Colorado Here We Come!

Yes, that's right we will soon be moving to Colorado. Patrick is taking a sales job with the same company he currently works for and his territory will be northern Colorado. We found a house on our last trip up there and so we will be in Erie, which is about 15 miles east of Boulder. The movers come a week from today so I'm relishing the last few moments of relative calm before the storm. I haven't updated this blog in awhile so here's a few highlights of our recent adventures. Stay tuned for Colorado pictures (I'm thinking SNOW) soon.

Day Out with Thomas the Train (it was hot but fun)

Inside Thomas the Train

Georgetown AirFest

Enjoying an ice cream cone (courtesy of grandma and grandpa)

Visiting with uncle Chris in Waco

Evan's 2nd Year Highlights

Click here to view this photo book larger

Can you believe Evan is already 2 years old! I haven't kept up with this blog very well but the album above shows some of the highlights of the year. We had a great birthday party a couple of weeks ago and Evan had a blast playing at the park. He didn't eat hardly any birthday cake this year but ice cream was still a hit. Happy Birthday sweet Evan!

Spring Time Fun

We have already been having lots of fun this spring. We try to take advantage of the nice weather before the scorching 100 degree summer hits. For spring break (not that we really have one anymore) we took a trip to near Fredericksburg to hang out with the whole Webb clan. We ended up with 9 adults and 6 kids (4 under age 4) in a four-bedroom house. Now that's a family gathering! We had a great time staying at a rental house on the LBJ ranch. There was a lot of room for the kids to run around and the weather was nice.

saying hi to the cows

checking out LBJ's "Texas White House"

hiking with the cousins and Grandma and Grandpa

pinwheel garden

one last swing before heading home

Last week, Evan and I traveled to west Texas to see my family while Patrick was away for business travel. We got to visit lots of family which is always nice. We also got our share of that lovely west Texas wind :) One highlight of the trip was Evan's first visit to the zoo. He had a great time and was worn out afterward. His favorite animals seemed to be the alligator and the giraffes.

snakes!

fish (AKA "blub blub" in Evan-speak)

Evan was a little uncertain about feeding the giraffes

Yay for the zoo!

Finally...an Update

What a bad mom blogger I have been. No update since the Fall! What can I say, life gets in the way. Evan has been growing and changing so much over the past few months. The biggest change is his vocabulary. He had a remarkable language explosion between 15 and 18 months. Now (20 months today) he knows so many words I can't even keep count. He understands just about everything we say, although he doesn't always comply (typical toddler, right?). Here are just a few highlights of the past few months.

Hanging out at grandma and grandpa's farm

Our family Christmas picture

Evan checking out his new Christmas presents

Getting a wagon ride from the neighbor kids

Exploring the park

Here's a recent video of Evan "reading":

Pumpkin Patch Time!

Yes, it's October so that means we, like all other self-respecting parents of toddlers, must take our little one to a pumpkin patch for the obligatory pictures involving lots of orange and usually some hay thrown in for good measure. Actually, I was looking forward to Evan's first trip to a pumpkin patch. We opted for a farm called Crowe's Nest near Manor, TX. It was great because it was a short trip and they had a LOT of animals, which Evan loves. Sure, they had the usual goats, cows, pigs, but they also had ostriches, buffalo, tortoises, owls, and llamas. It was a lot of fun and we even did the hayride. They also had a little store and we bought some of the best homemade wheat bread we've ever had. Yum! Here are a few highlights from the trip:

Evan Goes Colonial

We just returned from our first airplane trip with Evan. My brother recently started teaching Sociology at The College of William and Mary so we thought we visit him for fall break. For those of you who don't know, William and Mary is the alma mater of such famous folks as Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and (a few years later) Jon Stewart.

Evan did pretty well on the flights, with a little help from noise canceling headphones and the iPhone Sesame Street videos. Sitting still for over two hours is hard for a 16 month old.

One of our first stops was, of course, a tour of the W&M campus. It really is a lovely campus. It's so tree-covered, you almost feel like you're in a state park rather than a college campus. Evan really took to watching the numerous squirrels ("quirl") on campus. He became our squirrel-spotter, pointing out everyone he saw. He must have gotten a little confused, however, because he soon started "meowing" each time he saw one. Hey, it's pretty good logic for a 16-month-old: the only other furry thing with a tail he knows is cat.

Evan even stayed up a little late one night to go to a W&M football game. He enjoyed it for about 45 min and then he had seen enough. For all you Texas folks, all I can say is, football in VA is not like football in Texas. The size of the stadium at W&M would be the size of a high school football stadium in Texas.

Next, we were off to the other main attraction in the area: Colonial Williamsburg. I had always heard of it, but I really didn't know that much about it. It turned out to be very interesting and educational. It was pretty warm outside so it was tiring but fun. We were able to see many of the colonial stores and famous buildings. I was impressed with the authentic knowledge that the staff colonial "players" seem to have. It really seemed like they knew about 18th century VA and were not just reading a script. Evan liked running around the streets and especially like seeing the horses pulling the carriages.

We also made a quick stop by Yorktown, VA and visited the beach along the York River. It was quite beautiful. I had no idea a river could have such a lovely beach. Evan got to have his first beach experience.

All in all, it was a great trip. Traveling with a toddler is never easy but it's worth it to see him experience all these new events.

Lake on the W&M campus

Evan watching the game ("Go Tribe!")

Wig shop in Colonial Williamsburg

Silversmith

Evan resting with Grandma on the steps of a colonial house

Checking out the horse close up

Carriage going through town

Classic colonial house

Learning about 18th century politics at the State Capitol

Evan at Yorktown beach

Summer Vacation

We recently returned from a two-week summer adventure. We hadn't been away from home for that long since our honeymoon. I had a feeling that two weeks away with a toddler in tow could be quite an adventure indeed or perhaps an event never-to-be- repeated until Evan turned 18, but it turned out great! Evan has turned into quite a good little traveler. First, we went to west Texas to my parents' place to spend a week with them while Patrick was traveling for work. Evan had a wonderful time with his grandparents and got visit his great-grandparents also. He LOVED being outside at the farm and learned a new word, "tractor" (it comes out more like "ta-ta" from him).

Evan in the cotton field

exploring the farm

Evan had the chance to visit all his great grandparents.

I love this! Great-grandma playing the harmonica for Evan

When Patrick returned from traveling we all packed up and headed for Ruidoso, NM. We vacationed there many summers when I was a kid and we knew it would be a good low-key spot to relax. We enjoyed the cool weather and pine trees while it was scorching in Texas.

hiking in the cool pines

just a swingin'

"Dad, can I have a train too?"

relaxing to some Chitty Chitty Bang Bang music on the ride home