A Doubly Happy Father's Day

Although Ellis is a fantastic sleeper for a newborn, he wakes up every two hours or so to nurse and so that still makes for a very sleepy Mommy each morning. Thus, although it was his day, I must say I'm grateful to Ed for letting me sleep in with Ellis while he enjoyed some special one-on-one time over breakfast with Blanden at Cafe Europa, just a couple blocks away.

We spent the afternoon at home...

And then this evening we were off on a big adventure: The whole Wensuc family, including contingents from Highlands Ranch and the Springs, met at City Park Jazz.

It was Ellis's first time in attendance. We didn't make it at all the summer Blanden was born, so considering Ellis isn't quite three weeks old, we must be getting a lot braver.

We had a great time laughing, picnicking, talking, and playing together.

Ellis spent most of the time doing this...

And this (being cuddled by his adoring family members).

He was a good sport and modeled cousin Jeremy's hat. (In fact, Ellis was pretty alert while Jeremy was holding him. It seems they are already establishing a special cousin connection.)

We tried to get a picture of all the cousins, but Blanden wasn't about to stand still for even a moment when there so much fun to be had by running around instead.

Blanden spent much of his time doing this -- taking someone by the hand to walk (or, rather, run) around and play.

Ellis snuggling with Gretchen.

Blanden loved playing with Gretchen tonight. It was definitely a highlight for him!

Blanden also spent a lot of time doing this -- rolling around on the ground, laughing, and being tickled and wrestling with his cousins, his uncle, and Daddy.

Daddy and Ellis.

More giggling and tickling and rolling around on the ground.

Daddy and his boys.

And this is City Park Jazz, or at least one side of it. It looked like this in all directions. It has come a long way since we first started going, the summer we first started dating, when it was about one-third of this size, at most. Of course, Ed and I have come a long way since then too. ;) Although I'm writing this entry on behalf of Ed, I think he had a very "happy Daddy day," as Blanden would say. Happy Father's Day, Ed! We love you.

BIG Day

Blanden had a BIG day!

We left home around noon to meet up with Uncle Jim and cousin Jeremy for a quick bite to eat and then headed to the Rockies game. We didn't expect to stay long. We thought Blanden might have the patience for a few innings, and that we could all only tolerate a couple hours, at most, outside in the 90-degree heat. But Blanden held in there, the game turned out to be a great one (the Rockies won in the bottom of the ninth!), and it was overcast almost the entire time, a welcome relief -- so we stayed for the whole thing!

But the highlight was that Jeremy got to keep a foul ball -- hit by a future hall-of-famer (Chipper Jones of the Atlanta Braves)!

Heading into the ballpark.

Taking it all in.

Great seats! (Complimentary, courtesy of my office.)

There really is something so wonderfully "summertime" about a good baseball game...

With all the excitement, Blanden only slept about 20 minutes throughout the entire afternoon (fortunately he did take a good morning nap to prepare). We thought surely he would sleep the second we got in the car and headed off to the evening adventure ... but, no, he perked up again.

We timed our outings perfectly as the afternoon showers came while we were driving between venues, then the skies cleared again and we found ourselves back outside enjoying one of our most favorite summer activities of all: City Park Jazz.

City Park Jazz is a special thing for Ed and me. It's where we had our second date, and several summers we have gone to every one of the ten free outdoor concerts, with wine and elaborate picnics in hand.

Needless to say, we were, ah, a bit busy the past two summers (what with getting married and having a baby and all :) ) that we weren't the regulars we used to be. We went once in 2007, and not at all last year, and were excited to have finally made it back this year -- and with our little guy in tow.

This time Blanden spilled the wine once (all over me, himself, and the blanket), ate all sorts of food (from both of our plates and crumbs off the blanket and, yes, the ground), crawled and climbed and scattered our picnic paraphernalia all over the nearby premises -- and the evening could not have been better. :)

We went specifically to celebrate Blanden's little buddy Gavin's first birthday. Blanden loved being around so many other kids, getting caught up in the excitement of it all, but the highlight for him -- and probably for us -- was seeing his former music teacher again. When Blanden looked up and saw Miss Carrie, his face just lit up (which he does not do for strangers) and he began bouncing up and down (his version of "dancing"). He clearly recognized her and associated her with music! ;) I think Ed and I were both surprised -- those classes were meant to be just for fun for all of us, but Blanden clearly received something meaningful from them.

The birthday boy.

Gavin, Blanden, Miss Carrie, and Miss Carrie's own new little guy.

Gavin and Blanden getting a spin through the park before finally calling it a night. (At one point, both of them were just cracking up -- does it really get any better than this in a little boy's life?)

Blanden was sound asleep, at last, when we finally got home just before 10 o'clock. We managed to carry him in, change his diaper, put on his PJs and his blanket, and tuck him into bed without so much as causing him to slightly stir.

It was wonderful to finally get back to City Park Jazz -- only better this time, with our extended family and extended circle of friends. What a day!