First Haircut!

Today was a big day. At 2 and a quarter years-old, Zoë had her first haircut!

I've spent the last year or so thinking "I should trim her hair" or "Maybe I'll take her somewhere to get it trimmed" but always talked myself out of it. The thought of trying to cut this little wiggly-worm's hair when I can hardly get her to sit still long enough to put it in a ponytail was horryfying. And even worse  - imagining a perfect stranger trying to do it IN PUBLIC. I could just hear the screaming.

Until today. My friend Chrysia told me of this magical place called "Little Clippers" where the kids can sit in a toy car and watch a movie while nice kid-friendly ladies cut, style and put glitter in their hair (yes, even some of the boys! ;) So, we made it a date.

There were still tears, and quite a bit of fear (I held her hand the whole time!), but over all, I think it went quite well. Zoë picked out a classy pink car, watched a bit of Cinderella and thoroughly enjoyed her lollipop. It helped that she got to watch her friend Clara go before her and get pretty braids and sparkles. :)

 
And she couldn't stop talking all the way home about her "hairCUT!"I think she was most excited about the braids.

We won't be able to afford "Little Clippers" too often, but it certainly was a perfect first haircut experience. Now to re-create that atmosphere at home and get up the nerve to use my own little clippers...

Last Days of Summer

Another camping trip at the beach was our final "hurrah" of summer. We met up with Lola, Oma, Uncle Judah, Uncle Corby and Aunt Mary for a fun and wet adventure.
   
The beach was foggy and cool (as seems to be normal!), we got rained on ALL NIGHT LONG in our tent, our air mattress fully deflated in the night, and we spent most of the final morning cleaning off all the mud from our drenched and dirty tarps.

Our camping crew

Early morning walk on the beach

Which turned into early morning playtime at the beach 

(and one WET and dirty toddler)

BUT...we still had a really good time. It is always good to be with family, and as I've said before, Zoë simply LOVES the beach. Both Zac and I agree - we've never seen her more happy! She could play around in the sand all day long, every day. Whenever we arrive at the coast, Zoë delightfully screams, "BEEEEAAAACH!!!" and she is heartbroken when we have to say "goodbye."

Can you see the ocean? 

Neither could we. :-p

Oh, the Oregon Coast fog.

Rain or shine, the beach is still a wonderful place to be. Zoë and I had a great deal of fun tromping around in puddles in our rain boots. We made the most of it and enjoyed delicious meals, crackling fires (even though they took some work to get started thanks to the damp air), campfire serenades (thanks to Judah!), and of course, s'mores.

 

          Fun with uncles!

Beautiful sunset the second (non-rainy) night

Lovin' from Lola 

However, we were so thankful that God gave us a little bit of sunshine our last afternoon there to enjoy the (frigid) waves and gorgeous colors of the rocky coastline before we headed home.

So much happiness! We're thankful for a fun, full summer, and now ready for a little more routine, and maybe a little less craziness. (It's always good to be hopeful. :)

Good Times with Grandpa

Grandpa came to visit for a few days, and Zoë thoroughly enjoyed playing with him, going on walks to the park, going on adventures, and of course, getting treats together. :)

Thanks for coming to visit us! I love watching you be a wonderful Grandpa to our little girl. And she loves her "Bapa" dearly. :) 

Va-CRAZY-cation Part 2: The Rockies

Two years ago, we trekked from Michigan to Iowa to Colorado and back with a 3 month-old in tow. We decided then that just may have been the worst decision we had ever made.

Two years later, we drove for two days from Oregon to Colorado with a 2 year-old in tow. We found that traveling with a toddler just might be worse than with a newborn. Why?

1) Toddlers don't sleep as much = more awake time in the car, and less resting time for parents. 

2) Toddlers are quickly bored (at least ours is!) and rapidly move through a multitude of activities = exhausted parent (me) trying to rotate from painting to reading to  iPad to coloring to snacks to sand art to iPad to singing to snacks to counting wind turbines to stickers to dance party to iPad to snacks...you get the picture. For two days there. And two days back. 

3) No diapers. 'Nuf said. (Ok, let's just say what should have taken us 12 hours the first day took over 15 and we didn't end up getting to our hotel until midnight - MOSTLY because of potty breaks and attempted pooping stops.)

Suffice to say, we were greatly relieved when we finally arrived at Estes Park, Colorado, and while our time there was short and full and not very restful, it was filled with the beauty of God's glorious creation and time well spent with our wonderful relatives.

Our first full day there we took an aerial tram to scope out the terrain. And feed the chipmunks. Of course, Zoë had no interest in giving the chipmunks their peanuts. Instead, she filled her brown bag with rocks and sticks that she collected on the way. So, when mommy told her to give the chipmunk a peanut, she threw a stick at it. Whoops. :)

One happy Didi

Lunch with Auntie Judy and Hallie

Hallie loved hanging out with Zoë, and Zoë loved imitating her big cousin...

...especially when it came to riding THIS around. 

The scooter was probably Zoë's favorite part of the trip!

All ready for the hiking in her cool new hiking boots

From Didi :)

Hiking up to Alberta Falls with Gruncle and Auntie Judy

THEN 

                    and  NOW

It was so fun to take pictures with Zoë in some of the exact (or close to exact) locations as we did two years ago. It is amazing how the scenery remains unchanged, and even I don't look TOO much older :), but that little girl - MY GOODNESS! How does this happen?!

On the rocks with cousin Brooke

Timberline Falls

Thanks to Uncle Herm (who carried Zoë down from Alberta Falls) and Didi (who watched her and put her down for a nap while we were gone), Zac and I were able to continue on to the gorgeous Timberline Falls, Lake of Glass and Sky Pond. SO cool!

Lake of Glass

As is tradition for the Nelson family, we stayed in the lovely Rockmount Cottages and Cabins - right next to a small creek for the kiddos to fish in and throw rocks into, and with a playground right in the center. In the early morning, deer and elk would wander right through. And sometimes bear (like one did two years ago!).

Fortunately, this was the only bear we saw this time in Colorado!

Ice cream with the cousins!

Nothin' better. :)

Our next hike was up through the lakes - Nymph, Dream and Haiyaha. Zoë did some hiking, lots of riding, and a bit of sleeping on the way down. Mommy got a work out! :)

   THEN                  

   and    NOW

Nymph Lake - by the same bench

Dream Lake

Check out that reflection!

THEN

and   NOW

Dream Lake again - two years ago, Zoë slept right through it. This year, she thoroghly enjoyed throwing the rocks Herm collected into the water. She kept him busy going back to find more rocks!

When we had finally made it to Lake Haiyaha and climbed over boulders to get to this view, Zoë was so terrified of the mosquitos that I decided it would be best to just turn around and take my screaming toddler with me. :*( At least we were there long enough to get a picture!

Lake Haiyaha

Zoë fell asleep shortly thereafter. All that screaming wore her out!

Walking stick!

More throwing rocks at the Alluvial Fan

Zoë was not a happy camper at this point, because she wanted to walk out on the rocks into the creek like mommy was doing to take this picture. *Sigh.*

With Brooke and "Gaka" (Rebecca)

Family Fun Center!!

This may have been Zoë's favorite part of the trip.

(I had a pretty good time myself driving that GoKart! :)

Super Slide

Our little cabin - "Indian Summer"

Thanks to Didi!

Matching p.j.s we got downtown from Auntie Judy

Zoë was SO proud of our matching pajama bottoms, 

and VERY excited about all the "woo-wooo's" (owls)

Yay for family vacations! 

(And, about two weeks later, we might have just recovered from our vacation. 

Good thing they only come around once a year or so! ;)