Saturday, July 17, 2010

Time to Get Caught Up

Alright, well if you have been wondering what we have been up to, here is a precise update from the middle of June to today. Aren't you excited??

Right after Disney World, Taylor had the opportunity to go with the young men ages 14-18 with our church to an outdoor adventure camp. It is an awesome camp and I am so glad he got to participate in it. His comment when he came home was, "Man, I sure wish there was something like this when I grew up." So while he was away for 5 days, Isaac and I spent a lot of time with my mom (since my dad was at the camp too). And one night, this is how my mom got Isaac dressed:

Shorts on his head and shirt on his legs! It was hilarious!! Taylor came home from his camp and we spent that night surprising my mom with a birthday dinner--that deserves a post of its own!! The next day, we started our annual girls trip. Last year we went to Chicago, this year it worked best to go to Denver--since my Nana and Aunt were flying in for my mom's birthday dinner and Heather had Katie with her and we didn't want to through her too much out of her element. I really didn't do a good job of taking pictures, so here is all we have....birthday cake for my mom on the first night (we really milked her birthday!!)
The first day was spent shopping and eating, the second day was spent at Body Worlds Museum and then Cafe Rio, a movie and dinner, and then the last day we came home. Here is my mom, Aunt Christa and Nana!

We have spent many days at the pool. Isaac used to be scared of this slide, but this summer it's no big deal to him.
We are potty training Isaac. For record purpose, we started potty training on June 23. I'll be honest, I wanted to quit the process by the second day! I had no idea what to expect and it was proving to be a whole lot of work for not a lot of result. In retrospect, I feel like we started but we weren't 100 percent committed to the process, so it wasn't producing great results. In week one we had some good days which were often followed by terrible days. We started candy rewards and he LOVED that! Then I got him a Buzz Lightyear toy and put together a sticker chart--I told him once the chart was full of stickers he would get the toy. He loved the stickers, but didn't have a whole lot of motivation to get the toy. So, I went and got him a bag of suckers--which he loves--and since then, he was done SOOOO well with potty training. So all in all, the candy reward is what has been working for him. Here is a picture of him after eating a piece of candy :)

We took Isaac to Toy Story 3 3D. He loved it!! He sat through the whole movie, loved the popcorn and was pretty good with the 3D glasses.
Isaac has been doing swim lessons and has gotten so good! He was first not wanting to get in the water with the instructor (a gal in my dad's ward) to not wanting to get his head wet, to now doing "bobs" (his head goes all the way under) to swimming and kicking up a storm. It's so fun to watch him!! After his lesson we go in the locker room and get dressed and he loves standing under the hand dryer to dry his hair.

For the 4th of July weekend, we did the Palmer Lake Fun Run in the morning of July 3. (So not fun pregnant with too small of shoes trying to keep up with my dad!) After that we went to the zoo, and then back to my parents for a BBQ.


On July 6 (also the day we had a doctor's appointment and learned that everything looks good and healthy with our baby so far!) the Mining Museum, which is essentially down the street from our house, had a 28th year anniversary day. We went with our new neighbors and friends, Leslie Johnson and her cute son Brennan! Here they are (attempting) to mine for gold! We weren't really sure what we were doing... :)



We have done some boating so far! It's been a lot of fun and we're trying to get the whole process of "what we need to bring" down to a science and so far we have done pretty well. About a week and a half ago we were able to go down to Lake Meredith in Pueblo with some of our favorite boating people: The Kofford's! We have gone boating with them for years, we sure love them!

We buried Isaac on the beach--he thought that was pretty funny!



Despite that day being cloudy and maybe 75 degrees, Taylor and I both got FRIED with bad sunburns! Here is a picture Isaac actually took and it shows some of our sunburn--mine was just my face and I totally had raccoon eyes thanks to my sunglasses! Dang clouds!!! ;)

Last night we went to the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo and we had AWESOME seats and Isaac loved it!!! He got a cowboy hat and boots all in preparation for the big night!

My cute parents!
Hello close up!
This next picture is funny---it was when the girls do the barrel races and Isaac would scream "go, go, GOOOOO"

Isaac and Baby Katie! She's 3 months old now!
Look how cute, I caught her smiling!

I guess the thought of getting a family picture at the rodeo was pretty far-fetched! Isaac, pay attention while there are horses and fireworks going off behind him!?!? Nah!! Oh well, we tried!
Which brings us to today!! Yea! I am caught up!! We went boating again today at Lake Meredith down in Pueblo--but today it was 100 degrees!!! We didn't know what to expect in terms of crowds and it turned out to be great! We were also able to have the great company of the Harline family with us!! It was such a blast!! What was only going to be a few hours to half a day at the lake turned into a full day!

Dance Break!! Isaac loved jumping in! Don't worry...he was surrounded by people in the water... :)
Isaac's hair after a sea-doo ride with Papa!
The new crazy ION! It's a giant tube...essentially. Isaac loved sitting on it.
He even got a quick "ride" on it with Taylor, Tyson, Jordan and Steve. But once we were in the open he got pulled in so these four could go crazy on the ION! Everyone fell off at some point...
And the best way to end a fun, sun-filled day: please notice the drool :)
Whew!! I am caught up!! Yea!!!

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Disney World, June 2010

Here comes picture overload of our Fink Family Vacation to Disney World in Orlando, Florida during the first week of June. Isaac, who will be three in October, had a blast!! We were very excited for Isaac--knowing that he would actually understand and appreciate all the rides and shows a lot more. When Isaac saw the castle in Magic Kingdom he dropped his jaw and said, "Wow!" It was so priceless! So DAY ONE (MONDAY) spent at Magic Kingdom during the day and Hollywood Studios at night.
Taylor was so good to take Isaac on Dumbo. The line for this ride was ridiculous!
"It's a Small World"

"Mickey's PhilharMagic" 3D show



"Buzz Lightyear"
On the Disney Bus--this picture shows Isaac's personality! Lil stinker!
At Hollywood Studios they opened a new ride "Toy Story" --we loved it!!! Isaac refers to Mr. Potato Head as "oto head"
The ride is also 3D
DAY 2, TUESDAY: Hollywood Studios & ...I don't remember what we did at night...
We started the morning with Playhouse Disney Character Breakfast. Isaac was so terrified of the characters at first, when they came up to the table he freaked out and didn't want to touch them. Then they turned on music and started dancing, so he and I went up to dance with Handy Manny and Isaac warmed up to them a lot. And, still to this day, he continues to talk about all the characters he met and loves to look at their "autographs" but it is so funny because it was what he was most scared of the whole trip.

Isaac "hiding", getting "protection" from Papa

Family picture with June from "Little Einsteins"
After breakfast we went to Beauty & the Beast and then to a Live Playhouse Disney show--again, Isaac loved it!!! It was perfect for his age!!

Downtown Disney--they have a stage and let all the kids dance to music--it was so fun!
DAY 3, WEDNESDAY: Pool & Animal Kingdom
Here we are on the Animal Safari

Love this picture of my mom!
Our hotel had the coolest slides!! This was the "baby slide"

This was the "big slide"

I love that I captured this of Taylor's great "form"!
Isaac getting ready to go down the big slide!! I was so shocked he went down it, but he went over and over and over again....

DAY 4, THURSDAY: I don't remember what we did during the day, but we went to Epcot at night. Heather and Isaac on the "Imagination" ride (Heather's favorite when she was a kid!)

DAY 5, FRIDAY: Man, this is why you blog soon after your trip because I don't remember what we did during the day....oh wait, I believe the boys went golfing and when they came back we went to the pool again. That night we did the extra magic hours at Magic Kingdom and watched their new "Electrical Parade" at night and then the fireworks--very cool! Here we are before the parade.


And for those of you who have stuck with this long post, you will see Isaac's shirt says "BIG BRO"....that's right!!! We announced to both our families while in Disney World that Isaac will be a big brother at the end of the year!! I am currently 14.5 weeks along and all is well. More details for another post....
Papa, Isaac and Nana on "Pirates of the Caribbean"

DAY SIX, SATURDAY: Taylor's 27th birthday!!! We went to Disney Quest during the day. Isaac with his "virtual glasses" on for the Pirate ride.

Tyson, Heather, Taylor, me and Isaac with our glasses on! haha!
That night we went to "Charley's Steakhouse" for dinner. I love this picture of Isaac and Taylor!

The whole family!!
And then on Sunday, we flew home. We had a full week in Disney World and we loved every minute of it. Isaac was surrounded by buses, trains, planes and boats--he was in heaven!! He loved the pool and the parks. We were sufficiently worn out by the end of the trip, as evidenced by this next picture which was taken of Isaac 5 minutes after getting in the car to drive home after landing in Denver.
Thanks for the great and memorable trip Nana and Papa! --Isaac :)

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Month of May

Wow, I have been slacking on blogging. So...let's start at the beginning of May. My sister and her husband blessed their new baby girl on Sunday, May 2, which coincidentally was my birthday. It made for a good change in the regular Sunday routine, so it was a good way to celebrate. We had my sister's in-laws in town and my grandparents came. Saturday--the day before the blessing--my Nana taught me how to make a blanket for Isaac. He loves it, I love it, and I sure love my Nana for teaching me!
A "Cars" blanket--so appropriate for his age and stage right now...I think he gets his little cars out every day and there are little piles of cars and trains all over our house on occasion.
All the "girls!"
Here's Taylor's "helping efforts" for the brunch--handing croissants to my Nana! :)
My adorable niece Katie--look at that blessing dress!!!
The Housley's and Hill's
My mama with her girls and our kiddos!
The month of May has been pretty crazy for our entire family, but we were able to squeeze in my birthday dinner at the delicious Melting Pot!! YUM!!! If you remember, The Melting Pot was my birthday choice last year, too. ....it did not disappoint this year either!
Another big time commitment in May was our Stake's Youth Dance Festival. About a year ago I was asked to be apart of it and I was in charge of the choreography for the all girls' (ages 14-15) African dance. I sure love these girls and it was so fun to be apart of their experience. The performances were in the middle of May and they did wonderful!! Here is a picture of me with some of the girls at one of our rehearsals back in February or March.
In other news, Isaac started taking private swim lessons. He freaked out for the first minute or two, but as soon as we found a ball for him to toss he was a happy camper and had a "perma-grin" the rest of his lesson. Hopefully he will work up his courage and go all the way under the water....
And, besides swim lessons, he continues to attend a soccer class once a week at a nearby country club. He has really taken a liking to it and does really well at listening to his coach.



This picture is of Isaac trying to drop the ball on his head by himself so he can jump up and hit it...so funny!

The weather has been pretty nice here lately--in the past three days we've been to the pool twice and enjoyed being outside! And....other than that, I think that about makes me current in my blogging--or at least closer!! Yahoo!