Back home!

Hey everyone. We are back from Colorado and have a lot to share, so let's go right to the pictures. We have a ton!

Before heading out Susie and I were able to go to the wedding of Matt and Rocio Elsberry. Matt is a high school buddy of mine. It was good to see him and spend some time with a couple other high school friends.

Also, Susie found Cade a replica jersey of the greatest quarterback of all time. She stumbled upon it in a kids consignment shop. When he put it on he wanted daddy to put on his Broncos jersey too. It was a super hot day, but he didn't want either of us to take our jerseys off. That kid's got great taste.

We drove out to Colorado, and the back of the Rav4 was perfect for our furry friend. Here are Cade and Chili on the way out of the driveway. They both were very good travelers both on the way out and the way back. I think the fact that Cade pretty much was born into driving up to Bloomington and back every week has made him a good car rider.

Here we are on our eighth anniversary. I'm such a lucky guy. We headed down into historic Manitou Springs and ate at the Mona Lisa fondue restaurant. If you're ever in Colorado Springs and need a great place to take a date, we'd definitely recommend it.

One thing Cade was able to do in Colorado was go to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. Here he is, getting personal with a gorilla (though when Cade says gorilla it sounds more like koala).

The showcase of the zoo is the giraffe exhibit. Cade loved getting to feed crackers to the giraffes. He talked about that for days (and talked about their long purple tongues).

Of course we had to go see a Sky Sox game so Cade could see Sox the Fox. All he wanted to do all night was give Sox a high five. After the game the stadium had a fireworks show. At first Cade was ok with it, but when the bigger booms came out he started crying. I had to take him up on the concourse and if I took even one step towards the stands he'd cling and cry harder and point in the other direction and say "that way!" Poor guy. He still talks about "crying colors." We watched some fireworks on TV on the fourth of July and he seemed to like them better then.

We also took Cade to Chuck E Cheese's while in Colorado Springs. It's a lot smaller than I remember it, but Cade didn't seem to notice. He had a blast. He kept saying, "Like the mouse!"

Here's a picture of Cade and I on Father's Day. I am so blessed to be able to have such a great son.

Susie and my mom took Cade on a hike near my parents' house. He enjoyed being up in the mountains.

While on their hike they met up with a man on a horse. He was kind enough to let Cade sit on the horse. Cade has a high affinity for any kind of animal, and he didn't show any hesitation or fear. He just hopped up on the horse and sat there like a natural.

Cade also got to go to the Butterfly Pavilion in Denver. He enjoyed seeing the butterflies and other insects. He commented on how the butterflies looked like they were clapping. He also went around clapping his hands with the butterflies. Fortunately, he didn't clap too close to any butterflies.

We held a Rockies themed birthday party for Cade. Here we are, all dressed up in our Rockies shirts ready to party.

Cade's a natural at opening presents.

I think mommy likes the lion puppet more than Cade.

We got Cade an ice cream cake with baseball players on it. We also helped him blow out his candles. :)

Another hammock picture. Cade loved swinging in the hammock and he just about wet his pants when Maggie jumped up in the hammock with us. (Full disclosure: there was a good chance Cade's pants were already wet when Maggie joined us in the hammock.)

One day after running we set up Cade's swimming pool and both hopped in. In case you didn't know, mountain water is cold, even in the middle of June. Cade has discovered how to use a hose and also how much fun it is to spray other people with a hose.

We also took Cade to the Renaissance Festival in Larkspur. What a crazy, weird, interesting, fun place. Nana and Cade took a ride on the world's largest rocking horse (at least that's what they told us).

Cade and Grandpa feeding the goats in the petting zoo area.

I was surprised when we went towards the horse ride and Cade wanted to ride the llama. But that's what he wanted, so that's what we did.

Susie and I took a trip up Pikes Peak (in the car, not a hike). It was pretty incredible how different you feel when you drive up compared to after hiking it.

We went to Red Robin with the whole crew to celebrate my dad being reinstated back into active duty with the Air Force. Cade really, really, really liked the mint brownie milkshake, and you can see the brownie in his smile.

Another fun part of going to Colorado was getting all three dogs together for the first time. With Chili are Bella (my sister and brother-in-law's dog, the lighter colored one in the front) and Maggie (my parents' dog with the white face on the right). I don't know if they had more fun being together or Cade had more fun having three dogs to try and ride.

My parents went to Norway earlier this summer and they brought us all back Norwegian sweaters. Here's the whole crew in our sweaters in their backyard.

And before I forget, yes, you can follow @cadegronseth.