It's snowing here today. There's no snow on the ground, and this won't amount to much, but none the less, it's the first day of spring and it's snowing. Earlier in the week we went to the park in short sleeves and played on the slides, then came home and ate dinner outside on our back deck. This time of the year is hard because you can get tricked by the weather and think that you're closer to summer than you really are. But then again, I'm happy that it's only March. Time goes by too fast anymore.
We just got back from a five week trip out west. We visited our family in Colorado and Wyoming. We had such an amazing time that coming back here this time was the hardest yet. We love our Pennsylvania home, but we're itching to move back to our roots; to have our kids grow up in the same environment we did, and to have family only a few hours away.
The first part of our trip was spent in Steamboat. We rented a condo so that we could have our own space and so that our family could continue their normal routines without having to accommodate two two-year-olds. Steamboat is one of the most beautiful places on earth in my opinion and our first day in the valley just solidified my feelings. It was a blue bird day. Not a cloud in the sky and the snow was piled up every where we looked. My mom was in town for the first few days of our trip so it was a treat to be able to see her while we were on vacation too. We took full advantage of everyone who wanted to babysit the boys for us while we went out to dinner, went skiing, sat in the hot tub, and just spent quality time together. It felt so good to be up on the ski hill again and to see that after missing two seasons, Chase and I were still as good as we were before moving away. We had so much fun skiing with my dad and Maggie. It just felt like old times. It was so good to have so many outdoor activities available to us right in town. We miss that out here. One of our other highlights while in Steamboat was walking up the Spring Creek Trail with the boys, Maggie and my dad. We pulled the boys in a sled some of the way, but they really preferred to walk. Chase and I were so proud of them and it warmed our hearts to watch them play in the snow, fall, laugh and marvel at the beauty of the winter wonderland that is Steamboat in February.
As always, family dinners at my dads house are a favorite thing for us. Great food, conversation and company. The boys even helped cook some meals and had a great deal to contribute to the dinner time conversations. It was also so nice to finally be able to go to an opening of one of my brother's art shows. We went to an art show that he curated. He had one piece in the show, but he was the one coordinating with the other artists and deciding which pieces to use etc. It was a lot of fun to be a part of that scene.
Thanks to everyone for watching the boys for us and helping us with everything from loaning us a car to bringing beer over when we hosted dinner. Dad and Birgit, thank you so much for taking the boys for a few nights (with colds) so we could enjoy our time without them. We miss you guys so much and can't wait to come back for another visit soon!
After two action packed weeks in Steamboat, we went up to Encampment for the remainder of our trip. We stayed with Marcy and Skyler while we were there and it was so nice to be surrounded by family and helping hands the whole time. We tried to get outside and play every chance we got and the boys loved it; Taking walks, going for wagon rides, going sledding and even going for a quick ride on daddy's snowmachine. It was also great for the boys to get to play with their cousins while we were in Wyoming. I just loved watching the kids interacting with each other while the adults played games and caught up. It's so hard for me to believe that this time last year the boys weren't even walking and now they're running around everywhere. It's like they're growing up or something!
It was so much fun going to dinner in Saratoga with Marcy, Chelsie and Ashton while the guys hung back and watched the kiddos. But one of our favorite things about this past visit was all games we played! Granted, I lost almost everything and will probably never play "Phase 10" again, but we loved laughing and trash talking with the family again.
We also got outside and went sledding with Grandma Marcy, Papa T, aunt Chelsie and uncle Garrett, uncle Mitch and one of the boy's cousins, Cooper. Everyone bundled up and we drove a little ways up the mountain. It was fun to watch the boys go sledding with Cooper, Papa and uncle Garrett. They had fun going down the hill and being pulled around. Chase and uncle Mitch brought their snowmachines up with us and the boys got to sit on their laps and get a feel for a sled with an engine! Liam was brave enough to go for a little ride with daddy, but Landon wasn't a fan. The noise was too much for him. Chase gave me a ride on his sled which was a lot of fun. It has so much power that it took my breath away every time he pinned the accelerator. We drove up the mountain a little further with Mitch and Chelsie to a big hill where Chelsei took a few laps on her snowboard. While she was doing that, Chase let me drive his sled. I have a ways to go before I feel comfortable on a snowmachine, but I'm getting there.
It was so wonderful for us to get to spend so much time with our families. The big family meals in Wyoming when aunt Ashton, Nathan and the boy's cousin Braven came over to play were really nice. And seeing other relatives here and there during our visit is something that we miss living out here. As a bonus, the boys got to meet their youngest cousin, Chaislyn, days after she was born. Mitch and Ryan were nice enough to bring her over to Marcy and Skyler's house multiple times so the boys could see her. They were so cute with her. Landon kept trying to bring her toys, and Liam liked putting his finger into her little fist. It was really sweet to watch. Thanks to everyone in Wyoming who helped us with the boys and with everything else while we were up there. It meant everything to us.We love you all and miss you so!
Now that we're back in Pennsylvania and back to our routines, Chase and I have started potty training the boys. We're being very passive aggressive with it right now because they are so young and are still unfamiliar with their potty seats. But (almost) every day, we have "potty time" where they run around for a few hours multiple times a day without their diapers. They have accidents on the floor and we talk to them about what happened, and then bring them over to their pottys and tell them that that is where they need to go potty. Liam has started to hold his pee and poop until we put his diaper back on because he doesn't like having accidents. It's pretty remarkable that he has that much control of his bladder, and it's frustrating because he will sit on his potty, and go through the motions but wont pee or poop. Landon on the other hand will do both on the floor. It's interesting to see how differently they are going about it. One of my friends gave me a big bag of cloth diapers the other day and we plan on using them to help us train the boys. They can feel that they are wet right away in these diapers as apposed to normal diapers that are made to keep them dry. I have been sick these past few days so training has been put on the back burner, but this morning we decided to start back up again and they were both really excited about siting on their pottys.
The first week we were back the weather was so nice. We tried to get outside every day whether we were in the back yard or the park. There is a great park by our house that has slides and swings and everything else you can imagine. We've taken the boys to this park many times, but last week, they wanted to go down the "big kid slides." They climbed all the way up the play structure with dad's help and then picked the biggest slides and went down them where I was waiting. They had such a good time and it was really nice for us all to be out in the warm weather as a family. Kita even tagged along.
Chase is back to work, I've signed the boys up for the spring library program, I've been to another MOPS meeting, and have been to a few play dates since getting back from our vacation. We're getting settled back into our home here and it feels good. But we know that sooner rather than later, we will be picking up again and heading back west, but we will be moving back. We miss our lives back there and cant wait to bring our boys back to where we grew up. We wanted to experience something different for a few years and by moving to Pennsylvania, we got just what we wanted! If not more. I guess we're just that lucky!
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