Trip Winding Down

Our trip is starting to wind down here in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  We have been having a good time.

Katie Beth got to see snow again, but she didn’t like how cold it was.

Katie Beth was really started to play pretend.  She has been wrapping up things to put them to sleep.

I am sorry the picture is blurred, but camera phones and fast moving babies don’t work together well.

We have seen cool art like this abstract door, which is entitled “The Abstract Door”.  Wow, that is original.  Katie Beth is trying to close it.

We have played in the leaves of fall.

You can see more picture of Katie Beth playing in the leaves here.

Back in Colorado Springs

Hiking in Colorado

We are back in Colorado Springs for my work.  Karen did a lot of shopping for this trip.  She pickup this outfit for Katie Beth to wear.  The boot are from Katie Beth’s Aunt Faith.

We spend a lot time in the room during many evenings so we have picked up some second hand toys to make Katie Beth feel at home.

Karen keeps Katie Beth well entertained throughout the day.

Karen learned that the downtown library has many play/learning area for Katie Beth’s age.  She took me to see what they had including a bunny.

Check back for more updates.

Home for a Bit

Our travels have ended for a bit.  But, I can see the next trip on the horizon.  We are thinking about heading to the beach at the end of summer or early fall and we are looking at going to the Smoky Mountains during the fall.  And then there is my work, which could put us back in Colorado Springs in late October.

We love to travel.

Spending Your Tax Dollars in Colorado Springs

We have been working and playing long hours.  We took Katie Beth to the Garden of the Gods.

But, she could only see the little rocks.

We saw the Rodeo Parade in downtown.  And, Katie Beth met her first clown and liked him. His name was Nickels and he gave Katie Beth a wooden nickel.

She really enjoyed Nickels, but the picture doesn’t show it.

We have been to many parks and Katie Beth has been enjoying them all.  Here is a picture from America the Beautiful Park.

Getting ready for church Sunday morning, we decided to try our hand at our tradition of taking a “Sunday” picture.  It is not our best, but it is a tradition.

At work, I picked up free tickets to the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, which is a AAA minor league baseball team.  We were late to the game, but we still had great seats.  The stadium is very nice and everyone was friendly.

We celebrated Karen’s ½ birthday while on the trip.  She made a command decision that she wanted a birthday away from all the Christmas season.  So, she picked ½ way through her year, which puts it on July 15th.

We went to the Wednesday night’s music in the park.  I had a great tamale.  I am not a big fan of tamales, but I do enjoy them from time to time.  This tamale was great and they are cheap.

Good Food

Karen took Katie Beth to Acacia Park, which features a fancy water fountain that dances around with water shooting everywhere.

I have to head into work very early many mornings and I leave Karen and Katie Beth sleeping like this pictures shows.  Karen moved, because she heard me getting the camera.

I went to work at 4:00 AM this morning to do my part in helping monitoring and controlling the launch of this missile and the testing of our system.

Missile

We went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo for free, because someone had given Karen and I passes three years ago.  We had a good time.  Katie Beth got to pet a goat and a baby wallaby.

We have been enjoying some great dinners like Nosh. I had the Slider Sampler, which included a Lamb Slider, an American Kobe Beef Slider, and a Tomozz Slider.  Karen had the Thai Fish & Chips, which is Rice paper wrapped mahi-mahi, red cabbage, sweet potato fries, red chili tartar sauce.  Karen’s was the right size, but mine was way too much.  By the way, Nosh means to eat on the sly.

We even went to our second Sky Sox baseball game.  And, we got to see them win this time.  Katie Beth has able to meet Sky Fox, the team mascot.

Sky Fox

We got to go hiking at Palmer Park with Katie Beth.  The weather was super sunny with a breeze.  Katie Beth learned about cactus.  Bummer!  Here is a picture of Katie Beth and me with Pikes Peak directly behind us.

We relaxed on our last day. We took Katie Beth to see the Uncle Wilber and Julie Penrose Fountains, which she enjoyed. This trip has been nice with Katie Beth and Karen here while I worked.  The Antlers Hilton staff have been wonderful. They have helped Karen with Katie Beth many times. One bummer for this trip is that we lost Katie Beth’s first brush that we received in the hospital. Life will go on.

I am looking forward to the next chance for travel, which is in October.

Heading to Colorado Springs

We are heading to Colorado Springs.  This trip will be Katie Beth’s second airplane trip, but this time she is going first class.  Weeee!

We are staying downtown at the Antlers.  Its location is great for seeing Colorado Springs.  Our room will be super, too.  It will on the top floor with a balcony over looking downtown and a view of the mountain range south of Colorado Springs.

Karen is wanting to hike the Barr Trail again.  I think that would be a blast, but I have to carry Katie Beth to even out the effort according to Karen.

Somewhere, I have to actual work.

Baseball, Apple Pie, and more…

Family PhotoEveryone is dressed in their red, white, and blue.

We are heading to the Huntsville Stars’ baseball game today and we will be sitting on the Party Deck having a blast with all our baseball friends. After the game, we will be watching the fireworks from the Party Deck.

Brian’s First Father’s Day

First Fathers DayWe celebrated my first Father’s Day with a trip to the pool and hosted dinner for my father on our deck.

 

 

 

Katie Beth got me this card:

First Father's Day Card

In the picture at the top of the page, you can see the t-shirt that Katie Beth and Karen made me with Katie Beth’s hand prints.

Everyone had a great time at the pool.  Katie Beth got to wear her bikini so she could work on her tan.  (Don’t worry we are covering her with SPF 60 or higher.)

Pool Time with Dad

You can see more of the pictures here: http://www.theallens.info/photos/

Don’t forget the username and password of “friends” and “photos”.

Dinner was great, too.

Katie Beth’s First Walt Disney Trip Report

Karen and I took Katie Beth to Walt Disney World for her first time.

She was great on the flight down and seemed to enjoy looking out the window.  When, we arrived we had trouble getting to our bags, because it has been awhile since we had to handle our own bags in the Orlando airpot (MCO).  We have been use the Magical Express Service provided by Walt Disney World, which picks up your bags and delivers them to your room.  But, we finally got our bags and worked them into our compact car.

It was nice to be back at Walt Disney World.  The last time we were in here we learned that Karen was pregnant with Katie Beth.  It was during the International Food and Wine Festival.

During check -in, Katie Beth was awarded a “1st Visit” button.  This button will be a nice keepsake for Katie Beth.  We got our room keys and parking pass for our visit.

After check-in, we got a bite to eat, because our room was not ready.  We had arrived three hours prior to check-in time.  But, the room was ready within a few minutes.

We put our things away and headed to the pool where Katie Beth got to play in the wet play area.

She was timid at first, but she started to walk into the water as the trip continued.

Later that day, Katie Beth tried a lemon for the first time, which was funny.  She reacted to the lemon as aspected, but in the end she liked it.


We had the chance to purchase pins to trade with Charlie and Hannah, my sister’s two children.  We picked out pins that they can’t purchase at Disneyland, which is near their house.  The pin to the right is a Disney VISA Card exclusive pin.

We took Katie Beth to Fulton’s Crab House, which is a boat, for lunch and to let her watch boats drive by us.  We met a nice couple also dinning on the front of the boat.  They ended up paying for our lunch and we never got to thank them.  (Thanks!)

We took Katie Beth on a ferry ride back to Saratoga Springs Resort after lunch at Fulton’s Crab House, but Katie Beth didn’t appreciate the excitement of riding on a boat.  She wasn’t afraid or anything like that, but she didn’t see it as something new.

We went over to the Polynesian Resort to watch the water parade at dark.  Katie Beth fell asleep so got some quite time to watch the world go by without a care.  After Katie Beth woke up, we walked back to the Polynesian Resort’s Pool.  While walking back to the pool area, we let Katie Beth experience sand for the first time.  She ate it!

She didn’t even think anything of it.  And, she ate some more.  It is very hard to get sand out of a baby’s mouth.  She truly enjoyed the sand.  She rubbed her hands and feet all through the sand while grinning and laughing.

After playing in the wet play area, we watched the water parade and the Magic Kingdom’s fireworks.  Katie Beth sleep through the fireworks.

On Wednesday, we went to the “Welcome Home Wednesday” event, which is held each week at the Dance Hall on the Boardwalk.  It is a Disney Vacation Club members meet and greet were Disney gives away prizes to everyone who comes.  They even have a Jeopardy-like game show where Disney Vacation Club members get to play for fun and prizes, because in the end everyones wins.  I got picked to play and got a Disney Vacation Club beach towel/bag, which was very nice.  Katie Beth had fun watching me in the game.

I like the “Welcome Home Wednesday”, because you get to know other Disney Vacation Club members.  It amazing how many will walk up and say hello when they see you later.  And like I said, everyone wins.  Everyone was given a Disney Vacation Club hat.

We went to the Campfire Sing-A-Long and Movie at Fort Wilderness Campground.  We had never been to the camp ground area, which looked very nice.  They had a campfire and you could buy marshmallows, chocolate bars, graham crackers, and a stick.  I had never made s’mores.  Wow!  Karen enjoyed them, too.  But, Katie Beth got covered in chocolate, because in the darkness we couldn’t see the chocolate dripping.  Katie Beth enjoyed the graham crackers and they weren’t too meshy.  A lady came out to lead us in songs and she was joined by Chip and Dale.  Chip and Dale walked around to visit all the

Karen and Katie Beth at Campfire Sing-Along

guest.  Chip came by to visit Katie Beth and she loved it.  She wanted to hug and be held by Chip.  After the singing and some more s’mores, the movie was started.  It was the original Herbie. But, bugs started to bite so we had to go.  (Karen has bite marks all over her.)  We had a great time at the sing-a-long.  We learned that many people love the camping and they would not visit Walt Disney World any other way.  We are not sure what kind of bugs were bitting us, but they hurt.  The return to the car was very slow, because the bus driver passed us by at the bus stop.

Pools and NoodlesKatie Beth loved the pools.  We pickup a noodle float for her to play at the rental area, which is free to DVC members.  She liked pushing it around the pool and keep trying to eat it.  She learned to hold her breath when she slipped under the water.  It has funny to watch her walk straight into the deep water without any look of concern.

Relaxing for a BitKaren and I did have sometime to relax when Katie Beth took longer and longer naps over the course of the vacation.  We even had time for a beer at Downtown Disney.

Heading Home from Walt Disney WorldWe all had a blast on our trip.  We learned some new things about Walt Disney World, which is always nice.  In the future, we expect to take longer trips and include more of the smaller activities like we did on this trip.  Karen just loved not going into the parks.  She enjoyed the slower pace with no set schedule.  We even played shuffle board.

But, it is time to head home and start planning the next trip to Walt Disney World.

Going to Walt Disney World

first earsKaren and I are taking Katie Beth to Walt Disney World for her first time.  We are looking forward to all of it.  We have been learning about taking a baby on an airplane.  We have called Disney to learn about baby equipment that you can request for your Disney Vacation Club room.

Everyone keeps telling us that we should be taking Katie Beth into the parks, but we haven’t planned to do that because we are not sure what she would do in the parks.  But, my sister, Hope Jones, has indicated the Magic Kingdom would be wonderful for Katie Beth.  Many of the rides have no height, weight, or age requirements.  She thinks now is the right time, because it would get Katie Beth comfortable with rides so that she will not be scared when she is older.  Hope also thinks seeing the Disney characters now would help with Katie Beth being not scared when she is older.  Allison Tofflemire thinks we should take Katie Beth at least in the early morning to the Magic Kingdom to the Meets and Greets that takes place in front of the castle.  I think Karen is thinking about a day or two in the parks.  I think it would be fun riding the rides with Katie Beth.

You will be able to follow the action on my blog where I will be sending short photo updates via Flickr.

 

First Mother’s Day

IMG_2359Karen celebrated her first Mother’s Day today.  Katie Beth made Karen a plaster hand print, which Karen is holding in the picture below.

Katie Beth is holding the M&M candies that I had made for Karen.  They have “Karen’s Day” and “Mother’s Day” printed on them.

 

Katie Beth and Karen

Katie Beth and Karen Showing Off Mother’s Day Stuff