Kayla Fuller

Food Please

Kayla has figured out how to climb up into the girls chairs at the dinner table. And she loves it. Funny to see how proud she is of herself. Not so funny to constantly run to save her from falling off the chair onto the hard floor.

American Heritage Girls - Walker Ranch Field Trip

This year we enrolled the girls into a girls troop called American Heritage Girls. We were disappointed in the way our girl scout troop worked last year so we were looking for a new girls group for this year. When a Mom at our school asked if anyone would be interested in starting an American Heritage Girls Troop at our school. After a little research we were excited to help organize the new troop. I signed on as Troop Treasurer and away we went. AHG is comparable to Girl Scouts but it must be partnered with a church. It has tons of really cool badges the girls can earn. And best of all, we have really dedicated Troop Leaders who are committed to make this troop fun.

What does this mean for Kayla. Yes, she is too young to join the troop. But, she does get to tag along with Mom to all the meetings and field trips. And, best of all get spoiled by all the little girls who LOVE babies.

Anyway, we had our first troop field trip this weekend to an old Ranch in the Boulder foothills. Three times a year volunteers get together to work the ranch as it would have been run in its day. They were all in full 1800’s wardrobe. They had a horse plowing the fields, a blacksmith making hooks, an old laundry set-up for the kids to wash socks, sausage making, log cutting, music, etc….. The girls all had a blast. My hands were full with Kayla and the other girls to get too many pictures. Shame on me. But, here are a few we did get. Hopefully the other parents will be forwarding me more soon.

Mommy was partnered with Mr. VanTol for this field trip. We were to be in charge of the Pathfinder group which we consisted of Reagan and her classmate and friend Claire. Mr VanTol had a way with babies and Kayla loves him. She was always walking to him to be held or sit in his lap. It was cute. She normally doesn’t take to men too well. There must be something special about him.

Our first cabin visit

Its finally official! We are now the owners of our very own cabin in Leadville. Daddy is in Norway for business this week so Mommy had to sign her life away all by herself. But, we got it done. We couldn’t wait for Daddy to come home before we checked out our new place. So us girls decided to go up once on our own and look around. Here we are!

Welcome!

We have a great deck to run around on and take in the mountain views.

Upstairs we have a loft which will be converted into the play area. The girls already think its awesome that they can look down at us folks down in the family room.

While Mommy cleaned the girls had to take turns babysitting their little sister. Luckily it wasn’t too hard. Everything here is new to the girls and ready to explore.

Thats all we want to show right now. The interior needs some paint, furniture and a little work before we are ready to show more. But, we are really excited to start enjoying our new home away from home.

Kayla’s 1 Year Old Portraits

We had the girls annual portraits taken over the weekend and here are the results. They took a total of 142 pictures and we had to whittle them down to what we thought were the best. Which was no easy task. We received digital copies of all 142 pictures so at least we can print more if wanted. There were so many good shots. As I look back over them I am seeing ones that should have been in our top list. It was so hard.

GRANDPARENTS & FAMILY: You are expected to tell us which ones are your favorites so we can mail them out to you. We have plenty so don’t be afraid to ask for several. Enjoy!

Just Call Me Trouble

My Mommy says I am nothing but trouble these days. However, when she tells people about what a pain I am nobody seems to believe her. So over the last couple of weeks she decided to take a few pictures of my favorite things to do. We’ll let you all be the judge.

Here I am looking at these cool colors flash by me. I haven’t quite figured out what these guys are but I know I like them. So Mommy plops me off here as she waters the outdoor plants.

But, sometimes she takes too long so I have to get to work too. There is so much stuff under here needing some investigating. I don’t know why Mommy gets so upset when she finds me working in here?

Ok, well if you don’t want me in here then I guess I’ll just mosey on upstairs. Damn! That woman is always putting up these darn roadblocks. If you don’t like me banging and screaming at this thing than you’d better stop trying to block me.

I guess I am getting hungry so I’ll stop here for snack.

And here for my drink.

Daddy is out for a run so I’d better run in his office real quick and help him out with a little work. He always keeps these darn gadgets up so high. I know he really enjoys it when I yank them down a little lower. Much easy to work this way.

Geez, I’d better take a little bit of a break now. I am a baby after all and I need my beauty rest. Good thing Wyatt doesn’t mind sharing his bed with me.

Ok, time to move on. Whats that! I hear a kitty meowing. Must explore. Hmmm. She seems to be up in this window again screaming at some birdies. I like watching out over my backyard. By the way, did you know that when you yank on the kitties tail she makes some really cool noises!

Next, I’ll show you my very favorite activity in the house. The picture is probably self explanatory but I’ll give you a few details. First, you pull out every cup and bottle that you can find. Then you suck on each one to see if there are any leftovers. Finally, just to be sure you take off all the lids and take a look inside. Once you are sure you didn’t miss anything its time to move on. Don’t bother picking up anything. Mommy will get to that later.

Time for a potty break. I usually try to catch up on my news during this time. As you can see I can get through a lot of paper, fast!

Its usually right about this time when Mommy starts to get a little tired and decides to cage me up for a bit. I think this place is pretty cool…for just a few minutes.

Don’t think you can forget me in here too long, Mother. I have my ways to get your attention. There are a lot of toys in here and I have no problems throwing each and every one out of here until you come get me out.

Oh wait, instead of Mommy this time I got the attention of my sissy. She is soooo cool. I love playing with her whenever I can. I guess I can stay in here a little longer.

Soon its time for me and Mommy to take sissy to kindergarten. I have mixed feelings about this time of day. I am awake when we get into the car. But next thing you know its several hours later and I find myself alone in my crib, its very odd. BUT, the sisters are now both at school and their rooms are MINE!!! First things first, its time to slide.

I climb up this thing several times and then slide down on my belly. Its great. Next, I move over to her ladder and climb up into Reagan’s bed. Betch’a didn’t think I could climb ladders. I can.

My sister Reagan has a really fun bed. There are tons of guys up here to play with. She has books and even a tinkerbell computer to play with. There are all sorts of stickers on the wall to try and peel off. Its also really fun to just bounce on.

I love to stand on top of her pillow and wipe my dirty feet all over it. Ssh, that’s our secret. Its also here that I grab her headrest and lean over the edge of the bed. For some reason, this is usually the point where Mommy takes me off the bed.

No worries, Reagan has this awesome shelf with all sorts of goodies to play with. When sissy is home she freaks out when I try to play with her collections. But, for now its all mine.

Ok, enough done in here. Time to get my business done in Sydney’s room. The coolest part of her room is that she has these little boxes full of surprises everywhere. I can always find something useful.

As it gets closer to school pick-up time I start to head downstairs. I’m not walking quite yet so I have found it best to carry my new found treasures like this. It both frees up my hands and gives me something to suck on. Quite ingenius.

Since I hate the drive to school I often try to hide out in here. But alas, Mommy usually finds me.

So there it is! I hope you enjoyed a look into my day. Tell me what you think. Would you let this free in your house?

California Day Three - Pacific Grove

Today’s agenda would start off with rock climbing along Pacific Grove. The girls always love this activity. There are plenty of ragged rocks to climb. Kayla though found the ever present bird poop covered rocks much more interesting.

So Daddy decided to take her for a walk in order to get her mind off the poop.

While the big girls explored the hidden tide pools and rock climbing, Kayla was happy playing on the beach. I did happen to capture this chain of events which I thought to be quite hilarious.

Not to worry, Daddy was able to make it up to her and she left happy again.

All in all there was fun for the whole family.

Oh, and Daddy thought this was funny. Mommy, not so much.

Before getting into the car I made the girls all pose in front of my favorite beach flower, Ice Plant. Its one of the things I really miss whenever I think of the years we lived in California. The ice plant in Colorado just isn’t the same. Kayla was mesmerized by the spikes and got in some good “standing up” practice.

As you can see it goes on for miles along the beach here. Absolutely beautiful.

After our time at the beach we made our way over to the pier for a special treat. Daddy and Mommy love to kayak along the Bay and enjoy the abundant wildlife of Monterey. But, we didn’t think that was a possibility with three youngsters so next best option, a boat ride. We found a one hour glass bottom boat tour of the Bay. Just our style.

The tour guide had several bay creatures on hand for us to sneak an up close look. Kayla had no interest in the caged creatures. But she couldn’t get enough of the real thing. She made Daddy hold her like this off and on throughout the cruise.

When Kayla wasn’t looking under the boat, she was looking out the boat at all the different “doggies” surrounding her.

Once back on land we took a walk along the shoreline to view the quieter & fatter residents of the bay. Kayla took this opportunity to get in a good nap. Here are some of the guys she missed.

We finished our day off at the big Denis the Menace playground. Very cool place with lots of new and adventurous playgrounds. Kayla crawled around eating sand most of the time. So soon enough Mommy thought it best to confine her. Luckliy, she was okay with this too.

They even had their very own train parked for climbing. Many parents would ban their kids from playing on the train. “Too dangerous.” Not us. Daddy even took the youngest of our clan for a little climb. Their Papa would have been proud.

California Day Two - Monterey Bay Aquarium

After our day at the museum we got into the car and headed over to Monterey Bay for the weekend. Monterey has always been one of our favorite spots and the kids love it as well. We got in late but the kids were ready to explore so we did a quick hike along Cannery Row in the dark. The next morning we woke to cooler weather so we decided to spend the day at the Monterey Aquarium. This was to be Kayla’s first visit to the aquarium so we were curious to see what she thought. As hoped, she loved watching the fish swim around in front of her.

There were lots of kid friendly tanks with signs at baby level. Kayla would never tire of climbing the little stairs to the tanks and pretending to read the signs, then giggle at some fish, climb down, and start all over again.

The aquarium has a great little play area for the kids. There were whale tales made out of a cushion like material perfect for little ones. Kayla was doing awesome at practicing her walking. She could easily take a few little steps here and there. She will be walking in no time.

The big hit of the day seemed to be this water bed surrounded by a bubble wall. This area was reserved for crawlers only. Kayla loved the feel of rolling around the water bed and then relaxing against the bubble wall. From watching her you got the feeling like she thought she was such a big girl in this room.

More water time. Can’t get enough of that.

Before we left I made the gang pose for a photo. Always a great photo spot.

After the aquarium we stopped for some ice cream at Ghiradellis before taking the girls souvenir shopping. Another great day!

California Day One - San Jose Children’s Museum

Daddy had to make a trip out to San Jose for work this week. It had been so long since the whole family was able to take the trip back to our old stomping ground. So we decided to make it a family affair for the long Labor Day weekend.

Brandon had to work the first day so Mommy took the girls to one of their favorite children’s museum in downtown San Jose. This would be Kayla’s first visit to the museum. I’m thinking she’s gonna love it.

The first big stop for Kayla was the Bob the Builder exhibit. Everything was just her size. And the floor was a soft mat perfect for crawlers. There was a tractor to drive.

And a trailer to play in with its own stairs to climb.

Next we moved onto the toddler exhibit. Everything here is for kids 5 and under. Sydney is now 7 so she was not supposed to play with anything, but instead be a “helper.” This didn’t go too well, but it was fun to make her suffer =) Kayla found this merry go round and was immediately mesmerized. It had colored lights glowing out from the center which caused the horses to reflect on the walls. She stood in here for a good twenty minutes screaming at the horses as they ran around her. It was too cute.

In the back of the exhibit we found an enclosed room reserved for crawling babies only. The big girls had to wait outside, HA! There was a carpeted ramp built up and around the room perfect for crawlers. It was great.

Around the floor our crawler could find all sorts of cubbies with goodies stuffed inside. It was great having a room built just for Kayla.

Soon I grew tired of the “Can we leave yet” cries from the two big girls. So we made our way to the final exhibit of the day, the water park. There is a roped off toddler sized area built for kids three and under. So we let the big girls loose to soak themselves while we checked out the toddler area. Kayla was getting tired at this point and wasn’t too of sure what to do with herself. She would just stand at the edge and stare at the water in a trance.

The little boys were constantly splashing her when she got too close to their toys. Which really ticked me off. So she wasn’t liking this place too much. As you can tell I very quickly decided to strip Kayla down to her diaper to avoid the wet clothes. To which I received many dirty glances from the other parents. I guess Californians don’t care too much for our Boulder hippie ways. Oh, well, too bad I didn’t care.

Soon Kayla was walking around like this… To which I cracked up. I couldn’t figure out if it was some kind of baby sign to say “Keep Away” or just way to protect herself from being splashed. Either way I found it hilarious.

By the end of our time, the mean little boys had left and Kayla was able to enjoy herself with the water. Happy to say we left with a good overall water experience.

Another great trip to the museum. Hoping that my girls don’t outgrow this one too soon. I love seeing them running around here just being kids. And I think its only fair that Miss Kayla get her years in at this fun museum.