On the drive home tonight...

It was dark out and Luke asked Nick if he could turn on the sun so that he could see...

Yesterday at the Zoo

I have been taking the boys to the zoo once a week and we have so much fun. Luke loves the elephants and I love the gorillas. Of course, our visit would not be complete without a train ride. Yesterday, while we were looking at Charlie the gorilla, he stood up against the glass. It was quite a sight!

Here are some more pictures from the zoo this summer...

Wes' first zoo train ride!

A close call in Tiny Town, CO

Today, I thought it would be fun to take the boys up to Tiny Town, a local and historic amusement park in the mountains outside of Denver. I invited Joanne (Grammy) along with. This park has famous buildings of old denver that are 1/16 the size of the real ones and therefore is "kid sized." When we got there we had the opportunity to take the train right away but decided to wait 15 minutes for the next one. We were very lucky because it turned out that that train was going too fast and derailed around the turn. There were 30 total passengers on the train and 20 were injured including scrapes, fractures and head injuries. There was a 10 day old baby on the train as well as a grandmother that was pinned under the train. We were very fortunate and blessed that we were not on the train but are praying for those who were injured. Below are some pictures that I took of the derailment.

Luke is 2 1/2 today!

Today marks my grandmother's 86th birthday and Luke's 2 1/2 year old birthday.  He started back at his preschool with Ms. Lori and will go every Tuesday and Thursday until I go back to work in January.  Then Ms. Lori will take both boys then.  Luke is learning so much there and came home knowing what sound the letter M says.  Too cute!

Lovin it!

Wes 2 1/2 months take 2 from K Belitz on Vimeo.

Wes has really started being more vocal this past week.  I have tried to get him on video several times but was just successful this morning.  He just loves lying in his crib and looking up at his mobile.  Luke also loved this as well.

Ice cream

I probably have the only kid who has adamantly said several times... "mommy, I don't want to go to the ice cream shop!"  I am sure that will change soon.  :)

An adventure in Vail

Young Wesley enjoyed his first mountain top experience fast asleep, so he didn't make it into this photo from the Wedding Deck.  Mount of the Holy Cross is in the background, soon to be covered by the thunderstorm that seems to hit whenever Dad (Nick) gets near the peak.  That same storm shut down the gondola with lightnight 2 (yes, TWO) cars before we actually boarded for the descent.  Two lightning- and thunder-filled hours later, we boarded our cabin with a nice German family that let us and our massive double stroller into the gondola first.  Mom and Dad were exhausted, but Luke and Wes came through fine and pretty much smiled the whole way through.  One final note to those of you who may be in a similar situation one day...the $9 chicken caesar salads are pretty good, but buy the lunch special before one runs out.

In the gondola... the first time for Wes at only 9 weeks old!

Luke and Dad checking out Gore creek.  Being a typical boy at his tender young age, Luke immediately searched for rocks to plunk in the water, if not himself.

Luke's "happy visit" to the dentist

Nearing the tender young age of 2 and a half, it was high time for Luke to begin his passage into the real world by going to the dentist for the first time for a "happy visit," or warm-up to an actual cleaning.  The trip was fraught with peril-- Kim was getting a cleaning at the same time and Nick was in charge of BOTH Luke and his hungry, breast-loving brother, Wes.  Being every inch a man, Nick was unable to lactate, and so his powers of distraction and entertainment were sorely tested as he strove mightily to keep the baby occupied while the older child looked at all the happy accoutrements of modern dentistry, such as the "drill," the "fluid vacuum" and the "gouger."  While interested as most boys would be in the various machines and what they could do, Luke became far less interested in the proceedings when he realized the hygienist intended to apply some of them to his own little mouth.  However, he was quite entertained when he saw that the sprayer could actually shoot 5 feet across the room and hit dad, who happily obliged since it seemed to buy him a few seconds of time without either boy crying.  So, while no dental work was done, Luke got his first taste of what will become a necessary, though harrowing, life experience: laying as still as possible in a chair while a masked person makes you as uncomfortable as possible and expects to be paid for the trouble.  Welcome to the world, little buddy!

Teaching mama's

The 3 girls and the 3 boys 2 years ago in 2008.

Josie and Zane, Kim and Luke, Katy and Charlie

Denise, Kim, Katy and Josie with all our kiddos

They all had a great time playing in the playhouse!

4 years ago when I started at Heritage in 2nd grade I was placed with an amazing group of women to work with on my team.  I learned so much from them and I had a great first year thanks so them.  Since then, the 3 of us have had 7 kiddos all 3 years old and younger.  Two years ago we got together with just our 3 kiddos and wow have they grown.  Now there are 4 more to add to the mix (twin boys for Katy) with only 1 girl, Emmy.  It was great to get together again this summer, especially since Denise moved to California last summer.