Denver Zoo

cooper and i went to the denver zoo today with joan. i forgot my camera! i guess it's ok not to document everything. cooper had a few meltdowns, i'm seriously starting to wonder when this phase will pass. out in public, every other child i see is smiling and happy but not mine. a woman i passed today told me that her daughter used to throw herself on the ground and kick and scream in public. her daughter was with her today (looked like she was in college maybe) and blushed at the comment. hopefully i will be able to look back and laugh one day.
anyway, the zoo was so fun and cooper really likes the primates. we saw a gorilla eating it's own poo too, all the moms were covering their mouths and saying "ewww", "gross", "stop" and the kids all wondered what he was eating! it was pretty nasty, poor gorilla. he topped off his poo snack with a brown paper bag and then a head of lettuce...seriously.
next time we'll hit the aquarium. we sure are having fun experiencing all colorado has to offer!

jess

The big GJ!

We took a trip to Grand Junction last weekend and it was hot! Jim goes for work about once a month and every so often, Cooper and I join him. It's really great to get away and bond with the family. Einstein joined us this time too! We arrived around lunchtime and hit our favorite Mexican joint, LaBamba. They make yummy refried beans fresh everyday. We headed to Palisade for some wineries after lunch and then the farmers market on main street. Friday, Cooper and I visited the local toy store where there is a HUGE thomas the train play area. For those of you that know how much CJ loves thomas, well, let's just said he had a pretty good meltdown when we had to leave. We bought him a few new engines, Diesel, Daisy and Duncan. Friday afternoon, we met up with Jim and hit the wineries again. At Canyon Wind winery, Cooper was offered water from a wine glass by a worker. He likes to bite down on glasses, so you can only imagine what happened next. I was able to get all the broken glass out of his mouth and the bleeding stopped soon after....thanks, lady! Cooper was really good for most of the trip but did not like the crib (we forgot our pack n' play) so he ended up in bed with us for both nights. It was nice to snuggle but I'm glad he has his own bed to roll around in. Friday night we went to our fav Italian restaurant, they serve gluten free pasta! We had a bottle of wine and enjoyed the outdoor patio.

Great trip, thanks Jim!

Happy Campers!

We did it, we took Cooper on his first camping trip. Lots of rain and tears, but we did it. It's much harder to camp with a toddler in tow, but we're determined to make it work. Jim took us to an amazing spot in Pike National Forest, a spot where he camped a year ago before the whole family moved out to Colorado.

Coop loved to jump in the puddles, he now has an official pair of camping pants (mainly b/c i couldn't get the stains out)

He was a little confused most of time to what was going on. He kept wanting to get back in the car. He thru a few tantrums, but we're used to that. Night Night was a little difficult, it took about two hours for him to fall asleep, he just wanted to wrestle and roll on top of us. Coop woke up in the middle of the night crying and threw his head back and busted my lip open, I'm ok, it's healing...thanks for asking.

We already have our next trip lined up (not sure exactly where yet, somewhere in CO) with Jim's sis and hubby and our niece and Nanna is flying in from cleveland to camp too! Wish us luck!!!