Happy Campers

There is a first time for everything. Especially when you are 6 months old and camping for the first time! This weekend Grant enjoyed his first camping excursion at Bear Creek Lake on Denver's west side.

• Papa's vintage Airstream RV ... check.
• One 4-person tent ... check.
• One pack-n-play to go in tent ... check.
• Air mattresses, pillows, sleeping bags ... check.
• Flashlight app on the Droid phone to light the way at night ... check.
• Camper next to us who decided to play a vuvuzela horn (remember that from the South African soccer games a while back?) at 10:30 at night ... check.
• Good camping memories for our family ... check!

We reserved the duties of setting up camp

for our resident Eagle Scout Scott.

No roughing it at this campsite.

Only the finest menu for our campers ...

chicken fajitas with all the fixin's!

Laidback and lounging. Ahhh ... this is the life.

An evening swim at Bear Creek Lake.

Inner tubes encouraged, but not required.

Our Home Sweet Home for the night.

Tent on the left. Airstream on the right.

Official S'more Makers

A s'more and a sleeping baby ...

what could be better!

Just to give you a visual inside our tent.

We started out with all 5 of us in the tent.

Then the two jumping monkeys (Luke and Reid)

had a change in sleeping quarters and got

moved to Papa's RV for the night.

Mom, Dad & Grant spent the night in the tent

beneath the stars!

Rise and Shine!

All smiles after his first campout.

Makeshift High Chair

Playing catch at 8 a.m. in PJs

Guess who loves spending time with Papa!

Off on a morning bike ride...

Happy 1/2 Birthday!

Well, look who is celebrating his "half" birthday...

Grant turned the big 6 months today!

And with such a milestone birthday also comes a trip to the pediatrician. G's 6 month stats are...

• Head Circumference | 18 inches | 90th percentile
• Height | 27 inches | 75th percentile
• Weight | 16 pounds 5 ounces | 35th percentile

Goggles

If competitive bathing was a sport, someone would certainly be signing up...

Mt. Princeton Hot Springs

Colorado has many destinations that we love, but we happened upon a new one that just might rank in the Leahy's Top 5 List of Fun Things to See and Do in Colorado ... Mt. Princeton Hot Springs Resort. About a 2.5 hour drive away, this little gem of a destination far exceeded the already rave reviews we'd heard about it. Tucked in the base of the mountains in between Salida and Buena Vista, this resort channels the natural hot springs and offers a wide variety of swimming, splashing, and water-sliding opportunities. At the end of our first day there out of the blue, Luke said, "Today was a GREAT day." We couldn't agree more. Summer memories ... at their best.

Who's ready for the pool? These guys!

By far, the favorite of this trip was the 300 ft. water slide.

Grab a mat. Have a seat. SLIDE!

This creek was rushing with runoff water

from the mountain snow. If you look closely,

the bank is lined with old cars. Decoration ...

or a deterrent for getting in the water at that spot??

Mama & the boys on the bridge

The actual hot springs ... creek side.

Within these boulders were little pockets

of hot springs. Some were warm;

some were blazing HOT!

These 2 have never met a

creek they didn't like...

What if you woke up, walked out your door,

and this was your view? True story.

The view from right outside our room.

We had a "poolside room" so all we

had to do was walk out our door,

down some steps ... and we were at

the pool! This pool may have the

BEST.VIEW.EVER!

Another scenery shot. That building

is the bathhouse & spa and sits

beside the creek.

More time at the creek...

This summer Luke's swimming abilities have

grown by leaps and bounds ... or is that strokes

and kicks?! Anyway, he's getting

to be quite the great little fish!

Ready...

Set...

DIVE!

One big milestone of this trip included

Luke learning to dive!

Lounging on the Side

Back at the family pool with the water slide,

even the littlest Leahy enjoyed a swim!

G & Dad in the kiddie pool.

Reid is behind them.

Luke on the slide

Toothpick

Cannonball

The Guys

Three of a Kind

Yes, it's true. Our boys look quite alike. Put them all together ... and you have Three of a Kind!

Summer mornings are great

for lounging around with your brothers.

Teaching Grant the finer points

of Lego construction. He seems to be

listening rather intently... or maybe

he's just focusing on sitting up!

Grant is singing the red, white, and BLUES

on the 4th of July! That's it ... he's done!

Beach Babes...

Papa's inner tubes

make great baby seats!

5ive

All Smiles for 5 Months Old

Life with 5-month-old Grant is just one smile after another. He wakes up in the morning ... smiles. Sits in his high chair waiting for some grub ... smiles. Sees strangers at the grocery store ... smiles. Watches antics by big brothers ... smiles. He is one happy baby, and we love each and every one of those big toothless grins!

Besides smiling, Grant has some other new tricks tucked in his portfolio:

• Eating fruits & veggies
• Drooling, lots of drooling
• Sitting up and playing toys
• Talking, babbling, practicing inflection and volume

He also enjoys long walks on the beach ... wait, scratch that ... how about long walks in the baby jogger or baby bjorn. He is slowly getting more hair (it's super blonde so these pictures don't really show it off too well.)

Mega Drool

Mmmm ... first bites of veggies.

He gobbled them right up!

He likes to 'talk' when he eats,

so mealtime can get pretty loud.

Sprucing Up

This morning the weather was slightly cooler and a little cloudy ... perfect conditions for a summer hike! So we ventured out to one of our favorite areas called Spruce Mountain. This was the first hike with all three boys, and happy to report, it went quite well. So well in fact, we might just have to try another mother-and-my-3-sons hike again this summer.

"I LOVE HIKING!" says Luke!

Reid said he was tired.

Luke thought he would help.

So he carried Reid. This didn't last long.

View from the top

with our 2 happy hikers!

Grant LOVES the Great Outdoors.

He didn't make a peep

the entire 1 hour + hike...

In fact, he was so comfortable

that he fell asleep!

The boys decided they needed

walking sticks for the trek down.

They wanted to bring these sticks home

with them, as they do with every other

stick, rock & leaf they find along the way.

Thank goodness Mom has a rule that whatever

is picked up on the trail stays on the trail...

otherwise our car would look like a bird's nest.

The Big 12

Twelve years ago today, we started a new chapter in our lives ... it was our wedding day! That day was filled with such joy, excitement for what the future would hold, and countless blessings. Now twelve years later, we experience a similar set of emotions each and every day as we continue our journey together as husband and wife and enjoy so many precious moments together as a family of 5.

Rather than dining out, we decided to make a fancy dinner at home and dine on our patio ... and yes, we even dressed up for the occasion ... and had a waiter! On the menu -- steaks on the grill with sauteed mushrooms, green chile & cheddar mashed potatoes, and roasted asparagus.

Cheers to the Big 12!

Each year for our anniversary, our tradition

is to share chocolate covered strawberries.

Oh, and this year, we kicked it up a notch

with a German Chocolate Brownie, too!

This is our waiter. His name was Luke.

He was very professional. When he brought

the check, it said, "This food costs $5."

A reasonably priced meal and great service!

If you were wondering about the other 2 boys during our dinner-date-at-home, Reid decided he'd tag along on our date. So he sat across the patio table from us, wearing his pajamas and eating a bagel while discussing topics like Spiderman and Legos and global warming. Well, maybe not all of those things. And Mr. Grant was napping during dinner.

Beachy Keen

Nothing says SUMMER like a day at the beach with friends! Today we packed up our gear and headed northward to Cherry Creek State Park to spend a day at the beach with 4 other families. The kids splashed the day away and dug in the sand. We spent over 3 hours at the beach! And when it was all said and done and time to go home, our car ride back to Colorado Springs was quiet with 3 sleeping boys!

Reid & his buddy Jack

Chillin' in the shade

Sandman

Now this is what you call "camping" out for the afternoon!

We were all set with shade and snacks!

Dreaming of someday splashing in the water...

Maybe next year!

Our Crew

Mama & Grant

More Kansas Visitors

With Colorado being a popular summertime travel destination for our neighboring Kansas friends and family, it's always a treat to hear when someone is stopping through. Our friends Nick & Melissa (Theta sorority sister) joined us for dinner tonight. These two are always on the go, so it's fun to hear about what they are up to. We also had an unexpected "guest" appear when we went outside to enjoy the cool evening temps on our patio. A special thanks to Nick (an avid outdoorsman) who kindly relocated the garter snake who showed up on the patio. Eeek! Thanks, Melissa & Nick, for such a great visit!