Molly is 7 months old!

Our little sweetie is 7 months old!!  She just had a well-check and is almost 16 pounds and almost 26 inches.  She is OBSESSED with moving around...she army crawls everywhere (it's actually more like an inch-worm-type scoot, which Josh thinks looks like a baby walrus).  In the last 2 days, she's taken several actual crawls, so it won't be long until we have a little crawler on our hands.  She's settled into 2 naps a day, thankfully, and loves running around and participating in all the boys' adventures.  When she's not crawling all over, she enjoys hanging out in the front pack with Josh...I think she'll really miss their morning watering sessions when he goes back to work on July 25th.

 We call her "heart-heart bug" when she wears this outfit...Owen coined this term.

Practicing her crawling in the tunnel...

It's been really hot, so we've been spending every afternoon inside.  Wyatt dresses up everyday.  Here he is in Owen's Luigi costume from last Halloween (Wyatt refers to this as O-Luigi, for some reason).

Owen has been perfecting some pretty crazy jump-and-roll skills off the card table.  It takes alot of practice to become a good Jedi!

 Nothing better than a sugar-free popsicle on a hot day!

On Molly's 7-month birthday, we met Nana, Papa, Ben, Brenda, Amelia and Cavan in Pueblo for a trip to the children's art center.  The boys had a blast playing in the dress-ups.  Here are the world's two most handsome pirates and a crazy octopus-hatted wizard.

 Cutie!

 All the cousins...we never could get them to all look at the camera.  Notice Owen's self-made and much-loved pirate hat!

Owen took this first video of Molly.  I know that it's upside down, but it is the sweetest little song that I've ever seen.  This is where the term "heart-heart bug" came from.

Here are a few highlights of Molly, now that she is 7 months old:

The North Pole - 2011

We returned to one of our favorite spots from last summer....the North Pole (to see our 2010 adventure, click here.)  We even tried to recreate a picture from last year, with Miss Molly as a happy addition.

Here is the cutest picture in the entire world:  happy boys with guns!

 Wyatt ended up getting scared on the ride above, so Grammy had to sit with him for the next few rides.  As you can see, he quickly got over his fear and had a great time!

 Owen was (barely) big enough to "drive" his own car this year.  He LOVED it!

Monument Lake

We recently met our friends, Kylie and Brian, and their girls, Danika and Tuli, at Monument Lake.  It's a small little lake in Monument (obviously) and one of our favorite places to go in the summer.  It is so peaceful, with no motorboats and never more than a handful of other families there.  We enjoyed a day of fishing, playing in the water and kayaking in Kylie and Brian's inflatable kayaks.  It was actually sort of smoky (from the New Mexico fires) and cloudy, so the pictures are sort of washed out, but here are the highlights....

All the kiddos, except for Owen (he was out on the lake)...

 Owen and Josh kayaking.   Owen LOVED it!

 Bree and Wyatt kayaking.  Wyatt was a little unsure of this adventure and said he missed his green blankie and his Daddy when we were about halfway across the lake.

4th of July 2011

We spent the 4th of July in Monument this year and actually took some family pictures!!

 Molly is always happy to be outside!

After the family pictures, we spent the afternoon in the backyard, playing in the water.  Wyatt loved the pool and Owen loved the squirt bottles (and Molly loved the quiet house for napping).

Visit with the Closes

We were planning a fun 4th of July trip to Los Alamos, NM, to visit with Becky, Devin, Logan and Laila, but their town was evacuated due to forest fires.  So, they came up to Colorado Springs for a little visit instead  As is often the case when five kids are together, it was hard to take pictures, but we did get a few cute shots during our outing to North Cheyenne Canyon.  All the kids had a wonderful time playing in the stream...even Josh and Devin had a blast (they spent about 30 minutes trying to catch a fish with their hands).  Wyatt and Laila thought that splashing in the shallow pools was the best time ever!

 Molly liked exploring the stream with Josh.

 Owen especially loved crawling up and down the stream on the rocks.

Wyatt was so exhausted from all the fun that he fell asleep on the middle of the living room floor soon after the Close family left.

 Molly was too busy learning about one of life's greatest pleasures to be tired....her first time in the laundry basket!

Paint Mines

In early July, we took a little day trip to the Paint Mines in Calhan, Colorado.  We had a ton of fun...it was a fairly easy and short hike, but an unexpectedly beautiful destination, with small chalk canyons to explore. 

 Both boys really loved exploring the rocks, caves and mazes created by the chalk cliffs.

One of the awesome views at the Paint Mines (named because the local Native Americans used the various colors of chalk in their pottery)...