Before the Snow Totally Melted

How could I forget?! Perhaps because Travis took the photos and they got stuck in email limbo...

 Before the snow totally melted in our fair mountains we invited some friends up to hang out with us for the weekend.  We had a great time and the kiddos all managed to play and play and play for 2.5 days without injuring, fighting, or even raising the decibel level to painful ranges.

FFM and Julia enjoying crepes rinkside.

The whole H. Clan relaxing at the Beav.

It was great fun!  By the second evening even though all three 'big' kids were in the bunk room together they only giggled for a few minutes before sleep took over.  Perhaps the trick is greater or equal number of parents to kids.... ;-)

Night out at the Nuggets

FFM is a veteran pro-football participant, having several live (pre)seasons of Broncos under his belt, but he had not yet been to see the Denver Nuggets.
There have been some really great deals on Nuggets tickets lately (that's our local pro-basketball team for my non-Yank audience) so I bought a pair and sent Travis and FFM on a guys night out tonight.  Travis came home and regaled me with tales of their first ever basketball game experience.  Take it away Travis:

FFM and I got to the arena and found our seats and took in the surroundings.  Our mid-level seats were pretty good for cheapo seats, but FFM was mildly disappointed that they were not at The Very Top Row.

Looking around, FFM said "Daddy - the basketball stage is REALLY SMALL!".  "Yes, FFM" I say, "basketball is played on a wooden court indoors, and it's much smaller than the Broncos' outdoor grass field ."

I pointed out some of the key parts of basketball, explaining that the Nuggets are the guys in blue and white, the other team is the guys in red and gray, and that each team tries to throw the ball through the hoop.  I also pointed out Rocky, the Nuggets' mountain lion mascot.  A little while later, Rocky reappeared, and FFM asked "Daddy, is that mountain lion a chicken nugget, too?"

Throughout the first half FFM cheered and clapped enthusiastically, chanting "Go Nuggets!  Go Nuggets!" with the rest of the crowd.  At halftime, we searched out the Very Top Row and climbed up to check out the view.  We were literally right under part of the ceiling, and FFM noted that "Wow, the people look REALLY tiny from WAY UP HERE!"  Shortly thereafter we descended all the way down and headed home for bedtime.  I don't know how long he will enjoy seeking out ultra-nosebleed seats, but it's sure fun to bask in his 110% enthusiasm for everything new.

Easter Tidings

Our child will never do well at a traditional Easter egg hunt.  Unless he suddenly sparks some heretofore unknown killer instinct he's going to have to be happy hunting for a couple of eggs with the group and then with the treats the bunny hides at home.  FFM stops and pauses to explore, open, and amaze over Every Single Egg.  Mind you, he's not poking along doing this, it's all at warp FFM-speed, but he still doesn't get the elbows-out, take no prisoners, grab all you can and stuff into your basket idea of what egg hunts have become.  You know what?  That's 100% totally groovy with us.

Easter was pretty mellow here today.  It was a three day weekend for Travis and he spent Friday and Saturday improving things around our house.  We added another flower bed (begone ancient shrubbery!) and he spent yesterday doing touchup paint on the exterior of the house.  F and I had a playdate with dear friends and lovely naps on Friday and continued general yard cleanup on Saturday.  Actually, F mostly made the rounds of the neighborhood Saturday.  I'm extra appreciative of our open-plan style 'hood as it allow me to peek over yards and keep an eye on him as he pesters his favorite grownup, teenage, and kiddo neighbors.  Cul-de-sac life is good for him, too, as he's allowed all up and down our street on his bike and bikes to see the neighbors he can't access by greenbelt.  All in all, spring is good news for the social butterfly of the family.

Easter dawned early so off to early church we went.  Not quite sunrise service, but it felt pretty close.  Already hopped up on sugar FFM sat nicely until he dropped his brand new special crayon during the first prayer and we heard it roll ALL the way down to the front of the chapel.  At least he's old enough now that he WHISPERED REALLY LOUDLY THAT HIS CRAYON WAS GONE, MOMMY, GONE! and didn't shout it out in the middle of quiet reflection time.

As of bedtime calories consumed from sugar still vastly outweigh calories consumed by all other food groups today so I fully expect bouncing off the walls for several more hours tonight.  I finally tossed the rest of the Valentine candy that was lingering in the pantry.

Happy Easter, I hope you all come down safely from your sugar crashes :)

Not the Raindrops I Was Thinking Of

After 82F today it was a balmy 41 today with snow showers.  It was a perfect gray, gloomy day to stay inside and get ourselves settled after 1.5 weeks on the road.  I mucked out and unpacked, F played, and when we got our chores done we headed to the library to get some books.

F picked some early reader books.  Level 1. They are a little tricky and make him a little frustrated sometimes.  He sat in the backseat and tried reading one on the way home from the library.  At one point he got stuck so I had him sound out the letters.

"It's not letters Mommy."

"Sure it is.  Take a look and if you can't remember the sound just tell me the name of the letter."

"It's not letters!"

"I'm sure it's letters.  What does it look like?"

"Raindrops.  One, two little raindrops"

Silly me, poor kid, not a letter a - "

I explained quotation marks.  We've talked about them before when I've read, and he's seen them before, too, but I guess this is the first time he's sight read a book all on his own and run into them.  Every time he got stuck the whole rest of the way home he'd say, "Raindrops, wuh, huh, ah, tuh, what! Raindrops."

Overload

There's a new cafe on our way to/from skiing that's making a bit of a buzz this year.  They've got a good happy hour with a great deal on tacos and sliders and on Thursday FFM and I stopped by for an early dinner.  No one TOLD me about the over the top pastries and donuts that are 2 for one in the afternoons.  We passed, but maybe someday.  This particular one merited a photo.  When you want to go all out and have all your calories all at once, order this:

Yes, that is a maple log with a strip of bacon on it.  I will say that they are NOT as gargantuan as the donut logs at the grocery store, but still, it's a donut with bacon on it!  Not shown, the one FFM surely would have picked, pink frosting with Fruity Pebbles.