Denver Aquarium

Today we decided to make use of our aquarium membership and headed to Denver with some friends. Thanks to Disney Junior's Octonauts, Amy loves all underwater life. She is fascinated by creatures of the sea and knows a good bit about them too. So she loves the aquarium. And even Cole is beginning to appreciate as well.

Playing with bubbles before going inside

Amy walking around with her friend

Playing in one of the bubble windows that look inside a tank

She even got to meet some mermaids

And get a unicorn painted on her face

I think the helmet is a little too big ;)

Weekend Update

The weekend was long and a bit stressful, but we made it through. Amy had a blast camping. She got to do lots of fun activities and spend the entire weekend with just her and Daddy. Here are a few more pictures Brandon sent me from their time.

On the train

Riding pedal cars

As for me and Cole, our weekend was fairly successful.
On day 1, we spent the entire day in the bathroom reading books, playing with toys and FaceTiming with family. It was a bit rough, but went well. He used the potty 85% of the time. Though he did get clever about it. I gave him an M&M every time he used it. So he would sit, go potty a little bit, get candy. Then sit right back down, go a little bit more, get candy. He would repeat this 7 or 8 times in a row before he just couldn't get any more out.
Day 2, I couldn't spend another entire day in the bathroom, so I modified it a bit. I put training pants on him, which are like underwear, but have extra fabric in the crotch area so that nothing drips out. Continuing from the day before, any time I would ask him to go, he did. He wouldn't go on his own though. If I went too long without asking him to try, he would pee in the training pants. I'm not surprised though. I think it will just take a little longer to first recognize that he needs to go, and then hold it and walk to the potty. It's a bit more to comprehend. I think we had a good start though, and we'll keep working on it as much as we can.

Overall, a pretty good, albeit exhausting, weekend.

(Boot) Camp Weekend

Brandon and Amy left this evening to go camping for two nights. Amy was super excited, and I know they are gonna have a lot of fun. They are staying at KOA campground, which is just barely camping since they have things like restrooms, showers, electricity and even a general store. But they are gonna sleep in a tent, so it still counts, right? This particular KOA also has other fun things like a lake to fish in, a swimming pool, paddle boats for the lake, mini golf, a bouncy castle, and fun activities the camp puts on during the weekends. I must say, I'm a little jealous of those two.

While they are camping, Cole and I will be staying home and attempting some potty training boot camp. I know he's still fairly young to start (not quite two), but he has shown interest in the potty, and has peed in there three times so far. So we're gonna try it, and even if it fails and he's not quite ready, we're no worse off than we were yesterday. But if he can get it, and wants to start using the potty, I will be thrilled to no longer buy and change diapers.
It also took us a long time to fully train Amy, and just in case it takes that long with Cole as well, we need to start soon. He'll be old enough for preschool next August (2016), and he's gotta be trained to start. So I have a deadline.

I've taken ideas from other 3 day potty training sessions and sort of adapted them for us. I'm not using any particular approach, just what I feel is right for us.
Starting tomorrow morning, Cole will be drinking as much liquids as I can get him to, as well as eat foods like watermelon and popsicles, to make sure that bladder needs emptying often. Then we will hang out and play in the bathroom (or on other non-carpeted floors) without a diaper and just get him to sit on the potty often. If he goes, he gets a few M&M's and lots of praise and I might even make up a song. If he goes on the floor, he doesn't get in trouble or anything, I will just try to correct him and tell him where to go.
Needless to say, it's gonna be a long and interesting weekend. I am hoping for the best and will update with my results either tomorrow night or Sunday night. Wish us luck!

Edit: Brandon just sent me these pictures. I guess when they got there, Amy couldn't wait to get on the paddle boats.

And here is their tent set up on the lake. I'm quite jealous.

Amy's new slang

I bought lounge pants and when I put them on...

Amy- "Wow, those pants look famous with that purple shirt"
Me- "Famous?"
Amy- "Yea, it means I like them a lot"


So either my 5 year old knows slang that I don't, or she decided to make her own.

My new favorite lunch

I found a recipe several days ago and I've eaten it every day this week. So delicious!

Grilled avocado, mozzarella, and tomato sandwich

Another day in the water

Today's plans were to go to Eldorado Canyon State Park and swim in their spring fed pool with Melissa, Joseph, and their new baby, Oliver. Mother Nature decided to change those plans. It was raining pretty heavily at that pool, so we decided to head to a local recreation center with an indoor pool. I love the rec centers here because they all have indoor heated pools with a normal pool area, a child's area with water slide, and a lazy river with an even bigger water slide.

We had a great time there. Both kids seemed to really enjoy themselves, and even Oliver was happy in the water for a while, before he just seemed to need a snack and a nap. But really, who couldn't use a snack and a nap, right? ;)

Again, I'm bad and didn't get any pictures. I thought it would be a bad idea to take my phone into a water area. Joseph had their waterproof camera though, and he got some good ones. So maybe I can steal a few of their pictures and post them on a later date.

Then we all went to Ihop and had some delicious food. It's been nice to see those guys as much as we have since Oliver was born. Normally, life just tends to get in the way, as it does. Everyone works and weekends fill up fast. So we've been taking advantage of their time off.


Now the kids are in bed, and Brandon is out for the night, so I get to sit down and take a much needed break. Over the past two weeks, Cole seems to have entered the "terrible twos". Perfect timing since he turns two next Saturday. So he's been a bit difficult to handle, but I just have to take it on a day to day basis. Actually, I think it's more like an hour to hour basis. That kid is exhausting, I feel like I can barely keep up anymore. Amy never really entered that "terrible twos" phase, so I was hoping we would get lucky and Cole would skip it also, haha. I should have known better. He's such a different kid than Amy.

Well now it's time to use this quiet to my advantage. Get a few things done, maybe take a bath and watch some more Rent, then probably go to bed. These kids will be up early and we have a busy day!

Pretty Fairy

Cole likes to wear Amy's dress up clothes as much as she does. Especially these light-up fairy wings