Perfect Weekend in Breckenridge!

AJ and I had a weekend getaway to Breckenridge this weekend and it was AMAZING. For so many reasons we needed this. I've been really stressed out about many things- work, school, parenting, etc.. .and he has been extra whiny and testing me a lot lately. My patience has been very thin and he's tested me over and over. We needed a fun few days with very little stress and that's exactly what we got. It was perfect! I can honestly say, there in not one thing I would change.

Friday night, after work, I picked AJ up and we headed to Breck. It's typically about a 2 hour drive. This time it was more like 3. I kept seeing signs along the way saying the Eisenhower tunnel was closed, but I hoped the signs were wrong. They weren't. That meant, about 20 minutes from our exit we came to a dead stop. It took about 30 minutes to get to an exit that would take us up Loveland Pass. Basically we had to go over the mountains, rather than through them. It wasn't THAT bad. In fact, it was beautiful. We were at treeline and it was amazing! It made for great discussion about what treeline was and AJ was an amazing traveler. No complaints. He just wanted to rock out to Def Leopard and other much too old music and we had a great time doing it.

We finally got to town about 8:30 Friday night and before we even checked into our hotel, we went straight to dinner. I told AJ about all Eric's- or Downstairs at Eric's as it's formally known (and that's what AJ insists we call it) in the car and he was excited! They had an awesome arcade and great pizza. We hung out there for over and hour playing tic-tack-tow, playing arcade games and eating pizza. We finally left and went to find our condo. We found the place without any problems, but finding our room was challenging. AJ was really scared because our condo was in the forest and it was dark, he was tired and it was cold. We made it though and we both passed out around 10:30.

Saturday morning, we woke up late (8:30 is late for us) and we're just so happy to not HAVE to get moving. We Skype'd with Grandma and Papa for a bit, had breakfast, washed up and got moving. I really wanted to balance out doing some fun things without the pressure of having to do it all. I wanted to go with the flow- and that isn't always easy for me.

Around 10:30, we found the gondola downtown that would take us up to Peak 8. This is where the Summer Fun Park was. I read all about it and knew it would be a blast! AJ and I loved the gondola ride. It was SO beautiful! All weekend we talked about how beautiful our state is. When we got to the top, we were both so excited by all the fun things they offered! I got AJ an all day pass which meant he could do everything they offered all day.

Our first stop.. The Alpine Slide. I tried to explain to him what it was, but I don't think he really understood until he saw it. It was AWESOME! It's a slide that is built into the mountain. We had to take a chairlift up to the top of the mountain, get into a slide (no helmet, no seat belt and lot's of YOU CAN GET HURT warnings...) and you go for it! There's a lever which is your accelerator and brake- and that's it. I was pretty nervous because I've had friends tell me stories of getting hurt, so we went down pretty slowly the first time.

After the slide, we went to the roller coaster. This was similar to the slide, but it was above the mountain and MUCH faster! We were buckled in and also had brakes, but this was on rails. We went pretty fast the first time. Honestly, I loved this so much (AJ loved it too!) that I knew we had to do it again.

After both the slide and coaster, we went back down and AJ played in the bounce house, did the maze and mined for gemstones. We had lunch, took some pictures and then it was back the Alpine slide. This time we went faster and it was still a great time. THEN... back to the roller coaster and this time FULL SPEED AHEAD! We didn't use the brakes at all! It was hilarious! In fact, if the line wasn't so long, we would have easily done it a few more times. We had a blast!

By this time, it was probably 3pm and we were exhausted. We headed down the mountain and decided to walk around Main Street for a while. AJ had been SUCH a good boy (listening, no whining and just all around awesome) and I told him we'd go to the toy store. Then, we went to the river and he played at the park and threw rocks in the water.

Finally around 4:30 we went  back to our room and relaxed for an hour. I need to just sit and he watched a movie and played with his new truck. Then, it was dinner time and guess where we went? Yep, back to Eric's. I wasn't thinking and didn't realize the Bronco's were playing so Eric's was packed, but AJ didn't mind the 30 minute wait because he got to play more arcade games:) Finally, around 9pm, we were dead asleep. WHAT A DAY! (or as AJ and I like to say "what a day, what a day") It was probably the best day I've had in years. Truly fun, no stress, just perfect. AJ and I had a blast, the weather was perfect, the scenery was amazing, people were nice, it all worked.

Sunday, we woke up around 7 and as much as I tried not to be all "go go go!" we were showered and ready to go around 8:30. I didn't want to stay in Breck too late and endure massive horrible traffic, but I also wanted to enjoy our day. So, we headed back to Main St. and stopped by the Cool River Cafe to pick up breakfast. AJ got a chocolate croissant and we went to the river to eat. Again, BEAUTIFUL! We hung there for a bit and then walked back down by the park and he played for about 2 hours. Back and forth from the park to the river. Again, I was so torn. I just wanted to stay another day. If I had an extra few hundred bucks and didn't have to work on Monday, I would have. It was THAT good.

After an almost 3 hour drive to Breckenridge, we arrived! First stop was dinner at Downstairs at Erics. AJ was THRILLED to get there because we'd been talking about the arcade they have the entire drive.

He got his own pizza

And he crashed HARD! He slept from 10:30pm- 8:30am.

Saturday morning we headed up the gondola to the Summer Fun Park

We had a blast on the gondola!

Summer Fun Park!

This is the Alpine Slide. You have to take the chair lift up, then slide down

Here's our slide!

The view just before you slide down!

Next we went on the rollercoaster. HOLY MOLY that was fun!

We went on this twice. The 2nd time we never used the brakes! Just went as fast as we could! HE LOVED IT!

Then, the pony ride...

The bounce house was a hit!

AJ went mining...

And he found a lot of gems!

Back down the mountain, we checked out the play ground and river. It was SO beautiful!

I'd been telling AJ about the funny hat store for weeks. Every time I go to Breck, I have to go to this store. I never buy anything, but I always try on funny hats :)

Sunday morning, we got breakfast and at by the creek. What a perfect day!

Here's a video before our 2nd time on the roller coaster :)

Video From the Past Week

Here are some random, cute, video's of AJ from the last week:

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Soccer started tonight! He had a great time, but running around for an hour after a full day of school is a lot of work!



Here's another:

My soccer star!

Water break!



The Jaguars!

Annual Camping Trip

This past weekend AJ and I went on our annual family camping trip and we had a GREAT time! He's at the perfect age for this. Plus, he camps all the time with Jason. He's a pro! I, on the other hand, was freaking out about all the possibilities. Bears, bad weather, losing AJ, etc.... Everything went as planned and we had a blast!

There were 6 families total and that meant tons of kids! We went to Leadville, about 3 hours away and stayed walking distance from Tourquise Lake. It was incredible. The pictures don't do it justice.

All packed and ready to head out of town!



The car was so packed, I joked we'd have to tie AJ to the roof!

AJ's great buddy Riley drove with us for the first half- they laughed and played the entire time.

After lunch, Maddy jumped in. Such great kids!

We finally arrived!



Our campsite!

Setting up!

Tourquise Lake!

All the ladies!

Throwing rocks with the kids- he did this ALL weekend! (Blue Gatorade mustache!)

The Group!

Silly Faces!

The first morning sitting by the fire warming up- it was in the 40's at night!

Sunday, after we packed up, we headed into town for the annual Boom Day's festival- So fun!

He was pretty thrilled to get a bow and arrow :)

We sure had fun!


Here is a video of him with his bow and arrow:

AJ's 4 Year Check Up

Last week AJ had his 4 year check up and I’m super happy to report he is totally healthy and right on track! :) I had warned him that he may get a shot and so he was pretty freaked out on the way to the doctor’s office. Looking back, I probably shouldn’t have told him but I didn’t want to just spring it on him last minute. The doctor actually told me he could get the shots now or next year, and I decided to get it done and out of the way. Now, he won’t need any more shots until he is ELEVEN! He’s pretty happy about that.


I did have the doctor check his hearing because the kid doesn’t listen! I was 99% sure it was just him ignoring me all the time, but I wanted to be sure. The nurse had to do the hearing test 6 times because he really wouldn’t cooperate. The nurse kept asking him to raise his hand when he heard the beeps, and he wouldn’t. He wasn’t bad, I think he was just freaked out about the idea of getting shots and couldn’t concentrate. Finally, he said he could hear all the beeps every time- we all laughed 
AJ did pretty well with the shots. He was crying and very scared before, but once they poked him, he was fine. Anticipation is always worse! He got 2 shots in one arm, and 1 in the other. Once they were done, he was great. His arms were sore for a few days, but he’s all better. Poor guy!


Here’s his stats:

38.2lbs 75th percentile

39” tall 25th percentile

Here's a picture of his war wounds :)

Random Photos

I may have posted this one already.... Anyway, AJ and I LOVE going to Smart Cow for frozen yogurt!

At Home Depot building his Penske Truck

Silly face time at Noodles & Co for dinner

Tough to get a good picture of him at his first time bowling. They had the lights out and music blaring! But he had a wonderful time!

With his buddy Jack

This picture is terrible, but you have to just appreciate the outfit.. Fireman rainboots and his shark robe.. Headed to the pool for an evening swim :)

Striking a pose with Daxie at the pool

Another day, another Smart Cow adventure :)

Uncle Matt & Auntie Kristin got AJ this awesome Razor scooter for his birthday! He was THRILLED! He's pretty good too! We'll keep working on it :)

Couldn't resist a snooze picture... In my bed, of course!

Healthy vs. Unhealthy

I love my kid. Really- I love him SO much. He's so darn smart!

He has heard the words healthy and unhealthy for while. He knows that mommy likes (or liked) to run because it's fun and it's healthy. We have talked a little about my new way of eating healthy food, but haven't really sat down to discuss it in detail.

Today, when we were at the grocery store, he noticed these terribly over processed, packaged blueberry muffins and wanted them. I told him no, we weren't buying them, and asked if he wanted to go home and make muffins? If he wanted to, I'd be happy to do that and he could even bring them to school tomorrow. He was all over it and loved the idea. I was thrilled when after I pulled up a "healthy muffin" recipe on my phone, I found out I had all but one ingredient at our home. I thought he wanted blueberry muffins, but he insisted on chocolate chip. Ok, no problem. We can do this AJ! We got chocolate chips and mini muffin cups and were on our way.

When we got home, I pulled up the recipe for Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip muffins and he was totally involved in making them. He put the cups in the muffin pan, he helped measure everything- while talking about this "ingredient" and how many "teaspoons of vanilla" we needed. I loved it! I get such a kick out of him knowing about wet and dry ingredients and how salt really doesn't taste good unless it's with something else. He's so darn smart!

He was even really into filling up the muffin cups (I think because he knew he could lick his fingers at the end and the more he filled, the more would be on his fingers). We baked them and each had one for dessert. I have to say, they are GOOD! Whole wheat flour, butter, vanilla, baking powder, egg, chocolate chips- not all healthy, but all real :)

Here's my sweet, proud boy :

After we had dinner and made muffins it was time for a bath. He was playing and making his "soap soup" and "tea" or "coffee" in the bath and he mentioned his coffee was "healthy". That made me wonder... Did he really know what "healthy" meant? So, I came up with this game. I would say three things and he would tell me which one of the three was or wasn't healthy. For example, candy, broccoli and grapes. Or, Popsicles, chicken and apples. We did this probably 10 times. I asked him to pick the one healthy thing and the one unhealthy thing. He got it right EVERY SINGLE TIME! I was beyond thrilled! Yes, he doesn't always EAT the healthy thing, but he gets it. He knows what is most healthy things are. I am so proud!!

By the way- I bought a pineapple yesterday and cut it up today and this child can't get enough! And this was after he was chomping on an apple as we were grocery shopping. Loving this!

Sports

AJ is at a great age right now to try out different sports. He is old enough to be on teams through the Recreation Center and is mature enough to really start learning. Of course, we’re not trying out for the Olympics at this point, just getting him involved so he can learn to play team sports, exercise and take instruction from others.


He’s been doing swim lessons for a few months now and for the most part, it’s been really good. It took a few weeks for him to get into it- we went a few weeks with him REALLY not wanting to go, but thanks to a few California trips and a lot of time spent with Uncle Matt in the pool, he ended up enjoying it. I think he learned a lot too. He will continue to do swim lessons once a week until the beginning of August. Then, we’ll take a break from swim and start soccer. We tried it last year, but he was too young. I wanted him to play so badly, but learned a big lesson. He had just started going to day care full time and he was exhausted. I think this year will be a lot better. He will probably be on a team with his buddy Garrett which will be a lot of fun. That will be 2 nights a week for 8 weeks.

After soccer ends in October, we’ve decided to start AJ in Martial Arts. He is VERY excited to be a Little Ninja  The studio we’ve picked is in Castle Rock and they have class 2 nights a week for 30 minutes each night. They focus on respect and safety. They teach the kids what to do if they get lost, and how to handle strangers which I think is a great thing for AJ. We haven’t really discussed strangers too much or how to handle that, so this will be good for all of us. I hope he enjoys it! I think his friend Dax will be in his class which will be great too!