Sully helping make the pumpkin whoopie pies
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Monday, October 24, 2011
Saturday, October 22, 2011
KING OF THE HILL
Over the summer they built a new trail near our house that connected to existing trails up on Snow King. I had been jonesing very hard core to try it out, but being pregnant with Eli and in full throttle waddle mode it just wasn't possible. Until this week. Sully and I tried out the new trail and discovered it was easy, shady and very beautiful. I discovered that the easy part of the trail wasn't enough for me or Sully... we both wanted more. Sully had been asking to "climb that mountain" for months (he also asks to climb the Grand on a weekly basis). I had promised him next summer we'd do it, but I thought what the hell, we'll let him loose on the trail and see how far he goes. Sully goes to the top. The boy is designed for trail running and climbing steep hills.
He did an amazing job getting up there, we kept a slow but steady pace, at the end of each switchback, I'd show him the next one, ask him "can you do it?" to which he'd respond "yep" and sure enough he'd do it. Many of the other hiker's on the trail were seriously impressed with his stamina, and a few even stopped to ask how old he was and then seemed baffled when he told them 4.
The kid amazes me everyday, but this takes the cake. Four years old and climbing Snow King's 1.8 mile, 1,500 vertical feet without so much as a whine or complaint (except when he fell and banged is elbow on a rock and screamed like he was being murdered), is just too much.
Looks like I've got an awesome new hiking partner!
He did an amazing job getting up there, we kept a slow but steady pace, at the end of each switchback, I'd show him the next one, ask him "can you do it?" to which he'd respond "yep" and sure enough he'd do it. Many of the other hiker's on the trail were seriously impressed with his stamina, and a few even stopped to ask how old he was and then seemed baffled when he told them 4.
The kid amazes me everyday, but this takes the cake. Four years old and climbing Snow King's 1.8 mile, 1,500 vertical feet without so much as a whine or complaint (except when he fell and banged is elbow on a rock and screamed like he was being murdered), is just too much.
Looks like I've got an awesome new hiking partner!
The new trail behind our house
About midway up the hill, I really didn't think we'd get too far.
Gorgeous fall day in the Hole
Taking it all in, about 3/4 of the way up
The final stretch
Sully having his Rocky moment
The Town we love
2 Jackson Holios who are awesome: Sully, age 4 and conquering the King and me, less than 6 weeks after having a human being cut out of my abdomen! We rule!
Team Solis for the win!
Friday, October 21, 2011
Thursday, October 13, 2011
The Water Closet of Doom
Thursdays are always rough for me. Its the day I attempt to cram everything that needs to be done without Sully around into the hours that he is at school. Today got off to a rougher than needed start because I failed to wake up when Mike was getting ready for work so things were behind schedule from the moment I woke up.
With Sully and Eli dressed, Sully's school lunch and backpack ready to go, Eli fed and ready to practice Tai Chi, it was my turn to get dressed. Upstairs we all went, Eli settled in the boppie in his crib, Sully settled on the bed ready to watch a few minutes of cartoons- off I went to use the restroom. Except Sully was particularly talkative today and decided to follow me into the bathroom. As he chattered incessantly about Zombies being made out of candy, and that smashing their heads in would yield a bounty of said candy, I found myself feeling the overwhelming desire to be left alone to my business. So I politely asked Sully for some privacy, he obliged and closed the door to the water-closet (I shall pause here to note that Team Solis lives in a fancy town house as a perk of Mike's job, it comes with a fancy water closet-a little room within the bathroom that houses only the toilet).
This is when my imprisonment began. Business complete I went to exit the water-closet only to be thwarted by a dislodged locking mechanism that prohibited my escape. Yikes. The only adult in the house locked in a tiny little room, while the elder Solis boy roamed free, and the younger one confined yet, only sure to be content for a brief time. Luckily I had my phone with me (yes I realize this identifies me as one of those people, but its important to the story). So after a somewhat panicked call to Mike, I had a knight in shining armor rushing home to save me.
Said salvation required a number of tools, including a butter knife slipped under the door for me to unscrew the doorknob on my side of the door. It took much longer than I would have liked, and my day got off to a really late start once my freedom was finally secured.
The rest of the day was a blur. I'm exhausted now and need a nap, which is not going to happen for a number of hours still. Sigh.
But from this day on, if I'm having a rough start to the day I will remember that it can't be worse than being locked in the water closet of doom.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
FOUR WEEKS OLD TODAY
Our teeniest member turns four weeks old today. We're pleased to report that he is as easy going personality wise as his older brother was. In fact, he is even easier than Sully because he does not require the lugging of heavy oxygen tanks and annoying monitors!
As many of you remember, Sully was a NICU baby and was hospitalized until he was 3 weeks old. Although we were there in Salt Lake City with Sully everyday, we were not his primary caregivers in those early days, so we're feeling enormously blessed to have gotten that time with Eli.
Of course, the advantage of a NICU baby, is the highly skilled nurses who get their babies on amazing schedules and who make themselves available to teach the parents every possible skill needed to care for a newborn. When we left Salt Lake City we were well trained parenting ninjas with a perfectly trained baby. All that we had to do was maintain the norm. This time around, it was a little more chaotic, especially the first week or so as we were mastering nursing and attempting to sleep enough. But we got through it just fine. Things have most certainly settled down now and a manageable routine, while still being tweaked, has emerged.
Eli is already noticeably larger than he was 4 weeks ago and of course, he's become much more alert. He spends the majority of his awake time gazing at the lights, the trees outside the window swaying in the breeze and practicing his Tai Chi. Yesterday, during a nap, I heard what I am sure was the beginning of laughter followed by some definite smiling (see video for the adorable evidence). We're very much looking for the next phase of babyhood: the emergence of personality and expression.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
A walk in the park
String Lake, Grand Teton National Park is a favorite Team Solis spot. Its close, its quick and its perfect for Sully to play at in the hot summer months because its shallow (meaning its not completely freezing) and there is always a ton of activity going on there. We went there a lot over the summer when I was enormously pregnant because I could actually waddle around easily and get Sully the fresh air and exercise he (we) needed to get.
So it seemed a fitting locale for Eli's very first, post birth adventure in GTNP. It was a cool but not cold day and the place was virtually abandoned, save an elder couple hiking around and a guy painting the fall colors.
With Eli being so small, we've been cooped up at home a bit and it was starting to wear on us. This quick trip was exactly what we needed to clear our minds and relax a bit.
So it seemed a fitting locale for Eli's very first, post birth adventure in GTNP. It was a cool but not cold day and the place was virtually abandoned, save an elder couple hiking around and a guy painting the fall colors.
With Eli being so small, we've been cooped up at home a bit and it was starting to wear on us. This quick trip was exactly what we needed to clear our minds and relax a bit.
TWO YEARS IN A NUTSHELL
Well, here I am feeling the urge to resurrect this thing after more than two years. As I recall it, I decided that Facebook was an easier way to keep people updated on our adventures, but now I'm feeling uneasy about posting things there-so we'll try this outlet again.
The last post in this blog found us in Farmington, New Mexico, visiting my brother and his wife. They don't live there anymore, which is good for them but sad for us, because adventuring around the Southwest became an obsession 2 years ago. After the last post we continued our road trip by going on to visit Arches and Zion and back up to the Tetons as well.
After that amazing road trip we ventured back to SoCal for school, but having visited our stomping grounds in the Tetons we had pretty much resolved ourselves to returning to the only place that has ever made any sense to us in this country. A few months later, financed by the first year of my newly founded tax business (Common Sense Tax Preparation) we made our way back home and things started feeling normal again almost immediately.
I continued schooling, Mike found a good job that turned into an amazing job and we decided it was time to add another team member to the fold. Eli Michael joined us less than a month ago and already we have completely forgotten what life was like before him.
So that's the last couple of years in a nutshell, the adventures continue to be abundant and magical. Join us here if you'd care to!
TEAM SOLIS
The last post in this blog found us in Farmington, New Mexico, visiting my brother and his wife. They don't live there anymore, which is good for them but sad for us, because adventuring around the Southwest became an obsession 2 years ago. After the last post we continued our road trip by going on to visit Arches and Zion and back up to the Tetons as well.
After that amazing road trip we ventured back to SoCal for school, but having visited our stomping grounds in the Tetons we had pretty much resolved ourselves to returning to the only place that has ever made any sense to us in this country. A few months later, financed by the first year of my newly founded tax business (Common Sense Tax Preparation) we made our way back home and things started feeling normal again almost immediately.
I continued schooling, Mike found a good job that turned into an amazing job and we decided it was time to add another team member to the fold. Eli Michael joined us less than a month ago and already we have completely forgotten what life was like before him.
So that's the last couple of years in a nutshell, the adventures continue to be abundant and magical. Join us here if you'd care to!
TEAM SOLIS
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