Biking with Mom...

When Brent was out visiting his dad in New Jersey my mom and I got out for a bike ride. I hadn't been out on my road bike in ages, and it was so nice to have that time with my mom. It was a beautiful day, and it felt so good to get exercise. Don't we look pretty legit?

Berry picking...

We recently visited Berry Patch Farms in Brighton with our friends, Amanda and Kyla. Of course, one of Gavin's favorite parts was sitting on this tractor.

This is Kyla, one of Gavin's best little buddies. In this picture they're sitting on a tractor pull that took us out into the strawberry fields. We had heard that sometimes it's possible to pick lots of berries, but apparently it was slim pickins' the day we were there, as evidenced by the mere handful of strawberries that made it home with us. Of course, that didn't account for the ones that never made it into the cartons. I was actually surprised that Gavin didn't eat even more than he did. We would have been more successful with the raspberries, but we were all winding down by the time we got to those bushes.

Can you see the rooster behind Gavin? Thankfully, he provided sufficient entertainment for my eldest son while I decided to nurse Gage before we hit the road.

Gavin got special permission to sit on this bad boy, just for the photo opportunity. Isn't he cute?

You might easily miss the reason for this picture: the HUGE hog in the background that they named "Bacon Bits." You can imagine that Gavin got a pretty big kick out of this and even tried to wake him up when we were leaving. Hmm, not so sure that that was a good idea.

Funny face...

This is Gage displaying one of his favorite ways to communicate these days. Often Brent will blow his lips at him and wait for Gage's response, and it's so cute to watch.

Fun at the reservoir...

Gavin and I recently had a fun Mommy-and-Son day out at the Longmont Reservoir while Gage and "Grandma Mike" (the name that Gavin calls Brent's mom, after Brent's half-brother, Mike) hung out at Grandma's house.

It was so much fun to see Gavin playing with his little buddies, and kids never seem to be phased by the temperature of the air or the water when they consider swimming. It wasn't exactly a hot day, but that didn't stop any of them, and by the time we were leaving it had really warmed up.

I was really glad to have this special time with Gavin. When everyone else had gone and he was done playing at the "beach," we had a nice lunch at a table in the shade under a big tree.

Gavin got a big kick out of sitting in this lifeguard chair...

...and wouldn't you trust your children under his supervision? Just look at him!

Bath times...

I'm just not sure that it gets any cuter than this, accept--as Brent just pointed out--in the pictures of the two brothers together in the bath, but that's coming in a few more posts. This child LOVES the water. We're excited to get Gage in the pool more as we start swimming lessons with Gavin in mid-October. I laugh when I see Gage like this because he looks so different with less or flattened hair.

What a precious boy! Mommy loves her baby boys straight from the bath all wrapped up in hooded towels.

Look, I'm standing!

Gage has been standing up on everything for awhile now. He's becoming quiet surefooted by now, in fact. I always catch him in his crib standing up, gripping the sides and waiting for me to come rescue him.

He has the best smiles! I think he has five or six teeth on top now too, so we're slowly getting used to the new smile that's not just the two-tooth version.


Yes, this child does have a lot of hair for his eight months of life. In fact, I just took him to get his first "real" haircut. I held him, he wore a cape and the five dollars I paid may have been equivalent to the number of minutes that it took the stylist to cut it.

He stands up on everything now. Seems like he could be walking anytime, which is really wild for us to consider.

What great perspective, huh? Brent took this one when Gage was looking outside through the sliding glass door in the kitchen. Gage loves to look at the trees and all the colors of the outdoors. I suspect that both of our boys will define the "outdoors men" and make Colorado natives very proud indeed.

Swimming at the Bay...

Now that I think about it, this tongue shot of Gage reminds me a lot of Gavin at the same age. What a sweet little boy we have! And people are always remarking about how laid back he is. He's so patient, especially considering how much he has to put up with sometimes.

What a great shot! Brent caught this from the top of the slide. Gavin loves this little kid swimming area and can roam around there--up and down the slides--pretty independently, which is nice. It's so fun for us to see how much fun he has there.

I have to say that Brent really does have an uncanny way of catching the best moments on film. What a great shot of Gavin!

I call Gage my precious little piggy sometimes. What a cutie he is!

We love this local swimming hole, and it got even more fun for us this summer since we could take both kids. Gage seems to love the water as much as his big brother. We're starting some swim lessons at the rec center with Gavin next month, and we'll plan to swim with Gage during Gavin's lessons. We're looking forward to that.

Carly's baby shower in Kansas...

This is wonderful Aunt Randa. She is ready--at any given second of the day--to host anyone anytime. Randa is Brent's mom's oldest sister who lives in Norton, Kansas, and her oldest daughter, Carly, is expecting her first baby soon. Carly's sisters hosted a shower recently at Randa's house in Norton, and Gage and I attended with Pam (Brent's mom) and Jackie (Brent's sister) and Madison (Jackie's daughter and our niece!). These beautiful flowers were picked from Aunt Randa's amazing garden.

Great Grandma Koel also lives in Norton, Kansas, so we stopped over there to share the babies with her for one afternoon. Gage had met her once before, and they have a sweet fondness for one another.

This is Brent's sister, Jackie, and her daughter, Madison. We all drove out to Norton from Colorado together.

Aunt Randa (aka, Mimi) is wonderful with ALL children, and she seems to love them unconditionally. Gage was at home in her arms.

This is Pam's mom, Great Grandma Swindler. It was really sweet to see her swinging with Gage while she sang softly to him the songs she used to sing to her babies.

I'm glad that we got to go celebrate Carly's baby with the family, and it was nice to have a weekend away with my baby boy.