OK...there's a lot of ground to make up since the last time I did this was the beginning of May. I almost used an exclamation point at the end of that sentence but it's not that surprising or shocking. Since I can't even come close to remembering everything that's happened, I'll briefly catch up, add some photos, and try again to post more frequently.
Statue at Mother's Day Brunch
We begin with a trip to Eagle, CO to see our friends Derek, Jill and their baby girl, Zia. George's first road trip in to the mountains. It's not too bad though...2 1/2 hours. We figured we'd get away for a long weekend(and Courtney's first Mother's Day) before Courtney went back to work and George began daycare. It was nice to celebrate Mother's Day as well in a beautiful setting with great friends. We had beautiful weather and spent the weekend relaxing, going to a bike race in town, and looking forward to an awesome Mother's Day. It was the first for both Jill and Courtney. We went to brunch on Sunday at Eagle Ranch Country Club on a beautiful day.
George and Zia
George's Mother's Day Outfit
Holding Hands
We returned to Denver Sunday night and unfortunately, Courtney had to return to work in the morning and George had to begin daycare. Time to start getting back to reality I guess.
I knew the first couple of days would be tough for Courtney and they were. For me as well. I guess I didn't realize how different it was going to be leaving him with "strangers". The whole time I had been back at work, George was home with Courtney so daycare was more of an adjustment than I thought it would be. Oh well, a necessary evil. We eventually settled in and got used to "reality". He made some buddies and has a great time every day!It's also is easier knowing he has great teachers. They love him and he's all smiles every morning I drop him off. They teach him and we're finding out that we can learn a thing or two as well. They've been around babies much more than we have! Two weeks after he started, they had a picnic that I couldn't attend. Courtney did and here are some pictures of that.
George's Teacher's (Miss LaTitia, Miss Bethany, and Miss Christina)
George and Sebastian at the Daycare Picnic
The next milestone, I guess, is George's first time in the Exersaucer. Aunt Sarah bought that for him when she was out to visit. He's loved it from the beginning and it's only getting more fun the bigger he gets. He's able to bounce a little now which is much different from when he first started. Here's a quick video of his first time in the Exersaucer:
Coors Field
Early June was a perfect time to take George to his first Rockies game. He seems to love watching them on TV so we figured we should take him. I'm pretty sure it's the strategy and athleticism involved too and not the bright colors on the TV that keeps him watching.
George's 1st Game...Go Rockies!
Same with Golf, Hockey, and soon to be Football. He did get his first taste of the Buffalo Bills the other day. I think he was impressed and I really hope his lifetime brings more Championships than mine has so far. Just one is all we need! Anyhow, he got a pin at the Rockies game for his first game and we made it much longer than I thought we would. It was the 4th inning by the time we got all packed up, parked, bought tickets, and got to our seats. We're still not used to how long it takes just to get out of the house. Cody and Jessa came with us and we had a great time. The weather was perfect and George couldn't stop looking around and taking it all in. They played the Dodgers and won 7-2. George got to see Jorge De La Rosa pitch too. All kinds of George's. Dexter Fowler had 2 home runs as well.
Father's Day 2013
Moving on through June brings us to Father's Day. Obviously my first and a pretty awesome day. George was kind enough to get me a Rockies t-shirt with his savings. We went over to my cousin Matt's house along with a handful of friends from Buffalo and their families as well. My cousin Megan was there with her husband Pete and their kids, Ben and Mercedes. It's always nice to see the small family we have here! Matt made 2 different kinds of lamb leg that were phenomenal. Every time we go there, the food is out of this world. It's incredible. It was a pretty low key day playing bags and hanging out with friends. Two of my favorite things. Looking forward to many more just like it(hopefully playing golf too...eventually).
Courtney and George before Denver Polo Classic
We finished off June with a trip to the Denver Polo Classic. Pretty fancy. I've never witnessed a polo match before and I have to say it was pretty neat. Seems dangerous too. The horses run fast and they're pretty close to each other bumping and hitting. It was a good excuse to put on our Sunday best and head out. Not to mention it was free(by invite). It was also sponsored by Grey Goose and Woodford Reserve which is a nice bonus. We didn't last too long though. It was a rainy day and not a lot of room to take George. There was a huge area covered in tents but it was loud under there and George wasn't having it. There were also speakers everywhere with a dude doing play by play of the polo. Either way, it was a cool experience and hopefully we get invited back next year when George is a little bit older.
July brought another milestone which was George's first encounter with food. We started with Avocado which went pretty well. Until he tried something else. Now it seems like the Avocado doesn't quite cut it anymore, although he will still eat it. He loves zucchini, peas, and sweet potatoes and likes brown rice. He also loves peaches, pears, bananas and beer bottles. I know it's not a food but he can't keep his hands off beer bottles when we're drinking from them. I hope it's not a sign of the future but knowing his parents pretty well, it may be! Did I mention I grew the zucchini in our garden? First garden ever and it's going pretty well. We had a recent hail storm that took it's toll and we'll see if it will recover. It killed quite a few of the vegetables. It's fun introducing new foods and watching his reaction the first time he tries things. It's not fun watching him constipated. Poor guy tries so hard with little result. We've tried to curtail that with some water and prune juice but still waiting to see if it works. Keep your fingers crossed.
The next thing on the list was our trip to Buffalo! We were excited to bring George home and finally meet everyone. There were a few aunts and uncles he hadn't met yet as well as a great-grandmother and many, many friends and extended family. COUSINS, he's never met his cousins! Until now.
George with all of his grandparents
The trip from Denver to Buffalo was originally 6 1/2 hours total travel time(NO direct flights). It began with our morning flight getting canceled and rescheduled for 2 hours later. Not bad because all that did was cut in to our layover in Charlotte...ideally. We are on the plane heading to the runway when we pull over and the pilot comes over the intercom to tell us the temperature outside rose drastically and we were now too heavy to take off. Awesome. Upon returning to the gate, we unload 6 passengers and try again. Doesn't seem like much but it did the trick...almost an hour and a half later. That's right, we were on the plane for almost an hour and a half before finally taking off to Charlotte. George was great the entire time and I think it was harder on Courtney and I than it was on him. To make a long story short, we were delayed a few times out of Charlotte and got in to Buffalo at 12:30 AM. 12 1/2 hours later. Awesome.
All of the cousins! (Devon, Madelyn, Haley, and George)
That night was a disaster getting George to sleep and he screamed incessently all night and there was nothing we could do about it. Greg and Jenn Finnerty were fantastic the whole 10 days they hosted us and we are extremely grateful for that. They opened their home not only to us but our entire family and friends. And that's a lot of people. It's great seeing so many kid's everywhere. George's pal, Maeve Daley, came down with some bumps so he didn't get to hang with her as much as he would've like to. There's always next time. My Aunt Julie had us over so George could meet even more family! Great Aunts and Uncles, 2nd cousins and then some. It was a fantastic vacation consisting of a lot of pool time, seeing a lot of family, and hanging out with a lot of friends. We were also able to introduce George to swimming for the first time which was pretty cool. He loved it.
Goerge's 1st time swimming
It doesn't get much better than that. Obviously there's much more to it than that but in an attempt to keep this concise, that'll do. One of the greatest trips home and also, by far, one of the saddest goodbyes! It sucked.
Here are some more of my favorite pictures from the trip to Buffalo:
Grandma Nancy and George
Family picture at Lake Erie
George and his pal Brady Roberts
George loves Aunt Sarah!
Family pool pic, George's 1st day
Grandpa Doug and George at the horse track
Grandpa George and little George
Some spit up I imagine?
Betting on some ponies!
Big hug from Devon!(Best picture!!)
Lake Erie(Cooper's House)
Lovin' Uncle Dan
Aunt Natalie
Me, George, Jase, and Nick
Huh?
Grabbin' cousins
More grabbin' cousins
Grandma and all of the Grandkids
Great Grandma Kay and George
Grandma Sharon swimming with George
More Cousin Time!!
Haley and George
Great Grandma and both Grandma's
...and more grabbin' cousins(looks like hair this time) Sorry Devon!
Sorry Uncle Mike and Aunt Robyn! I guess we didn't get any pictures with you!!
So that's Buffalo in a nutshell. We did go out one night to the Tragically Hip concert or what was supposed to be the Tragically Hip concert. Unfortunately it rained biblical proportions 4 songs in and they had to cancel. They came to Denver a few years ago and also cancelled the day of the show due to an illness. It's just not meant to be for me to see my favorite band! Oh well, it was fun on the party bus and we made a good night of it...soaking wet and all. The flight home went without incident and rather smooth. Thank God.
Since then we have just been getting back to our normal schedule, working and playing. I celebrated my 33rd birthday last week and Courtney made the best lasagna ever for the party. It really was something else. Great friends, great party! and a fire in the backyard too!!
I'll leave with you with just a few more pictures from the past few months:
