Things you may want to know...

Yes, I realize that this picture isn't actually me. It's Spencer's mom and the twins on a hike in Utah. I loved this hike and I love this picture. And, I'm always the one holding the camera. :)

About Erin...

• Has been back to work for over a month. Life is busy. Life is crazy. Work is good. The new nanny is fabulous and the transition has been smoother than anticipated. PHEW.
• Is running a half-marathon in the mountains on Saturday (anyone else remember when I SWORE I would never do that again???) with a friend from work. You would think we were going to Vegas--that's the level of excitement we have going on here!
• Is allergic to her environment and should probably invest in a bubble. Seriously, I completed the whole allergen workup and I was allergic to nearly HALF of the things they test me for. Great. Keep your dogs, horses, cats, trees, weeds, and most grasses to yourselves folks.
• Also has a suspected wheat intolerance. Great. That's what I need. Another food intolerance.

Checking out the goat herd with Great Grandpa. This was shortly after the kids provided him with a smoking cessation lecture. It was so sincere and so cute. :)

About Milo...

• States that he is "jealous of kids who live in China and San Diego because they get to see pandas EVERY day" and he doesn't! Also wants to grow up to be "the kind of animal saver who helps pandas get their babies out and then does the checkups on the baby pandas". A panda OB?
• Reaffirms his love for Great Grandpa Manuel every time we go to Utah and get to check out the farm.
• Is obsessed with the concept of having a "best friend in the whole wide world"!
• Is a smarty pants and reads like we can hardly believe.
  

Yet again, happy as a clam on a hike in the front carrier.

About Keeler...

• Looks hilarious in this monkey jacket from Uncle Josh.
• Rolls back to front and front to back. Repeat. Then squeal like a monkey and repeat again.
• CAN HEAR!!!! We finally had a definitive hearing screen this week. The little cutie is so active (seriously, the guy is CRAZY busy) that we had to sedate him for the hearing screen so that they could get an accurate reading.
• Is probably going to visit his birthmom (with us) next month--we are very excited and think it will be great for everyone.
• Is still nearly exclusively breastmilk-fed (cue the gasps and confusion). Thanks to some seriously awesome friends (both old and new), we have been able to provide Keeler with donated pumped mucho breastmilk (90%) and very little formula (10%).
  

Isabel checking out a stream on a hike with Grandma Cathryn.

About Isabel...

• Wants to play outside everyday, all day with ALL of her friends in the neighborhood.
• Loves all of her grandmas so much and for different reasons--and was so excited to see four of them in Utah last week.
• Has taken to doing her own hair. Trust me, it's fabulous.
• Is reading too but gets SO SO SO annoyed if Milo corrects her or tries to help her.

Spencer and the big twins on the spinning-no-gravity thing at a park in Daybreak. Cute, cute, cute Olivia (one of the little twin cousins) watching them like they were crazy.

About Spencer...

• Is the funnest dad every. Especially at parks that have crazy anti-gravity-spinning things. Also, fun enough to brave the zoo with all three kids on his own. :)
• Makes it possible for us both to work without me (Erin) going nuts. He is seriously amazing. Could not have a better partner in this parenting gig.
• Is looking forward to a sweet climbing trip with one of his climbing friends.
• Is convinced that the weather is plotting against him. Too much rain equals not enough climbing.
  

Mestas Cousins '09

Last weekend, Sage was brave enough to take pictures of all of the Mestas grandkids. :) It was quite the feat! The chaos was enough to make lesser women pass. Not Sage though! She got some amazing pictures.

It doesn't get much more beautiful than my nieces (all of them--there are 5 total). I'm not biased at all. ;)

Mya (14 months) and Kiana (7 years)

Cute but tired Keeler

Grandma Kim with all of her grandbabies

The "big kids"

Did I mention that Keeler was tired? :) Sooo love this picture anyway.

Love them all!

In case you just didn't get enough...

Saved the best for last!

Had to remove the video...it was pausing at a shot of my daughter's rear! Not cool.

This is how we rock.

Remember Spencer’s 30th birthday and the whole super-sweet-rock-climbing-in-Vegas thing? Well, apparently red rocks were our theme for the 30th birthdays this year.


Thursday was the big THIRTY for me (how did that happen--seriously?). Spencer took the day off and we had a great day with a big (okay, HUGE) southern breakfast at Lucile’s, a facial (just me--no kids), and some much-needed clothes shopping. Isabel was kind enough to wear her fanciest dress to breakfast and even coached me on how to do her hair for maximum fanciness. I think that she figured that if I wasn’t going to dress up for the big occasion, she would!


The next day, we headed off for my birthday trip. A weekend in MOAB!! The Pierces were kind enough to join us and we had such a blast. Prepare yourself for a dizzying number of pictures because, really, how could I possibly narrow it down?


Oh, and please note that half of these pictures were taken by Sage. No need to point out which ones because it's easy: they're the beautiful, color-saturated ones that really capture Moab. ;)

Isabel holding sweet Beckett.

The baby boys just hanging out. Well, hanging their mouths open anyway.

Lovin' some s'mores.

The view from our campsite. Amazing right?

Trying to hide from the morning sun.

Doing some early morning "studying" with Mike.

The big boys playing some variety of Star Wars.

Being silly (what?!) at breakfast.

Spencer, a.k.a. the jedi master of s'mores cooking up a marshmallow for one of us. That's right, we've turned it all over to him. He's just that good.

All the dads. All the big kids. And some seriously beautiful red rock on our hike up Negro Bill Canyon (believe it or not, that IS the "new" name of the canyon).

Keeler loving the front carrier. How cute is he?

The fam on our hike. Why Spencer is standing 4 feet away from us, I'm not really sure.

Isabel taking a slide down the wet rock in the stream. It felt so good to get in the water! mid-80s feels a whole lot hotter when you're baking like a lizard on the rock!

Milo checking out the crawdad swimming pool that Mike built. Nothing like a little crawdad catchin' to bring back childhood memories right? Well, for me anyway...

Checking out a baby crawdad.

Isabel showing off the cradad pincer that she found. This was right before she got pinched by an intact crawdad. Her reaction was so hilarious that none of us could even compose ourselves enough to tend to her really. (She was fine--just shocked that the little bugger actually pinched her!)

Wading upstream with the dads.

Checking out the dinosaur footprint fossils. They thought this was so awesome!

Hiding from teh sun in a little cave. These were up the side of a pretty steep stretch of slickrock. Sage and I were both nearly stroking out the whole time they were climbing around.

We made a valiant attempt at hiking to a railroad tunnel. Turns out, the only thing hotter than slick red rock in the middle of the afternoon is hot black rock and steaming hot railroad tracks in the middle of the afternoon. Made for some cool pictures though. :)

The last day we hung out at a sandy beach along the river and the kids played their little hearts out. Milo is such a water baby. He has no fear--which completely freaks me out.

Isabel was having a blast (and entertaining the eldery European tourist) by dipping her whole self in the water then rolling around in the dry sand ("like a sugar donut") and THEN dancing around like some sort of tribal person on the beach. That girl never leaves us bored that's for sure!

Bein' Bold and Gettin' Old

This week was an exercise in bein' bold and gettin' old.

First, gettin' old.

The class of 2022 (wha--whaaaatttt?!) graduated from preschool on Friday. They were adorable, silly, looking-too-old-to-be-our-children, and sad. Sad that they "won't even see our friends every single day anymore!" and sad that they "won't even get to sit by ____ every day at circle time ever never again!".

Isabel loved the graduation flower we gave her. Milo? Not so much.

The greatest preschool teacher ever (seriously), Mrs. Bonnema, giving Milo his diploma.

Isabel trying to get away with a side hug. Mrs. Bonnema put the hammer down and insisted on a "real" hug. :)

My four faves.

Keeler was pretty bummed that they didn't all wear "Peter Potter Costumes". Milo was so worried that they would have to wear those dreaded "Peter Potter Costumes". Also known as a cap & gown. Or, apparently, in his mind--something resembling Harry Potter's garb.

Enjoying the preschool picnic with Daddy.

Next, bein’ bold.

Yesterday I ran in the Bolder Boulder. Finished only 2 seconds slower than last year and felt better coming across the finish line. Next year, I’ll try for breaking 50 min. Now, if you haven’t heard, it’s only the greatest 10K ever. Bands all along the way. Belly dancers at TWO different points. Spectators galore. 55,000+ runners. Need more proof? Here are some highlights:

• Getting passed by a guy wearing butterfly wings. Slightly humilating? Yes. Funny? Definitely.
• Seeing fools jump off the course to tear down the slip ‘n slide in one of the yards along the course.
• Seeing a GIANT sign that says “BACON: The other PowerBar!” and the accompanying folks cooking up bacon and attempting to pass it out around mile 5 (not many takers in my wave of runners).
• Finishing with a lap around a very full and loud Folsom Field (where the CU Buffs play).
• Running past drunk (at 7am) frat boys holding up vulgar signs and whooping and hollerin' at all the ladies.
• Sharing the excitement with all of the kiddos.
  

Now, further photographic evidence of the afflication which my children suffer each time a camera is near. Please see Isabel (above) and Milo (below). Sheesh.
After all of the faces Keeler was pulling in that previous post, I worry that we may never have an acceptable family photo again. ;)

Keeler loved walking around the expo afterwards in the sling checking everything out. Some funny older man (who had run the race too and should know better) asked me, in all honesty, "Did you run with him in that thing?!". Um, no.

This is how we roll.

This is how we roll.

First, we run. In a 1/2 mile kids' run at the Fit Family 5 Festival in Estes Park that is.
We get out our summer hats. This Rocky Mountain sun can be intense! Some mornings--like this one--we might have to combine a little fleece with our summer hats.

We visit one of the many fab visitors' centers in RMNP and rock the pioneer costumes and we even ask our mom to take our picture "like husband and wife".

We climb every rock in our path. Or next to our path or any where near our path...especially as we walk around Sprague Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park.

We (being Sage and me) brave a midday-midweek adventure to the mountains (Viestenz-Smith Park in Big Thompson Canyon). Two moms, five kids, and two slings. We rocked it.

We make ridiculous faces every time someone tries to take our picture. Sometimes, the faces are intentional.

We love, love, love our slings. and our yummy perfect-for-Colorado muslin blankets.

We play in the river (over and over again--never tire of it) and quake in our flip flops at Porter's impression of a ferocious dinosaur.

We play in the river some more. Even when it's a wee bit chilly. (This time with all of the Pierces.)

We put up with our mom's "picnic in the canyon" even though we know that it is simply an excuse to bust out the s'mores already!!

(Again!!) We make ridiculous faces every time a camera is around.

We work on acting silly like a big kid--as opposed to the silliness of little kids. You know what I mean right? 5 years old is already moving us quickly into big kid territory.