Cecret Lake

This is a post from July that is just being posted now! Oops!

On our way up!

C-E-C-R-E-T. Yes, that is how it is actually spelled. Cecret Lake is an amazing hike at Alta Ski Resort. If you look it up, you will read that it is a 1.5 mile easy hike (3 mile round trip). That is from Albion Camp ground--we're serious hikers though, so chose to hike from the base of Alta, making it a 5 mile round trip hike. And it's a hike. As in switch backs--though not until right before the lake. It was marked easy on everything I read before going, so while we were in the midst of switch backs, I turned to Michael and said: "easy?!" to which he replied: "hike, not walk." So if you want to do it, just realize it is a hike, not a walk.
   
     It was so incredibly beautiful. Wildflowers EVERYWHERE! We didn't see any moose ( I guess there were too many people, but we saw tons of squirrels (which Jack loved) and salamanders at the lake.

We made it!

The weather was ideal up in the mountains, though we did all come home a little pink from the sun. We all absolutely loved this hike, Jack was a true sportsman and walked a lot of the steadier climbs and wanted to run the entire way down. We will definitely be doing this one again!

Of course we had to sit on the ski lift!

Washington DC

     We had an AMAZING time. This was our first major "just us" family vacation. (Usually our vacations are part of a family reunion or trip of some sort.) Again, we had such a great time. So without furth ado:

     We flew into DC on Thursday morning. We had flown through the night, so we were tired and hungry. As soon as we picked up all our bags, we took a taxi the short 10 minutes to Michael's Aunt's condo in Old Town Alexandria. It was so nice to have a place to stay so close to everything--for free! (Thanks Aunt Marcelle!) We dropped off our bags (turned on the AC) and then went grocery shopping just a couple of blocks away. We took a nap (for Jack's benefit of course) and then were on our way!

     Our first stop was the National Archives to visit the Rotunda to see the Founding Documents. We totally lucked out and didn't even have to wait in line! As soon as we got in the door, through security and to the back of the roped off line, a security gaurd came up to us and said that since we had a stroller we could go thorugh the exit! Awesome! As soon as we got inside, the History Teacher in me came alive. I may or may not have gotten a little teary. 

     After that we went off to my hands-down favorite experience of our trip. We biked to all the monuments and around the mall. We found a bike rental place that we could rent a bike trailer for Jack--it was the perfect way to see everything. We also lucked out and it wasn't even very hot. It was so fun!

Jack and I in front of the Capital 

All of us in front of the Capital

Jack throwing rocks into the Capital Reflecting Pool

The White House

Washinton Monument

Lincoln Memorial 

Walking to throw some more rocks

Jefferson Memorial

     On Friday we were off again early! Our first stop was the National Zoo. We really wanted to see the Pandas, since there are only four places in the United States to see them. They were asleep... but still cool and way worth it. It was a fun zoo--and Jack of course loved it.

Panda!

Jack had to see the elephants

Jack next to an elephants leg bone

      After the zoo we went to the Smithsonian's Museum of Natural History. It was fun. We particularly liked the exhibit on early peoples. Although as we were walking through the areas with stuffed animals, we both said that the Bean Museum is just as good.
     We also liked the gems and rocks. Jack was a little bored, but once we started asking him to find the different colors, he started looking at them and started to enjoy it.

Iron Side

     Next up was the Smithsonian's Museum of American History. We loved it! I'm really glad that we made time for this one. We were a little worried about losing Jack's interest, but he enjoyed it too! Neither of us really remembered how many really cool things were in this museum.

Spirit of St. Louis

Piloting a plane!

     We took a little longer at the zoo, which put our schedule off just a little, so by the time we were on our way to the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, Jack fell asleep! We knew he would love the airplanes and the rocket ships, but we also wanted him to sleep. So we went through the First Flight exhibit which included a 20 minute film about the Wright Brothers that was really interesting to us, but Jack would have never stood for--so it worked out great. By the time we were done with the exhibit, Jack was still asleep, so we decided to do our gift shopping. I wanted freeze dried ice cream and we wanted to get Jack a toy plane and figured it might be easier if we just helped him out by choosing it for him.                                                       He actually woke up as we were about to leave the gift shop, and Michael held up two planes to let him choose which one he wanted. Two points here: one, Jack is often pretty grumpy when he first wakes from a nap. Two, when he saw the plane toys, he immediately fell in love with them both. Result: Jack got two planes!

Jack with his two planes!

Jack-isms

     Jack is the smartest two year old in the world. I'm absolutely convinced of this truth. He's also the most adorable.
     He hasn't gotten pronouns down yet, but I think I like it better that way. When he wants us to catch him at the bottom of the slide, "catch you!" When he wants us to hold him, "Hold you!" or sometimes, "stand up, hold you!" When he wants us to chase him, "Chase you me!"
     He has been experimenting with emotions lately and will often come up to me, fake sniff, and say, "I sad." I give him hugs and kisses and he'll be happy again and go off to play, just to come back a few minutes later sniffing again.
     A new emotion he's learned just in the last week or so is mad. He'll huff and fold his arms and say, "I'm mad!" and that only ends after we ask him why and acknowledge the feeling.
     He's also discovered shadows, and when he notices one he'll say, "Ah! Shadow!" He'll get into a mood where he is absolutley obssessed with his shadow and will follow it all around the house. If we're outside, it gets even more exciting noticing all the shadows of the trees and slide and stroller.
     One last thing: we have a big, soft reclining rocking chair in Jack's room that has compartments in the arms. In one of the compartments there is an extendable reading light. The night before last, Jack pulled out the light as far as it would go and started singing into like a microphone! We have no idea where he got this from, but he sang us two or three songs (expecting us to clap between them) before he would go brush his teeth. Oh, and he sings the cutest version of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" you've ever heard ("twinkle lalla alalaba star! Ahh lahah ama are")

Terrific Two!

     Our baby boy is two! It really is insane to look at photos from his birthday last year and compare them to the boy he is today.

Jack on his first birthday

Jack on his second birthday

     He talks in sentences and can reach things from the counter, and instead of a baby, he's turning into a little kid. It's so fun to see his personality and even have small conversations with him. One of his knew things is to ask us: "Guess what?"

     It was so fun to plan out Jack's birthday celebration. I wanted to day to be absolutely perfect full of all of Jack's favorite things to do--but Michael was (again) the voice of reason and helped us have a nice, more simple day. We of course DID try to do a lot of Jack's favorite things, but it wasn't a crazy, schduled minute by minute day like it might have otherwise been.
     Michael and I decorated the house the night before, so Jack was able to wake up to streamers, birthday notes and wrapped presents. Now that he actually knows what presents are, we actually had a hard time keeping him from opening his presents as soon as he saw them though.
   

Basketball cupcakes

Some of the notes we left around the house 

 We went to lunch at Costco to have hot dogs (one of his favorites--especially with root beer!). While we were at Costco though, he fell out of the cart and flat onto his back. He was terrified and hurt and crying and I got scared and I started crying (those floors are cement!), and a nurse who was just shopping came and checked him out because we weren't sure if he had hit his head or not. It was dramatic--but no concussion and after we got the soda, he calmed down to eat and be his happy self again.

     That night we had my brother's family, Michael's sister's family and sister Kacy over for waffles, cupcakes and presents. His main present from us was a basketball hoop and BYU basketball, so that was sort of the theme we went with. He loved it. He's been spending hours since his birthday just shooting the basketball and even trying to dribble. His free throw percentage is better than mine. Seriously.
     We love our boy!


Height: 34in (50%)
Weight: 24.5 lbs (10%)

Basketball Clementines

Jack discovering his presents in the morning

Our silly boy

Playing with cousin Gabriel before the party

Kitchen Aid

For Christmas, I was lucky enough to receive a Kitchen Aid stand mixer! I've been wanting one forever, and it was a complete surprise! As soon as we got home, I wanted to use it and knowing my older sister to be an accomplished bread maker, begged her for her recipe. She gave it to me and we've been eating yummy homemade bread for the last few days. (So much for that New Year's diet...)

So nice to let the machine do that hard work

Rise!

About to be baked

And done! I think they might have cooked a little too long, but it was my first attempt and overall I'm happy!

18...er...19 Months!

Hello, Hello!

Typically, I would have an 18 month post for Jack... but because of a funeral and some crazy rain action, we didn't get out to take pictures until today. And it is only 4 days until Jack is 19 months. He's still super cute though. So it's okay.

18 months! Already in the last few weeks he has changed so much. All 4 of his canines are popping through, so even his smile has changed in this 19th month of his. He has gotten so good at letting us brush his teeth, most of the time.

Jack loves to jump--off things, or simply jumping around the house. He can  bend his knees and jump all the way off the ground too, which is way advanced, developmentally speaking (yes, I'm bragging). He still loves any fruit I throw at him, though his taste for vegetables has declined some. (I blame Michael.) Some new favorites are peanut butter sandwiches, pretzels, and raisins.

At last count, he says over 30 words (yes, I've kept a list) and it seems like he is learning a new word every day. He still can't say B's, but he is only 18 months old. He has even started putting words together like, "welwo fass" speaking of his favorite yellow slide (which is fast), and "ball up!" when he wants us to throw the ball in the air.

Just in the last few weeks he has really started to play with cars--I think maybe our long road trip to Washington helped that. To keep him entertained we had to point out passing cars and trucks. And of course, he still absolutely loves to throw anything he can get his hands on. He has even started calling certain balls ball their real names (footballs, particularly).

During the day, he will often bring me my phone and say, "Dadda? Hello? Dadda?" and keep bugging me until we call Michael. And if I am ever on the phone with anyone else he grabs a hold of me and yells, "Dad! Dad!" That one is actually sort of annoying :-) He loves his dad so much, and it makes me so happy. When it is getting close to the time Michael gets home from work, we sometimes go outside and wait for him. When Michael comes into view, Jack gets so excited! He loves when Daddy gets home.

He loves just being outside. If we're outside and he can run around, he's happy. We try to take a walk to some park or field everyday to enjoy these last few weeks of nice weather. 

At his doctor's appointment he was 22 pounds exactly (4%), and 33 inches (56%).

And of course, because it is me, I have a whole lot of pictures:

He's signing "more" because he wants us to give him more rocks to throw.

Notice the rock in his hand?

Again, "more rocks?"