Oink Oink and other things

Last Saturday was the first annual (bi-annual?) Creekside Pig Roast, and it was a great time! Basically, we and three of our neighbors all went in together to host a pig roast for our other neighbors, family and friends. It was nice because it never felt overwhelming to plan a party since the responsibilities were all split up (Jenny might disagree, but just because she and Dave freak out about things they don't need to!). We counted over 100 people there, and everything went so well.

For some reason, we had a red, white and blue mullet wig and everyone took a turn with it... Here's Rhonda

And Jenny looking sexy


And Rocky with some kid I don't know!

And Mayur

And of course Dave


Here's the cooker, chicken in the front, pig in the back.


Oink Oink!


Before the party started


And during the party!


And what would a party be without Dave dancing up a storm?


Needless to say, we all had fun. I didn't get to bed until 3:30 (3:30!!). I can't remember the last time that happened. Jenny and I cleaned up some before bed and then everyone was out Sunday morning finishing it up. Oh wait, there was one hitch... Sadie apparently had too much pig during the pig roast too and it impacted her digestive system. Dave has spent the last two mornings and afternoons cleaning up after the "treats" she left for us when she couldn't get outside in time. Thank God for Dave!

And on to other topics... I haven't yet posted about our new lawn ornament! Dave and Rocky are going to learn to never send Jenny and I shopping together. We came home with this, which we bought together. The kids LOVED it, but it is quite a pain to put away. Lesson learned: it better be nice ALL weekend to make it worth getting out!



Last week, we met Jen (my sister) and her three kids at Stonefire Pizza Company (Chuck E. Cheese, only much, much nicer) to celebrate Erin's second and Max's first birthdays. We did this for Nolan and Chad's birthday, too, and it's lots of fun. The only stressful part is trying to turn in the tickets the kids win from their games and getting toys. That part is crazy!

They have a room with face paint stuff... here's kitty Abby and Kitty Erin!

Conductor Max

Conductor Erin

The water table. The other problem with this place is that there's a lot of field trips. And the kids don't usually have enough supervision. Such was the case at the water table! When it seemed like Max was done, I took off the thing that was keeping him dry. Meanwhile kids kept splashing other kids. But then Max went back, the kids had bad aim, and bam. He got a bucket full of water on him.



And here's his super wet shirt! He was fine, but I wasn't happy about it.



Here's the big lego room. Abby and Cole and Nolan kept building towers for Max, and of course he couldn't resist knocking them down!


The kidlets being crazy



Max's favorite ride. I couldn't resist! It's the place where you put the kids when you're going to the bathroom... in the stall with you, all buckled in. I've seen them before but never used one, and he loved it! When I came out, Jen asked me if someone was taking pictures in the bathroom. Oops! Yup, that would be me. I guess that's frowned upon in some places!


And here's party central. The restaurant won't let you bring presents in if you don't have a party booked, so we do it afterwards in the back of the van. Thank goodness for big vans and little kids!


Here's the kiddos at the beach today. Ah, the beach. I've actually taken the kids there enough this summer to have warranted buying the season pass! It's a great place because Abby and Nolan can swim or play in the sand, and Max will play for hours in the sand. Although today, he ventured into the watered and kept wanting to go out further and further. Even after taking a header into the water, he was still happy out there!


I couldn't resist this picture of Nolan. :)


And here's what the kids did before dinner... Bella Dancerella! Abby found her dance mat and vido and put it in. But, I'm really not sure who had the most fun. At one point, Max was clapping and Nolan was dancing on the couch. Here, the boys are just awestruck.


Max on his new chair. This was taken before Abby had her digestive issue.


And that's about it! I realize I still haven't written about Max's birthday or fourth of July. I still will but the thing is, I've lost the camera with the pictures of those days. I bought a new one before Colorado, Abby used the other camera until it ran out of memory, and I put the old camera somewhere and that somewhere is eluding me now. I promise it'll show up when you least expect it!

But, I thought I would leave you with my list of the 5 things I haven't done this summer:

1. Yelled at the kids to get up and get going so they could get to daycare on time. We've had nice, liesurly mornings with relatively little freaking out.


2. Rushed around after work to pick up the kids from daycare on time, get them home, get them dinner and get them to bed so they can get up in the morning. They're outside late and up late... just like summer should be!


3. Watched as the kids go on field trips with the daycare people. We get to go on our own field trips!


4. Try to fit a million things into the weekends to enjoy the summer. Now, our weekends are actually our downtimes!


5. Worried about cleaning or organizing the house. I've gotten a couple of things done, but I'm really happy that usually, my house is no worse off than it was when I woke up in the morning.

If you can't tell, I'm really enjoying summer. The timing of being done with work was so nice because it was like being back in school when summer actually meant something! For those of you who have to work, I'm sorry! It'll all be even, I'm sure, when it's 10 below in February for the fifth day in a row and I'm stir crazy with the kids. But for now, I'm going to continue to enjoy it!

I promise I'm still here!

I didn't fall off the face of the earth, I promise! It just feels like every time I sit down to do the blog, it's 11 at night and I'm tired. It's a very strange phenomenon. When I was working, I felt like I was getting a lot more done. I did more personal emails, I paid bills, all of the computer stuff. Now that I'm not working full time, I have less time (or maybe just less motivation?) to do that! But for now, I hope you'll all settle just knowing I'm still here, enjoying my summer with the kiddos.

Colorado Continued

Ok, so where was I? Oh yes, Steamboat, day 2. My day started out with a hike further up Fish Creek Falls, then back to the house, a few games of Monopoly Jr., a bath in the great bathtub, and then on with our day. We decided to take a gondola ride up to the top of Mt. Werner, which is the big ski hill in Steamboat. First we had to stop for some shopping, and here's Abby, showing off her new Steamboat cap and shirt.


And here's Gram and Abby, enjoying the view from the gondola


And here's the view from our restaurant at the top of the mountain. It can't be beat!


Abby had had enough of mountain looking fast enough, and when we got back down to the bottom, she decided she'd like to try something a little bit more less nature-y and a little more carnival-y! Here she is getting hooked up to the bungee trampoline...


And here she is once she decided that it was pretty fun to go high!


After that we went back to the house to relax. My mom and Uncle John went to the driving range... crazy! It's pretty hard to get your breath there, and it was hot. I think they both came back soaking wet and quite tired. But, that didn't stop mom from coming with Abby and me to Strawberry Park Hot Springs! And it's a good thing she did, because I had a Watsu Massage scheduled and really needed a babysitter (thanks, mom!). What's Watsu, you may ask? It's a water shiatsu massage. I had my own private hot pool, and the masseuse basically floats you in the water, continually keeping you supported, while he massages you. It was very, very nice and a great experience! While I was doing that, mom and Abby hung out in the series of hot pools, and explored the little islands they had.


Abby was kept busy just climbing the walls!


That night we basically went home and crashed. I wanted to get an early night's sleep because I was determined to hike further up the Fish Creek Falls trail. I got up at 5:45 so I could start at 6, and told mom if I wasn't home by 10 to send the troops in to look for me! Well, I hiked up for two hours and back for an hour and 10 minutes, so it was probably closer to 10 than she was comfortable with! But it was completely worth it. The hike was exhausting, but I would do it every day if I could. I think I went about 2000 feet up, and almost 5 miles in, from what I can tell from the trail map.



Each stage of the mountain had a very different look. Here's the birch trees that looked so neat.




This is what the trail looked like in some places. Yes, that's a trail!!




I guess I know why they call them the rocky mountains! It looked like the rocks were growing out of the field.




Sometimes my trail looked like this... it was 85 degrees during the day, and there was SNOW in my path!


Here's what the trail looked like when I decided to turn around... the snow must have just melted to make it so muddy. But then, I just had to see what was up ahead and went through it.

And then... My favorite picture!! This is my moose. Yes, mine. I got past the mud, looked around, and there he was. It was so cool.


And, on the way back down, but slipped and got war wounds. Completely worth it!!


And then that afternoon, the real reason we came to Colorado to begin with... the wedding! Here's a picture of the three of us, ready to head out.

The wedding was at 3:30, with a reception at the church afterwards (all kinds of pie and a cake... yum!). After hanging out there for awhile, a bus came to take us to a ranch. I have no idea where it was, but it was out in the middle of a lot of nature! Once we got there, we all grabbed a beer and headed out on a horse drawn wagon ride. Upon return we had some music and some great steak, chicken or trout and all hung around talking. The guy who was singing was fun and sang some great Western songs, both "real" (think John Denver) and "fun" (think I'm My Own Grandpa and She'll be Coming 'Round the Mountain). It was truly a lot of fun and a perfect wedding for my Aunt Vicke and Jim. Here's the happy couple!


Saturday morning we headed out to my aunt's new house to see it and have breakfast. I don't have any pictures of their house though... sorry! We watched them open up gifts, said goodbye (which was hard because she's so far away now!) and headed back home. Some more time in the pool, church and then Abby and I got dropped off for another round of mini-golf while my Uncle John grilled out brats. Yum!

Then, on the last day, we got up and Abby and I headed over to the balloon rodeo that was taking place in town. We walked down to the parking lot, took a bus to a park, and then watched the balloons. It was really neat... we think there were 30 of them!




There was even a wedding in one of them. Abby thought that was a little crazy. I tend to agree!


And that's it. The rest is the long drive home, which really wasn't too bad either. The last 6 hours was just Abby and me, and Abby slept for three... it was actually nice to have some me time, even if it was on the highway. So, if you've made it this far, congratulations! Vicke and Jim (or is it Aunt Victoria and Uncle James?)--THANK YOU for a great excuse for a vacation, for letting Abby and I tag along, and for living in such a beautiful area! I hope I can come visit sometime. It was great to see the two of you together and your new house. Here's to the next 25(+) years together!

Next up, Max's birthday and Fourth of July. Crazy! Tomorrow we're heading to the zoo for another zoo class, Tuesday I'm going to work, Tuesday night we're heading down to Chicago to hang out at Dave's parent's house (and pool!), we'll be back on Wednesday... Meeting Jen and kiddos to celebrate birthdays at Stonefire Pizza Company in New Berlin on Thursday, Friday Dave's parents and our niece and nephew are coming, Saturday we're having a pig roast and Sunday Dave's going golfing and the in-laws are going home. Whew! That's a week... I think I'll be tired!!

If anyone reading is interested in coming the pig roast on Saturday, let me know and I'll get you info... we'd love to have you! Starts at 3, we'll have lots of food, drinks, games, everything!

P.S. Of course I have about a million more pictures. If you'd like to see them all feel free to view them on Shutterfly: www.coloradoabby2008.shutterfly.com BEWARE: They're not all labeled or organized, and there's a lot of them! :)

An epic entry, or...

Well, this may be an epically long blog, or it may be very short, depending on how long I can keep my eyes open. In case I don't make it to the end, or you (very understandably!) don't read to the end, the trip to Colorado was great, the mountains were beautiful and we made it home safely. (And I still have to write about Max's birthday and fourth of July... I think that will be tomorrow at least!)

After spending July 3-July 6 at Dave's parent's in Chicago, Abby and I started out on our trip. It was fun to spend some time with Abby, and the funny things she would say. Out of the blue she started talking about things that are "unpossible." Like, if she said bananas were falling out of the sky, that would be unpossible. But it could rain out of the sky. Yup, I guess that's true! She also spent a lot of time putting pictures in picture albums for me. I got each of the kids their own album and ordered a bunch of pictures from baby to where they are now. She sorted them all and put them in albums. Then took hers out and redid it again, and again and again! In fact, all the pictures are back out now, waiting for her to sort them now. Anyway, the first leg was from Chicago area to Ames, Iowa, where we spent the night with my friend Lisa. They've only been in their house for a little while and it was so nice to see her, her husband Ben and son Connor. And it just so happened that her mom and dad came that day too!



Here's Abby, holding her pictures that she sorted and put in albums.






On Monday, before my mom and Uncle met us at Lisa's house, we went to the Botanical Garden, which was nice. Here's a picture of Lisa, Connor and the lady that works in the butterfly exhibit, letting Connor hold a butterfly.


Abby pumping water out of the frog's mouth.



Connor and Abby in the whale.



My mom and Uncle John came just after noon on Monday and they left the car in Lisa's driveway and took off in the van. I soon realized that we wouldn't be going very far without frequent stops for John! Here's Abby and Mom checking out the art/playground equipment at the first stop.




My Uncle John with his liquid refreshment at the first stop.


We made it through Iowa, and into Nebraska. What a flat, boring state! We made it to North Platte, Nebraska around 8 on Monday night. We were excited to see that the pool was open all night, but then equally disappointed to see that it was under maintenance and we couldn't go in. We woke up early on Tuesday and started out for Colorado. After the last of the flat Nebraska and flat eastern Colorado, we finally made it to the mountains.



They were really beautiful, and only a little challenging to drive through. It only made me a little nervous when the signs started telling us about what to do if our brakes go out, and had areas for run away trucks!



We got to the house we'd be staying at around 4 on Tuesday, unpacked and went grocery shopping. It was really nice to have the space--three bedrooms, three bathrooms, living area, kitchen. It had lots of movies, books and games, and we spent great downtime using all three. It definitely couldn't be beat!




Here's the pool... nothing like a pool and two whirlpools with mountain views!




These were the signs on the garbage area. A little scary, since it says mama bear and baby bear were there the morning we checked in. Uh oh! I'm glad we never saw any of those!



Here's other pictures of Abby around town... on a horse,



On a wagon, and...



on a dinosaur?? Yup, everything has a saddle around here, I guess!


After a good night sleep, I got up for an early morning walk and about halfway through, a little elk came down the hill next to me and onto the street. I don't usually get that close to a deer, much less an elk! Unfortunately I didn't have my camera, but it was pretty neat. On Wednesday morning, mom, Abby and I headed to Fish Creek Falls. There's a good trail to the waterfalls there, and then a fairly steep trail heading up the mountain from there.


Here's mom and Abby at the trailhead.



Abby was a natural rock climber and even became our tour guide, telling us where the tricky rocks were.



Fish Creek Falls



More rock climbing Abby



Gram and Abby pondering the universe


Enjoying a picnic after the hike


From the lookout tour to the Falls


From there we went mini golfing, and then went through the human maze.


Unfortunately, we saw this sign a lot. After awhile it just wasn't fun anymore... we couldn't find our way out!


We finally made it and went and relaxed in the pool for awhile.

And that ends day 1 in Colorado, day 3 of the trip! I want to finish but need to hit the sack tonight. I've put in the highlight pictures below and will write about them more tomorrow.
































My favorite picture!!