The Weaver Family Vacation - Part One

We took the boys on our first big family vacation last week and had tons of fun! In fact we had so much fun, and visited so many people, we are updating our blog in two parts. The boys were great travelers despite the 1800 miles we drove over the week. So here is part #1....

Our vacation took us up North to Montana to first visit friends, and then family. Unfortunately, our trip started out somewhat a disaster (which of course now we can laugh about!). After a brief stop at Craters of the Moon National Park, we headed to Salmon, Idaho. On the way we managed to get two flat tires; spend 5 hours stranded in the middle of nowhere in the blazing heat without cell service; ride in a sheriffs car where the babies enjoyed playing with the straps of various ceiling mounted guns; hit a deer; loose a hotel reservation; and spend $650 on new (10 ply) tires (because we were in rural Idaho). We seemed to get the kinks out of our vacation right away, and woke up the next day to beautiful weather which followed us all the way up to Whitefish, Montana. We had a great time in Whitefish visiting our good friends the Peppmeiers (Doug, Kelly, Will, Jack, and sweet Annmarie), and the Larkins (Scott and Stefanie) who are expecting their first baby this winter (Congratulations!). The boys particularly enjoyed watching Will and Jack zip around the house, and chasing Gus (the Jack Russel Terrier) around the living room. I actually think Bridger was a little jealous of all the attention he was getting.

Caulder has become very good (quick) at crawling, and is even pulling himself up on the furniture to cruise around. Kessler is just testing the waters in the crawling department, but has dove full throttle into the jabbering department. Both boys practiced their skills endlessly at the P. house.

We next headed to Glacier National Park. It was spectacular as usual. We managed to do two hikes, and view lots of wildlife. We particularly enjoyed the Mountain Goats on our seven mile hike up the Hanging Garden trail. The boys bounced along on our backs in their packs, which they seem to really enjoy.

After a noisy stay in West Glacier (trains consistently sped by all night long and garbage trucks took hours to empty dumpsters at 6:00 am), we headed down to Columbia Falls to visit the Small Farm. We enjoyed visiting with Mat's Grandma Glenna and her many children and Grandchildren who just happened to be visiting last week. The farm was beautiful, and Mat had fun catching up with relatives he had not seen for many years. Unfortunately, we could only stay for a few hours since we were headed down to Bozeman that night.

Phew.... that takes us through half our week.....more to come.

It's Summer, we're busy, and we're 6 months!

The beginning of summer has brought us lots of visitors, camping, and swimming! The boys are six months old, and are jumping right up the growth charts. They are also becoming very busy. Sitting still is not an option. Caulder is working on crawling, and Kessler is working on scooting. Caulder has also figured out how to get out of the bouncy seat (check out the video), as well as how to stand up in his crib. We can tell that he is going to be the trouble maker. Kessler has become very vocal, and loves to blow raspberries. He is very sweet, and is much more reserved than Caulder. My favorite new activity that the boys have begun to do is to reach up to us to be picked up. Mat and I bought a family summer swim pass for the Boise outdoor public pools. We have taken the boys down to our neighborhood pool a few times to wade in the kiddie pool. Kessler loves it. Caulder seems to enjoy the water, but clings to mom and dad.

We have also enjoyed our June visitors. Our friends Kevin and Ruth came up for the weekend from Salt Lake city in early June. We had a great time visiting and shopping at the Saturday market. The next week Mat's brother Lucas drove down from Columbia Falls, MT for a week long visit where he met the boys for the first time. We all enjoyed visiting with Lucas, especially Bridger who got lots of walks. Mat and Lucas made time to fish and mountain bike. We also took the boys on their first camping trip along the upper South fork of the Boise River. It was a little colder at night than expected, but the boys did great. This past weekend we went camping at Red Fish Lake with our friends Mike and Danielle along with their month old son Keaton, and Wendy and Jared along with their 2 year old daughter Gabby. Mike and Danielle graciously let us take over their camper, which was very comfy. We had a great trip. We're looking forward to our next camping trip over the 4th in Eastern Oregon with the Morris's.

Memorial Day weekend

Caulder and Kessler having fun with Grandma and Grandpa
On the road again.
Caulder braving the drive
Kessler having fun on the road
On a walk in Wildwood Park

We took the boys on their first big trip over Memorial Day weekend. We braved the seven hour drive to my parents house in Portland (Welches). The boys did well (just a little crying along the way). They got to spend lots of time with their Grandparents and meet their cousins, great Aunt, and great great Aunt for the first time. Check out the photos above of our trip. The boys had fun playing with their new toy house, which had endless activities. We also took a little trip to Ikea and the nursery is now outfitted with cute light fixtures and other Ikea gear.

The boys are going to be 6 months old this week. Every minute with them is just so much fun. Both boys are drooling like crazy. We keep thinking that they are about to get a tooth, but no sign yet. Kessler is sitting up on his own for long periods of time, and Caulder is almost crawling. They have their 6 month appointment on Thursday, and we can't wait to see how much they weigh.

Finaly we want to say congratulations to our friends Mike and Danielle who had their first child on Friday - Keaton Dahlberg. Check out the cute photos on their blog - 'The Dahlbergs' link to the right.

Great Grams Martha! OH BOY!

Well we had a great weekend with more family in town. This weekend the boys got to meet their Great Grandmother Martha and their Great Aunt Ann. We all had a lot of fun partaking in the local Basque culture cuisine, visiting the Boise Botanical Gardens, sweltering in the unseasonable heat, and playing with two new toys.

(1) The Chariot Cougar 2, one of the few accessories for the kids we have bought that seems well made (not in China) and looks like it will last a while. What is the Chariot Cougar 2? A all in one bike trailer, baby stroller, baby jogger, trail hiking buggy, and x-country skiing buggy. THANKS Grandma and Aunt Ann!

(2) The Flip Video camcoder. Not sure if I like it yet or not but it is easy to use. Check out the great video clips of Danielle and the jogger and the boys in their plastic bouncing, rotating, noise making, thrones of infant entertainment. For those of you worrying that Kessler is suffering from a serious bout of exersaucer envy, fear not, we rotate'm regularly from one to another. Don't want any complex formations this early on.

It's finally summer time in Boise, and we're so excited to get the boys outside! They are growing fast, and seem to do something new each day. We have so much fun with them. Thanks once again to our generous friends we have acquired two excersaucers. The boys love them, and they are becoming fairly coordinated. However, it's amazing how much room two excersaucers take up. And then when you factor in two bouncy seats, a swing and a multitude of toys, we appear to be living in Willy Wanka's Factory.
Caulder and Kessler have also discovered Bridger and Mocha (our dog and cat). They spend hours watching them and laughing hysterically, which is funny since Bridger and Mocha pay very little attention to them. Whenever they can, they grab their fur in passing. I can just imagine what they'll do when they can crawl.We attempted to take the boys on their first camping trip last weekend. Unfortunately, after hours of packing we got to our site only to discover we forgot one of the tent poles. Since the tent cannot stand with only one pole (we now have a two compartment monster tent) we had to head home. We did manage to get in a hike around Bruneau Dunes Lake.

Our biggest development is the addition of bananas to the babies diet. The first couple of attempts resulted in quizical looks and more bananas on the bibs than in their mouths. But after a week of bananas they have the hang of it and practically pounce on the spoon whenever it's near their mouths.

Four Months

Trying out our umbrella strollers at the Snake River Canyon

Strike a pose Kessler
Thanks for the Teddy Bears Grandma Small

We're four months old! We had our four month appointment two weeks ago and everything looked great. Even though the boys are still in the bottom 15%, they are growing well and weighed over 13lbs. We've all been awaiting the arrival of warmer weather to shed the hats and sweaters and go on extended adventures outside. The boys have started rolling over, and put everything in their mouths. We're looking forward to our second out of town excursion next weekend to McCall.

Family Support!!!

Well it has been a busy week. A week ago my Brother Eric came through town on his way to Texas to pick up our new car. At least it is new to us. My Dad and Rachel gave us the very generous gift of a new car. A 1999 Mazda Protege that gets 36 mpg on the freeway. And that is just what we need here in Boise with gas prices well above $3.00. So thanks to Eric my Dad and Rachel we'll be saving a little at the pump and puttin' a little less CO2 into the atmosphere. :) After Eric left for TX Danielle, me, Bridger, and the Boys spent the weekend in Sun Valley. We drove into SV Friday night in the midst of a Blizzard and woke up the next morning to 7 inches of new snow. It was a great weekend and the time spent in the hot tub at the base of Baldy Mountain is just what we needed. After SV we had more family visit as Chad and Eric's mom Carol, and her husband Mike stopped by on there way to what sounds like a great backpack trip in the Grand Canyon. They fixed us dinner and introduced themselves to the newest Weavers. We hope they are enjoying there trip. That's all for now enjoy the pic's of some of the relatives and the boys. We're not sure what Eric told Caulder while he was sitting in the swing but it sure cracked him up. A priceless photo for sure.