104th National Western Stockshow

For those of you not in the know, the National Western Stock Show is, well, a big show. It's different from our State Fair which is in the summer, and focuses really just on livestock. The Stock Show takes over a big arena complex aptly named the National Western Stock Show Complex (random fact, Travis took his PE exam there during non-stock show time many moons ago) in the middle of Denver for two weeks every January. Cowboys, cowgirls, rodeo-ers, ranchers, and pretty much anyone who sells anything to do with cattle, sheep, horses, pigs, chickens, rabbits, tractors, fences (you get the idea) come from all over the western US to compete, sell, or just be entertained. They come from places like California, Wyoming, North Dakota, Texas and everywhere in between. Oh yeah, and even a few Coloradoans, too. There are pro-rodeos and Mexican rodeos and dog shows and horse shows and fiddle championships and tractor races and everyone's favorite, mutton bustin'.

With just a few hours to spend at the show we didn't have time to see everything so we did the mandatory cruise through the chickens, rabbits, etc as well as the cattle and horse sheds. For mom and dad we meandered through the Coors Western Art Exhibit.

The first tough decision of the day came when FFM had to make the difficult choice between the train ride and the pony ride. Ponies won. FFM was first out of the chute in his group of riders and he picked 'Twinkle.'

AFTER the pony ride he figured if he asked about the train enough times we'd cave. No. We are tough parents. Off to see the art kiddo.

OK, you did so well at the art exhibit we'll stop at the tractors on the way to the next thing...

This one Daddy, I think we should take THIS one home. See, it's just the right size!

And that was the end of the interest in animals for the day. After that, the tractors, diggers, and other industrial equipment just got bigger and better.

"DADDY, it's THIS BIG!"

"Mommy, THIS ONE. TAKE THIS ONE HOME PLEASE!"

We wrapped up with the rodeo but only stayed for part, it was way past naptime and FFM was trying mightily to behave but was losing the battle. After getting excited about calf wrestling and kicking the lady in front of us with his hiking boots we called it a day and headed home.

Oh my aching shoulder

FFM and I have been getting back into the swing of regular routine life. I've been seeing an orthopedist and a physical therapist for my shoulder since before the holidays and the PT has kicked in full steam. I go twice a week and after a slow and painful start (wrong therapist, wrong exercises, wrong wrong wrong) things are on track now and I'm starting to see some improvement. My shoulder only grinds a little tiny bit instead of all the way around, and I'm getting some strength and mobility back. I can move my head and look right now, handy for when I need to change lanes and pass snacks back to FFM. Although that's pretty tough since it's hard on my rotator cuff... he's getting pretty good at catch-the-snack if he needs a snack in the car.

With all the doctor appointments and PT I had to find childcare for FFM. All hail drop in daycare. We did one day a week daycare in Perth and I'd just make all my appointments for that day. Now I just buy a package and can drop FFM off for a minimum of 3omin up to 6 hours whenever I need to. It's a perfect solution for mom's like me who end up with random appointments and just need bits and bobs of daycare. Last time I picked him up he cried because he didn't want to leave.

Through a bizarre scheduling mix-up at our rec center (cancelled then uncancelled swimming lessons) we ended up with swimming lessons AND gymnastics for FFM this month. Now we have: PT Mon and Thurs, swimming Tues and Thurs, and gymnastics Tues. Toss in haircuts, grocery getting, etc and I'm feeling like the ultimate suburban mom. Even more so since I'm driving my mom's borrowed Chevy Tahoe all over town since my little car is rear wheel drive and our street's been snow packed since, oh, about October. We've had about three days of 60F weather and I could drive it home now (it's only the small shady neighborhood streets that are snow packed, all others get clear the day after a storm) but I bet as soon as I go trade cars with mom it snows again.

Speaking of cars, we did buy one. We just had to order it. Turns out we have pretty specific requirements and the one we want wasn't available on any lot within 1,000 mile radius of here. That covers car lots from LA to Chicago, so GMC is building a car just for us. Yippee, we'll get just what we want, we just have to wait 4-6 weeks for it. We ordered it before Christmas, so tack on another week since the plant closes a week for the holidays. We're very happy to have family willing to loan us cars and it's nice it's a short and easy bus ride to work. Hopefully soon Travis will have time to figure out a route to ride his bike, but again the snowy neighborhood streets make that challenging.

And there's news on our shipment! Word is that it's landed in LA. and is awaiting customs inspection. Who knows how long that will take, but it's nice to know it's at least made it this far. There's a chance we'll see our stuff before March after all.

Off to the National Western Stockshow tomorrow, taking advantage of Travis' Friday off to do fun things on a weekday!

Christmas

Oh yes, this year was a special Christmas. We reveled in the fact that FFM understood Santa, both giving and receiving presents graciously, giving thanks for gifts, and appreciating the season. We explored the story of baby Jesus and the animals in the stable. But he's still too little to anticipate yet, which means that there's no getting up before dawn, no restless pestering all night about stockings, reindeer, and how does Santa get down the chimney anyway? So we had a nice leisurely Christmas morning, in fact I think we four adults were literally prodding FFM down the stairs so we could see his reaction to the pile of booty that awaited.

SSSSSSSSSSSSledding

After a couple of days of snow, Christmas Eve morning dawned bright and clear. Uncle Q had the stupendous idea of hunting out our neighborhood sledding hill. So we ditched our preparations for Christmas dinner (which is partly why it was a couple hours late the next day...) and went sledding! FFM received a new orange toboggan from Grammie Pen Pen for Christmas this year and a few weeks ago I borrowed one from our mountain house so we were well stocked with sleds. The sledding hill, just at the end of our street.

FFM would carefully choose who to ride down with each run. This one was a 'race' but Daddy cheated and had a false start. Karen tried to help Q and FFM catch up by giving them an extra big push. I'm pretty sure Oscar-dog is along for the ride in this one, too. He'd alternate between chasing the sleds down the hill and riding tucked into Q's red vest.

The snow was so fluffy that it never really packed down, it just puffed around. That actually made it hard to walk up the hill, even for adults. FFM figured out pretty fast how to snag a ride and that it was safer to stay flat. Q called this move the ski patrol body drag. I know it sounds gruesome but really the gales of giggles that went along with the whole ride up temper the name.

It's really a perfect sledding hill, steep up top with a nice long, flat run out at the bottom. With the puffy fluffy champagne powder this meant a lot of snow flying in the air at the end of each run. Not a big deal if you're a tall adult but an entire face full of snow if you're 2.5 years old. Did it bother FFM at all? NOOOOOO. Just made his cheeks a little more rosy than normal.

Now THAT'S a look of pure and utter joy.

Karen, Quentin and Oscar (peeking out), Maggie, Travis, and FFM

What's Up?

I have a lot of things to blog about, but here's a quickie while I get the rest sorted in my brain and while I wait for photos from Q&Karen. They first have to get unstranded from Monticello, UT where the Audi broke down on their way home :( They are stuck there without phone/internet coverage, waiting for the holiday weekend to be over so the repair shop and/or U-Haul can open so they can get themselves home to AZ.

Anyway, FFM and I have been having this dialogue repeatedly recently, and it goes like this:

Hi Mommy.
Hi FFM. What's up?

FFM pauses, and looks up at the ceiling.
I laugh.