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?"