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

July fun!

Hi everyone!
We've been very busy.  I can't even remember what I all need to update you on!  I'll do my best to get you up to date.

Mom went on a hike up a 14er (14,000 ft peak) at the end of June while Dad and I went to Grandpa and Grandma's in Colorado Springs.... Mom had a little problem with her sunscreen - I believe her socks may have fallen down a bit!

We went to a pool party for a friend's birthday... I really enjoyed the water and watching the other kids play - it was a beautiful day!

 

Mom let me wear underwear while playing outside - it didn't last very long!

I don't always like to eat my breakfast in my high chair anymore - if Mom doesn't feel like battling with my strong will, she will let me eat by the stove.

Mom and I visited the pool last week and we had a nice time... I am trying to get my fruit snacks out of my teeth.

We went to the Arc picnic.  We experienced some crazy weather: hail, strong winds, and driving rain.  Between storms, I managed to find time to have my face painted!

We went to the zoo and we got to the tiger exhibit during their nap time.

We had a garage sale at our house this weekend.  We put it on to help our friends, who are going to adopt a baby, raise some money for that.  Therefore, a lot of our friends were in on it.  Here is how we kiddos occuppied our time - Lori helped Koen, Eddy, Eli and I make some beautiful music! 

We had lots of stuff... there were a bunch of tv's - they weren't a great seller.

More electronics... including a sweet organ!

The whole driveway was full of stuff - we had about 12 households donating items for the cause.

Here you can get an idea how much stuff there was.

Here's our cashier table/goodie shack... Here's Gena trying to stay cool on this hot day!

We went to Heritage Square on Sunday for an event for families of kids with special needs - Buckaroo Stampede.  I had a rough start to the time, but here's where I started to begin to enjoy myself.

Earlier in the day, I would cry when Mom and Dad tried to put my hat on me... at this point I decided that I was ready to be Sheriff Lydia!

I loved this ride, but Dad had some trouble holding his lunch down (haha)!  I asked for more after each ride - turns out I'm a thrill seeker.

I was enrolled in a race with some other little kids at the event.  As you can tell, I like to be the center of attention - no one else can be on the track at the same time!

Thanks for reading... I'll have some more pictures soon when we get the pictures back from the promo photos that I took today for brochures for my school.  I'm getting so popular!

Love you all,
Lydia

3 year pictures and birthday party picture recap

Hello friends and family,

My friend Kristi took my three year pictures before my birthday party a few weeks back and I now have them to share with you all.  She also took several pictures of my party so I would like to share some of those as well.  Kristi does a really great job if I do say so.  My parents are always so impressed with her work.  Enjoy!

I have to put in a plug for Kristi so here it is.  Her website is:

http://www.kristiannephotography.blogspot.com/

 

I hope you all had a fun 4th of July weekend.

Blog at you later,

Lydia

My birthday bash and more

Hello everyone,

I had such a wonderful birthday celebration will many of my friends and family a couple weeks back.  Thanks for all of the wonderful gifts and cards.  I will have more pictures to share on the event and also my 3 year pictures for you all in a future blog but I wanted to catch you up on all of the other things that have been going on in my life.

My Grandma and Grandpa "E" came out for my birthday bash and also stayed for a week.  We did all sorts of fun things.  We went to a Rockies game, to the zoo and also took a trip to the mountains to Estes Park.  It was sure a lot of fun and I was really glad that they made the trip even with part of I-29 closed due to river flooding.

Here are some pictures that my Mom took on her camera of the fun week we had.

It was such a nice day for an afternoon baseball game.

 Nothing like a cool lemon squishy to cool you off.

 Here was the view we had of the game.

Last weekend we went down to south Denver for an event called "Dare to Play Football and Cheer".  This is an two day camp put on by the Global Down Syndrome Society.  Over the two days some of the Broncos cheerleaders and former football players teach kids with Down Syndrome some football and cheer moves.  The camp ends with a football game and a tailgate party.  It was such a fun event and we all had a great time.  I really want to be a part of this in a couple years when I am a little older.

 My Uncle Jason made it to the game since we were pretty close to where he lives.

 We met some of the Bronco Cheerleaders.  Not too sure about the one on the left (my right).

 We also met Ed McCaffrey who heads the football camp up.  He use to play wide receiver with the Broncos when they were winning Super Bowls in the late 90's.  Dad was glad to meet him but I was not too sure about it.

 There was music and Mom and I were having fun dancing.

After we had some yummy food at the tailgate party we went back to the stadium to play on the track.  Mom and I are going to have a race.  Who do you think will win.  Remember that my Mom can be a bit competitive. 

On your marks...  (I am in lane 3 because  I am 3years old)

 Hey wait you didn't say go.

 Where did Mom go?  She is fast.

 Here I come.

 Dad did not get a picture at the end but you can rest assured that I came from behind to win.

This is a fun summer picture to end this blog entry on.  Nothing says summer like sitting around and enjoying a Popsicle. 

I hope that you are all having a good start to the summer.  I look forward to hearing from you all when you have time. 

Love you,
Lydia