Here's a little ensemble that Viola threw together

 While I folded laundry yesterday Viola put this outfit together.

 And today she's wearing it.

Hydration with help from Fozzie Bear

Charlie mostly chews on the glass,  and dumps water in my lap.  Hydration isn't really achieved.

The Traditional Viola Breakfast

Every morning Viola asks for a piece of cheese, yogurt, emergen-C, and vitamins.  Without fail.

Charlie loves the highchair!

We have started putting Charlie in the highchair while we eat.  He likes it for a little while then he throws all of his toys on the floor and gets mad.

The Many Moods of Charlie

 I wish that I could say that these are Charlie's only moods but he does occasionally cry.

Viola has a weapon...

 Beware!

The Snow Melted...And we found Fall Underneath

We needed one thing from the store this afternoon.  The sun was out so we decided to bundle up and walk.  It was so nice out that I took the long way home and found these pretty yellow leaves. 

Snow Day

 This is not our first snow of the year but its the best so far so of coarse we had to build a snowman.

 Papa got to work rolling large balls of snow.

 Anna from upstairs even came out to help.

 We put him in the front yard so that he would not fall victim to the dogs.

Way to go team.

 Viola was pleased as punch. Or should I say hot cocoa since that is what she had when we went inside.

 Then Brian and Anna decided to make some modifications.

 Here he is, the finished product complete with crazy hair.

It's 9:15 and guess who is supposed to be asleep?

This Charlie.  

We turned out the lamp and two minutes and no crying later he was out. 

Matchy Matchy

Viola was super excited to match Papa today in their navy blue.  She asked me to take a picture of them together, she usually growls at the camera these days and I have to catch her off guard to get a smile.

The Most Amazing Balloon in the World

We got this balloon on August 22 which means that it has almost been two months and it is still very full of whatever gas they filled it with.  Old Navy may not have the highest quality clothes but those folks sure know how to make a balloon.

Fall on the Poudre Trail

 I let Viola talk me into taking her on a bike ride down to the river today.  So I strapped Charlie on my front and onward we went.  The ride down there was lovely, except for Viola pulling out in front of other cyclists four times her size.  But the ride back was slow and tedious and ended with me carrying the bike.  Good times.

 A pretty bit of autumn.

Happy Birthday Papa, last week.

 I have been a lazy blogger this week so these pictures from Brian's birthday last Saturday are long overdue.
Viola and I made a delicious chocolate hazelnut cake with nutella and dark chocolate ganache.  Viola's job is breaking up the egg yokes.  She dressed like a cowgirl complete with boots to help bake.

 We got Brian some caviar because he had been wanting to try it but guess who wanted to eat all of it? 

Sitting Up, sort of

 He doesn't last long but he's getting closer to being a sitting person.

"Have you met my sister? She's hilarious"

Mary doesn't like the dog house but guess who does?

 This Viola.

 "Roar!"

A little place called Aspen

To celebrate all being back together (Brian was in Savannah for 3 1/2 weeks) we took a little family trip down to check out the leaves in Aspen.  We caught the tail end of the fall foliage but it was still beautiful.

We took 428 photos on our one night trip so here is an album to see a little bit more.

The first thing that we did was walk around town and check out the fancy shops and cafes.  This is their off season so it was pretty empty which was just fine with us.  Viola really liked the little stream running through the pedestrian area.

We enjoyed dinner outside at the Red Onion. 

 It was starting to get a bit chilly as the sun went down so Viola and I shared some hot tea.

 Due to the off season the hotels were running Colorado resident specials which meant we got to stay in a swanky Aspen hotel for near the airport hotel prices.

Viola and Brian had a dip in the hot tub after dinner.  This dog named Riot wanted to take a dip too.  I think that we were the only guests that didn't bring our dog.  Sorry Mary.

 This one was super excited about her big hotel bed all to herself.

 In the morning we enjoyed our expanded continental breakfast then headed to the Maroon Bells.

 We stopped to check out the view here and spotted a chipmunk.

 Viola wanted to start hiking in this field.  She's going to be quite the mountain climber.

 The Maroon Bells are quite picturesque.  Wouldn't you say?

Lovely!

 The Family

 We spotted a beaver dam but much to Viola's chagrin the beavers would not come out.

 a bit of red

 Then we found this "beautiful mess" as Viola called it.  So we stopped and had some fun throwing leaves up in the air.

 Viola really got into the spirit of it.

 Charlie woke up for the tail end of the hike.

   Some Alabama fans preceded us.

 The Girl

 The Boy