The Nielsens

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Hike to Grandeur Peak

We've been wanting to hike Grandeur Peak for a while now and today we finally took the kids up there. We woke up early at 5:30 am and packed everything then woke the kids up at 6:30 am just before we left. The first thing Bridger said when we woke him up was, "We going on a big hike?" He was so excited! We got on the trail head at 7:35 am and made it to the top at 9:50. We rested on top for an hour and then came down in an hour and a half. It was a blast!

Bridger was ready for the hike! He just had to finish the last bit of his breakfast before we took off.

I packed Graham up and Jake packed up Bridger, our food, and our water. His pack was much heavier than mine but by the time we were finished my legs were definitely feeling like jelly.

Bridger and Jake enjoying the view on the way up.

Bridger and Graham were awake for about the first half of the hike and then they both conked out half way up and slept for a good hour or so. It was great! They are so fun to take anywhere because they're always so good and will sleep anywhere.

Here's Graham sleeping in his pack. That doesn't look very comfortable does it? He didn't mind a bit!

Bridger talked to us the whole way up about the things he liked. He would say, "I like dinosaurs. You like dinosaurs, Dad?" and "I like horseys, you like horseys, Mom?" It was so cute. He also kept asking, "What's that?" about everything so finally Jake said, "It's Mother Nature." Bridger said, "Mama Nature?" So funny!

At the very top of the mountain we took Bridger out of his pack so he could hike the last 5 minutes. He thought that was neat.

Bridger wouldn't let me get any good pictures of him on the top by himself. This one turned out pretty cute though with Mt. Olympus in the background.

We had a bunch of snacks on top. Here's Graham enjoying some yummy grapes. We stayed on top for about an hour and just enjoyed being up there. It was so fun!

Here's a view of the city from the top. If you look really closely you can see our house. Can you see it? :) It's easy to pick out when you're up there looking down.

Luckily there was a nice hiker that was willing to take our picture for us.

What a fun hike! It's so fun to look up at the mountain now that we're home and show Bridger where we were. He always remembers our hikes and now when he sees Grandeur he points to it and says, "Go on a hike!"

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Boys' First Trip to Disneyland

While we were at Newport Beach we figured we might as well take our kids to Disneyland while we were so close. We went on a hot, crowded, July day but it was totally worth it! The kids did so well that we even stayed until almost midnight. They put on a fire work show for the Fourth of July and we made the kids stay up for that but they went right to sleep after it was over. We wore them out!

Here we are at the beginning of the day excited to spend the day with the boys at the "Happiest place on earth!"

Our first stop was the Finding Nemo ride. Luckily, it wasn't too crowded because it was already getting hot and it was only 10 am. Here's cute Bridger waiting in line for the ride.

Graham loved looking out the window of the submarine and seeing all the fish swim around!

Bridger thought it was an awesome ride too.

Of course, Bridger's favorite ride was the Carousel when he got to ride the horseys. He wanted to go on that over and over.

My two boys in front of the Princess Castle. Bridger wanted to meet Sleeping Beauty so he could dance with her and sing "I know you..." but we couldn't find her all day.

We brought our own lunch and snacks so we found a nice cool area to sit down and eat. It felt good to sit down and take a break for a while.

Jake and I got to go on all the rides we wanted to. We just took turns watching the boys and then one of us would use our fast pass to go on the ride and switch places while the other person went. It was great! We never waited in line for more than 1/2 an hour on any ride. On a few of them the workers felt sorry for us and just let us go up the exit. That was sweet!

At night time we went on all the little kids rides. Bridger was SO close to being able to go on the Matterhorn and got past one worker but when we got to the front of the line they measured him again and she didn't let him go. But she gave us a free pass to get on any ride we wanted. So we went straight on Peter Pan since that's always a long line. We rode the carousel a few times, the train, the cars, Pirates of the Caribbean, Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, Indiana Jones, Finding Nemo, Dumbo, and all the kid's ride. It was a blast! And the boys loved it which was the best of all!

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Hart Newport Beach Trip 2011

We had a wonderful trip to Newport Beach! Just our family and Barry went down from the Jim Hart clan (we missed my mom and dad, Ty and Kath's family, Brody and Corine's family, and Brooke and Skyler) but luckily Bill and Gay's family let us stay with them. The boys had so much fun playing in the water, playing in the sand, and playing with all their cousins (2nd cousins, that is). The beach is just a giant playground for kids! They all had a blast playing together. Here are some pictures from the trip:

Graham woke up pretty early each morning ready to go out to the beach. Bridger slept in our bed with us (which means I didn't sleep) and Graham slept in his pack 'n' play.

Jake and I enjoying a night out at dinner without the boys at the Brewery. "Grandpa Bill" and "Grandma Gay"adopted our boys as their grandkids and took care of them with their other grandkids for us. It was so nice!

Kari and Matt brought this baby pool with them and all the little kids loved it! I don't know why we haven't done this every year. It was the best idea ever! Graham couldn't get enough of that pool.

I was a little bit worried about the kids napping at the beach but it wasn't a problem as you can see here. Bridger would just crawl up on his towel when he was tired and go to sleep. I wish he would do that at home!

Graham just loved playing in the sand and eating it too! I think he ate more sand that week than he did baby food but there was nothing you could do about it. Oh well!

A bunch of the girl cousins enjoying the beach. The weather was PERFECT this year! The sun would come out early every morning and stay out all day. It was lovely!

Graham playing in the sand

Another time Bridger just fell asleep eating his lunch. It was hilarious to watch him play until he dropped. He had so much fun!

Graham and Bridger playing together in the sand.

Bridger was not afraid of the water one bit! He would even run out to it without telling me so I'd have to chase after him. And on one occasion my cousin, Ali, had to save him when he went out too far to get his ball and went in face down (scary!). Where were his parents you ask? I was watching Graham on a towel not far from the ocean and Jake was out swimming for a beach ball that had floated away. Thanks again, Ali!

Bridger and his buddy, Logan, at Ruby's Diner

A typical morning at Ruby's Diner. Yummy!

Madie and Bridger having a fun time on the beach. Madie has trained Bridger well, whenever she asks him "Who's your favorite?" Bridger says, "Madie!"

Bridger playing with his cousin, Whitney. They are fearless.

Every day we took up about half of the beach. This is just about half of our circle. We counted 57 people there this year. What a fun tradition! I miss being there already.