Photo Shoot

Yes, you know what that means. Lots and lots of pictures. So bear with me. Or just skim. I won't be offended if you don't look at all of them. I love it- but I know I can get a little out of control.

These are a result of an attempted nap. Zach has a lot of the Smith genes in him when it comes to sleeping (so Cal says). And that means there's not a lot of it. Day or night. Instead of continuing to fight with him I decided to grab my camera:

Teething. Our poor crib will never be the same.

Happy drool monster.

Zach's eyes are starting to change color. I don't know if you can see it in this picture, but the very center of his beautiful blue eyes is starting to look brown or green.

I wished I'd had my video camera out. He likes to "read" books to me. He makes little noises (ba ah ah da boo uh ma....) that fluctuate and pause like he is reading a story. SO cute. The best part of this picture is the book is upside-down. He's gifted.

Mexico

Last week we had a wonderful trip to Puerto Vallarta! We stayed in a great resort with my parents where they have a time share. Zach did really well on the plane, just some serious wiggles. He's not exactly a sit still- for even a minute- kind of kid. I was grateful that there were 4 of us to take turns, and some friendly people behind us to help entertain him.

It was Zach's first time to the beach, and of course, he love Love LOVED it! We spent our days at the pools and beach. He is a little fish and would never get out of the water if it were up to him. I can't imagine where he gets that? If you set him down where he can see any water- he takes off towards it and you just see this:

His first views of the ocean.

Of course, Dad had to do some throws. I'm not sure which one of them likes it more.

Our favorite pool. Gorgeous, don't you think??

Gotta start 'em young.

Treasures on the beach....

(rocks)

To EAT, right? Yuck!







Sand castles with Dad and Grandpa.

(note my mom in the background enjoying her favorite activity)

We thought a blanket in the shade under the palapa would be a great idea.

HA.

It lasted all of 5 minutes. I like to be clean (don't worry- I like to play, too), so obviously I like my baby to be clean. It took some great restraint on my part to just let him play and get dirty. And he couldn't get enough.

And dirty he got.

I love this picture!!

Cal and I even got to go on a date while we were there. My parents watched Zachie so we could go out. We went to dinner at a nice restaurant on the marina. Thanks Mom and Dad!!!

The resort has a mini zoo that has 2 pumas (which had an adorable spotty baby), some spider monkeys, some parrots, and 2 big tigers. It is kinda sad because their habitats aren't great, but you are really close to them so it is neat. By really close I mean an arm's length away separated by 2 cages. After our dinner out we all walked down to see them. We were watching the tigers tussling and walking around when Cal jumped back suddenly. The male tiger sprayed him!! Pretty funny.

To me.

That was the beginning of some bad luck. My mom got really sick that last day. And Zach got stung by a bee on the tip of his pointer finger. That was a sad event. But we ended it on a good note with more beach together the morning we left.

All in all it was so much fun and we can't wait to go back!

Colorado Springs

Last weekend we headed down to Colorado Springs (about 1.5 hrs away) for some fun. We met Gary and Kim at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. It was an incredible zoo and I can't believe I'd never been there before. It is in a beautiful setting on the side of a mountain . The animals all seemed really close and active, so they were fun to watch. We saw grizzly bears fishing for rainbow trout in a stream less than 10 ft away, river otters being fed, a baby gorilla bouncing around (which Zachie seemed to really like), a dancing porcupine, and a ton of giraffes! Apparently this zoo is known for their giraffes, which you can pet and feed. Zach wasn't too sure what to think of that.

Tired boy.

But not too tired to ride a bale of hay. He loved it! Little cowboy?

Making sure Dad doesn't miss anything.


We thought he might like the carousel, but it was really fast and proved to be a little scary.

We stayed the night with my cousin Andrea and her husband Kirk. We had a great time with them and she made us lots of yummy food.

The next day we went to the Garden of the Gods. It was gorgeous with the big mountains around it (you can't see it in the picture, but Pikes Peak-a 14,000 ft. mtn- is just to the right).

We walked around with a million other tourists in the heat. Okay, you can't see all the other tourists in the picture, but I promise it was crowded!

We enjoyed it, but it made us a bit nostalgic for Moab. We used to trek to Moab 1-2+ times a year, but haven't been yet with Zachie. One of these days... But next on the agenda is Puerto Vallarta!!!

Sleepy Boy

Poor little thing was just too tired for his bath. He passed out on the floor while I was getting it ready!
He loves to sleep with his little bum up in the air.

The 4th

CAMPING!

Zach had his first camping trip this last weekend. It was also our first camping trip in two years. We lucked out and got a spot on 4th of July weekend up by Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. We went with our friends the Rogers. It was nice to get out of the city and I would say relax but camping with a baby isn't quite as relaxing as it once was.

I got a new tent from the Ropers as a graduation present, something I'd be thinking about getting for some time now. We just needed a little bigger tent for our bigger family. Zach loved the tent and I think for him that was the best part about camping. We were car camping so we went car camping de-luxe. We had a queen size blow up mattress that Zach thought made the perfect bouncy castle. There would be no napping when there was bouncing to be done.

We stretched our legs after a little rain storm while dinner was cooking. We had a great meal in the dutch oven completed off by a great cobbler that Brett and Amy cooked. I love dutch oven cooking, to me it signifies the ultimate car camping experience.

Zach liked the fire, he didn't like the smoke as much (he must get that from his Roper genes) as I like all aspects of fires. We didn't let Zach have a smore but I'm sure I will sneak him some when Em isn't looking next time.

Because Zach can't walk yet we tried putting him in the play pen with Owen but you can see how well that went over. Em ending up holding him much of the weekend and she swore we won't go camping again until he can walk. I'm already working on planning another trip in a month or so, I hope he learns to walk quickly!

We really pushed the envelope with Zach this weekend and stayed up to watch the fireworks in Boulder with the Rogers and the Ropers after camping. We didn't know how he would react but he seemed to like it well enough. We hope all ya'll had a great 4th as well!