Goings on lately....

Just some pictures and videos of what's been going on at the Brantley house!!

Matt's tummy time is starting to pay off although he hates the majority of his practice!! We went "city fishing" the other day at a stocked pond behind a mall no less - ha!

We thought we'd give Sam a taste of really fishing since she was so excited about just casting and reeling at the cabin!
This is what Matt did while Sam and Daddy fished :)Victory!!

Here's the sweetest video of Sam reading one of her new favorite books, "Are you my Mother?" Her second cousin Angie and her kids gave it to Matt and Sam when they visited us recently!

Here's a short video of Matt's recent giggles :) He's getting better :)

lots of love from the Brantley Bunch!

Cabin 2010..... fishing AND visitors!

We went fishing a couple of times while there and the kids LOVED it! Big difference from last year where Sam kept trying to throw her pole into the water or stick it in the mud! This year she was a champ at casting and reeling it in! She didn't care one bit that the plastic butterfly wasn't going to attract fish!

They took the paddle boat out around the lake too..

Chuck got a good workout being the pond tour guide!

I don't know why but this picture makes me tear up!! My sweet hubby and wonderful Daddy tearing the bread up for the kiddos so they can feed the ducks :) (all the Daddy's took the kids to the lake the morning we were leaving to wear them out and give us some piece and quiet to pack up)

Kale is ready for the boat ride...

Total peace...... We had a few "local visitors" while we were there. These 2 hummingbirds were just a few of the many hummingbirds we had zooming by us daily....This last visitor was a little more surprising!!! All week long we didn't see any bears (unlike the year before when they visited all the time). Every day we would turn on the motion sensory so we could run to the back and look from our "bear proof balcony" if any of them decided to come visit. The last morning we were there Mandy walked by the kitchen and was shocked to see this friendly guy sucking the humming bird feeders dry!! Bear proof balcony.... ha!!
He was only slightly annoyed by our cameras so eventually he decided to drop down to the ground and head to the backyard, where he just relaxed for awhile!

Upon further investigation we think he climbed on top of Casey's truck to get onto the balcony!! Resourceful little guy!!

The Cabin 2010...... Mountain fun!

More Cabin Chronicles!!

We took full advantage of the outdoors since it was beautiful every day we were there! One day we decided it would be a great idea to let the kids play in the sprinkler so we suited them up and sunscreened them down and sent them outside.....

We didn't consider the fact that the water was probably pumped "straight from the Rockies!" And therefore was ICE COLD!! :)

It had taken so much effort the get them ready for the sprinkler though that we encouraged playing in it for awhile (although none of the adults wanted to get anywhere close!!) :)

Can you just see Sam's teeth chattering!

I think Kale's lips were a little purple!! ha!
It tooks LOTS of encouragement to get them in the water.. ha ha!!
Elliot got brave though and decided to have as much fun in the icy water as possible. She grabbed the girls hands and they counted to 3 to run through the sprinkler.... at 3 they all ran in the opposite direction of the sprinkler HA HA!!

Enjoying a picnic in Red River

Look at how fun we parents are :)

Just had to add this picture.... it's the doorknob in the garage. A BEAR at one time or another in the past tried to get in the house!! We make sure to keep the garage closed because of this friendly reminder!

almost done with Cabin blogging, I promise :)

Cabin 2010...... the kiddos!

OH MY!! It was sooo hard to decide what pictures to post and just know that I narrowed down ALOT and I still have a ton to share! They are all just so darn cute :)

Here's Sam showing off all her mosquito bites (covered with bandaides so she wouldn't scratch them). The bandaide on her nose was just an extra she wanted :)

Sam was very distracted during meals so we helped "contain" her by putting her in Matt's bumbo chair :) Worked GREAT, just a little hard to get her out of after each meal :)!

mmmmm, smores!

Matt was soooo chilled! He would go anywhere with us without complaint!

Sam was obsessed with this net!

The parents took turns motivating the kids to eat the various meals! It took lots of creativity and Matt even got involved one afternoon (best motivator by far!)

After the kiddos went to bed each night we grown-ups (plus Matt) played games. Matt was sooo helpful!

more smores.....

Elliot was very good at reading books to the kids!

Aidan and Sam also read together :)

The closest we wanted to get to a bear :)

Matt took baths in the kitchen sink! He fit perfectly and loved it!

I wanted to end with a picture from last year's trip to the cabin! My how they have changed!!!!!

Cabin 2010..... Outdoor adventures!

The weather was PERFECT every day! We took full advantage and went on lots of hikes with the kiddos. It took some clever timing on our parts to coordinate our hikes in between all the various nap schedules but we managed!

We also got smart after the first hike and packed snacks for the kiddos - here they are taking a snack break :)

The kids were troopers - and took GREAT naps after our hikes!

(Matt normally napped DURING the hikes!)

Absolutely beautiful!!

We felt so "one with nature" :) that we were a little afraid that the wildlife..... namely bears, would want a closer visit.......... so we hiked the "city-fied way" :)

with a 4 wheeler leading the way!!!!!!

We enjoyed the hike, none the less and the kids had a blast taking turns riding!

Cabin July 2010...... Role Call!!

I'm finally getting a chance to blog about our recent Cabin 2010 trip this year and I have SOOOO many pictures that I'm going to have to post by categories of fun! :)

First up is the Role Call.....

Brantley Family

Daddy: Chuck

Mommy: Krissy

Daughter: Sam 2 yrs 8 months

Son: Matt 2 months

Morton Family

Daddy: Casey

Mommy: Karra

Son: Kale 17 months

Olson Family

Daddy: Kevin

Mommy: Mandy

Daughter: Elliot 5 yrs 3 months

Daughter: Aidan 2 yrs 10 months

More to come :)