funk soul baby.

so the last four days we have been surrounded by music, art, great food & very hot colorado heat! thursday we headed back to the snowmass slope, fanny hill, to hear 'pure prairie league'. oliver did a lot better this time, as we settled further up the slope instead of down closer to the noise, speakers & a lot of people lined up for cheap wine & beer. okay, so we were in "kiddie-land", but such is life these days, right?! oliver loved sitting quietly on the blanky watching all the rambunxious children chase each other & squeal with glee! he bounces up & down on his lil butt & laughs at them!  music was great & the weather was gorgeous...except for the looming storms we spotted all around us. we thought we were going to dodge the wet zone but of course, it started dumping rain, lightning & thundering. being surrounded by ski lifts protruding high into the air, we quickly threw our stuff together & bee-lined it to the car. by the time we were settled in our seats, the rain stopped. so, the night was cut a bit short, despite the great time it was. i am becoming a habitual memory card forgetter lately too...no shots from pure prairie league.

the rest of the weekend was mountain fair over in carbondale, a quick drive north for us. we literally spent the whole weekend there. friday evening we headed over for some great tunes & to check out what the fair had to offer. all sorts of vendors including awesome artists, photographers & of course the little tents set up of random stuff such as the most exsquisite belt buckles you've ever seen. saturday, we spent more time checking out local art & photography booths & witnessed my first women's logsplitting contest. michael was the mc...

hahaha just kidding! later that night we settled in front of the stage for more music, food & oliver boogying to the tunes. he had such a great time...but the poor kid would not dare nap, even though his eyes were half shut & he had lost most of his pep. he just didn't want to miss a thing! we finally packed up & left to give the poor guy a rest...& he slept good! sunday we concluded our mountain fair experience watching our friend paul in the horseshoe competition. the weather was blazing & we were tired from constantly going going going, that we headed back to basalt for some r&r. and now today...we have continued in that same fashion. lazy day recovering. overall, it was a great experience & can't wait until next year!

everytime oliver plays in the grass he has a small obsession with eating it...

and it's not a hippie mountain town fest without tie-dye =)

i have no words for this one!

skeletor bike! took these for my parents...

my favorite metal artist...this guy does amazing work!

oliver climbed into the knocked over kelty pack & made his own little space to hang =)

rainbows on our way home saturday!

still learning the camping ropes.

we decided on friday to take a little trip away from basalt & camp again. we decided to just head to the same destination we had previously been to, about an hour away. and keeping it close was a great idea. the boys headed up earlier to get things set up & i arrived a couple of hours later. i was actually surprised to see that the tent & hammock were set up when i got there. i wasn't sure if oliver was going to let dad do anything, but he did! they even went on a hike around the campground before i got there also. the weather was hot hot hot! one thing we don't deal with here, like we did back in the flatlands of iowa, humidity! other than the fact that you feel like the sun is 5 feet away, there's no moisture in the air. so we finished setting everything up, grilled some sweet corn & watched daddy fish for a while. we put oliver down around 9ish & although he fought it a bit...he fell asleep. mike & i sat around the fire for a while & then retired about midnight. and then came the fireworks show. almost immediately after we layed down our heads, o woke up screaming & crying. nightmares? no. hungry? i fed him, he ate, was happy for a couple of minutes, then again, screaming & crying. the poor guy was miserable. with all other options ruled out, we concluded his bothersome eager teeth were at it again. sore gums & everything we could possibly give him w/out od'ing our son...he was just plain miserable! but mind you, we were in the great outdoors, surrounded by other sleepy campers...at midnight...we couldn't have our little bearcat waking up the tri-state area. we took him to the car to hopefully drown out his cries. took him on a drive. as a parent, this is honestly a point where you feel totally helpless...& it sucks! the only thing he could do was cry out in pain. and he was sooooo sleepy. at about 1 o'clock, as he was finally starting to settle a bit, i gave the ultimatum...either i was taking him back down the mountain home or i was going back to the tent to sleep. mike waved me on to sleep, so i did. and he stayed with oliver in the car...& to my surprise, they slept there the rest of the night. oh wait...no they didn't sleep! mike ended up having to take him on another drive up the mountain & by the time he finally put his aching sleepy baby body to rest...it was 4 aM. i woke up sometime before the sun came up, thinking oliver was going to be needing a bottle. i was honestly surprised that they did sleep in the car because i was going to attempt that with him, but ruled it was going to be the most uncomfortable thing since my first ob exam. there they were...mike in the passenger seat, oliver on his belly & a blankey covering them both head to toe. a very sweet sight. until mike woke up & explained to me their both very painful evening. poor little man. so we started our day, apologizing to the other families surrounding us for our maniac teething baby boy. fortunately, no one hear him & us in the middle of the night. and i think everyone mike talked to, suggested to us to put whiskey on his gums. ha! i guess it is a tried & true tale. anyway, we haven't tried it, but we haven't ruled it out! so after our nightmare of a first night camping, i had had enough (you know me & camping...i struggle to enjoy it in the first place). i made the executive decision to take oliver home for the night so he could possibly find some peace. mike stayed to have a peaceful night in his great outdoors alone...he's so in his element & i think a night a part was good ;) i was bored out of my mind back home though, but i made it through, oliver had a better night & we camped out ourselves in the living room. just like we used to at my grandma & grandpa's.
so when is our next camping trip you ask...well...it's something i'm not going to suggest for a while ha! i know it won't always be a repetetive experience because oliver loves the outdoors...but maybe we just need to cool it until he has this teething thing out of the way =( oh & ps...i forgot my camera this trip so i have no photographic memories to share with you..maybe that was a good thing.
i do however have a fun bunch that i took when we were living room camping...& i apologize to oliver for all of his photos in his owl onesie...haha...i always make him wear it because i love it so much & i nicknamed him 'owlie olly' that weekend =) hoot hoot.

splish splash i was taking a swim.

just taking a morning swim.

he loves to put his face in the water.

and splash =)

journeys.

recently, we took a short journey to the park together as a family.

best oliver & daddy photo...ever!!!

and then yesterday...we went on a 30 mile journey on the bicycles...no big deal...haha!  yeah right!  i am in so much pain! the whole time, i thought, i would be a horrible ragbrai-er. those of you not from iowa & not familiar with ragbrai...it's the Register's (newspaper) Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa.  it takes place every summer, stretching across the state, with various stopping points, from the missouri to the mississippi rivers. i have never participated in it, always thought that i would one day, but now that i journeyed only the equivelant to one day's stretch (it takes place over the span of a week...i'm not so sure i could hack it ;) we rode from basalt to woody creek. we stopped for lunch in woody creek before turning back around. here's oliver just lounging around checking out the scene.

and this is an old train car someone has turned into their home...a unique mobile home if you will. michael's pretty obsessed with it...if you can imagine that!

and the final journey is my own. as you may or may have not noticed, i have remodeled the michaeleyna blog. i have also created a new blog, dedicated to my journey to heal. i did not want to turn this blog, dedicated to my family, into an emotional smog, so therefore i have created a different space to do so =) click on the 'another day in luckyville' link above to find out what i'm talking about, & i invite you to follow as well =)

water water everywhere!

i have had a pleothora of blog posts recently...well, that's because the summer weather in basalt lately is only good for napping & blogging.  oliver & michael have the napping thing down right now, so i am taking care of the latter.  if it hasn't been raining, we have been taking oliver to his pool.  yeah...not "the" pool, but his pool.  we thought we'd trial run a five dollar plastic blowup pool on our back porch for a while...& turns out...we're probably going to have to upgrade to a house with a large backyard pool in it ;)  he loves it though.  after many attempts this past week to take the little swimmer to the local pool, getting him used to the water on his own is working just fine.  and so our routine goes...we wake up, it's gorgeous beautiful in the morning, sun-shiny & not a cloud in the sky & by shortly after noon (when the pool opens), the clouds roll in & then comes the thunder, lightning rain showers & hail!  so be it and
we will make due. here are some shots of our recent splash time in & outdoors.

oliver loves to put his face in the water...still getting used to that & this is the result usually.

yes, his pool is particlly pink...it's fine ;)

boooooo....i don't wanna stay inside!

Eight.Mo.

Silver Moons and paper chains,
Faded maps and shiny things.

You're my favorite one-man show.

A million different ways to go.

Will you fly me away?

Take me away with you,

My love.

Painted scenes, I'm up all night.

Slaying monsters, flying kites.

Speak to me in foreign tongues.

Share your secrets one by one.

Will you fly me away?

Take me away with you,

My love.

Now I cant think what life was like

Before I had you by my side.
Cant say what I'd do without you,

Knowing what its like to have you.

Hidden walk ways back in time.

Endless stories, lovers cry.

In my mind I've been set free.

Will you take this Journey

You and Me?

Will you Fly me away?

Take me away with you,

My love.

Fly me away with you,

My Love.

Take me away with you,

...My Love.

oliver grows.
crawling! everywhere!!!
pushing up onto knees & sitting up.
he has officially "found" his voice...having screaming conversations & giggling about it!
plays so good independently with his toys.
starting to become interested...or semi- pays attention to stories before bedtime.
loves to swim.
can hold himself up in a standing postion for a while, if placed there.
has begun to express dislike & frustration.
is developing a sense of humor with us.
has embraced quite the palette for...mangos, apricots, pears.
plays mostly with any toy that makes noise (great!) & your stackable rings.
throws toys across the room for fun (I think).
knocks down anything that's stacked up in front of him.
loves to eat the remotes, phones, computer screens...maybe he just has a knack for technology.
shows interest in shows like sesame street & other cartoons.
loves meal times...& continues to be a very good eater.
loves to be swung through the air & doing 180s with dad.
loves to challenge his mama & daddy everyday.
many firsts this month...first time at the pool, checking out books at the library & fishing trip with daddy.
we love you little squishy!

Lyrics by Annie Little. Fly Me Away.

Oliver & Some Mama Silliness.

Just a quick Olly vlog for a midweek giggle.

And while we're on silliness...I totally forgot to share with you my dress story from Kim & Tom's wedding.  Guess I wanted to try & keep their wedding post classy.  As the weddings I attended last year I was preggo...I was thinking I was Stella getting her groove back out on the dance floor.  So there I was, in full wedding reception mode & my dress decides during some running man-esque move to unzip completely down the back...wardrobe malfunction!  And all of their guests were able to witness it...talk about having a Janet Jackson moment, only thank god the opposite direction!  We all had a good laugh...but I returned the dress. =(