado. I cannot believe that we are only a couple of weeks from me being 2 years old. My how the time just goes by so fast (my dad told me to put that).

Thanks for reading my blog.

Love,
Lydia