Walk with Grandpa

Cayle's favorite activity in the woods. Throwing rocks into the creek!

Practicing balancing skills with Grandpa.

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We went looking for deer in the woods, but didn't find any. Instead we found corn that the deer eat.

Dad's Tricks

 My dad can be very creative when it comes to finding solutions to problems. The problem in this instance was that there was a new tree planted behind a bigger one. The smaller one had to grow out sideways to get sun since the bigger tree was blocking most of the light. When the bigger tree was recently cut down, the smaller tree looked really weird because it was growing out, not up. Dad's solution was to tie a rope onto the smaller tree and harness it around a bigger branch of a neighboring tree and hang weights at the bottom of the rope. This would slowly help pull the tree back upright. He said when he first set it up, the weights were about 10ft off the ground! Guess it's working.

Getting Here, There, and Everywhere

Cayle was really excited about all the different modes of transportation he took today.  Here's the rundown:
bike - rode a bike he had borrowed to give it back to its owner (because how can you really expect a 2-year-old to go on vacation for a week and have no bike to ride????)
scooter - got a scooter ride back from dropping off the above-metioned borrowed bike (this one caused some tears because it was pretty cold and he had no gloves)
grandma's car - from T-town to the airport (duh)
airplane - st louis international airport to denver international airport (typically pronounced "hairplane")
train - from the gates to baggage claim ("it. was. fun.")
bus - from the baggage claim terminal to the pike's peak parking lot ("this bus is nice")
cayle's car - from the parking lot to gypsum (see previous post - "Cayle wants his Taggie")

Here's what Cayle had to say once the plane landed:

Our friend, Taggie

When Cayle was born, he was given a Taggie - a small blankie with ribbon tags on its perimeter.  We thought it was cool and hoped Cayle would use it in place of carrying a large blankie around like so many kids seem to do.  Fast forward a few years, and Cayle and his Taggie are like BFFs!  Cayle carries his Taggie around the house, takes it everywhere with him, and sleeps with it for every nap and each night. 

Lindy also has a Taggie, and Nick's mom commented on her using it.  Cathy said she hadn't thought Lindy was very attached to it, but after seeing how it worked its magic in church on Sunday, she came to a different conclusion.  Lindy was tired when church started, so I gave her a paci and her Taggie, and she was immediately rubbing her Taggie and was asleep within moments.

 

Tonight on the way back from the airport, Cayle dropped his Taggie.  It was dark, and we were just getting in to the mountains.  Nick couldn't feel the Taggie from his location in the driver's seat, and I couldn't find the Taggie from the other side of the backseat.  So we told Cayle he'd just have to wait until we got home for his Taggie.  Cayle asked for the Taggie hundreds of times.  Literally, hundreds.  "Cayle want his Taggie."  (repeat 50 times)  "Cayle want his Taggie PUHLEASE! (repeat ten times)  "Cayle want his Taggie."  (repeat another 50 times)  He finally fell asleep after over an hour of this, slept for about 15 minutes, and then woke up and asked for his Taggie... 

Future ______________???

While we've been at grandma and grandpa's gym, Cayle has had plenty of time to start learning some of the important things in life...like how to hit a tennis ball.  Uncle Reo worked with him a bit last Sunday, and Cayle and I have been practicing every day.  Tonight, Cayle had his first chance to try out pickle ball.  So, if he keeps working at it, maybe he can be a professional tennis player?  Or ping pong (table tennis for those who think the "sport" is real...)?  Or (does this even exist???) pickle ball?

And if those things don't work out, maybe a professional rock climber??

But actually, he asked to ride "his" bike (which we really borrowed from the neighbor boy who wasn't riding his since Cayle can't go a week without his bike...) every day of our vacation, so maybe he'll be a professional cyclist???

Then again, he has been telling us he is ready to go back to Colorado so he can play basketball...

Maybe it's too early to tell what he'll be? 
 

Photos

We have been thinking about Christmas cards for a few weeks now...contemplating which pics to use, how many pics on the card, etc.  It seems I always want to get the most up-to-date pics and try to use at least one from when we cut down our Christmas tree.  The pic from that event never usually turns out - mostly because by the time we find a tree we've been in the forest for hours, and Cayle is done with snow at that point, on and on goes the drama.  So this year I decided the card and pics would be selected early!  But I wanted to use today as one last deadline to get a nice family pic.  So after church, we did some posing in the park...

Outtakes are included just to be sure no one got the idea taking pictures with 2 small children was literally a walk in the park...

trying to get started

cayle refusing to be happy about the pictures, even though he was offered fruit snacks AND candy corn

lindy was at least enjoying herself

ugh

we decided to be angry like cayle...except lindy didn't get the memo

finally got a smirk out of him

trying to make him be happy.  literally make.

me whispering sweet nothings in his ear...like take these pictures and smile and say cheese.  now.

he escaped

poor little sister

sweet girl :)

the awesomeness continuing in the house

more ugh

adults are much easier to photograph

that's a wrap!

Skatepark

Cayle and his best buddy Macklin dropping into the bowl

 Cayle has 2 new favorite obsessions. He likes to mix them up a bit. One is the BMX track and the other is the skatepark. He asks to go to the skatepark or the BMX track about every day. He loves going to the Skatepark with his buddy Mack. On this day Carter and Lindy tagged along as well.

Other non biking activities sometimes take place

Carter spends a lot of time climbing.... and slipping....

But he always eventually makes it!

Cayle playing on the features

Carter found Macklin's snacks

Mack riding around the edge of the bowl.