Feliz Navidad

Who can resist a trip to the (in)famous Casa Bonita when you've got kids. Or if you've got an weird addiction to sopaipillas. Yes, the food is subpar, but the ambiance, the memories, the divers!

For the many of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, Casa Bonita is a theme restaurant to end all theme restaurants. It's endless rooms of Mexican kitsch, unchanged for at least thirty years. There's a waterfall right in the middle of all the hoopla and every ten minutes or so you get a show which might be a damsel in distress, a shoot 'em up cowboy fight, or cliff divers. Mariachi bands stroll, there's a puppet theater, and a spooky cave to wander through. You can peek into wishing well and when you leave every kid gets to pick a treat from a giant treasure chest.

I've never been this time of year, and it's absolutely gorgeous. This Denver landmark gets decked out with twinkle lights, Christmas trees, and nativity scenes. Last year I took FFM to the awesome Botanic Garden light display but due to construction at the garden they aren't doing lights this year. This was almost as good and we didn't get snowed on.

Ryan and Skylar were kind enough to keep us company. We went on a Tuesday night and things were pretty quiet. The kids explored the endless rooms (caves with dripping stalactites, ballrooms with mirrored walls, cafe style balconies overlooking vast courtyards) and managed to find a set of rooms Melinda and I had NEVER EVER seen in all our years (and it's been decades, folks) of going to Casa Bonita. Did you know there's a mine there? Nope, neither did we but you, too, can eat surrounded by timbers and ore carts. Just put up the little flag and you'll get endless sopaipillas down there, too

Visit with Santa 2008

First, a reminder of last year...
what a little cutie!

Ho Ho Ho in 2008.
Really, our kid does smile. It was nearly impossible for the photographer and I to get him to turn around and look at us, he was SO interested in Santa! Santa has big jingle bells on his boots and FFM had some good times with those, too.

Yes, he is indeed a big kid, just turned 17 months in this picture. Is appx 33.5lbs and over 33" tall.

Wish they'd move the tree back to where it was last year...maybe next year!

Giving Thanks

'Tis the season to give thanks for...

funny reindeer antlers that one long armed toddler grabbed at the store and jingled all the way home...Thanks for Thanksgiving dinner with family...Thanks for fireworks in Beaver Creek with Aunt Karen and Uncle Q...Thanks for giant Christmas Trees and huge flakes of snow...

Thanks for birthday celebrations with traditional cherry pie...Thanks for the beginning of Christmas...

Doesn't know his own strength

When he helps grandma unload the dishwasher,

he REALLY unloads the dishwasher.

Mountain Life

Escaping to the mountains before the ski areas open is a lovely thing. Vail opened today but Beaver Creek is still looking a bit bare and you can still snag a parking spot at City Market without any trouble. It's a nice time of year to be here. Sunset earlier this week from the front porch...

Mr. Man is using his height to his full advantage in his new digs. He's learned all the seats in the house he can get into/onto on his own. He has no problem getting down from any of them except the bench, it took a few practice tries to get that one down.

Gosh, is he really only 16 months?

Yesterday we bought a 10 trip punch card to the very nice local rec center and went for a swim. Today we drove west to Glenwood Springs (spotting several bald eagles along the way!) and had a soak in the hot springs there. I guess seeing all the lap swimmers both places inspired FFM who came out of my room this evening with my goggles pressed against his eyes. (This is especially interesting as he's only seen me wear them once, months ago, and he doesn't have any of his own yet.)

He thought it was the funniest thing of the evening, even better than my bout of hiccups.