Michiganders in FoCo

It's been a big week for the Loewens! G-Ma and Baba (that would be my mom and her husband, Bob) came to visit! We had a great time during the 4 days they were here, even though I had to work 2 of the days. They were good sports and met up with us during our work day on two different field trips! And with three kids under three, I appreciated the extra sets of hands! We spent our evenings at the hotel swimming and eating, and then on Saturday, we all (including Reg!) headed up to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. It was a wonderful trip, and included live music, picnics, swimming, hiking, shopping, playing, reading, and of course, plenty-o-eating. Hooray!


G-Ma and Izzy watching as Bob mysteriously disappeared into the indoor part of the swimming pool! Where did he GO?!


Kicking, kicking...


Isabelle's first experience with a french fry and ketchup was a raving success.... like mother, like daughter.


The girl was equally delighted with her first taste of blackberry frozen yogurt!


Hiking in RMNP... nice view from up there!


Throwing rocks into the lake with Daddy!


Finding letters in the store names on the main drag in Estes Park.


Silliness at the Cherry Store on the way back from Estes Park.

We all had a great time and hope G-Ma and Baba will come visit again soon!

Bappa, Lulu, and Uncle Ethan

We had a wonderfully full house over Memorial Day Weekend! Reg's family, Wes, Lou & Ethan came to visit, and Reg's cousin Kyle also spent two nights here, as he had a weekend class here in Ft. Collins. We were pretty cozy, but had a grand time all together! Here are some highlights:

Showing Grandma Lou ("Lulu") and Grandpa Wes ("Bappa") all of the family pics on the fridge:



Snuggling with Uncle Ethan:



Exploring with Grandma Lou:



Going for an exhausting hike on Daddy's back:



And just generally delighting in the warmth that comes from being with family:



Hooray for long weekends! (And relatives who don't mind long roadtrips that shorten the long weekends!)

**Also, pics are courtesy of my awesome father-in-law, as I went camera-less for the weekend. Thanks Wes!**

Rocky Mountain High

Well, we have officially been here three weeks now. Crazy. Slowly but surely, boxes are getting emptied, items are finding homes, and Isabelle is beginning to sleep on a schedule again. Thank goodness. :)

One item we have been saving up for is a decent kid-carrier to transport our beloved into the mountains regularly. Reg ordered one a couple of weeks ago, and we had the chance to try it out last week on a short hike up in the foothills, called Horsetooth. The bad news- we kept it short due to lightning and thunder in the distance, and due to mom's post-pregnancy lack of fitness (yes, we'll call it post-pregnancy even though it's been a year and a half, shh....). The good news- she loved it!! Hooray!

We went about a mile up, and although we went through about two cups of cheerios and twenty-seven verses of Old MacDonald, we all made it without shedding a tear! It was wonderful to be in the mountains, with our baby on our back (and by 'our' I mean Reg's) and our puppy by our side. We look forward to many, many more hikes in the years to come!