Family Vacation

 We went to Rico, Colorado the last weekend in August.  I grew up spending two weeks of every summer at my family's cabin in Rico.  It's so fun to take my kids there and watch them explore and learn about the mountains like I did as a kid.  Conner, Leslie, and the twins flew in with us and we met Mimi and Pops there.  My parents are remodeling the cabin so we rented another place. Our cabin is over 100 years old and was used by the miners during the Silver Rush in the 1890s.  My parents are building a new master bedroom/bathroom, mudroom, upstairs bunk/playroom for the kids, and another bed/bath.  We are so excited and thankful about these changes because it means our kids and their cousins can spend many summers together at the cabin!  

WARNING: There are a ton of pics in this post and I even cut out a bunch :)

Ready to fly

 The gang at the new addition

 This is inside the original kitchen

 Mimi and Pops with their grandbabies

 The cousins loved playing play dough on the porch

 I LOVE this pic of sweet Ella Boo and her many rolls!

 We went for lots of walks

 Trav and Ella

 Aunt Lele reads a bedtime story

 Swimming in Ouray...the most beautiful hot springs 

 Ella had a horrible tummy bug almost the entire trip.  This was taken after one of her many middle of the night blow outs. :(

 Pancakes with CarCar

 We took the kids to Telluride for shopping, gondola ride, playground, and pizza!

Griffin LOVED riding the Gondola.  We was so interested in the "big wheel" that runs the machinery.  He still asks us about it ALLLLL the time!

 Mimi and Pops and Aunt Debbie and Uncle Gary babysat the kiddos one night so the "kids" could go to a nice dinner in Telluride

 Griffin spent a lot of time fishing off the porch

 Throwing rocks with Lyndon

 picking raspberries

 Fish fry night at the Vandergriff's

 Horrid attempt at a family pic

 Griff's forehead had a run in with his zipper...don't ask ;)

 Here you can see the original cabin in the front

 Love this pic of Ella and her Godmomma/Auntie Lele

 Jason carved Ella's name in the aspen right next to Griffin's

 Riding with Carson

It was a LONG travel day but the kids did great!  Such little troopers!

Update

Ella had her 6 month check up a little late (7 months) today.  Dr. D said she was doing wonderful!  Ella was her usual happy self and had the office smiling anytime they looked her way.  She loves attention ;).  Poor baby had to get 4 shots but only cried for a minute.  Anyway, here are her stats for my reference:
Weight- 18lbs, 8oz (75%)
Height- 26.89" (70%)
Head- 90% (my kids have big brains I tell ya)

7 months

Our sweet Ella Bell turned 7 months old on the 9th so this post is just a few days late :).  She has changed so much this month!  We have been so busy this month traveling and Ella was a little trooper.  She rode on her first airplane and visited the lake house and Rico.  She was having major tummy problems in Colorado and it cleared up as soon as we came home so I'm thinking she might have been affected by the altitude change.  Who knows, I'm just glad to have my happy, smiley baby back!  Here are some things sweet Ella has been up to this month:
- Minus an eating strike during her tummy troubles, Ella is loving baby food.  Her favorites are carrots, sweet potato, and apples, but she'll eat just about anything.  The only thing she's gagged on is Gerber peas which are pretty nasty.
- Teething, chewing, and drooling on everything but still no teeth.  By this time Griff already had 3!!
- Mastered sitting up and rolling from tummy to back.  She's rolled the other way as well but not consistently
- Starting to put more weight on her legs but not real interested in being mobile which is fine with me :)
- LOVES kids and being the center of attention.  Carson and Lyndon gave her lots of attention in CO and she would squeal, kick, and giggle anytime they came around.
- Will let anyone hold her but for the first time we've seen some signs of her wanting Mommy when she sees me walk by (secretly I love it)
- Has started babbling a lot and says dada, baba, gaga but with no meaning behind it
- Loves playing with Griffin.  Every night Griffin and Ella play a game we call "Ella Monster" on our bed.  Griffin goes under the covers and Ella "attacks" him.  They both laugh so hard and so do we!  I love seeing these two interact.
- Smiles so big at anyone who looks her way.  The other day she caused two ladies to crash their shopping carts into each other at Walmart because she was smiling so big at them and they weren't watching where they were going :)
Ella, you are such a blessing to our whole family.  Your smile is contagious and your dimples are ridiculously cute!  We love you with our whole hearts baby sister!