Camping

Dear Kate and Riley,
Last weekend we had our first family camping trip! It was something we've been talking about doing for a long time but always seemed to have a good excuse (pregnant or new baby) not to. But when our neighbors decided to plan a trip we figured we couldn't pass it up. We headed up by Malibu to Point Mugu with the Taylors and the Massies. We had a lot of fun even though Brady didn't seem to be a fan of sleeping in the tent at night. But Zach loved rolling in the dirt and we found out that getting to pee in the bushes did wonders to help with potty training. We made s'mores, threw rocks in the ocean, hunted for treasure, sang and played guitar and played in the blow up pool. We can't wait to do it again!

We were lucky to borrow a big tent from the Taylors which could hold the air mattress and the pack and play, hey I'm not into roughing it too much!

Dan and Jeremy took out the kayaks but it was too cold for anyone else to attempt!

I have this picture as the background on my computer except its Zach in the same outfit. With the hoodie and the binkie they really look a lot alike. Their differences really lie in the lips and the ears.

We found out the BOB can actually serve as a triple stroller (might come in handy some day!)

The last clean picture!

Corn on the cob!

L went to town on the ribs!

Loving the fire, notice the potty in the background, we can't go anywhere without it right now!

Sunset with (as Zach has dubbed him) the Braderator

Love those blue eyes. It actually got pretty chilly at night!

S'mores!

Dad's genius contribution to the trip, take a reeses, melt it on the graham cracker and then make your s'more, it was a bite of heaven I tell you!

We had such varieties we all had to have multiple s'mores

Dan's metal detector was a hit. The kids would dig for him. They found lots of bottle caps and a few coins.

Since the ocean was super cold we made our own little oasis and it was perfect!

Zach doing his own marshmallows and "Crazy Dan" with the hatchet in the background.

Summer has flown by. I can't believe its almost over and we'll be back to more of a schedule soon. I can't decide if I'm so sad or a little relieved!

Love,
Mom

Jackson Hole

Dear Kate and Riley,
I think the summer might end before I even get through July! I feel so behind. Let's see if I can manage to sum up the rest of the vacation.
After the Hansen reunion ended our little clan of Hansens (minus uncle Bret-- just a few more months!) headed up to Jackson Hole. I was so excited because I haven't been since I was pregnant with you and even then I couldn't do anything.

We hiked Jenny lake (another chance for Zachary to whine a LOT!), swam and paddled around in String Lake, the "big" kids ran the rapids (thank you SO much to Grandma Janice who helped watch kids while Zachary barfed!) and got a gigantic burger at Billy's in town. It was a short but really fun trip.

Zachary ended the Jackson trip with pinkeye and a double ear infection. As sad as that was, I have to say a sick Zachary (as long as it doesn't involve barf) is actually a pretty good traveler. He was so out of it he just rested in his car seat the whole time.

We had SO much fun and love spending time with the families. We can't wait for uncle Bret to get home in December so we can all be together again!

Clint, Summer and Zach starting the hike to hidden falls

We took the ferry across the lake which cut off a few miles of the hike, good thing!

Zach loves Aunt Jenny

Best story from this day, some people were commenting on Brady in the backpack saying look how cute, etc. Then this little boy says "Look! That baby has monkey ears!" it was so funny, and yes, a little true. I wasn't offended but I think the mother of the kid who said it was mortified!

Hidden falls, not sure why this is so overexposed!

The next day was String Lake. Papa Ross took Ali and Zach out on the kayak

mom got a turn

Dad and Zach

Uncle Clint about to attempt his roll in the kayak (it was unsuccessful)

The water was actually really warm, the kids had a blast

Papa Ross didn't attempt a roll but still got a turn in the kayak

Grandma Janice got in on the fun

We saw this monster on the way home that day. It was awesome and of course Zach was asleep. We also saw buffalo, foxes and a bald eagle on this trip but didn't get any pictures of those

We roasted s'mores inside our cabin

The last day we were there was Grandma Janice's birthday. She chose to go out without us (I can't IMAGINE not wanting to go to a restaurant with five children under 4! ;) ) we celebrated with brownies that night

Our rafting pictures were the best but we haven't ordered them and I can't copy the images from the website. The links might work for a while if you click here, here and here you can see that Dad and Papa Ross and I all got thrown out of the raft and in one of the pictures you can see my legs straight up and down in the air!

Ok, I think that FINALLY sums up our July vacation!

Love,
mom

6 months!

Dear Kate and Riley,
I have to interrupt the vacation posts (I'm still not done!) to talk about Brady! Month 5 flew by with no post and I couldn't let another month pass without an update!

The past month was a busy month for Brady. Some important milestones--
--tooth #1 and tooth #2!
--rolling back to tummy and pivoting all over the floor
--Starting to sit for about 20-30 seconds before falling over
--babbling dadada, (but of course no mamama)
--has tried oatmeal, squash, sweet potatoes and carrots. He's not so sure about eating, it seems
more fun to spit it back out at mom but he's enthusiastic about the process!
--happy and easygoing (except for when those darn teeth were coming through!)

At Brady's 6 month checkup he was 14 lbs 15 oz. This did not make the doctor very happy as he has fallen to the 7th percentile in weight. We're going to get a few tests done to make sure that there are no underlying problems but our guess is that he's just a skinny boy!

Brady continues to be a really easy, portable baby. He naps well when we're home and when we have to be out he just goes with the flow. He still sleeps well on the go and his night sleep is pretty good except for those teething nights. People always comment about how smiley and happy he is. Zach has really started to want to interact with him more and watching Zach make Brady belly laugh is just about my favorite thing in the world. Zach also wants attention for the same things Brady gets attention for. So many times a day he will roll around on the floor and expects me to applaud and get excited about him rolling over. He also insists on sitting on the floor with pillows all around him like I do for Brady. I guess he's worried he might fall over too! Today he got all of his trains and surrounded Brady with them because he was sharing. It was so sweet.

We love our little Brady!

He loves the jumper!

Love,
Mom

Navajo Fry Bread

Dear Kate and Riley,
On Wed. we got to meet up with the Ericksons at the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera so no pictures from that adventure but it was fun and Zach thought the dinosaurs were pretty cool. Unfortunately Zach decided to end the afternoon with a monsterous meltdown over where we ate lunch so that was not so much fun.

That evening we gathered back at the Canova/Hansen house for more swimming and for Anita to make us some real Navajo fry bread. It was awesome. She brought her sister along to make sure she got it right and I intended to observe so I could duplicate it at home until I watched them "measure" the ingredients. Let's just say there was no measuring involved. It was a little of this and a little of that. It was pretty fun to watch Anita since I haven't seen her make fry bread since I was a kid and she made it at our house one time. It was delicious and no, Jillian, we didn't throw any away! (It was definitely a once in a while kind of treat!)

Careful measurements

rolling out the dough

the good part

Papa Ross decided to get in on the fun and make his own fry bread. It was pretty hilarious how much he fumbled with it. I like the look of concentration he has in the second picture. That was when Anita told him to use his fists but trust me she did NOT look like that when she whipped those puppies out.

Ashlee had to model a finished one for me

Love,
Mom

Cecret Lake

Dear Kate and Riley,
The fun didn't stop! On Tuesday we headed up to Alta to do the hike to Cecret lake. Turns out it was no secret, there were a ton of people there. This was Zach's first real hike. He started out great, very enthusiastic. Then came the hill. It was a big one, I'll admit but oh man the whining just about killed me. He insisted on someone carrying him which would not be a big deal if he didn't have this weird fear of riding piggy back or on people's shoulders. So if you can imagine me or dad having to carry 32 lb Zach like a baby on our hip up a steep hill of switchbacks! So annoying but thankfully the beautiful scenery and wildflowers made up for it. We had lunch by the lake, threw some rocks and headed back down. Let's just say 2.5 might not be the best age for hiking. Brady had his first try in the backpack and HE was an angel. He loved it and even slept for a good portion of the time.

Brady loving the pack

"I'm Hikin' "

Happy boy

Uncle Clint, Cadance in the front pack and Ali (I've given up on trying to get 2 or 3 year olds to look at me)

Grandma Janice with Summer and Aunt Kelli

Aunt Jenny was a good helper across the streams because she had on chocos and didn't care about walking through the water. Zach ended up walking through it anyway, no surprise.

There were lots of little streams to cross which was fun for the kids

There were wild flowers everywhere, this doesn't even do them justice

A big pile of snow which kind of confused the CA kid and was pretty lame for the Utah kids!

Aunt Jenny with Zach and Ali at the lake. I wasn't kidding about giving up. I did.

Not attractive but does prove that I DID carry the back pack!

Love,
Mom