Oliver's First "Official" Hair Cut

I couldn't take the fuzzy hair any longer and we decided that it was time for Oliver to get a real hair cut. The trims that I've been doing above the ears have been working, but it was time for an over-all clean-up. Besides, Saturday was our second day in a row of cold temperatures and straight rain, it sounded like a great rainy day event. Especially since he is getting ready to make his California debut soon when he sees his Aunt Lindsey and Uncle Jeff. His Mama likes a clean-cut boy, so both of the boys (Keith and Oliver) got hair cuts Saturday. We took Oliver to Cool Cuts 4 Kids and they were suppose to take a picture of his first hair cut but their camera wasn't working. Well, it's not like I was going to show up without a camera. Here are (nearly) play-by-play moments from the haircut. Oliver did very well and didn't have any issues with the process.

Oliver acclimating himself with the fire engine "barber" chair Look at all of that hair on top!!
Look at all of that fuzzy hair in the back!!!
Say good-bye to the fuzzy duck-tail coming off of the back.
Wow, that's a big clipper for a little head. #4 in the back and sides blended to the top.
Moving Target!!!
Almost done - Mohawk.
Why is it every child hair stylist puts their hair in a Mohawk?
Oliver sportin' the Mohawk, momentarily.
"Ma, almost done and I'm SO handsome!!!
Wait 'til the girls at school see me now!!!"
"I'm too cool to pose for a photo. I'm just going to drive my truck like a tough guy."

I LOVE This photo! It cracks me up every time I see it.

"Yup, I think this will do"

Back at home, Oliver playing with his toys.

Peek-a-boo, I see you!
Oliver LOVES to play pee-a-boo.

Oliver's new favorite place to play is in the toy cornet. He can spend much of the afternoon playing down there. Every once in a while he'll cruise out to see what' happening. I find it quite fascinating to see what attracts him now that he is crawling. It makes me wonder if he's been thinking about seeking specific things out since well before he was mobile.

Funny Straw Face

Last night we went to Red Robin for dinner. Oliver LOVES their balloon's. Thanks to Shawna reminding us recently that Oliver will take water from a straw, we have been doing this at restaurants. He LOVES that too!!! Last night Keith was leaving the straw in his mouth while he sucked the ice cold water down and he was making the funniest pouting lip face. Check it out!

New Belgium Brewery Tour

Yesterday we had our quarterly team building event for our planning and scheduling team at work. We've been trying to find places to tour that we may have business interest in. This summer we decided to tour New Belgium Brewery in Fort Collins. We have special interest in New Belgium because they purchase our pale malt to brew all of their brands except their one organic brew. Our team bills the shipments and tracks the malt inventory so we wanted to see what happened to the malt once it left Golden and headed north to Fort Collins. Wow, were we in for a treat! We were treated to a 2.5 hour personal tour of the entire brewing and packaging operation. We were offered a trip to see their Process Waste Treatment Plant but we figured we've seen one (we have one at Coors) and that's enough for a life time. We had an excellent tour and then ended it with a tasting session of some of their brews. What a great day to spend the work day!!

I know that some of the team is a blog watcher so here is a shout out to them! Thanks for a great day!!!

We piled in the Coors van for our trip. New Belgium is about 1.25 - 1.5 hours north of Coors. We had to take this picture because Keith thought it was funny that I was driving this big van and he didn't think I would be able to do it. Oh, he has little faith in my skills! Not only did I drive it, I drove it well. We had our own special greeting just inside the brewery. How cool is that?!?!

This is Carrie, Joanne, Cindy, Carol and Vi

Here we are tasting their new summer brew, Skinny Dip. It was fabulous!!
Vi, Joanne, Cindy, Carrie, Carol

Tie Dye Mania

G'ma and G'pa Garner brought a little Chewelah, WA hometown culture to Oliver during their last visit in the form of a new tie dye outfit. Here are a few photos of Oliver sportin' the new look. Now that he's crawling it is tough to get pictures of his sitting still so these are "action" shots!

"Oh, No... I have a swirly target on my back and I've been caught crawling away!"

Day in Fort Collins

While Keith was tackling the wilderness last Saturday, Oliver and I tackled an hour road trip to Fort Collins to see Shawna, Abigail and Ian. Ironically, Phil was off hiking with a friend also so it was just us girls and kids. We had a great visit and Oliver loved watching Abigail run circles around him. By the time I got the camera out they were deep in play mode and posing for pictures was not an option. Here are a couple of pictures to prove that the kids actually had a play date on Saturday, even if they are too enthralled in playing to all smile at the camera at one time.

Abigail (2.5 years) and Ian (4 months)

Abigail, Ian and Oliver
Ian

Keith's 26 Mile Hike

Keith, Craig and Bryan went hiking in the Lost Creek Wilderness last weekend on a journey that was 26 miles long and estimated to take 3 days. They left Friday morning on the Goose Creek Trail and Saturday evening I got a phone call from Keith that he was at home. They had hikes 14 miles the first day and 12 the next. What Super Studs!!! Not bad for a bunch of week day desk jockey's. Here are some pictures from their trip.

Craig and Bryan

Berry-licous

Oliver has become quite independent when it comes to eating. He has a short attention span for traditional baby food and quickly wants to go to real food that he can feed himself. His list of dining options grows by the day. This morning he had waffles and a scrambled egg, which he loved.

Here is a video clip of Oliver loving blueberries, raspberries and a few favorites, Cheerios. He started dinner with sweet potatoes which add a nice back drop on his face to the berry accents. This is toward the end so it's more like play time than dinner time.

Mom - This video clip is for you. I'm sure you can imagine how hard it was for me to watch him get berries EVERYWHERE! Luckily he was headed to the tub right after dinner.

Crawling Machine

Oliver is officially a crawling machine as of this past weekend. Here is a small clip of his new skill. He is SO happy and proud now that he can get from point A to point B. He cruises around at school with Cadence and Owen in a little pack from one side of the room to the other. Their favorite place to play is in the garden house in the corner of the room. When I went to pick him up today he flashed his big smile at me and then crawled straight for me. I love it!!! I guess it's time to baby proof the house.

Back Yard Project - COMPLETE.... almost

We finished the backyard project this weekend, almost. After an extremely busy July, we finally got back to it this weekend. I say "WE" because I helped Keith pick out the plants, decide where they would go and pick out the bench and water feature. Granted, he did all of the "heavey lifting". It looks a little sparse, but the plants are going to grow to over twice their current diameter. It should fill in nicely in the next year or two. Plus, we have another bush that we need to put in but it is on special order. Next spring I plan to plant a few strategic flowers but there is no sense in doing it now since we only have a month or two of summer left. Here are some photos of Keith's hard work. I think he did a great job and we are SO exited that it is done.

Date Night

Keith and I realized a couple of weeks ago that we haven't been on a date night since Oliver was about a month old. We have been out with friends but not with just the two of us. So, Keith planned an evening out and he even booked the baby sitter. It was all a surprise until the time came. We had dinner at Three Tomatoes Steakhouse at the Fossil Trace golf course in Golden. It was SO YUMMY!!!! We had dinner on the deck and watched the storm clouds come through the valley. After that we went to a movie, Swing Vote. We found it quite entertaining. We had a great time and have a great picture to show for it :)

9 Month Photos

I'm a little behind with getting Oliver's 9 month photos posted, but here they are!

He is such a ham and we are quite lucky that he is usually very cooperative for photos. There were taken on July 13, one day before his 9 month birthday.

~~Heat Wave~~

We are setting records in Denver for the heat. Today is the 21st day in a row over 90 degrees. Our record set in 1901 was 17 days in a row. This weekend we are having highs around 100 and yesterday was 104. Did we move to Arizona and I didn't notice?

http://www.myfoxcolorado.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=7113138&version=22&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=1.1.1

Grandma and Grandpa Garner Visit Day 4

The last day of G'ma and G'pa's visit we hung around the house. Here are a few photos from the end of their visit.

Last weekend it became very apparent that we needed to move Oliver's mattress down in the crib when we went in to get him and his head was in the mobile. Hmm.... I guess he decided sitting up in bed sounded like a great idea. The first morning after the mattress was lowered, G'ma walked by to find Oliver peeking out over the bumper pad. It was just too cute!

Oliver LOVES bath time. I think he could spend hours in there if we would let him.

Oliver playing in the living room.

x

Time to go home. Tuesday morning Keith took G'ma and G'pa to the airport on his way to work. Here are a few photos before their departure. I think Oliver was anxious to get back to school and check in on his peeps because he wasn't really in the mood to sit still for photos.

Kiss before heading to work and school.
I think by this time Keith had his fill of photos also.