Colorado Round-Up

Alright, here's the final whoseits and whatsits of our three week Colorado trip:

• At first, the boys loved to push the little buttons around the ice dispenser. But soon they moved on to the ice dispenser themselves. Oh what a crack-up! It got to be a little too much for Dash after a while, though:

• Do you remember me asking about ways to keep the babies from waking up when Sean woke up for the morning? Well, we bought a white noise machine. And... it didn't help. But it works GREAT for drowning out noise during nap time (why it doesn't drown out Sean's alarm, beats me. I guess all the quiet beforehand makes the alarm more jarring?). The only thing it doesn't wash out is dog barks. It very much doesn't drown out dog barks.

• There was one day where Dash had SIX messy diapers before his first nap. SIX! He got changed all over BYU campus. Apparently, the morning we were gone, the boys had super duper messy diapers. The kind where you deposit pajamas directly into the washing machine. I'm very proud of my children for choosing that morning to be gross.

• The spinning office chair was a big hit. Before we got wise and put a belt around them, I was ready on the balls of my feet to leap over to them the second they nudged forward.

• Rufus was super great with the boys, not much caring if they crawled all over him. And the boys loved him for it.

These boys were sometimes happy, sometimes sad in the car. Mostly sad.

• The final drive back was, mmm, how to put it... miserable. We started out right before they went to bed for the night. But it had shifted later after these three weeks. Then they woke up at 5am, so Sean and I didn't have much chance to sleep as we're taking driving turns. They took stinky naps. They screamed a lot. The car air conditioner couldn't keep up with the Texas heat. Everyone was sooo unhappy. I don't like the car anymore.

The video Dash made in the car. I like how he's giggling while Liam's crying next to him.

• Sean's parents put a fake owl up in the backyard to scare away woodpeckers. It doesn't work. And it attracts little one-year-olds. The instant Dash went outside, his little hand would point right at the funny bird.

• The boys became enamored with lights during this trip. They point them all out and try to swat at any fixtures that were accessible.

• Liam and Dash are now proficient iPad users. They can sweep from screen to screen and deftly push the home button.
• On the way to UT, we stopped at Great Grandma and Grandpa Bradley's house. While Grandma was holding him as Dash at breakfast, he looked at Great Grandma and said, as clear as day, "Grandma." It hasn't happened since, but it was very impressive.

• Right after that "Grandma" incident, Great Grandma was holding Liam. He went in for a kiss and when Great Grandma kissed back... he reached up and stole her glasses. Sneaky fella.

• My boys had lots of fun with water in Colorado, from baths, to the hot tub, to the kiddie pool. Their little fishies.

• Liam and Dash have been great night sleepers for many months, rarely waking up. But in Colorado, I think there were two nights that they didn't cry. It was sad.

• I sure liked being able to take little breaks here and there since so many caregivers were on hand. Imagine, going to use the restroom when I wanted and not based on naptime! It was all very refreshing.