Olympic QOTD

”Do you think maybe I could meet Missy Franklin?”

I'll do my best.

Followed by,

”Would you come watch me if I was in the Olympics? I would like it if you would come. Would you watch every race?”

Yes indeed little man, every single one.

Nana and Bopbop

FFM is blessed to have a life filled with extraordinary people.  Meet two of those fantastic people, Nana and Bopbop.  N&B are my sister-in-laws in-laws.  They live in a suburb of Denver just a few minutes south of us and this Saturday they took FFM to play putt putt golf and go out to lunch (one of his most favorite things to do).

Back in June my SIL was here for a couple of days and then we dropped her off and N&B's.  FFM didn't get to visit them that day as he was at a day camp.  Oh the drama!  He was bummed.  He's been asking for some time with them off and on ever since.  Saturday he finally got his day with them!

And what a day, he had so much fun!

Thank you Karen and Daryl, you are very special people.

Playing Hooky

First, the QOTD
"Are we at the top of Pike's Peach yet?"

We took the day off today. No chores, no DIY, no previously scheduled social commitments.  On a whim we headed south to Colorado Springs.  First stop, one very cool, very accessible, very tall mountain, Pikes Peak.

A little back story, we just finished reading James and the Giant Peach AND it's peach season here, so you can't really blame F for constantly calling our states most famous mountain a fruit.

We promised we'd drive all the way to the tippy top and we did.

For any non-Colorado readers, you know the song "America the Beautiful"?

America the Beautiful

Words by Katharine Lee Bates,
Melody by Samuel Ward

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

KLB went on her own trip up Pike's Peak and it inspired her to write that song.  Today was a glorious day indeed up on top.  No wind.  Balmy temperature, and clear, clear air so you could see not only the fruited plain but other mountain ranges for hundreds of miles around.  I don't know how many times I've been sitting up at the peak in snow/clouds/pouring rain/gale force winds/lightning storms and today made up for all those trips.

One of several bighorn sheep we saw on our way up

FFM was enchanted with the the cog rail which he somehow already knew all about.  The grade of the mountain is too steep for traditional rail so the trains have a cog, or gear, in the center to keep them from slipping.

We drove, but F had to check out the cog train.  We'll ride it this fall.

We lunched in Manitou Springs, one of the towns affected by the Waldo Canyon fire last month.  We saw evidence of the fire on the surrounding hills and were amazed at the skill of the firefighters keeping it from so many structures.  They truly did an amazing job, while a devastating fire things could have been much, much worse.  It was heartwarming to see homemade signs of thanks to the crews everywhere, small ones posted in shop windows to giant bedsheets hung from houses and fences.

Back in town we discovered that the exposure to high altitude shrank our kid.

Was it a good day?  Why yes, just peachy.

Live and Unplugged

I'm loathe to post video on the blog.  I'm often impatient with online video myself.  Too often it's not as described, it's too long, too long, too fuzzy, I'm sure you know what I mean.  But sometimes it's just fun.  Over the last month or so I've shot a few videos that I deemed share-worthy for their goofy factor.  If you're feeling impatient today, feel free to skip right over.  If you want a giggle, go for it.

FFM and Audrey doing something bizzare and silly.  They were supposed to be getting ready to go out the door and I walked in from the back door to find them doing this...


Recently FFM started singing out loud.  LOUD.  He used to hum quietly and sing under his breath.  This particular afternoon he was belting it out.  I tried to be sneaky and turn on the video without him noticing so he wouldn't stop.


Sometimes FFM asks to take pictures.  This day he was telling me all kinds of crazy things so instead of handing him the phone on camera I handed it to him on video.  I'm not sure he knew it was taking video or not, thus the camera up his nose look.

Itty Bitty Baby Cardi

Baby things are so fun to knit!  They are interesting and FAST!  For my cousin Sarah's baby due in November I knit up a quick stripey cardi in some yarn from my stash.  When I started it we didn't know if it was going to be a boy or a girl so I picked some nice bright gender neutral yarn.  The buttons are turquoise polka dots.  I should have put something in for scale, this really is itty bitty, size 0-3 months.  Pattern is Little Coffee Bean from The Brown Stitch.

July Vacation

The end of June and beginning of July we celebrate birthday week in the Moore household.  With two birthdays in quick succession and our nation's birthday right after it's a week of cake, ice cream, celebration, and almost always a dedicated week of vacation for us.

This year we vacationed in the Vail valley.  After having so much fun two years ago we tossed around the idea of going somewhere else but nothing sounded quite as good as a cool, relaxing week at high elevation.  Knowing some of the local tricks makes vacationing there laid back and easy for us.

Making a photo frame at the Vail Art Festival

King of Vail Mountain

 We played like classic Coloradoans.  We hiked, biked, swam, and ate outside a lot.  Because of the extreme fire danger across our state all fireworks were cancelled and so we opted for the Beaver Creek 4th of July on mountain clambake picnic.  What a treat!  BBQ, burgers, oysters, clams, crawfish, and more sides and desserts than any of should have eaten.  FFM remarked that the clams were too sandy but the crawfish were GREAT!  During and after food everyone, especially kids, played games on the lawn.  Perfection!

4th of July picnic at Beaver Creek, learning how to eat crawfish

Picnic lawn games

 Later in the week we headed out to Glenwood Springs to swim in the hot springs pool.  FFM is tall enough for both water slides now and he and Travis had a grand time SHOOTING down what they declared the fastest slide in the world.

The Blue Comet, fastest slide in the world

Green Amazon, most fun slide in the world

 Halfway through the week my cousin Sarah and her husband Brian joined us.  Sarah is expecting a baby in November but every morning FFM was convinced that the baby was going to arrive THAT day.  He's super excited about the new arrival.  Brian likes to go to the top of the mountain so up, up, up we headed!

Riding the chairlift up to the top

 The four of us went for a hike and Travis opted for some mountain biking.  He made it down really fast while we got stranded at the mountaintop restaurant by the lightening and thunder produced by the season's first GREAT MONSOON!  Yes, rain finally came to Colorado.  We had a few days of rain, enough for us all to breathe a small sigh of relief.  Hopefully it will continue and our record breaking dry spell will end.

Sarah, Brian, and FFM hiking down Beaver Creek

Adventurous

We had family night out in Edwards a couple nights ago- early movie followed by dinner out. FFM read the adventurous kids menu and choose grilled shrimp with broccolini for his main (mussels in lemon butter as a starter).

It took a while for our server to get back to is so I passed the time reading the regular menu to F. We got to the gourmet pizzas and now F is having peach, prosciutto, gorgonzola, and balsamic vinegar pizza for dinner instead. He actually blushed when he ordered.

QOTD

On our way to an outdoor concert in the rain-
” Daddy, which rainbow coat did you pack for me?”

What You Missed in June

June was so busy I missed sharing so many things!

Father's day came, along with a  cool hammock for Daddy.  He also got a dumping yard cart to make yard work a little easier.

 Then came camping!  It was dry, dry, dry but we still had fun.  The boys headed out onto Grand Lake for some paddle boating.

 The lake we camped next to was so low the edge had become nice beach in places. FFM quickly made some pals and we saw little of him any time we were back at camp.  He and his 'pack' roamed the 'coastline' splashing and tossing rocks and generally being very, very boy.

Back in the city the next week we collected Aunt Suzie and Audrey from Pennsylvania and took them to a Rockies game.  It was lots of fun even though Suzie endured a rather messy pigeon poop ordeal.

About a week later we all converged on South Dakota for a family reunion.  FFM requested to go see "the faces" and was super duper excited to see George Washington carved into Mt. Rushmore.  

 We all had a grand time in South Dakota!

 Driving through Custer State Park we missed all the bison but did run across the wild donkey.  Poor kiddos, we were so positive we'd see some bison and we never ever did.

 We spent a day playing in Rapid City.  I convinced the crew to check out the free dinosaur park and I think everyone thought I was a little bit crazy...after a very scenic route we finally made our way to the park and the kiddos had a grand time climbing all over the giant painted dinos.  Aunt Suzie, too.

 Back in Denver we were met with more record breaking heat so off to some water to cool down!  Splashing in Little Dry Creek is a great way to stay cool on a 105F day.

 The week of the Waldo Canyon Fire our sunsets were amazing.  My camera shots don't do them justice but serve to remind us of the flaming red ball in a purple scalding sky.