US Pro Cycling Challenge...Golden to Denver!

Bryan went with Lou, Miller, and Raina to see the start of the stage for the last day in Golden. Then they came to get Zander and I and we all headed downtown for the finish. We met up with Casey and Rob who found a shady spot on Speer where the riders rode by us many times. The Kerschans, Stu, Allison, and Luis all met up with us there! They did 6 loops and we could see them on both sides of Speer. Overall a great day! Hopefully the Pro Cycling Challenge will be back next year!

Zander's First Day at Daycare

Wednesday, August 24th

Happy Half Birthday Zander!

Well since Zander turns 7 months on Tuesday, I guess it is PAST time to get his 6 month post up! He had his 6 month check up the Friday before I went back to school. He is growing so fast! Zander weighs 20lbs 3 oz (90%), he is 27.5 inches tall (85%), and his head is 48 cm and in the 99.95%. The head size once again caused some concern and Zander had his first ultrasound. All went well and everything looks normal but they wanted to do the ultrasound before his soft spot closed so they didn't have to do an MRI.

My mom had Zander all week during my first week back(a HUGE help) and a couple days for the next three weeks so we can ease into daycare. He loves going to Grandma's and daycare!

Some of his favorites....

He loves his dogs! And since he now is capable of feeding them...they love him too!

We like to go for walks on the weekend and Zander loves the swing!

He loves to sit on the floor and play, his school bus, orange ball, and drums are some of his favorites!

And he loves almost any food you put in front of him! We can't wait for these teeth to finally come in so that he can try some more solids!

Happy 60th Aunt Sharon!

Aunt Sharon came out in August and we celebrated her 60th birthday a little late!

Check Out These Shelves! And Zander rolls over...

When we started planning the nursery, I saw a shelf the had a rod for Zander's quilt...Bryan said he could build it, bought the materials and some new tools and it was finished this week! After all of our shopping on our recent travels, I convinced him we needed some more shelf space and Zander got all of this. They look GREAT!!! What furniture do we need next????

On a side note, Zander rolled over today! I know he is very late doing this but I have blamed it on his HUGE head...that's a lot of weight to roll over! Anyway, we were visiting our friends Beth and Elliot today and Zander rolled from his belly to his back...he was very proud and dad can't wait for Zander to show him what he can do!

European Vacation...Seventh Stop, returning to London before heading home!

We were back in London on Monday, we checked our luggage when we arrived and planned to pick it up that night. We were staying by the airport so we wouldn't have as far to travel the next morning. After checking our luggage, we walked towards the bar where Kristi had left her phone and then we parted ways. The Allen's went to find Kristi's phone, then they were headed to the London Eye, the Palace to see the changing of the Guards, and to Harrods. Bryan and I went to the Tower of London, enjoyed a couple of beers at different pubs to stay out of the rain, and then we all met up for dinner. I loved the Tower of London! We got a Beefeater as a tour guide and he was very entertaining! I learned so much about the history of England and would definitely visit the Tower again if we ever find our way back there...there was just too much to see in one day! It rained like crazy that afternoon and Kristi almost left us as we were at the end of our meeting time window. We were celebrating Skylar's birthday that night as it was the next day and we were traveling. We went to Picadilly Circus and found a great restaurant. We had a birthday cookie and ordered ice cream for dessert. Skylar was very surprised with the cookie and I think it turned out to be a pretty good birthday!

We all headed back to get our luggage and then on to our hotel. The hotel was in a residential district and a little hard to find but it was very cute and we had breakfast the next morning! They even had cereal for Skylars Birthday Breakfast! It took us longer than expected to get to the airport and we were short on time so it turned a little crazy! We all went to the United terminal and the Allen's discovered they were flying Air Canada and out of a different terminal...we wished eachother a very fast good bye and safe travel and set out to catch planes. A couple hours later, we were sitting in the terminal as our plane was delayed and there was Kristi, Jordyn, and Skylar! It seemed there original plane was delayed, they would miss their connection in Toronto and would make it home until the next day so they got on a plane through Washington Dulles. Both of our trips home would have lots more issues....the Allens spent hours and hours in Dulles and didn't get home until 4 am the next morning! We were delayed 3 hours out of London and landed in Chicago at the same time we were suppose to be taking off for Denver. Luckily, weather had delayed everyone for the day and we arrived at our gate just as they were getting ready to load...we were late but were still in our beds that night!

Overall, Zander was a traveling champ and we had a great trip! We now have a few years to save money and come up with ideas for our next Europe trip as an 8 hour plane ride with a toddler just doesn't sound like a good idea...Zander will need to be at least 4 before we attempt this again!

European Vacation...Sixth Stop, a brief visit to Brussels, Belguim

In all our traveling, I think Brussels is not getting a fair shot! 4 years ago when we traveled with our moms, we had about 4 hours in Brussels...we enjoyed it but didn't get to see much or learn much about Brussels. This trip we were there on a Sunday, it rained, and somehow our hotel was in an interesting part of the city....we didn't even know this was something to look out for in Brussels!

When we arrived, Rick, Kristi and the girls were hungry and I convinced them to not eat in the train station because I remembered where we had lunch the last time we were there...there were so many street cafes and it was so much fun...They agreed and we discovered there were two train stations AND we were no where near the cute sidewalk cafes. We found some not so great neighborhoods and I felt bad I steered them wrong. We then decided to take the subway towards our hotel and find food there. The food was ok and we set out to find our hotel...This is where it got interesting. As we walked toward our hotel, there were LOTS of working women everywhere..at first we didn't think much of it but then it was awfully weird to have that many women on corners on a Sunday at 1 in the afternoon! We were definitely in the center of Brussels own Red Light District! We found our hotel and the inside was very nice, our rooms weren't ready but they held our stuff and we set out to discover the square in Brussels. It was beautiful! We had some Belguim beer, enjoyed some waffles, did some shopping and got some beautiful pictures of the square. Then the rain started and we enjoyed a very long dinner to stay dry! We headed back to the hotel that night and we were pleasantly surprised by our room...the Allens weren't so lucky. It seemed that they were working on remodeling but hadn't gotten to the building they were staying in yet, unfortunately. So they really had a bad impression of Brussels but hopefully we will all get back and give it another chance!

On Monday we were up early and on our way to London for our last night in Europe!