We have been too busy for me to keep up my normal pace of writing on the blog, so here is an update from the last few months!To see sets of photos from the last few months, go to our Flickr site and click on the sets of photos called:
- JC/Annick Visit Part I - Trip Out West
- JC/Annick Visit Part II (various photos of the family)
- JC/Annick Visit Part III - New Mexico Trip
- JC/Annick Visit Part IV - Great Sand Dunes
Select "View as Slideshow" to see each in slide show format.
(Scroll down for bonus photos!)
In March and April, for 5 weeks, Reynald's parents visited us and we had a great time together. It was truly wonderful to have them here with us for those weeks and we were able to do a lot of things together. They helped me A LOT at the house with watching Axel and making lunches, and cleaning the house. They also gave us good ideas for some improvements we could make (they have great taste). And, Jean Claude worked hard being Mr. Fix-It around the house, fixing things we didn't even know were wrong (you can tell how "fix it" we are - not very!). Annick and JC took Axel on lots of "bike rides" after they bought him a new push trike and lots of walks. They took Luka to school every day and picked him up. With all this busy-ness, we still were able to get in a few good trips.
Reynald, Luka, Annick and Jean Claude took a memborable trip March 11 - 18th to points "out west" such as Capitol Reef, Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon and the south side of the Grand Canyon, and Monument Valley. They saw other great things too, but Axy and I stayed home, so Reynald will need to edit this to put in more details! See more pictures from this trip here and select the set of photos called "JC/Annick Visit Part I - Trip Out West " to see the slide show.
Their good friend, and ours, Edith, also came for the last two weeks of their stay. She was the perfect house guest too and we had a wonderful time with her as well. The last week of their stay, we went to Taos and Santa Fe, New Mexico. We rented a great house (over the Internet!) in Taos and stayed in the well-placed TraveLodge (yes!) in Santa Fe. Everyone seemed to have had a good time exploring all the artists' displays in these towns, having fun meals together, and visiting museums. Axel and Luka even spent a few hours as the Georgia O'Keefe museum in Santa Fe! On the way back from New Mexico, we also spent a night/day exploring the Great Sand Dunes National Park in the southern part of CO. We had an adventurous hike on the dunes as our last hurrah. See more pictures here and select "JC/Annick Visit Part III - New Mexico" or "Trip - JC/Annick Visit Part IV - Great Sand Dunes". We also had a lovely Easter dinner with Eve's brother Steven, his father-in-law, and Uncle Jack visiting for the afternoon. (JC's birthday below.)
During their visit, Axel also made a lot of progress. He went from "barely walking" to walking just as well as any other almost-two year-old. Walking seemed to have opened up a whole new world to him and he is very excited about exploring it! He also was weaned by the week before they left (so around the end of March). I was sad, but it was very helpful to have them here during this time to distract him, and now, I know it was the right thing to do: he is a big boy now!Axel says a lot more words now. He tried to say "Jean Claude" before they left, and he would practice with Annick pointing to Annick, himself, Jean Claude, etc. He also currently says many French words, despite Reynald's fear that he would speak much more English than Luka did at the same age. Luckily, this is note the case! He says: eau (water), propre (clean - yes, like father, like son on this one...!), doudou, hi (in English), Yay! (in English), Mom, Mama, Dad, Dada, Papa, Uddle (that means Luka - go figure), balloon (lolo), and other fun stuff.
Axel's favorite book is "T'Choupi fait du vélo" (T'Choupi rides his bike) - that he can pick out from all the other books (that look exactly the same to me!); he also likes other T'Choupi books and still really likes all the Coco books too. Luka's new favorite book is the ABC dinosaur book his grandmother bought him at the Great Sand Dunes book store. I am learning more about dino's than I ever thought I would!
Axel also skiied for the first time - yes, it's true! - on May 4, 2007 at just two days shy of 21 months old! Every time he saw Luka on skis, he wanted to try them on. So, this time, at A-Basin (still open!) we made sure to bring Luka's old skis (strap on boots, scales on the bottom, no edges) for Axel to try. He didn't like it for the first 10 seconds or so as I strapped them on his boots, but after that, he loved it and got mad when we took them off at the end of the day! He skiied around between our legs at the bottom of the mountain and he was also able to shuffle along without falling, on his own, at the end of the day. Go, Axel! Olympic champion in the making!
Luka is a true little skiier. We were so impressed with his skiing abilities, taking him to A-Basin two weekends in a row. We had not really seen him in action since he had completed his Eldora ski lessons on February. It is a sight to behold! He is totally in control and has a great time skiing down either doing the pizza (snow plow) or french fry (parallel). He has no fear and just skis along with Mommy or Daddy, though he may take on the persona of Spiderman or Superman to get down the hill! He went on the bunny hill at A-Basin with Mommy April 28 during Daddy's randonnée ski race, and then, we took him on the greens the next weekend (May 4). Those greens are the toughest I have ever seen, and are pretty steep. So, I'd say Luka is good for blues at most other major ski resorts! Go, four-year old ski man!
Both Luka and Axel love riding their bikes around. Axel on the push-trike (he can't reach both pedals at the same time yet to pedal himself) and Luka on his "big boy bike" with training wheels. Mommy is happy too, because she finally got her "comfort bike" - a 7-speed, upright black and white Giant. We still need to pick it up from the shop in Boulder, but I can't wait! Reynald also got a new fancy-schmancy mountain bike. He deserves it, though, after all these years on his old one. What adventures does he have in store for us on that thing?Here is a blog bonus. This is Luka's drawing from the Mother's Day Tea at school. He said it was "Mommy on the couch watching TV" - you know, that activity I often do during the day (NOT!). Maybe that was his dream for me - "relax, rest a bit and watch some TV!" ha ha.
