Lochlan got his hairs did for the 1st time!

On September 16th, we finally cut Lochlan's hair for the first time and now he looks like our little geek. I only cut a few of his bangs, but he now looks like one of the characters in Dumb & Dumber.

BEFORE:




AFTER:

Our Time with Grandma Ann

Grandma Ann (Matt's mom/my mother-in-law) came to visit us September 1-15th and we had such a great time showing her our new home and stomping grounds! She's about to leave on a Mormon Mission to Guatemala for almost two years, so she wanted to come see us before she leaves. When she gets back, Gavin will be 5 and Lochlan will be 3!!!!!!! They really miss her since she's been gone, and we're already anxious for her to come back.
While she was here, we did a toddler hike at Garden of the Gods, a long hike at Red Rock Canyon (complete with a photographer for the local newspaper, The Gazette, joining us on the hike to do an article about our Colorado Mountain Mamas group), an evening hike (after the kids were in bed) at Palmer Park, played in the yard a lot, made a zucchini-less, two hour over-baked zucchini bread, went to the zoo and fed the giraffes (Grandma Ann's first time ever feeding giraffes), visited the Will Rogers Shrine (it's just a mile up the hill past the zoo, so they go hand in hand), Lochlan & I went to a friends' daughter's birthday party at the gymnastics studio, took an early morning (6:30am) sunrise hike to take photos of the Hot Air Balloon Classic Festival with the balloons rising out of downtown and into the air, Sunday brunch, drove up Pikes Peak and took a hike in the woods below the summit, a day trip to Mt. Princeton Hot Springs, drove up to the top of Cottonwood Pass and took a hike (this one finally got Grandma light-headed, as we were hiking at over 12,000 feet above sea level), went to the Happy Apple Farm to pick raspberries, blackberries and apples (I also got a speeding ticket on the way to the farm), went swimming in the creek near our house, took an evening hike up Mt. Cutler for the sunset (after the kids were in bed).
Grandma Ann babysat for us on a Sunday afternoon, so Matt & I were able to have a hot date on the river, doing white water rafting in the Big Horn Sheep Canyon west of Canyon City. It ended up being an all-afternoon and evening adventure and was exactly what we needed to spice things up! ;)
We also drove to Estes Park for a weekend for the Scottish-Irish Highland Games and along the way, went to lunch at Oscar Blues Brewery in Lyons (the brewery which makes Ole Chubb, Dale's Pale Ale, etc). We rented a cabin on the Big Thompson River in Estes Park (complete with a stocked trout pond), Matt & Ann went to the tattoo at the Scottish-Irish Highland Games one night in order to see all of the bands, during the day, we walked in to town for the Scottish-Irish parade, then went to the Games. We were able to watch one of my favorite bands, Albannach, and check out all of the booths and clans. We found a print of the Castle Lachlan in Scotland (being sold by Clan MacLachlan), and just had to get it for our little Lochlan's bedroom. That evening, we drove around on the outskirts of town looking for bugling elk at dusk, to no success.
The couple of days before Grandma Ann we mellowed out a bit and went for a picnic and hike at the Fountain Creek Nature Center, met Papa for lunch in an airplane (there's a restaurant here down near Matt's work that is in an old airplane), and ran some errands. The night before Grandma was to fly out, we decided to lay low and watch "Leap Year", this movie I had been telling Matt & Ann about, as it was filmed in Ireland and the scenery is beautiful. The morning Grandma Ann was leaving, we drove up to Red Rocks Amphitheater and walked the steps up to the top and back down, so that we earned the lunch we later ate in Morrison. After lunch, we brought Grandma to the Denver Airport, where we (unfortunately) had to say goodbye. We had such a good time with her here and we're bummed it's going to be a couple of years until we can see her again. Good thing for Skype!
I took over 500 photos in the two weeks that Ann was here. I am going to share with you some of the highlights!


Waiting for Grandma to fly in:






Yay! She's here and wants to play with us non-stop!


Grandma Ann's sidewalk chalk art in the basketball court:


Garden of the Gods, our regular stomping grounds:








Lochlan was showing off his hydrating skills to Grandma Ann:




Lochlan clapping at himself (this is two days before he started walking):


Matt showing his mom the fruits (and veggies) of his labor:


Zoo (and Grandma's first time feeding giraffe's!):





View of Garden of the Gods from the Will Rogers Shrine:


View of Downtown Colorado Springs and the Broadmoor Hotel from the Will Rogers Shrine:



Grandma & Lochlan at the Shrine:


One of many deer that Grandma saw while she was here:



Party animal:


Pikes Peak & downtown from Palmer Park at 6:30am on a Sunday morning:





Photos from the early morning hike to watch the hot air balloons (Les, these are for you!):













Mama & Papa's hot date of white water rafting, then dinner at an Irish pub/brewery:





Our day on Pike's Peak:
(our buddy, Mr. Fox):













I had Gavin show off some downward doggie to Grandma that I taught him last winter:








Mt. Princeton Hot Springs:






Hike on top of Cottonwood Pass:









Happy Apple Farm:











Our trip to Estes Park:




















Estes Park Policeman. On a Segway. In a kilt. Ridiculous.







Fountain Creek Nature Center:











Lunch at the Airplane Restaurant:









Red Rocks Amphitheater:






Bye Grandma! We miss you and love you lots!!!