Lunchdate at the river

Today Andi and I surprised Ben with a picnic at the river: Sandwiches, cookies, cold drinks and feet in the water. Don't know why we hadn't done this earlier this summer!

Dad - daughter time in the river.

Playing

With her new bucket.

Picnic spot

Shoveling rocks in her bucket.

Yay for getting messy!

Rinsing off all the rocks and dirt got a little cold though, so we warmed up on the chair, in a towel in the sun. With a beverage of course :)

More dad - daughter time :)

August so far ... a photo blurb.

The weekend before this past weekend we headed up to the snowy range with the camper for a little overnight camping trip. We decided to venture into a new area, and took off 4wheeling (on the way home we actually got stuck in a mud hole for a while!) onto Libby flats, and found ourselves a great little campspot ... no one around, with the best views 360!

Our little camper ... shoes to match the eyes :)

Our spot was right on a little lake.

The fam :)

We watched a BIG storm come in over the mountains....

When the storm finally hit, of course we headed inside (it actually started sleeting...that's August camping at altitude!), and taught Andi some camping inside activities:

Eating chips and salsa :)

And playing cards.

She also got herself wedged between the table and the couch :)

The first week of August, Debbie and the kids and I drove to a FtCollins park to meet up with Marcie and her two kids, Trigg and Natalie. It was so great to see Marcie again, and to finally meet her two kids!

Marcie and her little ones!

The kids first played at the park, then we had lunch and after that we found this great splash pad for the kids to cool off in. Andi was a little hesitant at first, but of course couldn't stay behind too far with daring Weston, Tyler, Trigg and Natalie around, and eventually also braved the fountains :)

Andi walking through the fountians.

Andi and Tyler by the fountains.

I thought this one was cute...every now and then all the fountains disappeared, so here's Andi, Weston and Tyler awaiting their return :)

On to other stuff ...

Andi got this tutu as a babyshower present, and the other night I decided to put it on her...she had so much fun with it!

Andi and I went hiking at Vedauwoo with Alex and Adelyn one afternoon.

Andi and Ben playing with Legos

Holland 2010

It's been two weeks since Andi and I got back from Holland, so about time I make a little post about it! We had such a wonderful time at my parents' house in Wijster. We did so many fun things (walks in the area, visited an open air museum, a small bird zoo, shopping, and a day with my sister in the city where she goes to school) but also really just enjoyed doing the normal day to day things...together.
My parents live in a rural area, so there is lots of space to play. Andi loved spending time with her opa and oma, and it made me happy that she got attached to them again so quickly. And, bonus for me, her opa and oma loved every opportunity to babysit Andi, so I got lots of playtime with my sister! Two of my parents' neighbors are dairy farmers, and in a field acros the steet there were a bunch of sheep, and everytime my mom or dad asked Andi to go see the sheep and cows she'd lift up her arms to them to be taken there, and she would say "meehhh" (for the sheep) or "moooh" (for the cows).
Of course we really missed Ben this whole time (he had to stay home for work), and hopefully he can come along again next time.

I have a bunch of pictures, most of which you can see here (Holland) and here (France). But here are a few as well:

Happy opa and oma.

Liselotte and I went on LOTS and lots of runs together. Through the woods, passed the sheep and cows and along the canals :) During the year, we often chat online about going running, and when and where etc., and while sometimes it happens we run at the same time (her training is in the evenings, while I go in the am with Andi ... add an 8 hr time diffference, and there you go, we run at the same time), it is never really together, so we were really looking forward to this!

Definitely one of the highlights: going on lots of bikerides with Andi in the front seat with me. Holland is known for its excellent bike riding (since it's flat!), and Andi loved it as well, pointing at everything along the way, especially when there were sheep, cows or horses around.

Playing in the pool with mom. We had such great weather in Holland. Some summers it can just rain and rain, but this year we had gorgeous days, plenty nice for playing in the pool.

Visiting the neighbors cows and sheep was a daily activity.

In the sandbox, before getting herself completely covered in sand :)

We also had fun playing with nephews Ivan and Tesse! (as with uncle Bastian and aunt Erika!)

Mom and I did some pie baking for my sister's 23rd birthday party!

My dad with his girls and granddaughter :)

Another "must" on the list when visiting home is visiting my grandpa in Zwartsluis and going for a little ride in his boat over the many waterways in the area where he lives.

Andi and I in the boat.

Eating Dutch pannenkoeken (a sort of large pancake) at a pannenkoekenboerderij...always another must when I visit ... Mmmm

My dad got to hog Andi all to himself once day as I went shopping in Zwolle with my mom and sister.

Auntie Liselotte teaching Andi the important things in life. Liselotte, I hope you know that Andi hasn't stopped picking her nose since ...

Sometimes, we slept too :)