Dinosaur Ridge

Yesterday morning we went to Dinosaur Ridge.  It was so much fun!  I could definitely see us going back again sometime. 

We parked at the visitor's center and then decided we would walk their self-guided tour along the ridge.  It was awesome.  There are all sorts of signs all along the trail explaining what you are looking at and it was really interesting.  

We also learned some pretty awesome background on dinosaurs in Colorado that we never knew before.  In 1877, they discovered three new dinosaurs in this area.  They were the Apatosaurus, Stegosaurus, and the Allosaurus.  And in 1937 they were building a new road and pretty much stumbled upon all these dinosaur tracks.  It's pretty incredible if you ask me. 

The trail ended up being about 3 miles round-trip but luckily we went in the morning before it was too hot and it was loads of fun. 

Our first stop explained about the Western Interior Seaway.  It's essentially just a slope covered in gray shale called the Benton Formation.  Colorado used to be completely covered in this seaway and mud and other materials settled to the bottom which is where they are now.

We always think of Megan whenever we see anything involving crocodiles/alligators.  She is terrified of them.  We love you, Megan!  Our next stop was Crocodile Creek.  It's a 50-yard tidal channel that cut down into the beach.  You can see ripple marks from the water and burrows made by clams.  AND you can even see claw marks made by crocodiles as they swam in the shallow water.

Our next stop was the dinosaur tracks.  This was really cool!  This was what was unearthed when the were building the new road.  There are three different kinds of dinosaur tracks and one crocodile track found on this site.  Pretty awesome. 

This was just along the side of the road but it's a footprint of an Allosaurus.  Crazy!

The last stop was their dinosaur bone quarry.  This is where the world's first Stegosaurus was found.  We actually knew this one!  Pretty neat!

SO MUCH FUN!

WE ARE LOVING SUMMER! 

Gems and Minerals

So I feel a sense of urgency this summer about some things...mostly spending time together.  Which, then I have to remind myself, is silly because this is probably the last time until...RETIREMENT...that we will be able to spend a whole summer together as a family without any obligations or anything.  I guess I just want to make sure it is memorable - that we make the most of it.

However, we don't have a lot of money rolling around here.  Like pretty much none.  So...we have to make our own fun.  Which I actually don't think we have much of a problem doing.  But I did find all of these "free days" that they do here in the Denver area for different places.  Seriously...where has this been the last two years?!  I am so excited!

Anyway, so now we have an entire summer packed with all sorts of fun things we can do - or not do - it's great!

Today, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science was having a free day.  We had been here once before when Daniel and Teresa and their family came to visit and we loved it - so we were excited to go back.  Of course, it was pretty packed but we still had a fun time walking around the different exhibits this morning.  Plus, now that we know about the "free days" we don't feel like we have to spend a lot of time there to make it worth it - we can just see what we want and then check out the rest another time.  WIN-WIN!

We checked out the wildlife exhibits but we definitely spent the bulk of our time looking around the gems and minerals exhibit.  They recreated a mine shaft that takes you down into a recreated Mexican silver mine where they have white gypsum crystals and stalactites.  We thought it was pretty cool. 

Then they have this huge wall of rhodochrosite which is Colorado's State Mineral.  It's really pretty.  the largest rhodochrosite was found in Alma, Colroado and is called "The Alma King."  It's huge.  

"The Alma King"

The one kind of a bummer was that they had no traveling exhibit there today.  I guess they don't have any coming until October - but there is still PLENTY to see and keep us busy.

On the top floor of the museum you get this SPECTACULAR view of the city park and then downtown Denver.  Combined with my two favorite boys - this a pretty great picture :)

Jacob's 1st Birthday

This little man is 1 YEARS OLD!!!  It is amazing - and wonderful - and yet I wish time would just stop.  We had a great day celebrating all things Jacob.  We spent the morning at Coors Field taking a tour.  After that we headed home to start the birthday festivities. 

This little man just KNEW today was all about him - what a happy little guy!

One of the sad but also good things about being here in Denver is that we are away from family.  It is sad at times like this that we don't have any family to celebrate with.  But at the same time, it just makes us depend on one another all the more.  I am so grateful for my little family, but we did miss our extended family as well. 

Even though I knew no one would come, I still wanted to make little invitations for Jacob's first birthday.  I sent these out last week to the grandparents. 

And Jacob was able to have his first taste of sugar with a cake all for himself.  I think he liked it :)

Later, after Jacob took his nap we opened presents and were able to facetime with some of our extended family.

I just HAD to add this picture - he was just sleeping way too cute during his nap.  Melts my heart. 

Of course, he had to check out his new books first. 

This is his favorite position to look at his books. 

Facetime-ing with the family. 

It was a great day.  We hope Jacob liked it.  It has been a wonderful first year.  We love our little man!

12 Months

I cannot believe this little man is a year old.  He has brought me so much joy and happiness this last year.  When I think of this last year of my life, it truly brings happy tears to my eyes because I feel so blessed to be this little boy's mom.  He has brought such a light to my life.  I love him so much. 

I was so excited to add this last picture to Jacob's first year.  He is such a cutie.  He has always been such an angel baby.  I love this little guy. 

I feel like this last month Jacob has just changed so much.  First of all, he is totally mobile.  He crawls and rolls every which way.  I love being able to watch him explore and see what things he is curious about. 

Some of his favorite places to explore are behind his rocking chair and under his crib.  He also loves flicking the door stoppers.  And we have a lot and he is constantly flicking them off.  It is a good thing they just screw back on!  He also loves to open everything.  His favorites are definitely the dresser drawers and any and all cupboards.  We are definitely busy.

Jacob does have some toys that seem to keep his attention these days.  Grandpa and Grandma Berning gave him a little dump truck with some blocks and he loves scooting it around and taking out and putting in the blocks.  Aunt Melina also gave him a puzzle for his birthday that has a bunch of farm animals that make sounds when you take the pieces on and off.  He loves it!

Jacob's favorite past time though is still books.  He loves books.  He loves turning the pages and looking at all of the pictures.  I still love to watch him do it.  The books that he seems to get most excited to read are "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See," "Peek-A-Boo, I Love You," and "Press Here."

And, of course, Jacob still enjoys any time that we spend outside and loves to watch people.  

We are so happy for our little guy.  We hope that he has had just as great of a first year as we have. 

EVERY time I look at this I crack up at his four month picture - what a chunk!  We have loved watching our little man grow!

Coors Field

For Jacob's birthday we decided in the morning that we would go take a tour of Coors Field.  It is where the Colorado Rockies (baseball) play in downtown Denver.  Mark's been to a game and is actually going to another game on Saturday but Jacob and I had never been down there. 

It was such a nice stadium.  I actually really loved it!  I loved the design and architecture of it.  We were able to walk all around the stadium, see the views from different seats, check out the press box, the suites, the visitor's locker room, go into the dugouts and right onto the field.  And by "right onto the field" I mean that you can walk on the edges as long as you ABSOLUTELY do NOT touch the grass :)

It was fun - something different - and definitely a neat behind-the-scenes look at something we would never get to see otherwise.  Plus, we found out some really cheap, awesome ways to get tickets.  We were excited!  Now, we just need to plan a date and go to a game!  WOOT WOOT!

Crawling

So I know this may seem repetitive but Jacob is officially CRAWLING forward!  Oh my goodness!  I feel like this little man is just changing so quick!  He is now getting everywhere!  It is so fun!  I love seeing him so curious about EVERYTHING!  It is an exciting time. 

I also love watching how he gets from place to place.  He has so many different ways he has learned to get around and he just uses them all so interchangeably.  He'll go from crawling forward, to rolling, to then crawling backward literally within thirty seconds to get exactly where he wants to go.  It just makes me smile.

Jacob loves to play in his room now.  We kind of like to just close the door almost all of the way and just watch him when he thinks he is alone and see what he does.  He gets himself into all sorts of jams (behind the chair, stuck halfway under his crib, etc.) but he is actually pretty good about getting himself out of them.  So fun.

Congrats little buddy.  Now...just stay little...please.



 

Father's Day

I love the men in my life.  I am so blessed.  This Father's Day was so much fun because I could spend it with my Dad AND it was Mark's first year as a dad. 

First, to talk about the "Dads." 

I am so grateful for Mark.  This has been a beautifully, crazy year.  He takes everything in stride and I am so impressed with how he has balanced his life.  He is an amazing father and husband.  I couldn't be more blessed.  Jacob is so lucky to have him for his Daddy.  And I have loved to see Mark and how easily he has become a "Dad."  I love you.  

I did this little photo shoot of Jacob and then framed it and this was Jacob's gift to his Dad for Father's Day :)

I am so grateful for my Dad.  I have always been a daddy's girl.  I cherish the relationship I have with my Dad.  I love that we have always been able to talk about things in an honest and loving way.  He is a great man and I admire him for many things and am grateful for the love that he has shown me throughout my life.  I have also loved being able to see him this last year in his new role as "Grandpa."  He is a great example to both me and Jacob and I feel blessed.  I love you, Dad.

I am also so very grateful for my second-Dad, Gus.  I am grateful for how you raised Mark and taught him how to be the Father that he is.  You have always been so welcoming and supportive of us and I am very grateful.  Thank you for who you are.

There are countless of other men that have blessed and influenced my life and to all of them I am grateful.

Sunday evening, to celebrate Father's Day, we grilled steaks and had a little BBQ in the backyard.  It was a beautiful night.