Five!

So yesterday was the Big Day. I spent Monday baking and prepping and running to the store (and forgetting my cell phone there), and then Tuesday morning we loaded up the car, took one last trip to King Soopers, and then headed out to Little Monkey Bizness--but not before opening gifts at home:











Things were a little disorganized at Little Monkey Bizness--apparently the place is run by high schoolers. But, regardless, they had our room ready for us:



For the first hour the kids played...













After play time was up we wrangled everyone in to the party room for lunch and cake (well, cupcakes):








After lunch was over we packed up and headed home, taking the Smiths with us. They stayed until bedtime and the kids had a great time opening Abby's party presents and playing with all the loot the girls have accumulated over the last few days. I think we have 10 new board games. It's awesome!

Abby has really embraced her 5-ness with both hands. All of a sudden she's Little Miss Independent. This morning, out of nowhere, she went and got her toothbrush and brushed her teeth herself. Then she asked to do school (which was very fun using the Inchimals we got from Green and Par and the What's Gnu game Dan and I gave her). And all day she kept saying, "I'm going to sleep in my own bed tonight!" Well, that second one didn't quite happen, but regardless she totally wants to be *bigger*. Totally awesome on one hand, and totally difficult to swallow on the other. My little girl is getting so grown up!!!

Merry Christmas!

It's a sunny, non-snowy day here in Colorado, and we're so happy to be celebrating Christmas! The girls were up at 6, and we're now all busy admiring and playing with our new gifts. By far the best present of the day was the Pillow Pet each girl received. We bought these ages ago and, as I'm sure is true in your neck of the woods, these things are *everywhere*, and every single time we've passed a display the girls have gone bananas over them. Nothing like knowing you hit the nail on the head with a gift! It was the second-to-last one they opened, and there was much jumping and rejoicing.



Later this morning we'll head to my parents' place for the traditional cinnamon roll breakfast (I made gluten-free ones for Abby and I--we'll see how they are) and gift-opening, followed by the traditional roast beef and Yorkshire pudding lunch, which I think will be eaten in front of the Lakers game at lunch. (That part isn't so traditional, but our big celebratory meal was last night at Dolce Vida, our new favorite restaurant, so it's not as big a deal if everyone scatters today at lunch. Heck, most likely the girls will be sleep through it, given how early they were up!)

We pray this holiday is one of warmth and love and peace in our Lord, Jesus Christ. May He bless you and, more importantly, draw you ever nearer to Him (the best blessing of all!) this coming year. Merry Christmas to all!!

The Little Dancer That Could (and did!!)

First off, major apologies for how long it's taken me to get a new post up. Between rewriting a book in less than 6 weeks and desperately trying to finish two handmade Christmas gifts in time for the holiday, I haven't had any free time in forever. I've got a couple other posts to write, but they probably won't go up until the new year. Keep an eye out, though!

So today was Abby's last dance class. Oh my heavens, how she loves dance class! We signed her (and PJ) up for classes starting in January, and this time she'll be taking ballet *and* tap.

At today's class, though, they put on a show at the end to demonstrate all the stuff they've learned over the 8 week session. They'd put butcher paper over the windows so we couldn't see in, and when Miss Joy came to get us 10 minutes before class was done, we walked in to find the girls in "picture pose" and in costume! (I didn't have my phone, can you believe it?! But a friend took pictures and promised to send them, so as soon as I get them I'll add them to this post.) They all--even Abby--sat nice and still for the cameras; Abby was even smiling! After the parents had satisfied their need for pictures, Miss Joy started them off on the first of two performances.

They were all adorable, of course. But Abby was one of maybe 2 or 3 kids that actually stayed with the teacher the whole time. (Miss Joy stood in the corner and did the moves with them.) They twirled, they tapped their toes, they did cute little beginner ballet moves, and when the song was over and the applause began, Abby burst into tears and ran to my lap.

This set off a chain reaction, and soon the performers 'on stage' numbered half of what they had. Miss Joy gave everyone a minute to compose themselves, then asked if they'd like to do it again. The 3 that had remained up front wanted to dance again, but none of the girls that had retreated to their parents wanted to. Miss Joy (who is awesome, awesome, awesome with the kids) said they was okay, they could sit and watch their classmates and see what it looked like when they danced in front of others.

The music started again. They danced in their circle, then formed a line to show off all their moves...

and then...

are you sitting down?...

Abby went back up.

Yes. You read that right. With tears still on her cheeks and her little mouth in a serious frown, without a single word from me or anyone else, Abby ran back up and finished out the dance with her classmates. And this time, she was the only one who followed the dance all the way though.

'Course, when it was all over, she started crying again and didn't stop for about half an hour. "I don't like people watching me dance in my dance class" was the only explanation I got out of her, about 20 minutes later. But contrary to that, LIttle Miss Spunky sure showed everyone what she was made of!

Braver and braver, this one. She pet a snake and a giant millipede last week at a zoo party, she pet a lobster and held an empty lobster shell at Red Lobster last night, and now, in front of a dozen (or two dozen, once you add in all the siblings that were there) strangers, she not only danced, but she was willing to dance again even though everyone had seen her run off stage in tears.

Way to go, Little Dancer!!!

Updates by Dan

It's been a good week for me.

* I am down from 245+ to 228 as of yesterday morning. That makes 17+ pounds lost since September 24th, or about five and a half weeks. What is even more encouraging is that the weight has been lost despite the fact that I have not done nearly as well as I could have health-wise during this time. Right now, the weight loss is due primarily to lower calorie intake - which is no bad thing - and knowing this, I am even more excited about the results to come as I work in a more regular exercise routine, and some better foods. I'll keep you posted.

* We tweaked out daily schedule just a bit and it has been great for me. Long story short, by adding an hour a day, four days a week, to Ali's "official" schedule, I am able to take Wednesdays and do what I like with them. This is our first week and I have already accomplished more than I usually do, and have a much better attitude to boot, which is good for everyone around me.

* Silver Wheaton (SLW) - you know, the one I started telling you all about nearly two years ago when it was $3.60, has jumped another $2.12 today and is at $31.73. Silvercorp (SVM) is up $1.11 to $11.13 (bought it around $5). Hecla Mining (HL)is up .46 today to $7.42 (bought at $6.10), and Kinross (KGC) is up .60 to $18.41 (bought around $16 or so). Flawed economies - not just unstable, but flawed - combined with elections will do this.

* And perhaps most wonderful of all, as most of you already know, Abby had her first dance class this week and she did marvelous! We were all on pins and needles waiting to see how it would turn out. She really struggles with shyness, being put on the spot, and all that stuff. We were fully prepared for her to simply turn around and walk out when she got there. But she didn't! She jump right in and danced with the other girls. She is really starting to come out of her shell more and more each day. Like most dads, I know, but I can't begin to express how much I love those girls.

I think there will be some more pictures coming - I think. We'll see.

Halloween!

We've never done Halloween with the girls before. Abby has dressed up in the past, but we've never trick-or-treated. We decided this year to give it a shot because the girls were actually asking to and really wanted to. I had my doubts about how it would go once we were actually at a stranger's door, but they both stunned me by actually saying "Trick or treat!" and "Thank you!"--AND by actually posing nicely for a photo, which is a serious rarity.



When we got home we let them pig out a tiny bit. They're not used to such sugary stuff, though, so what usually happened is they'd open something, take a bite or two, then throw it out and try something else. PJ, as you can see, has a real affinity for suckers:



(Not that she finished a single one.) Whoppers, candy corn, Smartees, Nerds, and Pixie Stix were also samples and pitched. (Well, *I* ate the candy corn, and I think Abby ate all the Whoppers, which is a bummer because I was totally banking on finishing them for her.) And in between taste tests they helped pass out candy to the trick-or-treaters that came to the door. We bought 4 bags of candy and went through them all!!

But the BEST part of today happened this morning at 7:40 AM when Kyle and Kelli welcomed their first baby, a daughter named Brighton Angelina, into the world!! Happy birthday, little Brighton! We can't wait to snuggle you!

Garden of the Gods

Despite the fact that the forecast predicted rain, we decided to go down to Colorado Springs and at least check out a couple stores we wanted to see.

Pike's Peak on the drive down to Colorado Springs:


After we got there, though, the clouds cleared (never did see any rain) and we thought we might as well check out Garden of the Gods. Sooooo glad we did!

From the Visitor's Center:


First off, the Visitor's Center isn't that fantastic--unless you're a shopaholic. Then it's nirvana. Especially if you like tumbled rocks. I've never seen colors like these before, and if it weren't for the fact that they had slices of these geodes in these same colors I wouldn't have believed they were all naturally-occurring.



After we pried ourselves away from the gift shop, we drove around the road that loops through the park.

Some out-the-window shots...










...and one out-the-sunroof one:


We found the Trading Post somewhere along there, a building that was first constructed in 1929 and has been added onto multiple times since then to now house even more shopping heaven, as well as a cafe. Stopped there (of course), grabbed some fresh popcorn for the ride home, and then headed back so our very exhausted children (no nap at that point yet for PJ = not a happy camper, though the popcorn helped) didn't totally and completely melt down.

We're super excited to go back with the stroller and better shoes so we can walk the trails and do a little hiking. I'm also looking forward to going back in the snow--the red of the rocks (which these pictures do not do justice) with the white of the snow will be amazing!

Updates with Dan

Dan here. Today was the first day of my new diet thingy. It went....interestingly. I'm not going to get into this too much, but suffice it to say that a couple of shakes and a good meal are the cornerstone of the diet part. Well, the shake part of the cornerstone tasted like crap. That was very disappointing. All hope is not lost though. The shake itself is really just a vehicle for some coconut oil and especially a huge dose of egg whites (the most usable form of protein around). Since Ali has come up with some amazing green shakes, I am going to tweak her recipe a bit and get myself all set up. The good news is that in addition to getting what I need, I will also be getting more servings of green vegetables in about two days than I have had combined in 38 years. Woo Hoo! I will probably write more later on Voxdan.

Went out to grab some books at the library today only to discover halfway there that something is wrong with our battery - and, dare I say it (I dare, I dare), our alternator. This is on top of bad brakes, bad power steering, tires seriously in need of rotation, and a few other smaller things. When it rains it pours. I was just getting ready to take it in for those other things. I suppose it's a good thing that the battery exposed itself before I did though - now I can give them all my money....er....have it all taken care of at once. Yay! So, instead of risking the 30+ minute drive to the nearest Honda dealer in a car that could stall at any moment, we are going to call AAA early in the morning and have them take it down for us. I'll deal with Honda over the phone (a conversation I have already initiated), and find my way down there - hopefully the same day - with either my first born or my right arm and leg, in a borrowed car, maybe??? We'll see. I'll let you know how it goes, if I remember.

So, that is what' happening right now, at 10:44pm, as I wait for the melatonin to kick in. Yup, Dan is actually trying to go to bed earlier. It's all part of the new Dan. I decided that I want to either lose my weight or most of it by my 38th birthday in January (or at least be well on my way) and spend the next two years preemptively kickin forty in the ass. Lord willing, we will be an ATV'ing, camping, hiking, kayaking, exploring, shooting, Colorado good-time having family by then, which is another way of saying, I will not have died of fatness. Hey, I have lost 11.5 pounds in the last 6 weeks just thinking about beginning my diet. That's a good start.

A couple funny kids quotes...

File under "Short Attention Span:"

Lately Abby has been writing songs for God. The last one was to the tune of "Frere Jacques." "I love you, God; I love you, God, I love you! I love you! Thanks for making Jesus, thanks for making Jesus..." Then she petered out to ask PJ if she wanted to watch her flush the toilet.

***

The girls and I were playing camping this evening. This always involves "fishing"--we typically use a bunch of beanbags as our fish and usually I'll name them according to the kind of cloth they are (the pinkish ones are salmon, the ones with stars are starfish, etc.). Tonight, however, we all named our own...

Me: "Oh! I caught something! Look, a rainbow trout!"

Abby: "I got something! It's a beanbag silka fish!"

Penny Jane: "I got something too! It's...it's...it's Robert! That a good name?"

Estes Park Happenings

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Well, maybe not that extreme--in either direction--but we did have a lot of fun along with some really sucky times, too.

We got there on Tuesday after an uneventful drive, and took a brief drive around town to kill time until check-in. This included a stop at Laura's, a candy/cookie/chocolate/ice cream store that the Mittelbergs recommended to us. It wasn't cheap. But it was soooo worth it.



For the rest of the trip the girls would ask with annoying frequency when we were going back.





Once we got there we had a period of frustration--the room was not what we were expecting. Kind of a bummer. But we set up house and I took the girls down to the play area to stretch their legs for a bit before dinner.



The next morning the girls were up at their usual bright and early hour, so at snack time I took them downtown for a snack at Kind Coffee, a little indie place on the Riverwalk, and after we ate we took a little time down along the water to play before going to the library (which was really nice!) to kill time before lunch.




Gluten-free chocolate chip pumpkin muffin. To. Die. For.



For the last couple weeks Dan's been showing the girls pictures of things to do in EP, and one of the things they latched onto was bowling. Every five minutes after we arrived one of them would ask when we were going, so that was our first post-lunch stop. Chipper's is a chain around Colorado, and the pictures on the website were definitely not of the EP location. Eight lanes (which we're convinced were not level--at least not ours) in a dodgy-looking building, one guy behind the counter and not another soul in the place besides us, but when you're four you don't care--you just want your turn to come back around.




They had this great little ramp--just aim and push!


'Course PJ just *had* to try it the old-fashioned way--which resulted in the lone guy behind the counter having to walk to the middle of the alley where the ball had stopped and bring it back for us.


Maybe next year you'll be strong enough to granny-roll it to the end, kiddo. But for now we'll stick to the ramp.



When we were done we went to the visitors center to see what we could find, and ended up with a map of Rocky Mountain National Park. PJ's occupational therapist had told us about a one-way dirt road that went up the mountain to a visitor center, and we found it on the map and decided to give it a try.

Well. Let us say this is not a drive for the faint of heart--especially if you're faint of heart because of heights. Or rather, very steep drop-offs. Or driving in the rain. On pothole-pitted dirt roads. But--despite the multiple mutterings of, "This is nuts" over the nine mile (at about 15 miles an hour) drive, it was *so* worth the time. The scenery was just amazing.






Yes, that would be ice.

We took a paved road back down the mountain and straight into downtown, where we found Chicago's Best, a restaurant one of my Facebook friends had recommended. The restaurant itself wasn't anything to write home about, but the food was great. Calzones, hot dogs, garlic cheese bread, and enough for two meals. After that we went home and hung out on our balcony singing silly songs and watching the sunset and snuggling together when it got really cold.




PJ took this one. Not bad, eh?



Thursday was not a good day. After complaining since waking up about a sore stomach, Abby threw up at 9...and 10...and 11:30...then crashed out on the couch. She got bored being home even though she was still throwing up, so we went back into the national forest and drove around through one of the camping areas to see what it was like. By the time we left, we were totally psyched to go camping--we're planning on giving it a shot next year when PJ is a little older. We also took a brief stop to talk a little walk partway around Lake Sprague.





When we got home we barbecued our dinner, and the girls went to bed, poor Abby still throwing up now and then. She woke up around 9:30 and hung out with us in the living room for a while, was sick one last time, then went to bed with me around 11.

Friday was our last day. We let the girls spend the morning in front of the Disney Channel (thanks for the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse marathon, Disney!) while we packed up the place, then checked out at 11 and went downtown to visit a couple places. I picked up a beautiful skein of yarn at a local yarn shop, and we had lunch at Penelope's, which boasted the best hamburger in town. (It was indeed a tasty burger, though I don't think I'd label it the best in town, and their prices certainly didn't encourage you to keep coming back.) After that we drove back into the national park and took the paved road back up to the top, hoping to get the photos we'd wanted to get on Wednesday but couldn't because of the rain. When we got to the Alpine Visitors Center at the top, it was snowing! Tiny crumbs of snow were blowing, not really landing and definitely not accumulating, but still. Snow. The second week of September. Insane! But it was only partly cloudy, and as you can see the views were incredible. These pictures do them no justice at all.







Abby and I got out at one of the lookout points on the way up. Here is her...


...surveying this.

We also finally saw some wildlife! We hadn't seen anything "cool" the first two times we'd gone in, and the girls kept asking when they were going to see something. We'd really hoped to see some moose, but this pack of elk and this industrious marmot (that was building a nest in that pipe) were fun to watch, too.





We made a last-minute decision to go home via Winter Park, rather than going back down the mountain towards EP. Why not, right? We figured it would be a great way to scout out the area, since we'd heard a lot of people talking about it. At first we questioned our decision...turns out they were down to one lane in two different spots within the park, and then again just outside of Winter Park. Ages of idling and having to yet again answer, "Why aren't we moving?"



Turns out Winter Park isn't much of anything in the off-season, but hey, now we know. We did, however, find Hernando's Pizza and Pasta Pub, a fun (and really really yummy) restaurant with excellent food and very reasonable prices. (Their "thing" is collecting dollar bills that customers decorate for them. In 2005, they had over 15,000 dollar bills decorating the restaurant. They're on the tables, on the walls, on the ceilings...I'd love to know how many they have now!


(I had a better picture of this, but apparently my phone ate it. But on the wall behind PJ you can see a few rows of them hanging.)

The rest of the drive home was uneventful. Beautiful sunset, though...


We got back just at bedtime, and the girls crashed out pretty quick despite having napped on the way home.

As with almost all vacations, it was lovely to be home and to sleep in our own bed. But, despite the bumps along the way, we really did enjoy Estes Park. We can't wait to go back--and maybe next time we'll sleep in a tent!