The Rhoadarmer Babies!: Avon Vacation and other fun

We decided Liam needed a trim. The hair over his ears had gotten out of hand.

So in late April, I took the scissors to his head. Just over the ears. One side was perfect, and the other was okay. But nobody's very critical of baby hair.

This happened a lot sooner than for Robin, by the way. Robin didn't get his first haircut until after 18 months. But then, Liam kept a lot more of his hair after birth, so it makes sense. Liam now looks like he needs a trim at the back of his head, but I'm waiting until after his birthday party, just in case I butcher it. I'd rather he not look frightful in birthday party photos.

We bought some new lawn chairs and then realized that we didn't have a good way to get them home. Rather than work out a complicated way to run back and forth several times, we decided to use the jumper cables as rope. You might be a redneck if...

It's Mr. Pancake Head! Robin is crazy though. He doesn't like whipped cream. Even with this fun presentation, he didn't want to eat it, and we had to scrape it off before he ate his pancake. I don't know where he's learning this from, because it certainly isn't from me.

We took our traditional trip up to Avon again this spring, although at a different location. There's a new Westin up there, so that's where we stayed this time. Something else different was that Mom went up with us for a few days. Dad was visiting his mom, so Mom would have been all alone at home anyway, so we invited her to join us.

Liam did quite well riding on the luggage cart. Much better than I expected him to do, actually. He's starting to really have some coordination!

The first (and probably last) time I wore Liam in the backpack carrier. We purchased this at a garage sale before Robin was even born, and it has a HORRIBLE design. There's a piece of metal that ends right in the middle of your back. I'm amazed Dean's worn it as many times as he has (and he hasn't used it much.) We'll have to do something else for future hiking.

I've been using two cameras these days. My new point-and-shoot lives in the diaper bag, so I'm always ready for shots on the go. It also shoots videos in widescreen. I still use the older camera too because I think it takes better indoor shots. I decided only to bring the newer one to Avon because I didn't want to lug two cameras around.

The main reason I purchased the newer camera was because it is WATER RESISTANT!!! I've had it since August of last year, but for one reason or another I hadn't tested its water resistance until this trip. So not bringing the second camera was a bit of a gamble. What if it were faulty and stopped working after its first plunge into the pool? Well, I'm happy to report that it functioned as it was supposed to. And I love this camera!

Robin sitting on the step and squirting water at me. (None of us wanted to put our heads under, it was quite windy on this day.)

Dean took longer to plunge into the pool with us. Liam was napping during all this--one terrific advantage to having Mom along! And no, she didn't want to swim. She didn't even bring a suit!

Liam got his first taste of chocolate while we were in Avon. Can you say "yummy?!"

On a family hike

One tired baby. We tried to delay his nap on this day, so he would take one really long one instead of two shorter ones.

Liam's first visit to a pool

On the duck

He finally started smiling at the end, once he figured out he could splash

And slide

He really liked the slide

(And have I mentioned that I love this camera?)

We spent a fair amount of time at playgrounds. In fact, this vacation was punctuated by pools and playgrounds.

See? Yet another playground in the background

Up in Beaver Creek

We always stop in Vail on our way home, and for the past few years I've always gotten a picture of Robin on this rock. Now I've got both boys.