Hiking at Devil's Backbone

Today we decided to drive over to Loveland, CO and go for a family hike together.  We didn't know exactly where we were going to go, but Devil's Backbone was one of the closer trails to the city.  I (Paul) had never been there before, and Erin hadn't been there since she was in college.  Before the hike we sat down near the parking lot and had a nice lunch together.  Jude must have eaten half a container of Pringles.  I don't know where he puts it all.  Here is a nice pre-lunch picture:

 After lunch we got all of our gear together and took a few more pictures.  Here is one of Idelette ready for her first hike with Daddy.

Here's another picture of her showing how excited she was.

About 1/4 of the way up the trail I thought I would try to get a few pictures of the boys as they were hiking.  Here is one of Jonah blazing the trail for the rest of us.

Before long, Jonah had moved from the front with Daddy to the rear with Mommy, and Jude took over leading the group.  We were having a great time and it was a beautiful day.  Jude was getting quite a ways away from us so I ran to catch up with him.  When I got closer I told him to stop so that I could take a picture of him in all his hiking glory.

Great picture, right?  Not really.  Let me show the picture again with a little more clarity and perspective.

That's right.  About a foot away from Jude was a pretty angry rattlesnake.   Let's look at a closer picture of Jude in the same place.

Jude had stopped by the snake for maybe 30-45 seconds so that I could get a picture and moved on.  However, as I walked past the same spot I heard the following:  "HIISSSSSSSSSSSSSSS......*rattle*  *rattle*"  About 2 seconds after I heard that noise I died a little inside and was mentally in the fetal position.  I moved quickly past the snake and would have probably collapsed in fear if I didn't have the other half of my family to warn as they approached the same spot.  I grabbed Jude and told Erin to pick up Jonah and stop moving.  A few hikers walked up to the spot and when I said the word "rattlesnake" you could literally see the color go out of their faces.  One of the hikers said "Well, they can't jump that far," so he started to walk past the snake but the rattler wouldn't have any of it and soon that same brave hiker became a little less confident.  Long story short, Erin & Jonah left the path to get around the snake and we spent the rest of the hike in fear wondering when we would run into the next one.  When we got back to the car we felt relieved.  Before hopping in the car to get as far away from there as possible I took one more picture of Idelette after her first hike.  Here she is with her beautiful mother.

We went to a great park in Loveland afterwards and the boys were able to get out some more energy.  Jonah sat on a little bucket that spins and thought it was hilarious.  The second time he sat on it....well that's another story altogether.  Let's just say Erin doesn't know how to hold back when spinning her children.  We had a video of it, but it magically disappeared from my phone before I could upload it...

That was pretty much our day.  In hindsight, we are just so thankful that God allowed the rattlesnake to be there, and yet not harm any of us.  The day could have been VERY different had the snake decided he didn't want a 2 year old boy standing next to him or a 29 year old man walking past him.  It was kind of neat for all of us to see a rattlesnake out in the wild, but I think we all prefer them behind an inch of glass at the zoo.
  
All in all, a pretty uneventful day...

Life Is So Black & White Sometimes...

Enjoying Life on the Lazy River

A couple days ago was Idelette's first time at the pool.  She really enjoyed it and the boys had a great time as well.  We try to go to the pool as often as we are able, which is probably about 5 times a year or more, but for the kids we probably could go a lot more!  We rarely stray from the kid area unless we are having fun drifting away in the lazy river.  Consequently, we reached a milestone at the pool that was exciting for Jonah, but somewhat sad for us as parents.  

Jonah was able to touch the bottom of the lazy river with his toes.  

Before long he didn't want our help at all and was happily hopping his way around the lazy river.  How on earth did our little baby Jones turn into this growing boy, and how did it happen so fast?  Life truly is a vapor.  Lord help us enjoy the time you've given us with these wonderful children.

Introducing the New King & Queen!

All hail King Jonah & Queen Psalm!  (Wearing their crowns after learning about King Saul in Sunday School.) 

(L-Jonah Pavlik; R-Psalm McMillian)

Five Baby Chickens & A Duck Meet Two Little Boys & A Baby Girl

 On Sunday we drove down to Grandma & Grandpa Cavanaugh's house.  We had heard that they just bought a baby duck and a few baby chickens, so like everyone else in the world, we couldn't resist the desire to look at, hold, and frighten such adorable little creatures.  Sure enough, we accomplished all three goals and had a great time.

Workin' In the Back Yard

Last Saturday Erin's parents Tim & Julie, and her youngest brother Will, came up to our house to help us remove the 20+ tree stumps and bushes that had taken residence in our backyard. It was a real joy to have them spend some time with us and a great help having the extra manpower. I am also happy to report that all but two stumps were removed.

Grandpa taking a rest.  These stumps were something else!

And....he's back at it!

Uncle Will working on the most difficult bush in the yard.  It was practically grafted into 3 ft of concrete.

Erin and Grandma cleaning up one pile of sticks at a time and obviously loving every minute of it!

Health Fair Fun!

Today I took Jonah, Jude, & Idelette to the Health Fair.  They had such a great time!   

Jude on the bicycle training course.

Jonah sitting in the fire truck.  The fireman said, "Don' let your blue popsicle touch the steering wheel."

Jude in the Airlife Helicopter.

Jonah in the Airlife Helicopter

Jonah watching the helicopter fly away.  They really loved seeing it land and take off!

We also were given a lot of free books, coupons, and toothbrushes!  The kids really had a good time and we'll probably do it again next year.

Backyard Fishing

Here are some fun pictures of Jonah learning how to fly fish with Dad.  Looks like he caught a big one!
 

Jonah's Soccer Celebration & Another Day At the Park

Last Saturday Jonah had his final soccer game of the season.  He really enjoyed himself and got so much better every game he played.  At the end of the game the coaches gave all the players on Jonah's team a medal.  Here are a few pictures of us with our favorite little soccer guy.  (We went to Sam's Club for the celebration lunch.  Jonah loves the pizza there, and Mommy & Daddy love how cheap it is!)

I (Paul) also took a few pictures of us while we were at the park today.  It is a gorgeous day and because we were tossing bread to the geese, they got really close to us!  Here are a few pictures of the day.  (I like messing with camera filters on my phone, but I think I went overboard on some of these.)

We left the park early because Jonah fell off the swings.  Actually, I pushed him off by accident and he really hit his head hard on the tiny rocks below the swings.  He has two cuts which you can see below.  They bled pretty well at first but clotted right up!  

The two dark spots near the center and lower right are his cuts.  Poor little guy...

Idelette's First Easter

I know we are a few weeks late, but this picture is just too beautiful not to share.  Maybe in 20-30 years we'll have a similar picture of her in a puffy white dress!

Swingsets Make Jude Laugh

A week ago we were at the park and Jonah thought it would be fun to swing on his stomach for the first time.  I think the only reason Jonah continued to swing that way is because of Jude's encouraging laugh.  Not only is it great to hear Jude laugh, but it's fun to see the boys starting to enjoy each other more!

Our Family

(L to R Top - Erin, Paul;  L to R Bottom - Idelette, Jonah, Jude)

We are the Pavlik Family.  We decided to do this blog so that family members and friends that we don't see very often would have a chance to still be a part of our lives.  Sure, there are social networking sites like Twitter & Facebook that help people stay in touch, but that really only goes so far.  We hope to use this blog as a sort of living autobiography of our family ranging from pictures to stories to struggles and everything in between.  Thanks for stopping by!