climb on!

Dennis has been climbing up on a lot of things. Needless to say... the stool is not in the bathroom anymore.

Last night's dinner ended up everywhere. I don't know if you can tell, but food is covering every inch of his face below his eyes.

Biffed it

So, I got up yesterday morning early to run before Ryan left for work so that I wouldn't have to bring the jogging stroller. Well, I was so tired because I am on Utah time and so to my body I was getting up an hour earlier than I really was. I could feel as I was getting dressed that my body was wanting to crawl back into bed... loosing my balance and all. So, I get out the door and I run a couple of blocks when I tripped. I decided mid fall that I was going to land in the grass instead of the sidewalk because at this point I knew I was going down like a tree and to have minimal injuries I veered right onto the boulevard. Only when it was too late to change directions did I notice that I was falling right into a big brown smear on the grass. Yup that's right- I biffed it in a dog's toilet. So, with brown smear on my hands arms and shirt, I headed back home to get cleaned up.

Bear Lake

Is where we were this past week at Ryan's family reunion. They go to Bear Lake every summer and it is always beautiful and fun. We sure had a great time. Dennis loved the sand. He likes long strolls along the beach (pictured next... he probably would have gone the whole length of the beach if I let him)

This year was the most crowded it has ever been. The tents were packed together like the little cabanas in Calais, France

Dennis's FIRST boat ride!

The babies.

Dennis with GG Meyer.

GG Meyer with baby Myer.

All the guys at GG Meyers house.

Grandpa Dennis and Baby Dennis and Grandma.

Here are all of the kids about Dennis's age at the reunion (except Myer). Dennis is the oldest. The whole time they played musical toys and traded a lot. Dennis found this one particularily interesting, he wouldn't smile... and I was lucky to get him to look at the camera.

We were having dinner and some of the kids went down to the beach for an evening swim when a moose came trotting right on up to our beach. Luckily, it decided to turn around. But, we saw it for a long time. My first time seeing a moose.... pretty cool.

Making sure there weren't any leaks in our sink. That busy boy. Good times with Papa.

Kristen (11 yrs old) showed me up on one ski... maybe next time I'll get it.
Dennis took a nap while on the boat... precious.

Dennis especially liked the watermelon rind.

Things I learned this year at Bear Lake:

1. Even though everyone makes a big fuss about raspberries... they don't grow at Bear Lake anymore.
2. Bear Lake is soooo crystal blue because the mountains around have calcium in them and so they deposit calcium into the water and that reflects very blue like the ocean.
3. Maree is a very fast walker.
4. Shrimp salad is a Meyer family- Bear Lake tradition.
5. La Beau's Raspberry shakes are still really good. (I'm so glad that I got one)
6. Putting kids to bed in a condo is hard.
7. Even though Ryan wasn't along... I had a great time with his family.
8. Always bring your Tennis shoes when vacationing with the Funks. :)

Back in Kaysville:

Dennis has proven to be the tether ball king! Everytime that Dennis is outside he B-lines it for the big yellow ball.

Nonnie had quite the crop after the week at bear lake.

Thank you for such a wonderful trip! We sure had a great time! We love you!

Its Magic!

The Magic House is a children's museum in St. Louis. We went for the first time today and as you can tell Dennis thought it was pretty cool. We will have to go back.

more cute pics

pool here I come... grey eyes...

The new smile... mentioned before. It has taken on new meaning... he makes this face whenever he wants something before he reaches for it. In this case, it's the beach ball.

I love his thin curly hair and chubby legs... this is right before he straddled the pool. :)

Correction & Inspiration

Oh bother... being a mom is such a guessing game. I have to make a correction to the previous post with a new guess as to why Dennis pulls his fists to his face. He has continued this now a lot more often when I am not taking something from his mouth. I am almost positive it is because he is going to be popping some new teeth on top soon. And, once in a while he gets a tooth ache and tenses all up. I just love him.

I love being at home because my house is pretty much Dennis-proof... although it is a continual battle... I feel comfortable leaving him to play while I do something like the dishes or fold laundry or read a book. But, today as I was putting the dishes into the dishwasher I just had an instinct to go check on Dennis. As I turned the corner, I found him swinging the basement door open! With excitement in his eyes he was ready to charge for those stairs! I am so grateful for those little promptings and grateful that I listened... otherwise, we might have been blogging about the ER.

Mobility

As Dennis starts to become more mobile we are having to baby-proof continually. He finds all sorts of things to climb on. Today, he climbed on a stool that stood by our couch and patted me on the head. He also climbed onto a stool and started to climb onto the toilet but fell in the process. He even tries to climb into the tub as it fills up. Here is his first attempts at walking not in the walker.

Here is a video of what Dennis does when I try to take something out of his mouth. He hates it when I do it... rocks, toys, and big bites of food. This particular one is peaches... he loves his peaches!