Summer days slipping away
By Julie | October 18, 2011
Our end-of-summer days were a mixture of joy and pain.
On a sad note, MIke’s grandfather passed away at the end of August in Massachusetts. We are still grieving the loss of a wise, good-humored and loving man, but feel fortunate that William spent time with his great-grandfather as a baby and a toddler. Mike and all of us cherish the memories of holidays together, especially those made his final Christmas.
Four generations of Estlick men. He was soo tickled to have a great-grandchild, and lucky enough to meet 2.
Fast forward 2 years and 2 months.
What a great sport! He was in some serious pain at this point.
Life goes on and we celebrated good friends graduating, getting married and moving away to start a new life.
Grinnell College graduation 2011. These two are going to do great and creative things in the world.
Nana Kaster chaperoned Will (in tux) and I at our friends’ Caitlin and Lukas’s wedding in Westminster.
Will contemplating life. Mac n’ cheese or PBJ? Juice or milk? Make a run for the water while she has the camera in her hand?
Today my eye doctor said Will was “delicious”. He is pretty darn cute.
Old friends visited and new friends present themselves every day in our mothers groups and park playtime. Life is good.
My good friend and former landlady/roomie Melissa from Rutland Herald days in Vermont. She and Will got on famously. It was wonderful to catch up!
Bye, bye now!
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Lobsters, waves and little mermaids
By Julie | October 18, 2011
One of the highlights of our summer vacation included a trip to Maine to meet our new niece, Charlotte. We rented a house in a wonderful beach town steps from the ocean with Mike’s sister’s family and his parents. Fantastico! The first day we took Will on his first boat ride at our friend’s camp in New Hamphire. Then we spent a very relaxing week boogie boarding with the cousins and stuffing ourselves on lobster, clams and steak. William loved playing in the ocean, knocking things over in the sand and talking to his sweet cousin on her playmat. He showed her all sort of things that we managed to keep out of her mouth.
Mike snowboards in water boots
Captain Will. I. Am.
Prepster cousins
Mike, Charlotte and Will
So proud to be an Auntie to this sweet girlie.
Hard to pick the best family shots, but this one sets the beach vibe and we get a rare Auntie Carolyn and Uncle Joe shot.
We relished the water, wind and waves now that we’re landlocked in Colorado.
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Catchin’ You Up on the Summer 2-0-1-1
By Julie | October 18, 2011
Yes, we are still occasionally writing posts for this blog. William, now 3 1/2, keeps us running and we try to plan lots of fun outings, so we don’t often land at home for long.
This summer Will and Julie savored the delights of county fairs, splashing in the pool, and hiking with buddies in Rocky Mountain National Park.
After several summers of mediocre health, Julie enjoyed the season outdoors and made up for lost time! Mike and Will cruised the ‘hood on bikes and skateboards and had fun with other kids and daddies.
It was our first year tent camping together and boy did we have some adventures. Open land on the Northern Colorado/Wyoming border offered some stunning vistas and neat boulder climbing (even in pajamas). Later in the month, we slept over at the Farm in town and Will got to say goodnight to the horses, cows and sheep. In the morning, he helped milk the cow (luckily, we didn’t hear the rooster crowing at 4 a.m.). Our annual trip to Buckhorn Camp in Rist Canyon was even better “roughing it” and sleeping under starry skies. Really makes you realize how much light pollution is in world, but I digress.
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Sirens and beeps at the fire station
By Julie | April 17, 2011
William and I won’t soon forget his first trip to a real first station. Our pal John is a training lieutenant for a local fire district and invited Will for a tour. We arrived and thoroughly checked out all the different trucks and apparatus.
Just as we were about to take a ride in a fire engine, a CALL came in! The loud siren scared us at first, but it was exciting to watch the firefighters get ready to respond. John explained to his little guest that it was his job to go help the people in distress and we had to leave.
After watching the trucks roll out of the station and down Wellington’s main street, we had some lunch. When we returned to our car to drive back to the station, the car alarm refused to shut off and locked up the ignition. Will yells, “John helps people, he’ll help us!”
Yes, this was a job for the fire department!
Once their call was complete, John and another firefighter went to work under the hood to figure out how to silence the beep! beep! beep! beep! After a conference call with Daddy, the alarm finally stopped blaring and the restaurant guests could eat in peace again. Back to the firehouse we went for our ride.
As we cruised around town, Will and John chatted about the different kinds of calls firemen go out on and what John’s role is on the scene.
As we were driving home, Will looked at me from his car seat and said, “I’m going to help people like John does.” Then he fell asleep.
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“I am STILL 3″
By Julie | April 17, 2011
We are amazed, amused and exhausted by our 3 year old. William’s days are filled with slaying monsters and ghosts with invisible lasers and crashing trucks, cars, cats and himself. Enter the ambulance to save the day – lights and sirens blaring and haphazardly smashing into things. As one author put it, “In my son’s world, the good guys are often rogue elements.”
Right now, Will alternates between trying to be a Big Guy and fighting potty training. Totally age appropriate. Totally frustrating. PT is the biggest challenge of our short parenting lives! We have faith it will one day click, but it’s belief fueled by G&Ts and local microbrews some weekends.
It’s a dynamic time of cute toddler-speak for ‘gnananas’, ‘gaboons’ and ‘basketti’ one minute, and recognizing letters or colors the next. Soon we expect some Spanglish mixed in from his children’s Spanish class. There are precious moments full of sweetness: “I berry, berry miss daddy” followed by a book-throwing tantrum. All in all, we don’t know how we amused ourselves before having this child.
The good news is William loves to ride his balance bike and scooter, or flat out run, so we explore more places.
We visited Chautauqua Camp in Boulder which dates to the 1800s and sits at the foothills of the Flat Irons.
Most days we bike around the ‘hood.
The nifty Schwinn balance bike was a third birthday present. Will’s “Cupcake Party” was a blast!
(yummy cupcakes courtesy of Daddy)
Hiding with Nanna in the birthday tent.
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