Summer Montage

For a while, back in June, it was looking like summer might not happen for the Dixon Family. Pregnancy #3 seemed to be keeping all of us trapped in survival mode with no clear opportunities to escape. As I look back on pictures from the past three months, however, I see that summer did eventually unfold . . . slowly, at first, then with the Illinois road trip thrown in, and more and more summer-y activities packed in as the weeks rolled along.

Our family hiking list for 2013 is still puny compared to last year, but we did finally make it to Rocky Mountain National Park in August. Until then, Forest just had to be content with a climb to the top of Horsetooth Mountain with his friend Will at the beginning of summer.

 

Once I was finished with the worst of morning sickness, we managed some trips to the library, where we signed up for a reading program and found lots of superhero and princess books. (Mika's favorite for a while was "Bapian" (Batman).

With second trimester in effect, I realized I was perhaps depriving my children of swimsuit-type activities, so we planned a trip to Windsor Lake. The day we went, it looked more like Windsor Swamp--algae was so dense that the water was a murky green color. Surprisingly, my girls didn't seem to care, and jumped right in.

 

 They looked like little swamp monsters. I don't recall the last time swimming made them so dirty.

 

In July we made it to the Avago Picnic for Forest's work. Our kids may have been a little too small to fully enjoy the festivities, but they were both old enough to appreciate balloon animals and face painting.

 

 

 

 

 They also attended another Kid's Day at Centerra. This time we came early enough to beat some of the crowds.

 The girls got their first taste of cotton candy at this event. . .

 . . . but by this time they were both veterans of the face paint and balloon animal requests.

 

 

 

Ramona tried a water balloon toss with her friend Wyatt.

Mika and Grace found a giant tub of water and plastic animals.

 

 

Mission accomplished.

Below is documentation of our first family hike at Rocky Mountain National Park this year: Lake Irene.

 

 

Ramona on the trail, not too far from a doe.

 

 

 

By August I was also robust enough to sign both girls up for swimming lessons.

Ramona made substantial progress with getting her face underwater this session.

Mika, who did a parent/child class with me, seemed to think I was torturing her the first three days--but gradually started having more fun in the water by the end.

 

Some balloon creations from another Centerra Kid's Day: This time the girls requested "Rarity" and "Apple Jack" from My Little Pony.

 Yet another summer activity that emerged in August: Garage Band practice/performances with the neighbor kids. They called themselves "The Fire Girls."

They focused most of their efforts on covering (lip-syncing) Taylor Swift songs.

And here are pictures from family hike #2 for 2013: Bierstadt Lake. Got to take a shuttle bus up to the trail head.

Between the short legs of half of our crew and my ragweed allergies that weekend, completing this hike was beyond our collective abilities.

 But the views were still nice.

After doing that partial hike in the morning, Forest and I made it to part of a Ben Harper concert in Old Town Fort Collins that evening. We can't do it all, I guess . . . (as in, can't summit every hike or stay to the end of every concert) but I'll take the bits and pieces we do fit into our lives right now.

During the very last weeks of August, we finally made use of our HOA pool membership at Highland Meadows.

 

 

So . . . I think summer happened for our family after all, in some form or another. To put it in Ramona's words: "Go Team Family!"

Little Paula, 11 ounces

A couple of weeks ago, Forest, Ramona, and I got to see baby #3 for the very first time. She appeared to have a strong little heart, in addition to other vital parts, and was measuring a satisfactory size according to the ultrasound technician. We have since decided to call this child Paula--at least, that is what mom and dad have decided, despite Ramona's suggestions for "Necklace" and "Sally" (which are both perfectly acceptable names, of course).

Big Sis is thrilled to have another little sister, since that is what she was hoping for. Middle Child Mika seems okay with the idea of a baby in mom's belly, and frequently announces that she is carrying a baby in her belly as well. I am happy to keep up the girl-trend for our family . . . just praying that Forest can survive the year 2025 when the females of the house hit ages 12, 14, 16, and 40.

Roadtrip: Chicagoland and back

You might say these two tickets are what inspired our summer Illinois trip in the first place. Forest purchased them back in January after winning the seats through a lottery on the Ten Club website. As we started planning for the concert, we decided Crissy should be the one to go with Forest if it could be arranged. She is a long-time Pearl Jam fan but has never had a chance to see them live. When we contacted her about it, she was just a *little* bit excited about the idea.

Six months later, the plan unfolded: Ramona, Mika, and Aubrey were dropped off at Grandma's house while Parry, Crissy, Connor, Forest, and I took two separate cars up to Chicago. Forest and I left earlier to pick up tickets and grab lunch with Scott. Also to grab some frozen goodness at Caffe Gelato.

 We checked in at the Ivy Hotel in downtown.

Our room had a very personal feel to it, maybe because all of the toiletries and towels had my name on them.

 

Then it was time to split up Team Forest+Ivy for a bit. I met up with my friend Allie from undergrad, who drove over from DeKalb to meet me. We had dinner at an Indian restaurant while we filled in the blanks on about five years of our lives . . .

 

. . . and next, walked down to Millenium Park to catch the last little bit of an outdoor orchestra concert.

Finally, we wandered back over to the sky terrace of the hotel, ordered sodas, and watched lightning flash between the skyscrapers as a big storm rolled its way toward us.

Meanwhile, Parry and Connor made themselves comfortable at the hotel while Crissy and Forest hopped on the L toward Wrigley Field, tickets in hand.

It was a historic event, made even more memorable by the ominous weather forecast that evening.

 

 

 

They called Parry several times between 10 and midnight while they were stuck in a rain delay. By then Allie had hit the road to try and avoid the worst of the storm, and I was back at the hotel, safe and dry. (Although I did venture out to a Seven Eleven to satisfy a craving for some kind of salad with chicken, and had to camp out in the store for fifteen minutes to wait out one sudden downpour).

 

It sounded like Pearl Jam delivered their performance as promised and came back out to play until 2am once the rain had subsided.

I got a couple of chances to hold Connor that evening while we waited for the concert to complete. As much as I would have liked to enjoy this time, I felt mostly apprehensive and heavyhearted. It was hard to watch his body struggle so much for every breath, and to listen to his little whimpers when he was in pain.

Our beaming punk rock fans returned to the hotel around 3am. After some more re-cap on the exciting concert, Crissy gathered up her sleeping child and buckled him into his car seat. Then she gave me and Forest some grateful hugs, and they were soon back on their way to Argenta with drowsy-eyed Parry at the wheel.

Once reunited, Team Forest+Ivy was able to squeeze a little more fun into our remaining Chicago time. In the morning we went for a walk through Millenium Park . . .

 . . . and around the big fountain.

We chose an Italian place for a peaceful lunch before heading back to the parking garage, then got on the road to meet up with our girls at Grandma's house. It sounded like they had a wonderful time without us, and they were thoroughly worn out. Thank you Carol!

We cooked up the frozen Papa Dels pizza for dinner, then headed back to Parry's for our final night in Illinois.

As their last hoorah, the girls went out to catch some fireflies before bed.

 They are such magical little insects, especially from the eyes of Utah and Colorado kids.

The following day was spent in the minivan. As always, driving across the country can be kind of a grueling process, but here are some pictures documenting the most pleasant parts of our trip home:

 

 

 

It was a successful, fun-filled adventure to Illinois . . . but all of us were weary and happy to be home again. So weary and so happy, in fact, that some of us curled up on the floor and passed out on the floor at about 5pm the next day.

So long, I-80 . . . we'll see you and Illinois again sometime.