Our backyard oasis

I decided at the beginning of the summer that I wanted to hang out on the back deck with Carter but the deck is too splintery and hot for that.  So, with a few quick fixes - Jeff and I made out back deck the most relaxing space ever.  We already had a giant rectangular umbrella for the table from last summer that he bought at Ace Hardware.  We just added 2 new ones to the sides of the deck (with a little hanging handy-work from Jeff) from IKEA that are really nice and pretty reasonably priced.  C'mon-it's IKEA after all.  Oh-and they tilt so wherever the sun is-we can pretty much block it out.

 With and without Kippers.  :)

 Then I went to Costco and found these fantastic outdoor carpets for $20 each!  I bought 2 and they cover the entire deck except for under the grills.  We have flame retardant rugs under them.

And-I already had these nylon doggy exercise pens that were just taking up space in the shed and they block the stairs so Carter can't fall down and also the rails because they are too far apart and he could fit through those too.  But they have little windows so that he can still see out and enjoy the view.

It's actually a nice fairly large space to relax and build blocks and read books.

Our table.

Also a really nice bonus is that we don't have any neighbors behind us.  So our view is just our yard and their backyards.  You can't even see their houses.  It's awesome back here!

Express youself

Carter definitely knows how to express himself with his face.  I love all the silly faces he makes.

Happy birthday to my beautiful mom!!!

I just wanted to post a Happy Birthday to my amazing mother.  Carter is lucky to have such fabulous grandma to hang out with every Tuesday. 

I love you mom!  I hope you had a very nice weekend and I can't wait to celebrate your birthday with you next time we are together.  Muah!

Peekaboo!

Rolling along

 Carter loves his bike that his daddy bought for him.  He thinks it's rad!

 He loves to cruise!

Sometimes you're just ready to take a break....

 
....so that you can clap for yourself and how awesome you are at riding your new bicycle!

And then get right back up on that iron horse.

Zoo trip

David got us some free tickets to the new exhibit that is opening soon at the Denver Zoo.  They were for the big preview event that was only open to Toyota invitees and since he works for Mountain States Toyota he was able to get us in!  :)  There is a new elephant in the Asian Tropics exhibit and he was so much fun to watch.  It is always sad to see the animals that should be roaming prairies and plains in such tight quarters but he still made us smile.

He loved swinging this heavy metal ball around.  It would clang and he just kept swinging it.

He laid on the sand like it was cooling him off.  

Elephant yoga anyone?

Carter liked seeing the animals and I'm sure would have enjoyed it more out of the stroller but it was a little chilly.  So, he mostly stayed in his stroller and hung out in there looking around at stuff.  And eating.  I think this kid ate as much lunch as I did!

 He kept trying to pull off his hood. 

Then he just gave up and ate my lunch.  :)

And put noodles in the cup holder for later.

Done with lunch and ready to go check out more animals!  Not a lot to look at in the cafe.

No fear

This kid would go right off the edge of the couch if we would let him.  But with a little assistance a lot can get accomplished when you're almost one!  (Yes, these pics are a little old again.)

Mom, a little lower....I've *almost* got the one I want.

Dad-how do I pick up 5 at a time?!