Having Oliver's birthday at school followed by his party at night was a fun way to celebrate on his big day, plus, we had a very busy weekend immediately following. To kick it off, Keith ran the Rugged Maniac. He has been training for months and it resulted in several pounds of weight loss. I am so proud of him and he's looking great. He did great in the race and he enjoyed it so much he is hoping to do some more similar races in the spring. This photo was just prior to him leaving for the race.
At the same time that Keith was racing around a muddy obstacle course on the side of a mountain, Oliver was racing up and down the soccer field. He had a personal record of FOUR GOALS!!!
Four Years Old = Four Goals!
He was the Super Star. I missed a photo of the first goal. He was at the goal in front of me, stole the ball from the other team and then drove it to the other end to score. He left the other players in the dust. He did this again and then scored two more times with a little closer proximity to the net. We were SO proud of him! Four years of age is good on him! Plus, Nana and Papa were able to go to his game so they saw his Super Star performance as well. Everyone was SO Excited!
Goal #2
Goal #3
Goal #3
Goal #4
After soccer and the Rugged Maniac we all skipped home for lunch and to prepare to leave for Estes Park to see Keith's cousins daughter (is that a second cousin?) Rachel get married.
Nana and Papa looked so nice and were all smiles at the wedding.
Oliver loved playing with Papa while we waited for the ceremony to begin. He had nothing but smiles for Papa.
Kellan enjoyed looking around at all of the people.
The newlyweds, Rachel and Justin.
It was a gorgeous wedding at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park.
Kellan spent much of the ceremony practicing his walking skills on the balcony. He is a screamer who doesn't like to sit still so with the first signs of him becoming antsy Keith took him outside so that we did not disturb the ceremony.
With a love of photography, I often have visions of amazing family photos. I envisioned a wonderful fall photo with the colorful leaves and snow capped mountains in the back ground. With two small boys, I'm learning to be happy if I get a photo where we are all looking. Clearly, these new shirts that the boys got must have been quite tasty. Maybe it's a new line; Sweet Sleeves.
I have hopes of nice family photos as the kids get older and Brian's family was quick to demonstrate.
Brian (Keith's older brother) Stephanie, Kaden and Lauren.
This is probably a more typical scene: Mommy trying to talk Oliver into a nice photo while Kellan tries to escape.
Mommy: Come on Oliver, don't you want to take a nice photo? Just one. That's it. Please?
Oliver: Seriously Mom? I just want to go play. I've already used up my 20 photo smiles for the day.
Kellan: People, give me a break. I really need to get out and get some dirt on my knees and under my fingernails. LET ME CRAWL!
The Stanley Hotel is certified as haunted. It is also the location where they filmed The Shining and parts of Dumb and Dumber. They draw a large crowd of people in search of haunted Halloween moments and they go all out to decorate as well. The Stanley is also a very popular place for weddings. Therefore, it is only appropriate to have a Mr and Mrs Jack-o-lantern bride and groom.
Oliver heading into the Stanley.
There was no shortage of love for Oliver from his Aunt Stephanie.
Oliver was a big fan of the bar and the special wedding cocktail. Ok, so there was no apple juice so I asked the bartender to mix some pineapple juice and ginger ale and throw a cherry on top. It was an instant hit for all of the kids.
What's this? More love for Oliver from his Aunt Stephanie. No wonder Oliver has been known to tell us "everybody loves me".
When the cocktail tables are high tops and you're a short top, you pull up a stool where you can.
Dad's foot has never been so handy.
I love this photo of Oliver chillin' at the bar with the sun shining through the windows. This round included a splash of grenadine to make his special drink just right.
Meanwhile, Kellan was back at our table looking so grown up in his very own chair.
Papa and Nana were enjoying the evening surrounded by their family.
Kellan was a thirsty guy and he has learned to enjoy drinking ice cold water out of a glass.
Maybe he enjoys it a little TOO much!
The wedding reception was wonderful and we all had a nice time.
Sister-in-Laws: Stephanie and Carrie
Daddy and his boys: Kellan and Oliver
Typically it is not appropriate to play with your food, but when you give kids a couple of crab legs, who can resist bringing them back to life?
Sometimes, you just have to go with the flow for the sake of having happy and entertained kids at a wedding reception. Plus, when the food is fun, who is to say we have to be so serious, especially when we are in the back row. Shhh... no one will know... except everyone who reads this blog.
Cherries are the best!
For now, Kellan is passing on the sparking apple cider and is happy flashing his baby blues and irresistible dimples.
Cheers all around.
Kellan: Hey look, while everyone is distracted I will use my sleeve for a napkin to wipe my blueberries on and this table cloth will come in handy to start the wave.
Kellan: Who? Me? I'm just sitting here innocent and cute.
Oliver is probably thinking something similar to Kellan about being innocent and cute.
Mmmmmm Sparkling Cider
After dinner the dancing began. The kids enjoyed dancing Kellan style for a very short while, on their knees.
Kellan was happy that the music had been turned up so that he could finally stretch his vocal cords.
It has been a long day for Oliver and he was slowing down.
Then out came the sugar. With one brief announcement that it was time for cake the kids were eager to get their cupcake of choice. Oliver probably had his eye on his choice from the moment we walked in the room.
Mmmm Yummy!
Hey Look, Here's Mommy!
What's this? A couple shot! We don't get a lot of these so we were excited to have a chance to take one. (Ok, Carrie was excited and Keith played along)
As if cupcakes weren't enough, there was fondue too!
Lauren was not shy to teach Oliver the ways of chocolate fondue.
Lauren is using such precision to pick the perfect piece of cake.
Oliver is wondering if he has enough energy to hold his head up any longer.
Oliver carefully watched Lauren get the perfect amount of chocolate on the cake.
Lauren carefully placed the chocolate drenched cake on the plate.
Lauren was SO proud of her plate of chocolate drenched cake. Oliver was so excited to eat it that he broke out in the happy dance. I guess he found a new burst of energy to carry him through.
Back to dancing, Aunt Stephanie found herself a dancing partner with Oliver and her daughter Lauren.
Kaden and Lauren Bustin' a Move.
Mommy and Oliver Cuttin' a Rug.
We had a great time at the wedding and then we called it a night and headed back to our hotel.
After a nice continental breakfast with the family, we were off in search of some elk watching. Low and behold, the elk came to us and there was a herd just outside of the hotel.
Driving through town I was reminded how beautiful Estes Park is in the fall. It had been years since we had been to Estes. We hope to get back sooner next time.
We did find some elk closer to Rocky Mountain National Park. It is always fun to see the dynamics of the herds during rutt. It was even more entertaining trying to explain to our four year old why the teenagers (as I call the young males) were all grouped to the left.
Why there was a big empty field in between the two groups of elk.
Isn't this place amazing?!
Why there was a very large herd of girl elk with one big boyfriend and why the teenagers can't come and play.
We asked him if he could imagine having that many girlfriends and he just gave us a funny look. Maybe because there are many days at school that we hear that the girls can't get enough of him and he's quite the ladies man. Maybe he can relate??
We stopped for a coffee/juice/milk break on the edge of town.
It was so great to enjoy some crisp mountain air, clear blue skies, changing leaves and our favorite beverages.
After a stroll downtown we stopped for some lunch. Out of nowhere, Kellan impressed us with his ability to balance the utensils on his head!! We had NOTHING to do with this. WHOA! You just never know where the talents will emerge!
We stopped by the taffy store for a special treat. We lucked out and got to see them cutting and wrapping the taffy in the window. Look close to the left of Oliver's head and you'll see the taffy going round and round in the window.
Speaking of not knowing when things will emerge, as we approached the car (hold on to your seat) Oliver asked if I would take his picture on this rock. WHOA NELLY! The camera about flew out of my pocket as I seized the moment and got this photo of our handsome four-year-old son.
Oh wait... the weekend's not over yet.
After the two hour drive home, we were back home to find warm temperatures and great leaves falling from the neighbors tree. We took advantage of the afternoon and took the boys over to play.
There is something great about photos of kids playing in fall leaves.
We have been practicing walking with Kellan and he's doing great with only needing to hold on to one hand. Could he be walking free style soon?
Kellan enjoyed a nice fall stroll to the end of the block with his Daddy. He s getting so big and we love watching his grow.
That afternoon, Kellan and I had a few moments to ourselves. Just Kellan, Mommy and Mommy's sunglasses.
Such a cool dude!
Hold on to your side, you might get a stitch laughing.
Kellan likes to carry things in his mouth (yes, this has been scary a time or two) and right in front of my camera he popped up with a crayon in his mouth and his inner bull dog emerging.
Happy Fall Weekend Mr Blue Eyes!
Don't worry if you feel the urge to squeeze his cheeks and kiss them all over. You just may want to make sure nobody is watching you since it's just a computer screen. :) Kellan truly is irresistibly squeezable!
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