Dog Sitting

Wow I'm on a roll as far as blogging goes, but this will quickly be coming to an end for a while. On Saturday we are heading out to Iowa for a week. So any of you Des Moines Peeps let me know if you want to hang out. We plan on playing hard while Brad is at school.

We were able to move out of the hotel early so we could house/dog sit for some friends here in Casper. And Maven has been loving it.

WE HAVE QUITE A LITTLE CLIMBER ON OUR HANDS

MAVEN HAS A HUGE BACK YARD TO PLAY IN

(L TO R) LOUIE, ZEPHYR, MAVEN

THERE IS A LITTLE LOVE TRIANGLE GOING ON. ZEPHYR LOVES MAVEN AND WONT LEAVE HIS SIDE, MAVEN IS INTRIGUED BY LOUIE'S TAIL AND LOUIE COULD CARE LESS ABOUT EITHER OF THEM.

MAVEN LOVES HIS NEW FRIENDS

Although it's been great fun dog sitting and having so much not baby proof space. I don't think we will get a dog until we have a nice back yard and no babies around.

Our 4th of July

When I was younger my family went to Martin's Cove but I don't remember too much and Brad has never been so we have been meaning to stop on one of our trips home, but we never do. I guess once we get on the road Maven is either just falling asleep at that point or when we are coming back to Casper we just want to be home. It is only an hour from Casper so for the 4th we decided to go and stop at Pathfinder Reservoir as well.

DEVILS GATE

Maven tried to pull his own weight

But he got tired

If you want to learn more about the significance of Martin's Cove for our church check it out here.

After Martin's Cove we stopped by the Pathfinder Dam. I knew it was spilling over but I didn't realize how much. These pictures don't really do it justice.

This is Maven's Grumpy Face

The joys of living in a hotel

We moved out of the hotel last Friday. The hotel lifestyle definitely had it's ups and downs. It was easier to keep an eye on Maven because of the small space, but he still found ways to get into trouble.

Excuse the poor quality photos these were taken on my phone and I am too poor for a cool iPhone.

I don't know if I should be proud or nervous. Maven pulled the wipes down off the edge of the nightstand and used it as a stool so he could reach the lotion.

Immediately when we moved into the hotel I moved the tall floor lamp behind the chair and cornered it in so the little monster couldn't pull it down on himself. He figured out how to maneuver himself in there and pushed the chair enough to fit through.

Reading the morning paper... seems harmless enough... until little black handprints started appearing all over the walls, floor and cupboard. Another benefit of the hotel I didn't have to clean it.

So now we are house/puppy sitting and you would think I'd love the extra space but it's just that much more for Maven to get into and NOTHING is baby proof.

Storms

As far as weather goes there are a lot of things I don't miss about Iowa hot humid summers, cold icy winters, tornados and floods but one thing I do miss are the amazing thunderstorms. Scary yet so much fun. Last Friday we finally got a great storm in Wyoming that didn't involve wind. It doesn't really compare to Iowa but it was still fun.

In between the rain we had a BBQ that ended with a failed attempt at getting pictures of the lightning.

But I did get some pictures of the crazy sky and Maven of course.

One of my favorite things...

is Hiking...

I love being outdoors and challenging myself to a good hike especially when there is something rewarding to see at the end such as a great view or an interesting landmark.

While Brad is working Maven and I take advantage of beautiful hiking days with friends. This is Split Rock it is a 4 to 4 1/2 mile hike depending on which route you choose. It goes around the beautiful falls. The first time I did this hike was about a month after Maven was born and I let Brad pack the kid but this time I had the pleasure of packing him up. (check it out here)

Good thing about this hike is you get the hard steep part out of the way at the beginning while you are still fresh.

I look forward to a lot of great hiking days this summer.

First Camping Trip of the Year

This was Maven's second camping trip. And all I have to say is it was a lot easier taking him camping at 4 weeks old than 9 months.

He was always trying to get down and crawl around but as soon as we put him down he would find something to put in his mouth. So I couldn't ever take my eyes off of him.

But we all had a good time so hopefully he will get out of this stage of putting rocks, sticks and everything else in his mouth soon so we can enjoy another trip. We are hoping to enjoy some camping and fun in Arizona while Brad is rotating down there in August and September. I'm feeling home sick for Anasazi.

Maven hanging out with Dad

Brad is finally on his last rotation here in Casper and in just a few weeks we will no longer be living out of a hotel. He keeps pretty busy but whenever we get a chance we like to get out and take Maven to parks and fun places around Casper. One of our favorites is Ayres Natural Bridge (see Maven's first visit here)

WE LIKE TO LET MAVEN PLAY ON THE GROUND

BUT IT USUALLY RESULTS IN US PULLING THINGS OUT OF HIS MOUTH

MAVEN LOVES GETTING OUT BUT MOSTLY HE LOVES BEING WITH HIS DAD

THIS KIND OF SOUNDS FUNNY BUT MAVEN LIKES TO WHISTLE,

THIS IS THE FACE HE MAKES AND WHEN HE DOES THIS EVERY TIME HE BREATHS IN HE WHISTLES. IT TOOK ME A WHILE TO FIGURE OUT WHERE THE WHISTLING WAS COMING FROM BUT IT'S PRETTY FUNNY. MY KID IS SO TALENTED

AND YOU CAN'T HANG OUT WITH DAD FOR VERY LONG

BEFORE YOU GET THROWN IN THE AIR

We have lots of great pictures from the last few weeks and a lot we've been doing so hopefully I can get caught up on the blog before everything gets crazy again.