Schlossberg

We went with Birgit to a castle near their home and Reed wore his little costume. There was a little shop at the castle and Birgit bought him a wooden shield and sword to finish it off.

He LOVES that sword.

You can see Reed in his little knight costume in the reflection. He keep looking for knights and was not impressed with the pictures and costumes around the castle - he wanted the real deal!

A castle and ice cream. The BEST DAY EVER!!!

Wuppertal Zoo

We went to the Wuppertal Zoo and had so much fun. Lots

of hills + stroller = tired mom. lots of animals + 2 year old = happy Reed

" Grrr. I'm a tiger!"

At the end of the day We asked Reed what his favorite animal was and he said the penguins. Birgit bought him a little penguin keychain at the zoo store to put on his backpack. He loves it.

The penguin tunnel was really neat.

Two new elephants were recently born and they were so cute.

"SO BIG"

They had a fun playground in the zoo with HUGE slides. I went down one with Reed and then he was brave enough to go down by himself.

Random picture for Brent: snuggling after bathtime the night before our flight. So cute.

Our epic trip to Europe

*I'll be putting pictures up whenever I get the chance mostly so Brent can see what we're up to. Also, as I've gone to do these posts I've realized that only about half the pictures are on my camera and some days I didn't even take pictures with my camera. The rest are on my moms camera so I'll update them later when I get all the pictures together.

Here's some pictures of our trip so far. Reed has always been an amazing traveler, but I was a little wary going into this trip because it was over 24 hours of travel to get from California to Germany. He did an amazing job and we didn't even have to resort to the DVD player or apps that we'd brought along.

Some snacks

foam stickers (decorating a car)

looking out the window


and some serious sleeping (thank goodness!) and we'd made it to Paris.

THen came the waiting...waiting for our luggage.

...and waiting.

Waiting for our train to Koln, Germany. We went for a walk and made a croissant stop while we waited for the train. We'll be back at the end of our trip for the real site-seeing.

And we made it! I was so happy to be able to see Rolf and Birigit and have a nice visit with them. It was a short visit, but Reed loved them. When we got off the plane and the various trains to get there, he kept asking "Where's Rolf and Birgit?". He was so excited when we got off a train and suddenly there they were!

Big Cottonwood Canyon

Our last night together as a family Brent got the urge to break in our dutch ovens and with it being super hot we thought a drive up to one of the canyons would be a relaxing evening. (I'm already tired and I haven't even left yet! Good luck on the 24 hour airplane/train ride to Germany with a 2year old, Caroline!) Anyway, it was cool and yummy and there were plenty of rocks to entertain Reed. It was a perfect way to spend time with dad before we leave for 5 weeks.

The chocolate peach cobbler was a hit.

It's going to be hard to be on the other side of the world for weeks, but Brent starts school tomorrow so he will have plenty to keep him busy. Plus, the garden is just hitting its stride it seems so that will keep him on his toes too.

Europe-here we come!

August - so far

In just a few days, Reed and I are going to Europe with my mom to visit family and some dear friends. It's going to be crazy and fun so I thought I'd get what we've been up to this month up before it gets forgotten in all the excitment of our big trip.

We had (another) huge limb fall off one of our trees. Brent was cutting up the bigger pieces and adding them to our garden perimeter and Reed busied himself collecting all the small leftover sticks. When we were all done we realized Reed had stacked all the sticks into a pile and was "warming" his hands in the glow of his little "firewood". We all sat around it and ate imaginary roasted marshmallows. Silly guy.

We tried Bountiful Baskets for the first time a few weeks ago (we also split a basket once a few months back to give it a try) and were very impressed with the quantity and quality of the produce. We showed up a little early and they needed help sorting the baskets so we volunteered. Reed thought it was great fun and keeps asking if what we're eating is from "the baskets" (it usually is!).

We went to Brent's sisters for a BBQ and Reed drew a chalk campfire.

Reed thouroughly enjoying a jumbo roasted marshmallow at Aunt Karens. Do you notice a theme this month?

Reed getting into character for our upcoming excursions.

Aunt Karen is loaning us a portable DVD player for the incredibly long flight we have and various train trips. We gave it a test run and Reed wasn't so sure about the headphones. He was holding them on so I got a hat to help the situation while a figured out some that would work better.

July

July was full of fireworks, family and friends!

Sparkler's and Pop-It's were the favorites. I'm sure he'll get harder to please as he gets older, but for now the cheap and easy stuff works just fine!

This was the first year (out of the last 3) that Reed really noticed the fireworks. I don't know if it's a Utah thing (yay 24th of July!) or a fireworks-are-legal-here thing but the whole month of July from dusk 'til about 11 pm we would hear fireworks almost every night. At first the noise outside scared him, but we showed him some fireworks on youtube and he got really excited and was always wanting to go see them or do them. He was a little aprehensive of the at-home ones at first, but them couldn't get enough of them. We did some for the 4th and some for Brent's birthday and a few leftovers on 24th.

My mom came for a week and this is the only picture we have to prove it. Opps. I've been a major slacker in the picture taking department for the last few months. We had a great time with Oma fit lots of fun things in during the week she was here.

One of the things she helped me with was getting my last stained glass window up. I had to take it up to the stained glass window store because it needed loops and new zinc border to get it in hanging shape. That drive combined with a 2-year-old and an antique window didn't sound like a good idea. Now it's up and beautiful in the morning sun that comes into out kitchen. I love it!

We went to Cherry Hill with aunts and cousins. Cherry Hill is a small water park with miniature golfing, ball pen, climbing wall and batting cages, etc. Fun for kids. Brent was able to take a half day and meet us there later in the afternoon. Reed had a blast and after 8 hours there we practically had to drag him to the car!

Going around the lazy river (the only warm-ish water in the whole park) was his favorite.



Minature golfing - the idea was a little beyond Reed, but he had a great time putting the ball in the castle/windmills etc. and finding where they all came out.

He had an hour long nap and woke up rearing to go again!

We've enjoyed a few free outdoor concerts (part of the Twilight Concert Series) in Salt Lake over the last few weeks. Reed came with us the first time and there were lots of other kids there, but we left during the opening band because Reed was already done (missed the Decemberists). Last week Brent and I went on our first -yes FIRST- date since Reed was born. We went and saw Edward Sharpe and the Magnectic Zeros. It was really fun to get out just the two of us and eat an uninnterupted dinner and listen to music. It felt like back when we were just a couple and living in the bay area, enjoying the huge variety of local shows. But after a few hours of that we missed Reed and left the concert early to see how he was doing (it had been 4 hours and we've rarley left him for more than a few hours).

We capped off the month with a family BBQ and Reed was given a cousin's outgrown ride-on John Deer tractor and covered plastic sandbox. He loves them. The driving/steering thing will take a little work, but if we put him in the right spot on the lawn he can just go in circles and loves it! I love the sandbox because he'll be in there for at least an hour digging and building things and I can get so much done in the yard when he's entertained and can see me. Everybody's happy.

Happy Summer!