Bryan Makes the Big Screen at Coors Field!

For Father's Day, I got us tickets to the Mt Ranch Club at Coors Field. We have been wanting to try it out and it seemed like as good as time as any. You pay extra for your ticket, have a table with a waitress and have money to spend on food and drinks during the game. Some of the highlights....you have a TV at your table to watch replays AND alcohol sales are not cut off in the 7th inning. Since the game we went to went into extra innings, this was especially important! During the game, Bryan was asked to play High Low on the big screen for a chance to win a Rockies Prize Pack. He played and he won! AND the Rockies won! AND Grandma and Grandpa babysat Zander. We had a great night!

Our Day in New York, NY!

On Saturday we took the train to New York to watch the Rockies play the Yankees! We left first thing in the morning and returned to Philly at about 11 that night. We didn't have much time in New York but we went to Ground Zero, took an awesome walk in Battery Park, saw the new Yankee Stadium, visited Time Square, found a few Irish Pubs and saw the Empire State Building! Bryan was there in April so the Irish Pubs were some of his favorites and the Empire State Building was a must since it never came out of the clouds while he was there! We were exhausted but had a great time!!!

Our Trip to Philadelphia

Bryan had work in Philly and since I was off for the summer...Zander and I joined him! We had a great time, Bryan would head off to work and Zander and I would do some sight seeing. Then, Bryan would finish work and we would fill our evenings with some more sight seeing! Bryan claims we ran him into the ground but he seemed to survive it just fine!

We arrived on Monday, found a great place for dinner and just walked around town a bit. Neither of us had been to Philly so it was all new. On Tuesday, we all grabbed cofffee, Bryan headed to work and Zander and I did the bus tour. It was a great way to learn as much as possible without having to walk tons in the crazy humidity! One of Bryan's coworkers was in town and we met her for dinner. On Wednesday, Zander and I walked Bryan to his first store...one the way we had to stop and take our picture by Rocky. The Art Museum in Philadelphia are the famous stairs he ran up in the movie. On our way back to the hotel, we went into Macy's, the current home of the largest pipe organ. I knew it played daily at noon and figured since I was there...why not? I couldn't believe the crowds! This many people showed up to hear the pipe organ daily?!?!? Then, the speeches began, I was very under dressed as it seemed I was there on the 100th anniversary of the day the pipe organ first played....100 years to the day, what are the odds?

That evening, we all went on the Ben Franklin walking tour in historical Philadelphia. It was only 75 minutes long but we learned a ton! Afterwards we went to the City Tavern, a place I had heard about on the bus tour. Ben Franklin once frequented the Tavern and we had food from his time!

On Thursday, I went down to Independence Hall to get tickets for us to tour Congressional Hall later in the day. It was free but you had to have a reserved ticket. This is where we headed Thursday evening, we learned lots of history and stood in the room where the Declaration of Independence was signed. Since we hadn't had a cheesesteak yet, we had to get one on our way home. Jim's Cheesesteak....delicious!

We started Friday with a visit to the Liberty Bell. Bryan headed to work and we all went to the Phillies game that night. They were playing the Oakland A's. Zander was a champ as usual and the woman next to us couldn't believe how many baseball games he has been to or how good he was at them. We tried another cheesesteak at the ballpark on a recommendation from our friend Brian...also delicious!

On Saturday, we were up early and took the train to New York! Overall a great warmup to our trip to Europe next week. Zander was a champ and we had a great time!

Happy Father's Day! Rockies vs. Tigers!!!!

We all headed to Coors Field for Father's Day as the Rockies took on the Tigers! The Rockies won Friday and Saturday and Bryan wanted to take his broom for the sweep...he left the broom at home and it was a good thing because with Verlander pitching, the Tigers won the last of the three game series. The Tigers only come to Denver about once every 4 years and we were excited it was Father's Day Weekend. We had a combination of Tigers and Rockies gear but we all had a great time!

Zander is 4 Months Old!

So we will start with the stats....Zander is 16lb 12 oz and in the 87% for weight, 25" long and in the 68% for height, and his head is 17.8"and he is in the 99%!! When we went in for the check up, the nurse took his measurements and then the Doctor came in and said we need to measure his head again. It seems that his head size has grown LOTS in the last 2 months...it was off the charts. It still measured at 45cm and she then measured our heads...mine is fairly average at only 9cm bigger than Zanders BUT her measuring tape didn't even go big enough to measure Bryan's! She was no longer concerned about Zander's head size as it appears to be just like Dad's!

We can't believe how much he has changed in the last month! We have put away the bouncy seat and the bassinet for the stroller....Zander loves to sit or stand and check out everything that is happening around him! Here are some of his favorites....

His exosaucer...he finds new toys on it daily!

His stroller...as long as it keeps moving!

His Bumpo...its even better with the tray full of toys!

He has started working on holding his bottle, he makes it a few minutes then needs help again.

His rings, they are attached to his carseat and stroller with a few extra in the diaper bag.

Baseball (I know big surprise!) but the Cargo bobble head is a hit!

He still sleeps in his swing and carseat for short catnaps but is now taking one long nap (between 2 and 3 hours!) in his crib. The drooling is crazy and we are not sure if he is teething but with my sister in law's advice...we will be ready for it on the plane to Europe with some teething tabs. When we get back, we plan to start solids...the Dr. said he is ready anytime but she would wait until after Europe because why complicate it? We agree of course...plenty to pack already! We can't wait to see what the next month brings!

Denver Botanical Gardens

Courtney and Lily were nice enough to take us as guests to the gardens and we loved it! We went with Courtney's Assisted Living clan and it was a perfect day to stroll around....absolutely beautiful!

Our Annual Trip to Indiana and Michigan

WOW! Lots of blogging catch up to do! The last three weeks of school were a whirl wind as half of our staff is leaving...including the entire administration...I had a great Week O Fun but wasn't able to do as much for next fall as I usually do because we have no idea what that will look like, I am just trying to remember that change is often good and enjoy my summer! With that said, we headed off on our first trip of the summer the Saturday after I ended my school year. This is a trip that we will do every year, in fact it made it to our marriage vows!

We started off Memorial Weekend in Indiana. We arrived on Saturday and Grandma was excited to see Zander. She spent the evening with him as Bryan and I went into Auburn to see friends. Sunday started VERY early as it always does and I drove Bryan to meet friends to head to the race at 5! Luckily, Grandma was excited for some more Zander time and I got to go back to bed! Later in the day, Cindy and I went to visit the new winery in town and then to Bryan's Grandma's for a birthday celebration. The family was all excited to meet Zander! I wish I had some pictures of this but Bryan had the camera at the race....Bryan bought Zander lots of gifts, including this great hat!











On Monday we had lunch at Raver's, and Timmy was very excited to finally meet Zander. After that, Zander, his cousins Tori and Heather, Grandma and Bryan and I all headed to the Tin Caps baseball game! It was a VERY HOT day but we found some shade and enjoyed ourselves!

On Tuesday morning, we met Cindy for coffee after her morning route and went to Angola to meet Butch and Carmen for lunch. We enjoyed fish at one of Bryan's favorite places and headed to Michigan to see all the McLeese's. They all pitched in and we had a great dinner at Uncle Mike's. Grandma, Quinn, Kay, Ken, Julie, Tim (in from Hong Kong), Don, and Mike were all there.

The next morning we had breakfast with Uncle Tim and Grandma and headed to Bell's for a couple beers before heading to Detroit. This is when we learned Zander is not such a fan of his car seat after about 90 minutes and stopped to give him a break at a winery we found along the way. We arrived at my Aunt Sharon's just before she got home from work and BBQ'd before going to the Tigers game with Eric and Katie. It was great to go to Comerica Park!

On Thursday we hung around Aunt Sharon's and did a few projects in the morning, then she took the afternoon off! We went to Northville for lunch and a little shopping! We went back home and grilled again in the evening and Bryan and I went out for ice cream at one of my favorite places to go with my Grandma.

On Friday, we got up and took a walk and then went to Katie's house to meet Amy and Jenny! A great college reunion as it has been at least 7 years since we have all been together! Bryan stayed for a bit and then headed off to watch Hangover 2. We had a great lunch and tons of fun catching up...hopefully we will all be meeting in Vegas in the next year! Audrey (Jenny's youngest), Olivia (Amy's youngest), and Kami and Gabby (Kate's girls) all thought Zander was pretty cute too!

Saturday we headed back to Ft. Wayne, stopped and picked up Cindy and went to the Zoo to meet the Mullis's. We had a great day with them but Lincoln and Aubrey were especially cute in the fountains. The Giraffes were my favorite and I think we will need to add this as a must see to our annual trip! Saturday night we went out with Darrin and Stacey...it has been too long and we had a great time!

Sunday it was time to pack up and see if there was any way we could fit all of this stuff in our suitcases to get home??? We did it! On our way back to Dayton we had breakfast with Cindy, Tori and Heather...dropped off the pack n play the Seiss's let us borrow (THANKS!!!) and headed to the airport.

Overall, an awesome vacation! Looking forward to being home for a bit before going to Philly in two weeks!