Kentucky Camping/Caving Trip 2010

Hi Everyone! It's Brandon here!

Let me tell you about a trip we took at the beginning of October to Kentucky! Every year my mom and dad go to General Burnside State Park in Kentucky to meet up with a big group of friends (they consider these friends more like family actually) for a camping and caving trip! This was my second year going, but it was mom's 8th time, and dad's 13th or something like that. I had a MUCH better time this year than last year! Last year I was only 3 months old. Here are some pictures:

This is my buddy Trevor. He is only 6 weeks younger than me. We got to play a lot and share toys.

See. Here I am sharing Trevor's toy. I wanted to share all of Trevor's toys. "Sharing" does mean taking whatever toy I want and playing with it as long as I want, right? It doesn't? I don't know what you are talking about.


This is the "Z Palace" as it came to be known. Mom and Dad bought a bigger tent before this trip because I tend to pack a few too many things.

You see, I really sleep better in my Pack 'N Play, so I wanted that to fit in the tent along with all my clothes, a space heater, some toys, and a little extra room to play didn't hurt either.

Here we are before going in a cave! Usually babies don't get to go caving, but this year was a little different from years past they tell me. Usually the big people go hard core spelunking where they have to use ropes and helmets, and they get really really muddy. But all of the caves were closed this year because the poor little bats in the cave system in Kentucky are getting a disease and dying, so they won't let people go in the caves in order to protect the bats. But one of the old guys who goes on the cave trip (who used to be an officer for the National Speleological Society) arranged for us to be given a tour of a cave called Salt Petre Cave that used to be commercially operated a few decades ago. It still had all the lights in it, and some movies were actually filmed in it too.

Here is Trevor with his mommy Sarah and daddy Blain ready to go in the cave.

And here is baby Tobey with his mom Stephanie.

This is Christian (Tobey's brother) with his daddy Brandon (who I am named after!)

Here we are in the cave!

And here is most of the group! Can you find me?

There is a really fun playground at the campsite. Trevor was saying, "Hey Brandon! Do you want to be my friend." Sure buddy, as long as I can play with your toys.

Here are Sarah & Trevor, Stephanie & Christian & Tobey, and Mommy and me!

Trevor and I loved the sandbox!

I loved pushing Trevor around on his truck! I'm a good driver.

We had so much fun, and I can't wait to back next year!

WFU Reunion in Texas

It's been over a month since we took this trip, but I wanted to post some pictures anyway. These pictures are from a mini college reunion I had with my Wake Forest friends. 7 of us including husbands and babies all met in Texas (which is not where our college was by the way - Wake Forest is in NC for those of you not familiar with it). My friend Mary Claire's husband's family runs a ministry in Fort Worth, TX, and they have an awesome ranch outside of the city where they do retreats and conferences. They graciously let us stay there, and we had such a great time (well most of us, as I'll explain in a minute). Many of us hadn't seen each other in a couple years (which means we hadn't met each other's babies), so it was so great to be together, and our husbands enjoyed getting to know each other better too (and they got to shoot some guns, so that makes any trip worthwhile to them).

The sad part of the weekend was that Brandon was sick the whole time! He had a fever and was just not himself at all. He did not run around and laugh like usual, so I was sad everyone didn't get to see his fun personality. He was a trooper being in a different place, though. We found out later that he had a double ear infection.

Here are the pictures:

Christie and baby Kate (5 months) - the only girl and obviously the object of affection of all 5 of the boys.

Baby Cooper (10 months) - Erin and Paul's baby

Kristen and her son Zack (almost 2 and therefore the veteran baby and leader of the pack.

Baby William (a.k.a. Tank as Krzysztof named him) - 7 months - Caroline and Brad's baby

William, Kate, Zack, Sam, Cooper, and Brandon. Clearly Kate knows she is the center of attention. Kristen, Allegra, and I went for a hike with Krzysztof down to the river from the ranch. It is so mountainous and beautiful there! Not what most people picture when they think Texas.
Here is the back porch of the ranch. We spent a lot of time hanging out back there.
Here's Cooper again! Krzysztof nick named him Curious Cooper, which has apparently stuck with his parents.
Mary Claire's husband David took KZ, Brandon, and I on a jeep ride. We all loved it!
And here is Mary Claire with baby Sam (7 months)

I can't wait to all get together again!

Goats!

There is this great farmstead in the Kansas City area called Deanna Rose. It has lots of animals for watching and petting and a really great playground. It is such a great place to take kids! When my parents were in town we went there for the first time. The best part of Deanna Rose, in my opinion, are the baby goats. They have a little area just for kids to go in and interact with the kids (because baby goat are called kids...haha)! It was so fun to see Brandon's reaction to these little guys! Here are some pictures:

They have big goats too!

Mimi & Papa's Visit September 2010

My parents came for a visit to Kansas City in September. They don't really like to relax around the house too much, so we had an event filled weekend!

The first big thing we did was go to Fort Osage in Sibley, MO. This fort was built under the direction of William Clark (of Lewis and Clark) after the Louisiana Purchase. My dad has always been particularly interested in Lewis and Clark history because Meriwether Lewis is one of his ancestors.

The Fort location is beautiful - right on the Missouri River.

They were having an event that day where people dressed in clothes from the fort's time period. It seemed that this event would be aimed at educating the public (as they do at similar historical places), but no one really talked to us, and we were one of the only people there not in costume. It was more of a time for people obsessed with history to hang out. They even had an auction where they were selling all of their old stuff to each other, but anyone could buy things. My dad actually bid and won a beer stein that was built the same year in the 30's that his mom built our family's little log cabin. It will be perfect sitting on the mantle at the cabin.

Also that weekend we went to the art fair at Westport. I love walking around this art fair because of the people watching, and the art is always interesting to talk about. There's also a good number of dogs to check out as well, and these in the picture above were the best. I have never seen dogs this big before. This picture just doesn't do it justice. They are Irish Wolf Hounds. They were used in Ireland to control the wolf population. You need to be a big dog to take down some wolves.

Here we are after walking around the Plaza.

My dad loves bubbles. If anyone goes to his office with a child or a dog, out come the bubbles. I think he might carry some in his car as well. Anyway, he's pretty particular about the type of bubbles he likes, so he ordered some of that brand to bring for Brandon. Brandon loved watching them! I love the expression on my dad's face in this picture. It's so fun to see your parents play with your child!

And I love how excited Brandon looks in this picture. He loves being with his Mimi and Papa!

The highlight of their visit was a trip to Deanna Rose, which merits it's own post, so look for that next!

Late Summer Fun

This is the second post in my long list of catch up blog postings from the past few months. These pictures were all taken in late August and early September.

One great thing about Brandon's new mobility is being able to enjoy playgrounds with him! These 2 pictures were taken at the playground in our neighborhood. At this point Brandon is just as happy playing with the mulch and carrying it around as he is actually playing on the equipment. Here he is, all smiles and tongue out with fists full of mulch.

One of our good friends in Kansas City is a bass player in the Kansas City Orchestra. We went to go see him play at an outdoor family friendly concert. Here's Brandon with Ed. Brandon loves Ed, and I'm pretty sure Brandon is one of Ed's favorite little people. Ed has been hanging out with Brandon (and us) since he was 3 months old. Sometimes I think Ed comes over just to hang out with Brandon.

During Labor Day weekend we went to the annual Irish Festival in Kansas City. Brandon loved walking around by himself and gathering comments from spectators about his cuteness.

"One of these things does not belong." Well, 2 things really. I am constantly finding things in the weirdest places around our house. This is a kitchen drawer. If you look at the floor in the picture, those things actually belong in the drawer.

V's 30th Birthday

Most of you know that my birthday is in August, so why, you might ask, am I doing a blog post about it in October? Well, life has been a little busy in the past few months, and I have not made much time for blogging. I have quite a lot of catching up to do, so this is the first in a long list of posts on my to do list. I write these blog posts as much for myself as for our family and friends. It is kind of an online scrapbook to document our life, and I want to make sure I cover all the highlights!

I turned the big 3-0 on August 7th, and it was a great weekend! My mom came in town a few days before my birthday. On Friday she took me, KZ, and Brandon out to dinner. On Saturday (my actual birthday), KZ made me Polish crepes for breakfast, we went to one of my favorite brew pubs for lunch, and then Mom and KZ made me a fabulous dinner at home. (Yes, my birthday usually does revolve around food)

Here I am with my birthday beverage of choice (Veuve Clicquot Champagne) and wearing my amazing and unexpected birthday present in my ears.

Mmmm...Cheesecake Factory cheesecake. Yes, there were 4 pieces and only 3 people (It's probably better that Brandon doesn't know what he's missing). The problem with getting 4 different kinds, is you have to have some of each one...

On Sunday morning, KZ and I left for a short one night trip, and my mom graciously stayed with Brandon. This was our first night away from Brandon together (and my first night away from him ever). KZ planned a little getaway to the wine country in Augusta, MO (a little west of St. Louis), which is where we had our first date back in September 2002.

We had such a great time!


This was at Sugar Creek Winery.

You are right if you notice that we were not drinking wine. We are not the biggest fans of the wines produced by this winery (but we love the atmosphere and entertainment), so we purchased one of the local microbrews to enjoy outside while we listened to the live music.

This was at Montelle Winery, which is our Favorite of the 3 we visited. They have this great deck with beautiful views and live entertainment on the weekends. We served some of their wines at our rehearsal dinner.

The last place we went was Mount Pleasant Winery.

After the wineries, we went to the local brew pub for some food and to listen to the band they had playing. Then we spent the night at a cute little Bed and Breakfast.

On Monday we had a fabulous breakfast at the inn, and then we went on a bike ride on the Katy Trail, which passes through Augusta.

KZ then headed east for Indiana to work, and I drove back home. It was a great birthday weekend!