Rebecca is One, No, TWO!!!

Sort of can't believe this little girl is TWO! We sort of had two celebrations - her actual birthday and her party day. 

She woke up first on her birthday...so got a little special time with me before O & M joined the chaos. Here she is enjoying her "white donuts" and milk on the couch. She is donning ALL of her new birthday jewels and has a very tight grip on the string of her giant Dora balloon.

 Watching Dora, holding her Dora balloon, and one of her presents. She was SO good about not opening her presents until I told her she could (and for some of them we waited until late that evening when Kyle got home)!

 "Dot paint" - a birthday art activity for she and Owen.

And of course Bee had to come over to bring birthday sussies...yes, that's a hoola hoop.

 But the real surprise was our last minute decision to have Bee take Rebecca and Owen to their first movie at a theater to see the Winny the Pooh movie. It was a TOTAL hit. They were both mesmerized by the big screen (and personal kid-sized popcorn). 

Here's the birthday girl doing a little more dress-up.

 Loves to style herself with an anklet or seven.

 And FINALLY Daddy got home and we got to open presents!!! Here she is sporting some of her dress-up clothes - fairy wings, a little tutu/skirt and her new bike helmet.

 Okay - PARTY DAY! (Owen had a much harder time waiting patiently for her party than Rebecca did.) Since we don't really have a house we can have all our friends and family over to (not even our family really) AND since we're in the "hottest summer on record" in Austin - we decided to try out one of our favorite local pools for the party. 

Worked out well. But the amenities/decor won't get this party on "Kara's Party Ideas" any time soon...

My paper "Habby 2nd Birthday Rebecca" banner only stayed up a few minutes...no great way to secure it and it was just getting in our way. And half our balloons floated away after a few minutes - it's sort of a Mezger family birthday tradition - to (unknowingly) release balloons to the sky.

 Her chocolate cupcakes with pink icing and oreos on top. Could I have at least taken a picture of one that wasn't smudged?

Her little cake.

 Possibly the lamest party favors ever - oreo butterflies.

Where did the black/zebra and pink theme come from, you ask? Well...Bee (of course) bought a little outfit (zebra print with bright pink flowers on the booty) for Maggie when she was born and she had a vision for Miss M wearing it to R's birthday party. And party vision snow-ball effect...you have a theme!

Here are the two sisters...I can't believe I didn't take a picture of Maggie's bum...the flowers really make the look.

 Maggie with a sweet new friend. Her momma and I are pretty sure they're destined to be lifelong friends - can't you tell how much they enjoy each others company?

 Pool time!

And (finally) cupcake time. Or, as Rebecca says "cake time"!

 The two "grandmas" - they both cringed when I called them when taking this picture. Both played a HUGE role in getting O & R swimming this summer!

 R feeding Bee some watermelon.

 R trying to blow out her candles.

 She needed a little help.

 But she didn't need much help destroying her cake.

She actually invited Owen to share in the destruction/eating. He was glad to oblige.

 And Rebecca feeding Nana some icing. Now that's love.

 

Daddy eating some watermelon - a lot of watermelon actually.

 Dahdo with the hardest job.

 Every year I say we're not going to "do presents" at the party (because it just gets too chaotic with all the other little kids, plus I want our friends to come and just hang out without having to bring a present)...and each year I fail. Grandparent-pressure. So, after all the non-family guests left Rebecca got to open some presents (and most importantly - the grandparents got to watch)!

 Ready for action.

 Holding a sweet new dolly.

Owen and Uncle Alex having a little battle with a water-squirting dolphin toy. Owen and the dolphin won - I think Alex thought it was a shark.

 I forgot about R's little "2" crown until the very end. Hugging a few of her presents...

 The "cheese!!!" face.

 THE FAMILY (minus me and Maggie who was asleep in the shade)

 And I really should stop here...but I have to show you a little of the party aftermath...this is real life after all...

Our kitchen...

 The leftover baked-in-the-heat cupcakes. Delectable.

 Our sweet two-year old saying thank you to all her wonderful friends and family for making her 2nd birthday so special.

The Centennial State: Where HOT is 85

Off to Colorado...the land of mountains, 85 degree highs and Bee & JoJo's Summer 2011 Mountain Home. 

We left REALLY early to fly to Denver on Saturday the 30th. We checked 3 bags, a stroller, 3 carseats (here is Rebecca sitting in hers outside the airport while we unloaded), and had 3 cary-ons. The kids all did surprisingly well on the flight (there and back) and the 4+ hour drive to Redstone.

 Before the drive, we met up with Grandpa Robert at a great park in one of Denver's many suburbs. Here's Owen showing how fast he can run. So fast.

 And Grandpa Robert explaining how pine cones work. Fascinating!

 And of course Owen had to demonstrate how to do a somersault.

 But the highlight (other than Grandpa Robert's beard) was "Pop Pop's Digger" (Rebecca named him and it).

 Driving lessons.

 Ready to work on the farm.

 I was fascinated by the strange color of the grass and all the trees there. I think they call is GREEN. Thought it made a great backdrop for the whitey-whiteness of Maggie's sweet little footsy.

 Chillin' in the shade.

 Gigem' Aggies!

 Alright, now we're in Redstone. Our first outing was to the horseback riding place near our house. Come to find out its against CO law to put a child under the age of 7 on a horse even with a parent. So, no riding for us, but we did get to watch the farrier work on the horse's shoes.

 Bottoms up.

 Owen got to keep a used shoe. But don't ask him about it because we left it in CO and he hasn't asked about it yet...

 Rebecca saying "Nay" to the horses.

 Okay, Bee has a bird thing. And this was hummingbird PARADISE. And she made homemade hummingbird food. So, it was MEGA PARADISE.

 At one point we had 5-6 birds all fighting for the food. Hey birds - there's no fighting in paradise!

Cool birdhouse.

 Owen chillin' on the deck (Chrystal River in the background) playing with Rebecca's My-Little-Pony (he'll probably be embarrassed by that some day).

 View from our deck. Just horrible, isn't it? And the sound was even worse. Imagine leaving your windows open at night and being lulled to sleep by the rushing river outside. And imagine being chilly! We barely survived, I tell you.

 Ugh. Sixty-something.

 Our puny little cabin.

 One of our two gracious hosts - Jo Jo the GrillMaster.

 Gourmet Hotdogs. We ate like KINGS all week.

 Mom caught this one of me when I wasn't looking. This is what I (or Kyle) did most of the week - some form of trying to relax while simultaneously dealing with a kiddo. I think they call it parenting. I finally finished by book club book but it wasn't until I got home.

 JoJo relaxes by watching the ticker-tape on Bloomberg or one of those other financial networks...but he'll take a break and watch a little Dora when push comes to shove.

Rebecca found a wooden bunny and a bucket that she absolutely loved to play with. Yup.

Just taking in the view.

 Me and Maggie relaxing a bit.

 And 3 pages later...

 Tag-team dinner. Now you see him...

 Now you don't! (How did we DOOO that?)

 Okay, there was this AWESOME playhouse on the property. At least we think it was on our property. Complete with a trap door, pullies, ladders, a ramp and lots of weird old stuff inside. Kid-heaven!

 Cheeeeeese! (Owen and Bee had some special play time at the play house. They played "Club House". They made up a "secret handshake" that involved the rhyme: Fingers, Nose, Ears, Toes. He will gladly show you the motions. And the password to get in: Pizza Toes.

 Well hey, Kyle! Nice to see you here!

 One morning we sent Kyle off to hike (and climb close to 5000 vertical feet) in the Marroon Bells Wilderness (or something like that). So, we spent the morning at the pool at the Redstone Inn. Not too shabby.

 Okay, gotta tell you about Redstone. Although "real" civilization was only about 1/2 an hour away in Carbondale, it was a lot more fun just to go the 5 minutes to Redstone, "the Ruby of the Rockies". 

 Famous for it's "Coke Ovens" (currently being restored) - used to make coke for steel. Redstone was a quaint little planned community for the coke plant employees.

The main part of town (the only part of town) is one street a couple of blocks long. Here is the general store. Yes, that's Teddy Roosevelt eating ice cream.

 And yes, that's Johnny Cash in the window.

And no, your eyes aren't fooling you. That's the Mona Lisa and Leo Da Vinci himself. It's quite the place.

There is just so much history here. All preserved by the Redstone Museum.

 

Back at our house. The kids and I went on a "nature walk" where they got to pick up anything they thought was beautiful or interesting. Lots of rocks.

 Ooooh, and a BIG highlight was actually SEEING a famed log-truck on the road. Whipped the camera out as quickly as I could. This was right up there with driving through the infamous Eisenhower Tunnel - something Owen has been talking about since Bee and JoJo's trip to Colorado last summer.

 Who needs toys when Daddy will push you in a wheel barrow?

 Hanging out at the little park in Redstone.

 Great little playground. Enjoyed by young and not-quite-as-young.

Run JoJo Run! Run Becca Run!

Taking a little break.

The view from the park.

It would have looked upside down to him.

 A very short family hike to a very cold waterfall.

 Maggie really enjoyed the waterfall.

And the crazins. (Is this her first half-smile caught on camera?)

 Can you see her perched on her little rock look-out (bottom left)?

 And back in town - some old fashioned ice cream at the General Store.

 Choc-o-late and Yum-berry.

 Rebecca only dropped hers 4 times. Which means we gave it back to her 3 times. (See her little pink heart necklace? A little sussy from JoJo made from local stone. She LOVES it and points to it and says "mah haart" longingly when she wants to wear it.)

And who doesn't love ice cream more than a giant redwood sasquatch?

 It was only a little bit tempting to leave the kids here - in there very own ghost town.

 Monkey See.

Monkey Do. 

  When we got back to the park where Kyle was waiting with Maggie, my sweet (but mess-averse) husband couldn't believe what he saw...

 How could this possibly bother anybody?

 The cone bit the dust. That's just a scoop of ice cream in her hand. Garnished with grass.

 Back at the house - picking and eating fresh blueberries.

 Now for some photos from a drive we did as a family one afternoon. We were sort of chasing a rain storm. It was awesome. Yes - it rains in Colorado. Like every afternoon. That explains all that GREEN!

 The mountains thick with aspen trees. Can you imagine this in the fall?

 Momma and 3 sweet kiddos.

 Baby-mine.

 The cool weather just makes you want to HUG EVERYBODY!

 Another afternoon, Kyle took Rebecca out on a hike of their own. He dressed her especially for the occasion.

Follow the Leader.

 Ah.

 Did I mention the special occasion for the CO vacation? Our wonderful JoJo (known to the rest of the world as Sid Orton) turned 70 in mid-June. Sid Orton turning 70 = SO 70 "Forever Young World Tour". All his groupies got to come and visit. Happy Birthday JoJo!!!

 His youngest groupies.

 His biggest groupie.

Kyle's groupie-head got cut off.

 Groupies being silly!

 Mentorship.

 This bench said "To all Rebekah's - Past, Present and Future" (spelled wrong but how cool!?)

 On the Rebecca bench in Carbondale.

 Female Mentorship.

 Okay - I know I mentioned that Kyle went on a pretty intense hike. How 'bout some photos?

Not too shabby, huh?!

 The red is from the oxidized iron in the mountains in this area.

 The hills are alive...

 With the sound of afternoon thundershowers!

One afternoon my mom and brother Alex went on a four-wheeler ride.

And this old place was up in the mountains. Something right out of the Epcot Center...

 My big outings for the week were joining Bee at her pilates class - she was a regular! We had a view of the mountains. Perfect.

 Next to having a message (by a woman who - no joke - told me to go out and hug a tree...) this was the best I felt all week!

 So sad to go...but our week was through. (Did I mention the rental company originally had us in a Jeep Liberty? We barely fit in the Tahoe!)

 Bee & JoJo enjoying a peaceful (finally!) dinner before their return to (hot) Texas.

It was a great week. It wasn't an easy week (how could traveling with 3 under 4 be easy?) but we had a wonderful place to stay with some of our favorite people. Thanks so much for the wonderful week Bee & JoJo!!! We love you!