Indy, Camping, and Just Chillin'

Eli was so excited to fly in a plane again...not to sure about mama and daddy! We flew into Indy to visit Uncle Joe. What a surprise it was for Eli to see his brother Justin as he drove down to visit with us. Eli was amazed at how his brother and uncle could blow bubbles...he kept saying, "again, again!!." Uncle Joe bought a really nice new house a couple months ago so we had to check it out. Eli loved playing with the kitty...not so sure it was mutual! On Saturday we checked out the Indy Zoo. Eli had a blast checking out all of the animals...even got to touch an elephant. After dinner, Uncle Joe and daddy hooked up the projector in the garage. Eli was in heaven as he was able to watch The Wiggles as they covered the entire garage wall. Later the boys were lovin' the big screen as they watch The Wiggles as well...oh wait, they watched some crazy sci-fi movie!

After we got back from Indy, we went to visit Nana and Papa at their cottage. I am calling their living quaters a cottage because it is the most hilarous living area I have seen them live in! The view of Custer State Park is absolutely beautiful. Rob had to work in Rapid City for the week so the three of us "camped" next to Nana and Papa. One day, we went to Old MacDonald's Farm to check out all of the animals. Eli loved the cows, donkeys, and feeding the fish. We went to the section by the poultry house to wash our hands...the smell was disgusting! The workers came to empty the garbage only to find a ton of rotten eggs that sat in the sun for who knows how long...just gross!!! Eli and I took off one day and went to our favorite place in Rapid City, Story Book Island. He played for 3 hours (that is were the picture of Eli standing in the dog bowl was taken). Then we took a gander over to the Central States Fair...a little smaller than Summer Celebration in Muskegon and even smaller than Ionia Free Fair but we still had fun. Eli loved riding on the little cars....I should have added the picture of him riding the motorcycles...I figured he would love them. NO! NO! NO! He didn't like them at all...the picture I took of him tells it all! We continued on our way to and visited Nana and Papa at Prairre Berry Winery. After several Bug Bite crackers, we headed to Legion Lake inside Custer State Park. I wasn't sure how Eli would like the lake....he has only been in pools. He thought it was pretty cool to wander in and out of the water. Plus they had a playset right on the beach so he was very content.

We are now back home until our next journey over Labor Day Weekend. This will be the 1st LD in a long time that we haven't gotten together for our huge LD party with aunts, uncles, and cousins galore. It will be sad not to partake in the adventures....definitely one of the huge downfalls of moving out west. Thankgoodness my cousin and his wife are carrying on the tradition for those who can attend...we will be there in spirit.

Currently Eli has some skin infection (doctors think it is MIRSA but will be confirmed by the culture they took yesterday). We thought he had an allergic reaction to some bug bites but my mother instinct kept telling me it was something else....so on to the med center we went. Did I mention that his face is so swollen that he can barely keep his eye open? OUCH! Thank goodness that he is feeling normal...he has mastered climbing out of his crib (I had to go back to his crib as he keeps getting out of his toddler bed...now he can get out of both...yikes!) He is on medication that prohibits him from being out in the sunlight. For a boy that loves the outdoors, this is challenging for him and his mama!

Big Boy Bed!!

A true sign Eli is getting bigger. He is now in a big boy bed. The first night was hilarous watching him on the moniter...he was just amazed at his new bed. Thanks to my friend Cathy, he has a bedrail that I attached to his toddler bed. During naptime the next day, he figured out how to crawl out! I went into his room and it didn't even phase him that I was standing there....little

devil!!

Cheyennne has the most amazing library I have ever been too. They have an entire floor dedicated to kids. They have triple copies of almost every popular kids book. Inside one of the play centers for kids, they have this huge stack of books. The librarian told me that the books are placed in order from the smallest main character to the biggest main character in the book (Tiny Tim, Junie B. Jones, Harry Potter, etc.) Can you imagine how long that must have taken?

We hope everyone is enjoying the Olympics! We are watching intently as we relive our China adventures that occured over a year ago. We love seeing some of the places that we were able to visit while in Beijing. Maybe someday we will be able to go back and see all that changed.

Ok...so I added a couple of pictures but they didn't go where I wanted them to...I guess I am going to have to figure that out! The picture of Rob was taken in Rocky Mtn. National Park. He walked down to snap a picture of a wild herd of Elk...on the way back the elevation got to him...he was slightly out of breath and giving his heart a serious work-out!

Pictures! Pictures! Pictures!

In June, Amanda came to visit. We took Eli to one of the greatest places in Rapid City, Story Book Island. It has numerous storybook creatures along with an enourmous playground.
Inside Custer State Park, we stopped at this little rest area only to find a creek. Water is hard to find in Custer State Park so we had to take advantage of the situation.
Uncle Joe and Eli posing on an extremely hot day in Denver!
A beautiful view of the Rocky Mountains.
Mama was trying to take a picture of me but I was just too
grumpy....but too cute at the same time!

A New Blog Site

Custer State Park, South Dakota

After seaching through several different blogs, I finally found one that I think will work better for the Crosby's! I am hoping to be able to update it a little easier than the previous blog. We are knee-deep in cow country. We are all settled in to our house...almost have the lawn back to a green color...it was a nice shade of yellow/brown. Eli has found his way to all of the local parks. He signs "play" each time we head in that general direction. After I figure out how to post pictures to the site, I will add some gorgeous pictures of the Rocky Mountains! Uncle Joe came into town a couple weeks ago. We took in a Colorado Rockies game....the temp. was 104 degrees...holy crap! Needless to say, we didn't last the entire game. Eli had a riot checking out all the new digs of Denver....we are only 100 miles from a major fun city...we love it!

I have just gotten over a horrible summer cold...how do you get a cold when it is 90+ degrees, I ask? My job search continues...I am starting to get a little nervous. I told Rob that the odds were against me when I started job seraching so late in the game. Hopefully something turns up!
Rob is busy waiting for the construction site to be ready for plumbing and heating. Western Mechanical has switched to working 4-10 hour shifts so he has Fridays off....gotta love that! The new schedule has taken a few weeks to adjust to. He has been talking about heading down to The Wrangler store for a few new outfits....oh dear, help me!! All I need to see is he and Eli in 10 gallon hats and cowboy boots. Then, there is Eli...he is quite a hoot. As I am blogging this, he is on his third helping of Corn Pops. Now, you might be thinking, holy crap Ann...control his eating a little would ya. But, his serving sizes are little. He prefers sitting in a big chair as opposed to his chair and he thinks bibs are no longer required. Last weekend, Daddy assemebled his new swing set. I will have to post some pictures of the little wild man enjoying his new adventure set. Man, I have a lot of pictures to post when I figure things out.