Visitors at Casa de Crane

Wildlife viewing at the crest.


Bryce shows his enthusiasm at the top of the mountain.


A view of ABQ from the crest.


Sarah, Pete, & Bryce admire the view.

Well, it's been a little while since I've updated the blog, but I'm happy to say that the time was well-spent. We've been entertaining visitors here at Casa de Crane, and it's been a blast!

My cousin Sarah called one Friday afternoon a few weeks ago, to say that she and her hubby Pete were headed to ABQ the following weekend. We were thrilled, but a little nervous, since we still had some unpacking to do at that point! Still, there's nothing like a deadline for a little motivation, so we spent the weekend unpacking and organizing, and by the time they arrived the house was in decent order. We had a great time with them...we took the boys up to the crest of the Sandia Mountains on a tram, ate at a few ABQ faves, and even played some blackjack at the casino. Before they left, we also got Pete & Sarah hooked on our Wii. If anyone is looking for a Christmas idea for them...

A few days later, my mom came to visit. We love it when Grammy comes! We got to spend a week shopping, eating, & playing with the kids. It was wonderful to have her here. On her last full day here, we went out to tea at St. James Tea Room with Stu's mom & his Aunt Liz. We had a fun afternoon sampling the great food, drinking tea, and chatting. We can't wait for Grammy & Papa to visit again!

Bryce recently completed a session of swim lessons, and he did really well! He's had some reservations about going underwater in the past, but he seems to have made a breakthrough this time. By the end of the session, he was perfectly comfortable going under and really had fun. We're planning to continue some lessons this fall at our nearby aquatic center to take advantage of this progress. He starts preschool the first week of September, so he's looking forward to that. His beloved teachers come for their home visit this week, so we're excited to see them. I'm a little worried that when he starts kindergarten next year he's going to be pretty disappointed that Mrs. Lindsey & Mrs. Aragon aren't there. They've become special members of our family.

Drew is also having a fun summer. His language skills have just exploded in the past couple of months! At his 18 month check-up at the end of May, I counted about 30 words in his vocabulary. Now, he seems to pick up 5 or 6 a day! Last week, we discovered that he can count to 10! We had no idea until we heard him counting along with Bryce one day. He's hilarious, too, he'll say something funny and then when we laugh he says, "I funny!" He can also throw a Class A fit when he wants to, but he's so darn cute we usually forget about it pretty quickly. We have, however, reached the point that I remember so well with Bryce, where restaurants aren't really very fun anymore. I know that this will pass, but it's still a bummer. I guess we'll have to have take-out for a while when I need a break from cooking!

August is HOT so far here, but we're supposed to get some more rain soon. I hope this last month of summer is great for all of you! Enjoy some ice cream while you can! :)