Let's go back in time, to a place before Ben's birthday, before the house started to get torn apart.  After sad good-byes to pets and endless class parties.  We flew to sunny Florida to a Waterhouse vacation in the Walt Disney World Resort!

I have a ton of pictures on my Flickr account and posted some favorites here - sorry they are backwards order.   I still can't figure out how Wordpress uploads (maybe it defaults to reverse chronological order?).

The park was crazy crowded as we expected.  Despite that, we had some great meals, rode more rides than I expected, and had a great time with family.   We did some new things, like character meals and meeting Chewbacca, that were fun and unexpected!  We did some old favorites like Star Tours, Haunted Mansion, and Soarin.'   I loved the newer rides, like Toy Story Mania and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.

We were exhausted and stuffed with memories by the end of the trip.  On Pena Boulevard Sam asked if we were headed to Disneyland (his general term).  Sorry kiddo, it's time to go back to real life.

 

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The main floor is truly in tatters now. Electric has been installed and left a patchwork of holes in the kitchen. The floors are being demolished. Aside from a leaky washer faucet we have been lucky to find no major problems.

They think the floor demo will be done today and they can start laying down the new wood. Then three passes of sanding, then stain and finish. If we stay on schedule it will be done by Friday next week.

This is how we live now.

We are lucky to have a comfortable basement with a mini sink and fridge. I sort of feel like I'm living in the dorms again :-). We even have a long trek to the bathroom like the dorms, which is two levels above us now. In the mornings I prepare breakfast downstairs, then carry it on a tray to the little masters upstairs. They eat in their toy room before dressing for school. This system works well, but emphasizes my servent role. I imagine myself in black and white uniform as I carry the tray up, expecting Mrs Crawley at the top.

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You would think that losing a chunk of hair would teach you not to run your new car over your head.

Sam didn't learn from his Christmas Day mistake, and this time doubled it!  

It's a big relief to see something being built up instead of torn down.  We're on the other side now.  Bonus picture of Sam being entertained by a spinny chair in the Daltile showroom.

Things are moving along on schedule.  The floors are installed up to the kitchen and the kitchen has been patched.  Ben had the displeasure of taking all our laundry to a laundromat for cleaning.  House repairs make you appreciate things you take for granted.  I had forgotten about hoarding quarters to wash our clothes.

Ben and I used a date night to look at backsplash tile and countertops.  I think I've settled on a design scheme.  Then we ate and Red Robin and got home in time to put the kids to bed.  

Yesterday we saw Hidden Figures at a theater in Stapleton.  The Alamo will always be my favorite theater, but this new one, Harkins, has babysitting!  It was fantastic.  For $6 per kid they got movies, video games, crafts, toys, and unlimited popcorn and water in the play center in the lobby.  I got a silent pager in case they needed me during the movie.  I wish more places would offer services like this!  The movie was great too.  Not especially factual, but fun and full of good feelings and great period costumes.  

Tomorrow the boys are off of school for MLK day.  If they're good and my cold and injured back are not worse, I'll take them swimming.  They've been good sports about the house.  They deserve a treat.

Today our floors got their smooth finish sanding and a coat of sealer.  Rather than be stuck in the basement all afternoon, we are entertaining ourselves outside the house.  Sam and I picked up Jack and played at his school playground.  Then some errands, then had dinner at Tokyo Joes with Ben.  With 30 minutes left until socks can walk on the floor, the boys get a special dessert. 

The floors should be done tomorrow - a day early!  I'm looking forward for a few days of quiet.  Even if we can't move back into the main floor until next week, I won't have vacuums and sanders droning overhead all day.  

Update - got home, they are gorgeous!  Stinks though.  Would have been nice to have warm weather with open windows and fresh breezes.

I'm kicked out of the house today.  My choice - I'd rather stay away than be trapped in the basement with the fumes.  

I'm sorting house-related correspondence and working on the Into the Woods choreography at a Starbucks.  The boys are both in school.  I figure Sam and I can get lunch out, then play at the library in the afternoon.

In other news, Sam spilled water on my laptop yesterday.  Kids!  I swear, if our cottonwood were to crash into our roof tomorrow it wouldn't surprise me at this point.  It's one thing breaking after another this fall and winter.  

Our floors are cured enough that we can resume light work.  Monday the kitchen walls got their texture.  Yesterday and this morning I painted the kitchen.

Ceilings are hard!  It still looks blotchy because of all the patching and varying amounts of texture (this team was not top notch) but it's good enough for my standards. It looks decent in real life, and once the room is finished they won't draw focus.

I painted that yellow wall gray to match the others.  Never liked how that yellow turned out years ago.  Also, I didn't bother to paint where I was sure the cabinetry will cover the walls.

Sam has done a super job of entertaining himself with toys while I work.  I swear that kid is hot and cold-the sweetest ever, or a whiny mess.  There's nothing in between :-)

The guy from our restoration service is back today putting on baseboards and reinstalling the bathroom.  I can't believe we might be able to pee downstairs tonight! And wash hands! And do laundry!  Oh, how I miss my washer and dryer!

Our IKEA shipment was delayed a day due to snow in the mountains.  I got an alert that it made it to the front range and will be delivered tomorrow.  Cabinet installation isn't scheduled until Monday, I'm glad we gave it some wiggle room.

This is what 983 pounds of IKEA flat pack looks like:

It only needs a toilet paper bar installed.

Another major milestone in the renovations is complete! Today they finished putting in the IKEA cabinets. I am overwhelmed by the quantity of storage space I now have. My mind is boggling with different placement options.

(A spare piece is playing the role of island countertop.)

Tomorrow afternoon the countertop will be templated, and then we wait 10 to 15 business days for fabrication and installation. After that the backsplash, sink, dishwasher and plumbing can be installed, and last they finish the outlets and lights and trim for the electrical icing on the cake. And then I can finally make cake! 

Optimistically, it's conceivable that I could bake my own birthday cake by February 20th.  More realistically, it will be March when we can say life in our house is back to normal.

Yesterday the snow started, melting into a wet layer of water that froze slick overnight.  This morning the ground was an ice skating rink.  I got the kids safely to school, then went to pick up tile samples.  In the empty parking lot, at roughly 3 mph, my car skidded into a curb.  Probably no biggie,  I thought, everything looked fairly normal, and went in to get my tiles.  When I tried to drive again, it gave an awful squeal and felt very very strange.  Discount Tire was 0.3 miles away, so I hobbled over and they took a quick look.  They said the wheel and tire look good, but the suspension has been jammed back.  The noise was the tire rubbing against the wheel well, and the strange axle angle explains why I had to hold the steering wheel at 2 o'clock to go straight.

An hour on the phone filing a claim got me a tow truck, a rental car, and an appointment at the repair shop.  Ben came whizzing down from Longmont to my rescue and to help pick up our pre-schooler on time.

Everyone at each of those places said they've been crazy busy; it seems most of the Denver area has stories similar to mine.  Four hours after the incident I'm finally home for lunch, after what was supposed to be a quiet, productive, relaxing morning without kids or house workers for the first day in weeks.

Looking on the bright side: Sam was a dear, and the repair shop had popcorn!

Also our insurance covered a mini-van rental.  I'm in love.  I don't mind driving this luxury mom-machine for a few  weeks or months!  It will make my next trip to IKEA easy-breezy.

Also, no one was hurt.  No property or other cars were involved.  I have great insurance.  Sure, it's our FIFTH claim since September, but that's what it's there for.  (If you weren't keeping score: Water Damage, Ben's Car, Wind Damage, Computer, My Car.)

Jack's school is celebrating reading this week - a spirit week that I fully endorse!  Monday and Tuesday were crazy sock and crazy hat days.  Tomorrow is "dress like your favorite literary character" day.  Jack gave just 36 hours to cobble together a Harry Potter costume.  We made wands after school.  Had to make one for Sam too.

Today I hunted down glasses.  Jack was so excited, he insisted on adding the scar right away.  If I can unearth my sewing machine I might whip up a cloak, but no promises.

Jack's writing has improved a lot this year. He's very good at trying to figure out the spelling. In social studies they have been learning about American symbols and American history. 

Sam's writing has improved too.  This is the first time I've seen him try to write his name at school on his play plan.  You can see, upside down, above the potato person, the S – A – M making his name! ("The blue "means he's going to play in the blue color coded center that day. I think it is a restaurant this month.)

Last, Jack brought this home after his dress up day. Sometimes I can feel my heart warming with love. He turned this writing exercise into a beautiful thank you note. I like the picture of me picking him up after school too, that he drew on the back.  Kids can be wonderful. 

We took the family to see Lego Batman this morning. Our friends the Arcands came too.  Leave it to the Alamo Drafthouse to make a real party out of a kids movie.

Someone parked their Bat-Monster Truck in front of the theater.  The kids all cycled through excitement and wariness when they found the Joker (a mannequin) had been strapped in the backseat.  A little too creepy for the younger ones.

Inside they had a set-up for photos.

Our screening was a special cereal party.  They provided an array of sugary breakfast cereals and milk at the front of the theater and we were welcome to help ourselves throughout the movie.  (Yeah, that's my giant bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch.  Delish.)

The movie itself was a ton of fun!  It dragged a bit at the end, but it's a short movie anyway.  The beginning was non-stop laughs.  Ben and I were totally cracking up.  Lots of jokes for adults, and the boys found it hilarious too.  I'm sure I'll see it many times more once it comes on home video.  Sure to be a regular favorite in our house, much like its predecessor ("Everything is awesome! . .  .").

Jack gave me four valentines: a pink drawing of cats cradles, a paper heart filled with smaller cut out paper hearts, a "cootie catcher," and this -

"It's a toilet and a butt.  They are happy because they go together!" Then he exploded in giggles.  I gave my best stern-mom look, but was giggling inside too.

Ben gave me a lovely necklace and roses.  I have him a replacement Pebble watch.  There was chocolate for everyone.  With my limited kitchen, the only cooking we did was chocolate dipped strawberries.

I attended both kids' school parties.  Sam got to tag along to his brothers.  We ended the day with pizza: a tradition that goes back to our first Valentine's Day as a couple in Boulder in 2001.

FINALLY the house is done.  There's plenty of this and that for me to fiddle with, but the contractor work is DONE!  My kitchen is gorgeous.  I haven't finished putting things away and art on the wall, I'll share pictures later.  Oh yeah, my birthday was this week too.  I got mega sick on my birthday: the small cold I sported for a week already blossomed into a fever.  That was a bummer.  And the work isn't PERFECT.  There's lots of little things that bother me that I'll have to find solutions for myself, or accept and learn from my mistakes.  Even so, it's a million times better than my old kitchen.  When I'm feeling better I'll bust out some baking.  For now, I'm happy to have a load of dishes running and a sink near the fridge-near the dishes-near the counter-near the trash.

Untidy and poorly lit, but full of love.  This is the Saturday morning kitchen of my dreams.

Glamour shots of the kitchen still in progress.  For now we live here, and we love it.

I had to tidy up for the Oscar party tonight; a great time to snap pictures of my favorite place.

Oh baking, how I missed you!

This is a post for grandmothers.  It's a long, uncut video of Sam playing his own version of Chess/Checkers ("Check!") while Jack builds LEGO nearby.  I'm knitting socks behind the camera.

A couple weeks ago we took the kids to the costume exhibit at the Denver Art Museum.  I recommend seeing it if you can.  We all enjoyed it in different ways.  They didn't have much for kids - some buttons to press for noises or light sabers.  But they seemed to appreciate that they were seeing the real deal from the movies.  I discussed with Jack how different the Chewbacca costume was here compared to the one we met in Disney World.  Sam liked the full body costumes like Ewoks and Yoda and Darth Vader.  I was gaga over the extensive Queen Amidala collection.   Ben was recovering from the flu but still enjoyed himself enough to let me blather on about the use of raw silk versus linen on the Jedi robes.  And the pleats!  I couldn't stop gushing about the varied pleating on Padme's wardrobe.

Celebrating at one of our old regular dinner joints.  We miss you, Bri-bri.

Amanda's latest production has closed.  Into the Woods was a dance-light show, so I only came up a few times.  It's still great to be a part of the show.

Jack had a migraine for the first time last night.  I picked him up from the gym day-care after Zumba.  He said his head hurt above his right brow.  I asked him to get a drink of water and he got nauseated.  Shortly after we got home he was sobbing in pain and vomiting. I called the on-call pediatric line and after an hour got the nurse triage.  Jack had been cycling bouts of head pain and vomiting, no other symptoms.  I thought it was a migraine, but when we talked to him with the nurse he more complained of nausea, so she thought it was a stomach virus that's been going around.  She instructed me to take him to  be seen if the head pain came back.  At 9:15 he started having head pain again.  It wasn't as bad, and it was hard to keep him awake, but we decided to take him in now while the near-by urgent care center was open, instead of having to drive to Children's Hospital in Aurora after midnight.

Jack was lethargic, nauseated, and not very responsive at the care center.  His vitals were all normal.  When the NP came to check him out we could barely rouse him from his sleep. I told them he was a very heavy sleeper and hard to wake up when he's healthy.  She thought his history sounded more like a migraine and went to start treatment - IV fluids, IV Toradal, Benadryl, and Zofran.

I expected Jack to fall asleep again.  Instead he started exploring the room, asking me things, even smiled.  Within a few minutes he was giddy, w on manic.  I called the NP for that neuro check and he passed perfectly.  They cancelled the med orders and brought in blue gatorade.  He hadn't been able to handle any fluids all evening but now was ravenously thirsty.  We stayed for 20 minutes under observation to make sure he kept the drink down and didn't have more pain.  Jack got an official migraine diagnosis and I got instructions for when this happens again.

We're very happy it wasn't anything more serious.  Ben said he also feels "better than normal" when his headaches pass.  I guess Jack just rested and vomited enough to recover on his own. I'm glad that happened before they placed an IV.  We got home around midnight and woke up tired, but all normal and happy this morning.

That was the first time I had to take either of my kids to the urgent care center/ER -almost seven years.  I consider ourselves blessed and lucky.  We have migraines on both sides of our family, though none in childhood as far as I know.  I hope we can figure out what triggered it for Jack.  I wasn't with him in the day care when it started.  He thinks it's from running super duper fast with a friend.  He says it was faster than he's ever run before and the headache started right after that.  Who knows?  Headaches are weird.

I can't believe his crazy hair lasted all day.  It's spirit week at his school.

Good.  Really, really good.

I think we haven't yet gone 24 hours without something in the cookie jar or cake plate.

We had a few activities to keep us busy at the start of spring break. But by Tuesday the boys were tearing into each other and I was out of patience. Ben encouraged me to risk the spring storms in the mountains and the germs floating around our family to drive to Grand Junction for the rest of the week.

Everything turned out great. The boys had tons of fun and were exhausted every day. No one got sick. The roads were fine, just a little snow in your Eisenhower tunnel coming home. I'm glad I decided to take the leap, it's always great to see the grandparents from both families. Ben had some nice quiet time in the house.   We spent today lounging, listening to conference, and relaxing at home, ready to jump back into school and work tomorrow.

I have a wonderful new recipe book about American cakes. It's a collection of traditional recipes from the 1700s up to today.  I have been dying to make some and finally found time to try it out today. Sam helped me choose the Cowboy Cake as our first endeavor.

First you simmer raisins in water to soften them and flavor the water. Then you use half that water in the batter and half to make a syrup.  Prepare both, pour the syrup on the batter, cover the Dutch oven and bake it.  No, this was not cooked over an open flame under a starry sky as Ben suggested.   Sam only slightly hindered the process, spilling sugar and nutmeg on the floor and sprinkling water all over.

No eggs or butter are used in the cake. Shortening provides a little fat, and it season with cinnamon and nutmeg. The book notes that they would've whipped up very cold evaporated milk for topping, when fresh dairy was hard to come by. I used Reddi-Whip.

It took longer to bake than they said. It's supposed to be 25 to 30 minutes. At 25 minutes it was still obviously wrong. At 35 minutes it was almost there, but I give it another five for a total of 40 minutes to be sure it was thoroughly cooked.  It collapsed and absorbed the excess syrup within minutes.  I had trouble scooping out the cake.  The raisins and syrup formed a thick toffee-like layer on the bottom.  I don't know if that's from over-baking or from letting it cool for hours before serving after school was out.

  I liked the cake.  Very easy, uses only pantry items, and my kitchen smells amazing now.  The kids were cautious but enjoyed it.  Not as much as the whipped cream, but who can blame them?

I can't believe I've never baked these before! So easy and tasty, and seasonal.  How have I never made them?

I'm looking forward to a good weekend. Ben and I have a date tonight. We're going to get Torchy's Tacos and then seeing Wonderbound, the contemporary ballet company, perform with the Flobots, a local rap group (I think?).

Tomorrow we're having friends over to rewatch Guardians of the Galaxy in anticipation of its sequel. Looking forward to seeing some friends and having some good food! (The party is my excuse to bake another cake.)  (This is not all that I've baked this week.  I made sand dollar snickerdoodles and a batch of chocolate chip cookies already.) 

Flipping through the book, this cake caught my eye.  That caramel frosting spoke to me.  Though it was delectable in the end, I had some trouble with this one.  Surprise!  A recipe from the sea-level land in the humid Delta region didn't translate well to the dry mountains of Colorado!

This cake comes from the chapter "1946 to 1962: Tupperware, Bake-Offs,® & a new domesticity."  The frosting is described as difficult, but completely worth it.

Things started off ok.  Beautiful batter, two greased tins, and a preheated oven.  Sam-interference was minimal.

The cakes puffed up, over-browned on the edges, then deflated while cooling.  Dang it.

Then I tore the cake while getting it out of the pan.  My bad.  I rushed extraction to get to school-pick-up on time.  Also, Sam was thrusting Duplo's in my face while I tried to flip the racks.   At this point I let the cakes completely cool and started the frosting later.  Frosting can cover many sins.

Hmm.  The frosting.  So you make a milk and sugar mixture on the stove.  Then take it off the heat and melt sugar into caramel in "4-5 minutes."  Mine took over 15 minutes.  I don't know if that was because of the altitude, the pan choice, or my stove's burners.  Either way, when I added the caramel to the milk mixture it clumped into solid gobs.  "Stir until smooth" wasn't going to happen.  I think my milk mixture cooled too much while I made the caramel.

Feeling like a participant in the GBBO technical challenge, winging it on a recipe with only a vague idea of my target, I put the pan back on low heat and stirred until the caramel re-liqified and could blend.

The recipe said to put the pan in a bowl of ice water and stir constantly until it thickens to a consistency almost as thick as peanut butter.  I had no idea how long it would take to  set up.  I thought I reached the right thickness when it ribboned on itself and didn't reabsorb easily.  The instructions warned about needing to reheat the mixture if it sets up while frosting the cake.  My cake was so fragile, I decided to err on the soft side.  Wrong decision:

I spent the rest of Captain America: Winter Soldier scooping the icing off the sides and back on top.  Eventually it solidified. I swirled the icing to try to cover all the crumbs, broken edges, and sunken top.

I made some more caramelized sugar to fill in the crater.  It ended up quite nice considering all my struggles.

I served the cake to friends and it was well received.  Jack particularly liked the frosting.  I agree!  For all its trouble, that caramel icing is a new favorite of mine.  I'll definitely be putting that on more cakes.  The cake was buttery and delicious and I thought it had a faint caramel flavor to its crumb.  But I've been eating salads and I quit dairy,* chips, fries, and candy, so the slice I ate tasted AMAZING.

In summary: Two thumbs up, with experience would recommend.

*Turns out I'm lactose intolerant.  Was having a lot of GI problems, getting worse over the last year.  Tried Beano, Devrom, Activia, etc. Finally tried a week of no dairy/taking Lactaid with small servings.  Symptoms completely resolved!  I feel so much better.  Aging sucks.

These were all between 9am and noon.  Not pictured: the ninja hood and wooden sword that kicked off his fashion show.

I helped at the dessert table for the church's Girls Camp fundraiser night.  Pineapple Upside-Down Cake is one of my favorites.  I decided to use the recipe from my American Cake book and adapt it to cupcakes.

It was years ago when I last make one of these.  If I recall, it was a fairly straight forward all-in-one dump cake.  Melt butter and sugar, layer pineapple, mix the rest and pour it on top to bake.  THIS recipe was crazy!

Make a separate butter sugar topping.  Cream the butter and sugar, sift dry ingredients separately.  Mix lemon zest and juice with sour cream, alternate that with the dry ingredients into the butter. THEN whip your egg whites and fold them in.  SO MANY BOWLS!

  

They were totally nummers, but I'm not sure it was worth all the hassle of production.

As you can see I tried both whole rings and chopping the pineapple.  The chopped version was the definite winner.  It absorbed the caramel topping better and melded with the cake.

Jack was asked to participate in a school assembly about their Seven Healthy Habits Program.  It was an honor to be chosen to be a part of the program, they singled him out for his responsible nature and exemplary use of the Seven Habits.  Ben and I got to attend and see him speak in front of the K-2nd grade audience.  He was very nervous in the weeks leading up to it.  We are so proud of him for speaking in front of so many kids!

In this case, the dust is an apple ;-)

Sam demanded a picture too.

What a good way to start the week!  Now Jack is regaling me with all the tooth fairy lore he has picked up from classmates.  Dylan wrote a letter and got to keep his tooth AND the money AND a bag of skittles.  Blakey says there is a different fairy for each kid.  If you leave a glass of water out she will dip her wand into and change it to her color and you will know what color your fairy is.  I wonder what new fairy tale he will bring home after sharing his news at school today.

Saturday we celebrated Jack's Birthday!  Because it usually falls on Memorial Day weekend, and this time it was on Sunday, I bumped the party up a week so we could have it before school ends.  After planning a Star Wars party all year, he changed to Gravity Falls theme about three months ago.  There's a lot less Gravity Falls merchandise than Star Wars (nothing at all versus millions) so this party took a strong DIY attitude.

Mummy Wrap race was a good starter while we waited for everyone to arrive.

The kids snacked on "Mabel Juice" "Chipackers" "Gnome barf" and eyeballs.

They also bedazzled their faces and drew their own Waddles the Pig Balloons.  

The main event was a treasure hunt. I offered a Team Dipper and Team Mabel trail - what a surprise that they split themselves by gender, right?  I'm quite proud of the hunt.  It took them around the house and yard with simple puzzles that needed only a little adult prodding to figure out.  They had to get creative a few times to find the clue.  I'm glad they were a little stumped at first, and it gave the groups time to each try ideas.  At the end they had to bring their pieces together to solve a decoded message.  But they solved the whole thing in about ten minutes.  The final message told them to look in the basement for Bill Cipher (the show's villain) that I had made into a piñata.

This was the sweetest moment for me.  Jack came back from the piñata frenzy near tears, saying he didn't get very much stuff. Four of his friends immediately grabbed fistfuls from their own bags and put it in his.  What great kids!

Cake, presents, and some water balloons and mummy racing finished the party.  We put on the show to let the kids watch while waiting for parents to pick them up.  

It was a rousing, great success that I'm sure Jack will remember well.  Shout out to my parents for being GREAT help running the party, and to Ben for jumping in to help out in games or clean up after the ruckus.

We started the summer right by biking to a nearby playground.

Long lunches are back too.  Indulgent, but they eat their fruits and vegetables this way!

We took the boys to see Captain Undepants at the new Sloans Lake Alamo.  The book series is a favorite of Jack's: he was AMPED for the movie.  As the credits rolled he started nerding hard to Ben, explaining all the allusions and differences from the source material. I tried to tape him but he got shy.

We prefer the Littleton Alamo theater.  This one is smaller, no lobby for hanging out before and after the movie.  The servers had to use the same hallways as guests to deliver food.  Also, the neighborhood has that weed stink becoming synonymous with Denver.  The drive is a bit shorter than to Littleton, but less pleasant (dense stop-and-go the whole way). But it's great to have another option!  The food and service and film quality were great, as expected.

Not ten minutes after bedtime we had a special visit from two Captain Underpantses.

Tra la laaaaaaaa!

Inspired by Gravity Falls (like everything they do) the boys insisted on making sock puppets this morning.

I've always wanted to bake one of these.  I was surprised to learn the recipe is very old: 1856!  I also learned that for a brief time "pie" and "cake" were interchangeably used because they used the same baking pan.  Hence the name.

Easy recipe, I was surprised how quickly this came together.  I made the cake and filling last night, then the ganache this afternoon.

The recipe said to chill until serving.  The chocolate looked better fresh and glossy when freshly applied.  No one seemed to mind.  I made double the ganache too.  Unnecessary, I wouldn't bother next time.

Sam couldn't stand waiting 24 hours to eat the cake.  We were feeding the missionaries tonight. It's a great excuse to make a cake, and leftovers are minimal.

Bonus!  I made s'mores cookies earlier this week and had an excuse to bust out my blowtorch.

Jack and I have returned from his first trip to New York City!

Striker the tiger and Jack got their first view of Manhattan as we landed.

Our hotel room had a beautiful view of the Empire State Building.  It was beautiful to see lit up at night, even in the fog.

After checking in to the hotel we took to the streets for food.  Pizza, Kati Rolls, and Wafels and Dingels.  We took the food to nearby Bryant Park and met up with Andy and Jenn.

The next morning we went shopping in Rockefeller Center.  I loved the Koons installation.  Jack loved the Lego displays.

Next we went south to Battery Park.  Jack got a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty and decided he didn't want to take the Ferry for a closer look.  Instead we explored the Clinton Castle and had street vendor snacks.

More shopping in Soho.  This display at the Scholastic Company office caught his eye.  Although there is no longer a store at that location, the front desk staff asked him to wait while they brought down a pile of free books for him to take home!  Mom found good things at Gudrun and took Jack to the Evolution store.  I tried out some Uniqlo clothes and made my usual pilgrimage to Purl Soho for their lovely, soft yarn.

We all gathered a delicious Italian dinner.  Jack only showed enthusiasm for the tower of profiteroles.  While the others went to see the musical "Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812," Jack and I went to Times Square.  We saw the Naked Cowboy, the usual skungy character buskers, and Living Statues of Liberty - who distracted him from the topless body paint ladies to my amusement.  Jack marveled at the giant Disney store and found a new Spider-Man jacket.  Sadly it seems the giant Toys R Us has closed; no ferris wheel for us this time.  After a long day I forced him to close his book and turn lights out at 11 pm.

A quick trip on the subway took us to the Natural History Museum.   (Sorry for the thumb in the photo.)

 

Earlier this spring we watch the movie "Night at the Museum" to prepare for the trip.  Jack was excited to see some of the sights from the movie.  The museum wasn't exactly like in the movie.  Either they have made major changes to the layout in the last few years, or the movie set designers didn't feel the need to replicate it very precisely.  Despite that, Jack had fun hunting for things he recognized.

Jack had a lot of anxiety on the trip.  He was sure we would be hit by a hurricane or flood or the buildings would fall over (he doesn't yet know about any real terror attacks that have occurred in the city - I skipped that part of NYC history).  He was convinced this whale model would fall down.  Now that he has "survived" I hope he enjoys looking at the pictures of it.

His favorite part of the museum was the Tiger displays.  He did a school report on Bengal Tigers and has been in love with them ever since.

We walked out of the museum into torrential downpour. Instead of exploring Central Park as planned, we scurried to a nearby Shake Shack for lunch, then took the subway back to midtown to meet-up with the rest of the family.

This was my theater day.  Dad volunteered to rest at the hotel with Jack while I went with the rest to see In and Of Itself.  But first, there's always time for snacks!  The rain had stopped enough to sit outside in Union Square.

 

 

 

The show was a one-man-show about identity told in a series of stories and magic tricks, more like an essay than a narrative performance.  I was underwhelmed by the written part, but he had an amazing memory and great slight-of-hand tricks.

Dinner at a BBQ place in Times Square.  Delicious, copious amounts of food!  Jack enjoyed his root beer float, then took a snooze as the meal ended.

After dinner I got to see ANOTHER show!  This was Anastasia, based on the animated movie from 1997. They (wisely) took out the villain Rasputin and all the mystical parts of the story, and also beefed up the historical context.  The music and costumes were gorgeous.  I absolutely loved it.

Another late night - I couldn't believe Jack and my parents were still awake when we got back to the hotel!

(Bonus picture from the second day I forgot to post.  Thanks, whichever sibling took it!)

Another museum!  This time: kid-friendly highlights from the Met.

We briefly went up to the roof to see the view of Manhattan but MAN it was hot!  Jack learned the true meaning of humidity.

In the afternoon we saw the truly amazing Gazillion Bubble Show.  It was very kid friendly, well run, and a total riot.  I think everyone had a big grin on their face.

In lieu of proper dinner we poked into several eateries walking back toward the hotel.

My folks took Jack to see Captain Underpants again, my siblings saw some interactive theater (Ghostlight), and did some solo shopping in Herald Square.  Afterward we gathered at the hotel for Father's Day presents and a group photo.

The next morning we had some trouble getting home.  A large storm stretching across the Appalachians grounded all the flights.  We spent the entire day at the airport trying to get home.  We had to give up and stay in Astoria for one more night, leaving from a different airport in the morning.

I must have bad NYC mojo.  This is my 3/3 of my last trips there have had major delays or cancellations getting home.  I knit and entire sock during the airport/plane time on this trip, starting at the gate in Denver on Thursday; binding off as we landed back in Colorado.

Jack's upright sleep accurately describes how I felt as we drove the last few miles home.  A great trip, a very tiring trip.  He's on a road trip with Ben to Canada today.  Last I heard they had made it to Douglas, Wyoming.

I'm behind in my journalling!  For Mother's Day I met Cate, Erin, and Cate's friend Megan at a Sur La Table in Cherry Creek to learn how to make croissants.

It was really fun!  They had everything ready to use, pre-measured, and written instructions to take home after class.  As we dirtied dishes the helpers whisked them away to be washed.  I feel like I could totally make my own croissants now (if I wanted to purchase a pound of European butter!).  We made plain, chocolate, and ham and cheese. If I were to make them again I would roll and cut them smaller.  I felt like it was too doughy in the center (the instructor says he prefers them that way), plus I'd rather get more smaller croissants than a few humongous buns.

I got to enjoy the time with my friends and had a quiet lunch by myself prior.  What a great gift!

A few months ago, Jack said "I've never been out of the country you know."  So, since I've been itching for a proper road trip for years, I suggested that we go to Canada.  I initially had Calgary in mind, but realized that Regina was much closer.  Since we had no reason other than "Go to Canada" and the legendary Edmonton Mall was really just too far, we decided to head straight north to visit our friends in Saskatchewan.

The first day, I woke up early because I was too excited/nervous to sleep more.  Soon the rest of the family followed me and we had some breakfast.  Meanwhile I was throwing stuff that we had packed the previous night in the car.  We had a lot of gear because we were planning to camp on 2 of 4 nights.

We were soon ready and Jack and I piled in to my car and headed north.  The first leg of the trip was fairly uneventful, and mostly territory and terrain that Jack and I were very familiar with.

Our first stop was Cheyenne, WY.  Our primary reason for stopping was that I realized I hadn't packed any pillows for camping, so we needed to buy some before we left civilization.  Jack said "This looks just like our target!"  A Target's a Target the whole world 'round they say.

The first fun stop of the trip was in Chugwater, WY.  Jack really enjoyed the name of the place, but the main reason we stopped there was that I had heard they had an ancient soda fountain.  It was a pretty cool place in a very sleepy town.  Jack had a root beer float, and I had a butterscotch ice cream soda.  Both were pretty good, but nothing special - she just used Kroger sodas and those ubiquitous coffee shop flavor shots.  I think I had overly high expectations for this one, but I'm still glad we stopped.  We later found out that we were SUPPOSED to get Chugwater chili there, but we didn't.

 

Filled up on soda and powered by burps, we hit the road, bound for Douglas.  I was very interested in checking out the road conditions on this leg in anticipation of our trip to Wyoming in August for the eclipse.  The road was in truly excellent shape, except for a small bit of construction that I'm sure will be resolved by then.  We saw our first large herd of cattle on this leg and Jack was enamored with the many cute calfs.  We also saw a road mirage for the first time and I showed Jack the big "puddle" up ahead.  He was shocked when it disappeared!

We came in to Douglas and immediately went to McDonalds, as Jack was seriously jonesing for a new minions happy meal toy.  We played in the small outdoor play area there and Jack made friends with a very Wyoming sort of boy.

After lunch, we went across town to the Railroad Interpretive Center, primarily to take a picture of us with the big Jacaklope.

We also took a quick look at the trains and we were about to hit the road, when a friendly lady came out of the visitors center and asked if we wanted to go in the trains.  I thought Jack would decline, but he said yes.  We got to go in a dining car and a sleeper car.  I'd never seen a sleeper car before!  However, this one was a little ratty - clear that it's been sitting around for MANY years.

After we visited the trains, the nice lady invited us into the museum to see their 60 year old model train.  It was not that amazing, but Jack was impressed that it started to spew "smoke" from the engine.  We saw the eclipse glasses and mentioned the eclipse, much to our host's dismay.  She is terrified of the expected 40,000 person rush into Douglas and the 120,000 people in Casper.  She was also sad she had to work that day, even though it's usually her day off.  I told her I'd bring her something nice if I make it back to the railroad museum that day.  I really do feel bad for the normal citizens of those towns, hopefully all the nerds will be nice and respectful.

After Douglas, we headed out onto the lonely highways of Coverse county.  Lots of giant oil trucks, but not much traffic overall.  Jack had an urgent need to stop in the middle of Thunder Basin Grasslands, but we managed to make it to the strange little town of Wright.  It seemed like a nice subdivision area of Denver, but spread out more.  It even had a little subdivision style sign on the entrance to town.  This is how I feel a proper oil town boom community should look (I'll refer back to this in part 2).  The local Sinclair station had the usual dinosaur, but since this was Wyoming, the dinosaur had a saddle.

After that we continued into Gillette ("Energy capital of the world"), where I was excited to see the legendary Campbell County Rock Pile.  I mostly was amused that it was a thing, but it turned out that their museum was actually pretty neat.  Jack really enjoyed learning about all the old rancher tools, seeing some very nice taxidermies heads and visiting his first one rooms school house.

We headed out into another lonely stretch of road after Gillette on our way to Montana.  We passed through a few rain storms on this leg and had some lovely smells of wet sagebrush (yeah, I know I hated it as a kid, but it smells great now).  I also thought this was one of the prettiest sections of the journey.  20 miles shy of Broadus, MT - we saw a truck towing a few ton bales blow a tire.  I was worried about him, since it was the middle of nowhere, so I slowed down and asked if he needed a ride into town or anything.  He said no, but thanked us.  We headed on to Broadus for dinner.  I had heard that a place called the "Cashaway Cafe" that had homemade bacon, so I thought Jack really needed to try that out.  It was a very ragged little place, but the bacon and other meat was nothing short of incredible.  I was very glad we made the stop.  Jack even told me "You have to try this bacon dad!"  He doesn't do that with food - this was his first foody moment :-) We also talked with some truckers headed south who said we had a "clear run" into Miles City.

Our final leg of the trip was an easy one, but Jack was concerned about weather.  He was brave enough to agree to go through with the camping plan and so we found a very lovely campsite at a fishing access area on the Togue river.   We ended our first day with a little bit of walking around the area and by watching the first half of Back to the Future in the tent.

Part 2 of a special guest post by Ben

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The beginning of day two of our trip was heralded in with a cacophony of bird sounds.  Some sort of waterfowl (maybe a loon?), dozens of chattering sparrows and even a woodpecker.  This concert woke me up at about 6:30 and I soon jostled Jack awake so that we could continue our journey.  We didn't actually spend much time in Miles City, other than getting gasoline.

At this point, Jack started to get pretty confused about where we were, and where we were going.  He saw a casino in Miles City and (knowing that we were planning to stay in a casino that night) he said "is that the casino we're staying at?"  I told him we had a lot more miles to put under our belt before we were going to tuck in for the night.

The first thing I had planned to visit was a dinosaur museum in Glendive, MT.  However, they didn't open until 10:00, and it was only 8:00.  I offered to hang out and visit when they opened, but Jack wanted to hit the road.  We DID get to visit "Glendisaurus", a very silly gigantic triceratops statue.

Dinosaur interested slaked, we headed on to our first National Park, the Fort Union Historic Site.  It was not the best leg of the drive, as google sent us on a route that included many miles of horrible rutted dirt road (under construction) that was full of large dump trucks.  I drove very carefully through there - and it was probably the most nervous I was on the trip of getting tire puncture.

Soon we got on decent roads again and arrived at the historic site.  We were amused by the fact that we passed back into Montana momentarily on our way in.

The fort was pretty cool looking with its large white bastion towers and heavy wooden gates.  There was no one to greet us at first, so we just wandered into the large main house, where we finally found the first park ranger.

She was very nice and immediately started Jack on the junior ranger program.  To his dismay, it required reading and critical thinking.  He complained several times that this program was much harder than the one at the monument, but he was determined to get it done.

As part of the program, we got to visit another ranger in the "Indian Trade House" near the gate.  He was dressed up in period garb and described the process of trading with the native americans.  Jack learned something, and I also learned something!  Jack learned that when making a tanned hide, the brains are taken and smeared all over the back part of the hide, which he found disgusting yet wonderful.  I learned that the practice of referring to the native americans as "Red Skins" may have actually come from one of their cultural practices, instead of the natural bronze color of their skin.  Apparently, the trade post would often trade chinese vermillion pigment, which the native americans would use to make a red skin cream that they would wear in formal situations.

After that, we wrapped up the program by hunting for facts on the interpretive signs spread about the compound.  I was disappointed to learn that this place is a reproduction built in the 1980's, but also impressed at how worn it had become even after only 35 years or so.  It truly must have been a punishing part of the country to live in back then.

Jack acquired a new junior ranger badge and also got a silly little buffalo robe that he could have traded for a different trinket.  Jack is wise beyond his years and knew the true value of his natural resources, so he held onto the souvenir buffalo robe.

After the fort, we headed to Williston, ND to grab lunch.  I was immediately turned off to this town as I saw many horribly austere "Employee Accommodations" on the way into town.  I also saw multiple "Info Wars" bumper stickers, and everyone I saw seemed to be scowling or depressed.  I sent Rachel a text saying that I really didn't like this town, and I think she rolled her eyes at me - but I don't have proof.  I've since learned that between 2010 and 2014, the town grew by over 60% due to the fracking boom.  That explains a lot, especially since the boom is now headed toward bust.  I really didn't like the town, but I do hope the people of Williston are able to find a way to equilibrium.

Full of McDonald's, we headed toward the never ending acreage of farmland leading into Saskatchewan.  We saw another troubled motorist (this time from colorado), however - they also declined any help.  Soon, we were at the Estevan/Noonan border crossing and I was getting very nervous, since I hadn't crossed an international border in over a decade.

We pulled up, and immediately there was trouble.  Since I didn't have a "note" from Jack's co-parent, we had to go into the border facility and wait while they called Rachel.  They were very friendly to us, but apparently they gave Rachel more lip than she prefers.  They were very calm about the whole thing, which was nice - since I was so nervous anyway.  They even gave Jack a pin and an activity book.  We eventually got our stamps and were on our way to fuel up in Estevan.  My first order of business was to get some native currency, which impressed Jack.

Having switched over to kilometers, we made one last lonely leg of the day to arrive at the White Bear First Nation.  We immediately stopped at Ogi's Chip Stand for some mini golf.  Although the facility was really, really bad - Jack had a wonderful time.  It helped that we were the only ones there and he could be very goofy.  After our round, the owner seemed to be somewhat embarrassed that we had come so far to visit his humble chip stand.  He said "How was it?  I guess I should really get in there and sweep again...".  I told him that we had a lot of fun, and that I had helped pick up the rocks from the greens, and that seemed to cheer him up.

Next stop, Moose Mountain Provincial Park.  It was later than I expected for getting to the park, so we didn't do much there.  We went in and drove around the lake a bit looking for Moose, then we took a short hike along a very lush trail.

Jack soon tired out, so we headed to the Moose Mountain Inn for some pizza.  Unfortunately, the pizza was a huge disappointment for Jack.  Their idea of pepperoni was more like spicy bologna.  It's really too bad, since the pizza was otherwise delicious.  If we ever return, we'll have to try another topping!

We finally headed down the road to our hotel and checked in.  I was forced to recall what cigarette smoke smelled like while checking in to the lobby, but our room was clean, comfortable and odor free.

We were finally in Canada, and Jack realized that New York City was far, far more foreign (but at least they had proper pizza).

Part 3 of a special guest post by Ben

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Canada Day in Canada!  We woke up fairly early so we could spend as much time in Regina as possible.  I let Jack stay in the car while I checked out of our hotel, since he didn't want to go through the fumes again, though they weren't nearly so bad as the night before.  We were staying at the Bear Claw Hotel, so I HAD to grab a complimentary bear claw on the way out for me and Jack.

The road to Regina was very, very straight, right along a railroad line.  It was fun to see a new little town every 40 km or so, each with its own grain elevator, and most with their own small museum for some reason.  The only town we stopped at was Sedley, SK.  It was just a fuel and snack stop, but it was a very pleasant little store.  I got some very good beef jerky and Jack got a weird lollypop/toy.

My plan on arriving in Regina was to have the hotel hold our luggage and park the car, however when I went inside to arrange that, they told us they had our room ready AND that we had been upgraded to one of the penthouse jacuzzi suites.   We parked the car and schlepped our luggage up to the top floor and opened our (larger than normal) hotel door to see a huge suite of rooms that were very finely appointed.  Jack was flabbergasted by a hotel "room" that had SEVEN rooms.   We threw down our bags and put up our feet for a few moments and called home.

After we got settled in, we headed across the street to Victoria park for the first of our Canada Day festivities.  The had a small farmers market, a face painting stand and a giant Canada 150 sculpture.  We wandered through the farmers market and got something called a "sparkle" which was a cookie with a huge amount of frosting and sprinkles.  After that, Jack decided he wanted to climb around on the sculpture, since that seemed to be allowed.

Soon we were hungry for something other than sparkles, so I convinced Jack to drive over to Coney Island Poutine, so I could get my poutine fix.  It was very empty when we arrived just after 11, and I was afraid they were closed for the holiday, but they were open!  They had a vast array of different poutines and hotdogs.  I got a honey garlic poutine with little rib bites, which was delicious.

Jack got a hotdog with bacon, and a very special surprise "drink."  They had slush puppies!  Rachel probably remembers that I was very excited about these last time I was in Canada.  They are still delicious, and Jack is also a fan.  We both agreed they were FAR superior to Icees.

As we wrapped up our meal, we noticed that there was a chalkboard wall that we were allowed to write on.  Jack drew a Canadian flag with a blue pine tree on top, and I made a sappy little display.

Our bellies full, it was time to head on to the rest of the Canada Day festivities at the larger Lake Wascana park.  We immediately got stuck in a traffic jam because I overestimated the likelihood of close parking.  Once through the jam, we started wending our way back from the park looking for a spot.  Finally, we got a 2 hour meter spot - good enough!

Once at the park, there was a lot of stuff going on - wagon rides pulled by clydesdales, a buffalo hide tanning demo, a one legged race and more.  We wandered through checking things out, but nothing really grabbed our interest until we got to the lake.  They were offering free kayak or canoe trips around the lake and Jack was immediately intrigued.  After weighing his worry about whether it was too dangerous against the cool factor of rowing our own boat around the beautiful lake - he decided that we should definitely do it.  After a short wait, we got a two person kayak and awkwardly boarded!

Jack had a blast and felt high confidence in his ability to paddle a kayak.  I still handled the steering, but I think he would pick it up for real very quickly.

After our tour around the lake, I realized we were running out of time on the meter.  I asked Jack what else he wanted to do before we went back to the car, and he chose the Royal Saskatchewan Museum.  It was a small natural history type museum, but it was really cool.  They had a giant 3d map of saskatchewan that I really enjoyed, but they also had very impressive taxidermy dioramas like they have here in Denver.  The big difference was that there was no glass.  I really think that made them seem ten times better.  I could have spent a lot more time in the museum, but Jack got his fill before we had to leave to catch the meter.

The embarrassing thing is, the place I parked was only a couple blocks short of our hotel, so I should have just parked there and I wouldn't have had to worry about the meter. C'est la vie.

We were a little worn out from the park adventures, so we took a few minutes to enjoy our rooms and relax.  Soon enough though, Jack was feeling snacky and ready for more adventure.  We decided to head north to the cornwall center - a mall.  We explored a small comics shop on the way and I resisted buying some pokemon art.

At the mall, we got some fries from A&W and explored the canadian dollar store equivalent.  There was also a sports hat store, so I stopped in to grab a Saskatchewan Rough Riders had for my Dad, since he used to collect "odd" sports hats.  That team is so beloved in Regina... it was game day and I think 70% of the population had some sort of rider gear on.  People in Denver love their Broncos, but Regina has them beat in fandom.

Sam was enjoying some grandparent time in Grand Junction and got to go see the new despicable me movie, so, of course, Jack had to as well.  We headed south to another mall (which as now closed) and got dinner at a proper pizza place with REAL pepperoni.  After eating, we still had some time before the movie, so we went to a nearby park to play a bit.

After the movie, I had to get us back up north to our hotel, but the problem was - most of the roads were now closed.  We wormed our way up through various detours and finally got to the hotel lot, but it was full.  Luckily, they had a sign that said we could use valet service if the lot was full, so we dashed in and handed off my keys.

It was about time for the fireworks show, so Jack settled in on the bed and waited.  Soon they began, and we had a great view!

The show was long, and Jack was soon starting to cozy up in the blankets.  A perfect fireworks viewing spot!

We had been going strong since 6:30, so 11:00 was definitely bed time.  Jack was out almost immediately after brushing teeth.  A long and fun day in Regina!

Part 4 of a special guest post by Ben

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We slept in.  Which is good since we didn't have a reservation at the (relatively) famous Hotel Saskatchewan sunday brunch until 10:00.  We were both up by 9:30 and we got dressed and went downstairs for the brunch.  It wasn't quite ready for as at 10:00, so we had to wait for a bit until it was all set out, but once it was ready - I was blown away.

This was the very best buffet I have ever been to.  There was a table with giant bowls of shrimp, mussels and smoked salmon.  There was a GIANT table filled with cakes, pies, custards and all kinds of other treats and pastries.  The back wall was filled with those metal serving domes and had things like rice pilafs, eggs benedict, bacon, sausage, gravy and more.  There was even a fella carving off very nice looking roast beef of some kind.

Jack got a plate of bacon, a pastry and three pieces of cheese. He ate only the bacon.

Not the best bacon of the trip, but a close second!  I had a slightly larger brunch, but I could only do three plates without feeling like an absolute glutton.

The waitress came to clear Jack's plate and when I said we were probably ready for the bill, she looked shocked.  It was at that point I realized that I had probably just paid WAY too much for a plate of bacon.  It was true, but I thought the experience was worth it.

We popped back up to our room to grab our stuff and checked out.  We were on the road by 11:00, which was right on schedule.  The road out of Regina into the Regway portal was even more lonely than the road we  had taken in.  I assume because it was not a rail line.  We soon came to the border and easily made it back into our home country.

Our next stop was the sleepy town of Plentywood, MT for a snack stop.  The first place I saw was the Dairy Queen, so I took it as a sign.  Jack was VERY pleased that this was where we had pulled in.  I was extra lucky since when we called home, we found out that Sam was already eating ice cream.  If we hadn't already had an order in for a blizzard - there would have been some serious jealousy.  It was a nice little town and a very busy and friendly DQ.

Filled up with good 'ol american dairy, we plunged deeper into Montana.  After several miles on a pretty rough highway, we transitioned to this:

It was actually a REALLY nice gravel road though.  I also felt the need to pull over to take a picture of the beautiful terrain and stopped to read about the old wagon road that was nearby.  At that point though, Jack noticed the impending storm and had to become brave again.

Luckily, we made it off the gravel road and got some fuel before the storm hit, but south of Wibeaux MT, the storm hit hard.  It was the most hair-raising portion of the trip, if only because I wasn't sure what we would even do if the storm got any worse.  It was blowing hard and whipping huge sheets of rain across the road.  The road was good by this point and was free of standing water though.  We kept going at a much reduced speed, despite Jack yelling "I can't see ANYTHING".  (Note, I COULD still see well enough to drive at the speed I was going).

After the storm passed, we drove by a really neat state park called "Medicine Rocks".  There were a bunch of slate grey sandstone formations that looked like giant blocks of swiss cheese scattered about the prairie.  Jack was in no mood to stop, but if you're ever between Baker and Ekalakka MT - you should consider stopping in.

A little further down the road, I decided to pull into a little town called Ekalakka in search of some food for the nights stay near Devil's Tower.  It was a tiny little town, but actually had a quite large grocery store, so we were able to get some yummy stuff for that night - most importantly, marshmallows.

Another interesting find in Ekalakka was as we drove through town, I noticed a big trailer and a bunch of people in weird clothes.  Then I noticed that there was a stage and an audience in front of the trailer.  They were putting on "You Never Can Tell" by George Bernard Shaw in this tiny little town in the middle of nowhere!  I desperately wanted to to stay for a bit, but Jack was in a road trance. "We're not here for plays Dad."

We continued on toward our camp ground, but I was becoming more and more worried that I hadn't been able to contact Rachel in hours.  If I still didn't have a signal at camp, I was sure she'd freak out.  So we stopped at a little crossroads gas station and I asked if they had a phone I could use.  They said they didn't, which kind of irritated me.  Luckily, it didn't matter.  Shortly down the road, we had a phone signal again as we neared Devil's Tower.

Along the final stretch of road, we saw SO MANY deer.  We saw some antelope that were right up next to the road and just chilled while we stopped and gawked.  We saw a herd of eight deer chilling in a meadow under some burr oaks and cottonwood.  Not to mention the dozens I saw roadside as I carefully drove with blistering perceptual intensity through the final stage of the day's trip.

Finally, we saw the tower and soon after we were at our campground.  We had made it well before dark, which is good - that drive would have not been great at or around sunset.   Our campground had the cute practice of showing "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" every night, and we had arrived just in time.  I didn't make Jack stay long, since I'm sure it's too scary for him, but I at least got to experience it.

We had great views of Devils Tower and we got a nice little cabin (since we were worried about weather).

As night fell, KOA employees wandered around lighting communal fires. Perfect! We have marshmallows!  I knew that fire was allowed, but I didn't want to buy wood and try to start my own fire, but I did want Jack to experience roasting marshmallows.

He thought it was pretty cool at first, but got bored and tired pretty soon.  We retired to our cabin and watched a little TV on my phone as we drifted off to sleep.  This was the longest drive of the trip, and probably the least eventful as well.  We still had plenty of fun though and we were ready for a great start in the morning!

Jack and I woke up around 7:30 and headed straight for Devil's Tower.  Along the short drive to the visitor's center, Jack realized what prarie dogs were for the first time and fell in love.  There was a huge field of them them right across the entrance to the park land.  At first he said "All I see is a lot of small rocks", but I told him to look again and he soon saw the cute little buggers running all over.

We arrived at the visitor's center a bit before they opened, so we headed up around the loop trail so we could see the tower from all sides.  The trail was pretty flat and paved, so it was easy going - there was also a pretty large amount of traffic for 7:45 in the morning.

The first feature we reached was the large boulder field.  Climbing is allowed in the boulder field up to the actual tower face without a permit, so I encouraged Jack to scramble up it a bit.  He was pretty nervous though, so he didn't go far.

Once he got down from the boulders, we continued along the trail.  Soon, we saw a deer up ahead.  I stopped and was pointing to Jack and the person behind us thought we were pulling over to make room for us and charged ahead with a thank you.  I whispered "There's a deer there!" and he stopped and gawked with us for a few moments.  It became clear that the deer was going nowhere fast and they guy asked if I thought he could continue up the trail (I don't think he was from the US).  I told him the deer would probably run off as soon as we got a little closer, so we continued on.  I was wrong though - that deer had no intention of abandoning its sweet grazing spot.  We eventually passed right by it, not 10 feet away.

Just past the deer we saw a bunch of people off the trail looking at the tower and we realized they were watching climbers scamper up the sheer rock face like little spiders.  Seriously, these guys were way quicker than I would have expected.

We continued around the rest of the trail.  On the eastern side, I got to touch the face of the tower, which was my main goal.  We also saw lots of prayer bundles and prayer flags, but we didn't learn the full significance of them.  I also saw a group of little figures that I liked.

Back at the visitor's center, Jack decided he didn't want to do the junior ranger program here, I think partially because it was becoming VERY busy.  He just asked to get a Devil's Tower coin, mostly because it had prarie dogs on the back.  We climbed back in the car and plunged deeper into Wyoming.

One planned stop I had was to visit the site of the Sundance Kid's incarceration.  However, since it was July 3rd, the museum and courthouse were closed.  A small bummer, but Jack was very much not interested in this historical figure, since he was a bad guy.  I had to coerce him to take a photo with the statue they had on site by saying he could beat him up.

After many more miles on the Wyoming highways, Jack was ready for a stop.  Lusk, WY was the next reasonably sized town, so we stopped there for pizza and to visit their stagecoach museum.  It was lucky we stopped because I think Jack enjoyed something at this little museum more than anything on this trip.  As most of you know, Jack is very interested in the Gravity Falls tv show, which is about a lot of paranormal stuff.  When he saw this real two headed calf in the museum, he was more excited than I've seen him in a long time - he even demanded a photo!

Once we actually had our pizza, Jack realized he had eaten a half can of pringles and wasn't actually hungry, so we took it to go.  I figured there had to be a reasonably nice park down the road.  Right when Jack was ready to eat, we came upon Lingle, WY and a lovely little park right next to the highway.  We pulled over and had a quick pic-nic.

We were hearing from Rachel and Sam that they were on the road home and we were on track to arrive around the same time as them.  When we got near Cheyenne, I was feeling a little road weary, so I asked Jack if he wanted to stop in for some mini golf.  That was not exactly a hard sell.

It wasn't the best course, but it was definitely better than Ogi's.  Jack liked them both the same though, which means he had a great time.  Refreshed, we hit the road for our final leg of the trip.  Soon we were back in the big city and back with the rest of the family.  Jack missed Sam a lot and I missed them too, so we were happy to be home and to have a nice chill evening with everyone together.

Jack and I had a great adventure.  I hope he remembers some of it :-)

OK, one thing I will admit is nice about summer is that the boys are becoming closer friends than before. When we're not doing separate trips or camps, they spend all day and night together and they seem to really enjoy it. Here's some playtime photos from the last few days. As you can see, dressing up and playing superheroes is one of their top fun activities.

Jack made his costume crown during quiet time. I love that Sam wears this knight costume. I think he's the same age Jack was when I made it for him.  It's held up remarkably well considering it was cheap acrylic and has had heavy play!  

Jack says that he read Robin Hood to Sam during quiet time and afterwards they wanted to shoot arrows in the backyard. After Dad came home he assisted Sam with his first archery experience.  He seems so tiny to me! But this isn't far off from when we started Jack on archery too.

Esjan, one of several projects I finished recently.  This is a pattern from "celebrity" knit designer Stephen West.  I loved the large size and crazy, loopy tiers.  I made sure to stop by Purl Soho while in NYC to get yarn for it.  I love buying yarn as a souvenir!

I ended up knitting this shawl twice.  The first time I made a few mods to the pattern to account for my chosen yarn being smaller than what the pattern called for.  Still too small, and with too much leftover gray, I decided to rip the whole thing out and start again.

For those who always ask me how long it takes to knit - I made this twice in less than a month while simultaneously knitting a complete pair of socks, 4 inches of a fine gauge sleeve, and a few thousand stitches on another shawl.

I really liked the ruffles which naturally occur from the pattern.  However, I wanted to smooth out the garter stitch tension and make it as large and blanket-like as possible.  I gently blocked it and it grew magnificently.  The edge flattened into a large zig-zag - not ruffles but still fun (I expected this based on the pattern photos and other ravelry users).

Tomorrow I'll take up my other shawl sitting on needles.  It's fingering weight (smaller yarn, takes longer to knit the same area size) and I had to buy more yarn from the shop in GJ when I was out last week.  I also completed it once, then ripped it out completely to start again with a modified pattern.  I should really stop doing that ;-)

 

This is called yarn chicken:

When you are binding off with a limited amount of yarn and hope it's enough.

I play it often, wanting to squeeze all I can out of each skein.  

 But this one is a doozy.  Roughly 1,400 stitches across with a bind off that's a pain-in-the-butt to undo if you have to rip it out ("Icelandic bind-off").  I'm going to be very cranky when this doesn't quite fit...but I'm too bull-headed to chicken out first.

. . .

Later today:

Dang it!  So close.  I'm going to try something radical.  Instead of picking back the bind off and the previous row, I'm going to drop the remaining stitches and try to bind off using the top row- in essence only ripping out my remainder.  It might be a little lopsided but with blocking it won't be very noticeable.  Fingers crossed this works!

Here's a hodgepodge of photos I took over the summer.

We rounded out July with another trip to visit grandparents.  There was A. Lot. of swimming.  Jack worked hard to coordinate using a snorkel for the first time and he had great success!  He and Sam both enjoyed the novelty of flippers until their feet were raw with blisters from the rubber.  They swam every morning and every evening for the weekend we were there.

One of the office staff had baby goats the Friday we arrived.  She invited us over to see the farm animals.  The boys were very brave and outgoing petting and feeding the goats and horses, and pestering the sweet kitty. Sam drew a thank you card, with complete goat anatomy.  Can you spot the eyes, nose, horns, beard, and "pumps"? ("Because it's a woman goat.")

Jack loves to read.  I took some pictures of him reading during two lazy summer afternoons.

Figured I should share the finished product:

This is the first of two shawls I made this summer. I ended up following the original pattern almost to completion, then ripped it out and started again. I combined the pattern with another I like. Many details posted on my ravelry page.

I love it. Blanket-like, bright happy colors, and a delicate lace pattern.


Oh I hate July. Summer, please end, I hate you.

Yesterday morning Ben twisted his ankle while taking out the trash. He said he heard a snap and it was rapidly swelling. A trip to urgent care confirmed my suspicion: he broke his ankle!



The good news is they said it was a clean break through the lateral malleolus of his fibula. It's lined up nicely and shouldn't need pins or other surgery to help it heal. The bad news is it's his right foot, so we are unsure how long he cannot drive. He has an appointment with orthopedics next week. Fingers crossed he can get a walking boot!

Jack and Sam wanted to go to the zoo last week, but the crowds were insane for some special event.  We promised that we would go the next weekend, when it will be International Tiger Day.  That was exciting news for my little tiger lovers.  We couldn't let a broken ankle break our promise!

We arrived and had a quick snack from VooDoo Donuts before going inside.

I've learned that wearing work-out clothes is the best option for spending half a day at the zoo.  Too much walking and heat to bother with nice clothes and shoes!  The hip pack and mini cooler slung around my neck really finish the outfit.

Our zoo has a new tiger exhibit called the Edge.  It's a larger and more varied habitat, back where the camels used to be behind the Northern Shores area.  Jack had already seen the new tiger home during his spring field trip at the end of first grade.  There were extra activity tables, volunteers, and tiger demonstrations for the special day.

There's also this weird "Dinos Live!" exhibit through the fall.  Large animatronic dinosaurs are scattered throughout the park.  They sway their heads and tails, open eyes and mouth, and have recorded sounds.  The kids loved them.

After the Tiger show we had lunch and watched the Elephant demonstration.

We rounded out the trip with penguins, the bird palace, a primate visit near monkey island, and saw the mountain goats and sheep.  When we had circled half the zoo and were back at the entrance the kids let it be known that they REALLY wanted to see the komodo dragons  The lizards live on the edge of the park inside Tropical Discovery - where we had spent most of the morning watching sea otters and waiting for the tiger demonstration.  Really guys?  Sigh.  I parked Ben's chair in the lion house in case of rain and trekked back east to get a look at those dragons.  Satisfied, we passed the polar bears, giraffes, and zebras for the third time today and finally left.

It was a fun trip and I'm glad we went.  It's fairly handicapped accessible, as zoos go.  Sam couldn't remember going before (though he has at least three times) so everything was exciting and new to him.  At one point he asked me if the rhino was real, and I wondered if he was having a hard time discerning the real animals with the fake dinosaurs there too.  Educational trip :-)

Great news:

• Everything looks good, break was not that bad.
• Walking boot acquired = no more crutches!
• "Post-op hard sandal" acquired = legal for Ben to drive while wearing this!

We are thrilled.  He'll go back in two weeks for x-rays, then again at the end of six weeks since the injury.  Pain in minimal-to-none.  Swelling and bruising is substantial but expected.  New mobility options will do a lot of morale.  Yay!!

We celebrated our fifteenth anniversary with a long dinner at Simms Steakhouse. Getting married remains one of our best decisions. Celebrating our happy family we've built. We've come a long way.

Today we all went to see Marvel Universe Live: Age of Heroes.  Ben and Jack attended two or three years ago when Sam was too young (I cannot find record of it in my blog, so I don't know exactly when).  This year we toyed with the thought of going.  The kids were begging when they saw ads.  Ben and I LOVE the MCU and love hokey theme-park-like shows.  I priced out tickets and with fees we decided it was just too much.  Then we got a 20% discount mailer, probably for having attended previously.  Damn those marketing geniuses!

This time we all went together.  The kids saw a summary video online so they knew a bit of what to expect.  It was a completely different show than the one seen before: now 25 Marvel characters and a new plot.  Bright and early, Captain America, Spider-Man, Loki, and Squirrel Girl trekked to the Pepsi Center.

Grumblings about performances in stadium arenas in general aside, this was a great show.  The writing was great, very true to character for each hero.  It did a great job of keeping the story clear for little kids.  I found myself leaning over to tell Sam "Uh oh, who's that villain?" or "He's going to punch the dragon!" or "The volcano's about the explode!" to keep Sam engaged.  But almost every time the script said the same thing before or after me!

The theatrics were great too.  Not only were the aerial work and stunt fighting great, with plenty of flips and spins, but there was a surprising amount of variety to the scenes.  There were ribbon aerialists and Chinese Dragon dancers, real fireworks and explosions onstage, motorcycle stunt work, and even fire juggling and dancing.  I only wish we were sitting a little closer so we could see the costumes better.

Jack spent most of the show either narrating his emotions to me, or explaining all the puns to me.  "Mom!  Spider-Man said Lizard isn't too smart, but he IS smart because he's a scientist!" That sort of thing.

Sam was "a mix of wonder and fear" in Ben's words.

They laughed a lot and both talked afterward about the part where Rocket Raccoon gets called a rodent and freaks out on  . . . who was it?  Nebula?  I can't remember.  But Rocket went into a frenzied fighting rage that had the boys rolling in their seats.

Hulk was the final reveal ,of course.  Sam was very concerned in Act 1 that Loki had blocked his neural network so Banner couldn't get angry and turn into Hulk.  When they finally broke that and Hulk emerged, well, see for yourself:

The show ended with all heroes posed and Spidey swinging out over the audience.  Perfect.

Jack wrote a comic book this summer.  Acting as his publisher, it's in my best interest to advertise our joint venture:

So bring your cash the next time you visit.  He hopes his little authorship scheme will net him extra pocket money.  :-)

Hooray it's the first day of school!

Jack returns to elementary school for second grade. He's a lot less nervous than previous years, and has a lot of friends in his class. We think it will be a great year!

Sam is back at preschool for the second year, this time for 4 days a week, 8:30-11. He walked into class like a pro and knew exactly what to do. No tears today! Same teachers, a lot of returning classmates, and playdough on the table means he's going to have a great time today.

I got the house more clean in the first 15 minutes after dropping them off than I've been able to accomplish all summer. I'm going to celebrate the rest of the morning by knitting in peace and baking oatmeal raisin cookies.

School is the best!

Samwise Storm is FOUR years old today! He had a wonderful celebration and seems like a very happy kid, as he comes down for a second hug-and-kiss after bedtime.

Last weekend my family got together to see the Frozen musical previews.  I thought it made sense to do cake and presents at the same time.  Sam and Jack had a super fun time.

 . 

I baked a Dragon birthday cake that pleased Sam.  He struck a superhero pose before blowing out the candles.

 

My child, swathed in knitwear.

Today we did not have a party, but I made sure that Sam felt like a special little dude all day.  It began with a balloons and a big breakfast of bacon and waffles with whipped cream.

 . 

At preschool they made him a crown and sang Happy Birthday. (It was also school picture day, hence the collared shirt and slacks.)

We went to Target for some errands hidden as gifts (You get to pick out a NEW laundry basket!!  And a new TOOTHBRUSH!!  Pick any one you want!!!).  He got a free frosted cookie and we explored the newly displayed Halloween section- a special delight for both of us.  Then I let him pick out a new book as a bonus birthday present.  For lunch he decided to have a McDonald's Happy Meal.  He wore the crown all afternoon and everyone we saw wished him a Happy Birthday.  He was all grins.

 . 

I let him play with his gamepad downstairs instead of quiet time.  We went to Jack's school extra early so he could play on the playground, but he preferred sitting with me in the shade.

At home I made pudding parfaits for a special birthday snack.  Jack read the new book for Sam and they watched PJ Masks together.

When Ben got home it was time for Jack's karate class.  Then we talked with grandparents and opened the final few presents.  The boys got to have a pizza picnic in the living room while watching shows "on the big TV" before quick baths and bedtime.

Sam is so sweet, so clever, and so fun.  He loves to cuddle with me and loves to play with his family.  He makes great facial expressions and is trying to be a comedian.  We love you so much, my little Friday-the-13th storm!

Jack made a computer in his free time at school.

It has Netflix, Starfall, RazKids, and a search box.

When he saw me after school he said "Umm, Mom? What does it mean to have a crush on you? And how to I get rid of it?"

Apparently one friend has confessed she has a crush on him, and he thinks she's had it since kindergarten. He also suspects another friend has a crush on him too. Second grade, man. I guess the wonders of relationship drama has begun.

(Catching up on some old news with pictures I never posted)

The Waterhouses and Masons came together to view the total eclipse.

The braver portion drove up to Wyoming to experience totality.   The less adventurous three stayed home, but we still got a great view of a near-total eclipse.

The crickets started chirping and the birds swooped around starting about 10:30AM.  It got dark enough that we turned on the lights inside the house.  Our trees gave us some excellent shadow play.

Look at the cutest new cub scout in town!

Jack joined the pack fed by his elementary school, helping make the second-grader Wolf Den so large it split into two dens.  Look at me throwing around terms like "pack" and "den" like a boy scout mom.  ;-)

They meet only a few times a month.  So far they have played capture-the-flag (with real camo facepaint from the Army Surplus store), earned their "Running with the Pack" belt loop, and raced in the Raingutter Regatta.

So far scouting is a perfect fit for Jack.  Outdoors activity (but NOT sports), leveling up, gear/badge collecting, rule-following, and education.  He read his whole Wolf guidebook cover to cover the first night and knows all the answers in every meeting.  I can't help by hum Little Mary Sunshine when I see him in meetings.

"...He's cheerful, honest, thrifty, and obedient;To love the good and hate the bad is his plan!  So if there's any danger you can be sure the Forest Ranger ever will march on man to man!"

We started karate classes this fall and Jack is loving it. He is getting more confident physically and responds well to the discipline and ethics of martial arts.

Of course, he has a little shadow :-)

Costumes are in the works:

Two hour scarf!! For certain projects my knitting machine rocks!

Cool pajamas make every night a costume night.

It came a little early this year. I continue my tradition of baking buttery rich liege waffles with the first snow of the season.

How many more seasons can we trick them into thinking yard work is fun? It’s a shame that they’ll probably figure out it’s a chore around the same time they actually become effective at raking leaves.

I experimented and discovered you can bake banana bread in Bundt pans. Why would you ever use a boring loaf pan again?

“ Something smells especially delicious in here, Mom!” -Jack

Halloween was a week long stretch of festivities.  Two Trunk-or-Treat events (one moved indoors because of snow), two school parties, pumpkin carving, and the actual Halloween night.  Ben took them trick-or-treating with a pack of 6 neighborhood kids.  After dropping off Sam they hit up some special, spooky houses by car.

I'm exhausted from it all but the kids had a great week.  We got an enormous collection of candy, all of our costumes worked beautifully and received many compliments, and the kids have heads full of memories.

These pictures posted in reverse order (I still can't understand the upload), sorry I'm not going to rearrange them.  It starts with candy and "dinner" on the 31st.

Jack helped his Cub Scout Den collect donations to the food bank.  A great start to the Thanksgiving holiday!

While Ben got in some work hours, I took the boys over the mountains to grandparent-land.

Thanksgiving was everything it should be: parade and dog show, snacking, all our family together, games, and loads of delicious food.

Friday evening we mustered all the Waterhouses together for a group photo.  It came out shockingly well for how little prep we did, and how many people had colds and boys were out of patience!  We look coordinated, but apparently we all wear the color blue!

It's especially exciting to lose a tooth while at school!

Sam really enjoys having a LEGO advent calendar. Every day he rebuilds the growing scene, often in creative ways.

Tonight our church Christmas party had a formal take on the word "party."  After visiting Santa at 5:30 (Sam was too shy), late dinner at 6:45, then finally a Nativity program at 7:40.  As you can imagine, the kids were fairly DONE.  But my boys mustered their strength to perform.

Jack received much praise for singing well and dealing with his brother in a very patient and kind manner.  Sam received much praise for standing up with the kids in front of all those people, and for keeping his clothes on.

It was rather late at the end, so we had to grab our dessert to go.  I snagged one of the cupcakes I had contributed. We gobbled our treats, lit the menorah, opened Hanukkah socks, and chucked the kids in bed.

It's 9pm and the kids are singing Dreidel Dreidel Dreidel loudly, clearly not going to sleep any time soon.  Hoo boy, Christmas excitement is high in the Mason home.

We took the boys up to Flatirons Mall for lunch, dino-land playtime, and to soak up some Holiday Cheer.  On our way out we passed by an intriguing cart selling "Nitro Dragon Breath."  They explained that this was a Korean cracker cooked in liquid nitrogen that tastes sort of like Cap'n Crunch.  We got a cupful to share and it was super fun!

https://youtu.be/lgqk15FgBdA

Not exactly tasty (we skipped the optional dipping sauces), but totally worth $7 for some fun!

We woke on Thursday with no school and snow dusting the ground.  It fell in beautiful crystals.

We took the kids to Hammond's Candy Factory for a tour and to try their sweets.

(Sam looks tired, but he had a great time too - it just doesn't show in the pictures).

That night Jack had his first belt testing.  It was a long time for the boys to sit quietly (two hours) but they did very well.  Jack seemed like the top of his belt class to us ;-)  He had strong form and was quick to obey commands. While waiting for scores to be tallied Jack gave his brother some pointers.  We will get scores at his next class after Christmas, fingers crossed that he earned his gold belt.

 

Today we had a sitter come mid-day so Ben and I could do some last minute shopping.  We had a pleasant lunch together, the stores were abustle and our tree is now positively brimming.  I executed the fastest Fancy Tiger visit possible, perhaps ten minutes only.  I was getting some yarn to make Ben a birthday hat.  I must really love to knit.  After Christmas I'll post pictures of the products of my holiday knit-a-thon.  I've done five projects since October 21st.  According to my ravelry notes, and estimating the times I had to re-work the project, I've knit approximately 4,092 yards.  That's equal to 2.325 MILES of yarn.

The Grandparents Masons arrived this afternoon, successfully slipping through the mountains between snow storms.  The boys had their usual fun scurrying around the house with them, showing off and enjoying treats and trinkets.

This evening Amanda came up to share presents before leaving for London.  We had Chinese food a couple days early and watched the Muppet Family Christmas Special.

Have you seen the Potter Puppet Pals on youtube?  Amanda showed it to the boys earlier this year.  They giggled to no end and sang the song for weeks.  She amazed them today by gifting a box of replica puppets she had made.

https://youtu.be/cUo4ELG5WgM

https://youtu.be/TsJJ2yl_oV0

They are lucky nephews indeed!

Pictures from the 23rd (with a surprise snow fall!) and the 24th.