Cute Hair, Snuggles and Misc.

It's Getting Hot - Splash Pads, Indoor Playgrounds and Swimming

Alisha says: Arizona summers call for either indoor activities or water so here we come splash pads, pool and indoor play places.

Big Mountain Bike Trip

Dave says: I celebrated the end of the school year with a mountain bike trip to Moab and Fruita. The day before the trip I was super sick but as soon as I hit the trails, I started feeling better. Aleks, Jon and I did the best of the best including Ahab, Rockstacker, Mag-7, and Porcupine. In Fruita we did the Kokopelli area, the Lunch Loops area, and around 18 road where I camped out. Free lunch was a highlight here as Aleks is always pushing us to do the double blacks. 

My MTB Buddy

Alisha says: Skye and I have been mountain bike buddies while Dave was out of town. It is a good thing she likes riding because it was the only way that I could get out for a little ride while he was gone. Our usual loop is to enter Usery through the neighborhood and then go clockwise on moon rock, blevins, cats peak, meridian, county line, ruidoso, spillway, blevins, moon rock and home. That loop takes about an hour. Some times we do it backwards or shorten it to mix things up. I even took her up to the bench after a few days of riding the lower stuff. 

Getting The Mail

Alisha says: Sometimes Skye and I will walk the two blocks to the mailboxes to get the mail. She is quite the little walker theses days and actually ends up running a lot, except when going to the mailbox, it takes forever! She likes to walk in the rocks, pick up rocks, look at the plants, and stop at EVERY grate. It is hard to keep her on a straight path and moving but it is really fun to watch her explore and learn about the world around her. Usually sometime on the way home she refuses to walk anymore and ends up getting carried. Silly girl!

Skye

Dave says: Skye is a year and a half old now. It wasn't long ago that I was bribing her with fruit snacks to get her to walk. Now she is running everywhere. Alisha bought her some grey and orange Nikes and she roams all over the place.

We usually go outside in the morning. Now that we have redone the backyard on one side, she can wander around on the grass and play on the play structure. Her favorite thing to do though is still finding interesting rocks. She also really likes the swing and can sit still while swinging for a long time. She likes to run back and forth on the little bridge in her play structure and look out the windows. She has kind of figured out how to go down the slide and sometimes wants to climb back up as well.

We have gotten into the pool a few times this year and she loves it. Sometimes she tries to drink the water. Sometimes she falls down and dunks herself but doesn't seem to mind. We go on walks around the neighborhood and she is usually good when you carry her in the ergo pack on your back. In the big stroller, she just wants to get out and walk. Going walking with her means wandering around in the rocks and rarely going in a straight direction. Sometimes the neighbors have dogs out on a walk and she likes that a lot too. She gets really excited until the dog comes right up to her and then she gets shy. She still gets to go on the occasional mountain bike ride or hike as well.

Some evenings we go to different playground areas. She can climb on the structures a little bit and use the swings but mostly she just likes running around. On occasion, she will get shy and just want to sit with her parents. At other times, she gets really interested in what the other kids are doing. Sometimes she thinks they are chasing her and she runs away shrieking. She still shrieks with joy when her mom chases her around. 

She is still a clingy little girl. She wants to be with mom or dad all the time and if you step into the bathroom she is likely waiting right outside the door and possibly howling as well. She likes to be the center of attention when other people come over but when she is out in new places she is sometimes shy. All of this is probably the result of her dad's excessive coddling. 

On a typical day right now, she might get up around 6 am. She'll come into the bed and have a bottle. She used to relax here for a bit but lately it seems like she is on the go and won't sit still for long. She might have cheerios for breakfast (still a noisy eater) and then go outside either for a walk or to play in the backyard. One of us is out biking and the other is watching her. She and Alisha do lots of fun things during the day and when I get home she usually runs towards me and is excited to see me. It's hard to get out of my work clothes because she doesn't want to be put down. Then, it's my job to play with her until dinner time. After dinner it might be time for a bath or an activity of some sort. Then, it is time to read stories and to go to bed by around 7 pm. Lately I have been giving her choices between stories which seems to be going okay. Alisha is a great mom to our little girl!

18 Month Pediatrician Appointment Numbers:

Weight: 22.14 (52%)

Height: 32 Inches (52%)

Head Circumference: 18 1/2 Inches (75%)

Florida Part 4 - Animal Kingdom

Alisha says: On our last full day we went to Disney's Animal Kingdom. It ended up being a great day. We didn't really have an agenda, just take it easy and ride what we could. We went to two little shows and then left the park for a little bit to have lunch at Sanaa, an African Indian influenced place at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. It was the best meal of the trip. Skye feel asleep on the bus ride back to the park and slept through most of the line for the safari. After the safari we walked around looking at some more animals. Skye loved looking at the fish and got very excited and did some cute shrieking while watching them. Dave and I then did fast past/rider switch on a real roller coaster, Expedition Everest. It was pretty good and we both rode it twice in a short amount of time. After taking Skye on the Dinosaur Whirl (same as dumbo but dinosaurs) we let her run around in a big play area for kids. Once again she loved the little waterfall and also the big dinosaur dig (sand pit) area. She played there for a long time while we traded off watching her to ride Dinosaur (basically the Indiana Jones ride but with dinosaurs). Dave went first and then I went. I was 5th in line when they stopped letting people on because one of the jeeps was not working. She said it would be 15 minutes which turned into 25. Then they said it was fixed and were about to let us on but then it wasn't fixed so I waited a little longer before they shut the ride down. Bummer that I waited so long and didn't even get to go. Meanwhile Dave and Skye grabbed some dinner and then we booked it out of the park to make the next bus. 

It's Tough to be a Bug - Fun little 3D show with some extra special effects

Finding Nemo the Musical - Great production, Skye was a little wild through it but we made it.

Kilimanjaro Safaris - A long ride in a real jeep around to see some animals, the most popular ride in the park.

Expedition Everest - Fun roller coaster with a big drop.

Dinosaur Whirl - Dumbo ride but in dinosaurs.

Playplace/Sand Pit - Entertained Skye for a long time. Great place for kids to run around and play.

Dinosaur - Only Dave got to ride this because it broke down while I was in line.

The cool tree at the center of Animal Kingdom

Family selfie on the safari

Skye loved the fish and the dinosaur ride.

Florida Part 3 - Day Out

Alisha says: Saturday we decided to rent a car and go exploring a little bit. We knew we wanted to go to the beach but needed something else to do in the morning. On the way to Cocoa Beach we decided to go to the Kennedy Space Museum. It was fun to walk around and look at everything and the history of space exploration. Skye did okay but this museum is better for older kids because there are a lot of little videos and just things to looks at that she didn't have much patience or interest for. 

When we were finished we headed to the beach. It was getting to be afternoon and we hadn't eaten lunch. It was my birthday and I didn't want to have the mediocre food at the Space Museum so I talked Dave into waiting until we could find a fun little spot by the beach. The only problem is that we waited too long and both of us got a little tired and hangry. Finally we got some lunch at The Tiny Turtle by Cocoa Beach and after refueling we gained a little energy back for some time at the beach. Skye liked the beach and ended up covered in sand from head to toe. 

Walking in to see the space shuttle Atlantis

Dave sitting on the space toilet

Beach Time