Carnival

Last weekend the carnival came to Longmont. It seemed like the perfect chance to introduce Alex to the magic of the midway, the spinning teacups, the cotton candy, the carousel, the creepy carnival workers..

We got together with Tyr and Mandy for a delectable Indian lunch buffet then headed over to the Carnival. Or, in toddler-speak, "carn-bull".


It turned out the carnival wasn't that great, though, and the ticket prices were outrageous - for the same price we could spend all day at Elitch Gardens (6 Flags) in Denver, instead of the grimey parking lot of the Twin Pines mall.

But the ferris wheel was a lot of fun








Friday night was also noteworthy. Kim and Tom invited us over for an impromptu BBQ and our first look at their gorgeous new house next to the foothills of Fort Collins. We got to see a smiling but sleepy Dean just before bedtime we ate dinner on the patio under rolling, rumbling leaden storm clouds. Later after the rain finally drove us inside, Alex spent the evening stalking the cats Kudzu and Miso, and being entertained by Thomas (he's a natural!).

Alex has a late bedtime. He typically goes to bed between 9 and 10pm. In the past week this has been stretched to after 10 on several occasions. On one memorable night last Thursday we ended up out shopping late and ducked Into IHOP for a college-bender-style late night pancake pig out that had us in bed after 11.

Now we're trying to reel these excesses back in and get closer to 9pm. It's nice to have lots of time with Alex after work, but it's also nice to have some alone time.

Poolside

This morning Dana thought to fill up the pool to let the water warm up in the Colorado sun. We couldn't find the pool, so we filled up the raft instead.



Rather than bother with swim diapers, Alex just went au natural instead.

New Trailer

Tonight I bought a utility trailer I found on craigslist. I've been looking for awhile. We don't have a pickup truck anymore, so this is a good way to haul lots of STUFF!

Getting Real

Even though Dana has been carrying our baby girl for almost 7 months now, to me she hasn't seemed "real". But today I called to schedule her very first doctor's appointment with our pediatric ophthalmologist Dr. Arnold to check for cataracts. And all of a sudden I realized "Wow, this is real. She's on her way"

It's funny because I know for Dana the new baby is already VERY real (as in, really kicking her in the ribs, really making her hungry at all hours of the night, really making her sleep apnea worse every day). But it took this small act for it to all come into focus for me.

So it won't be too long now before we're back to square 1 with a brand new little human.

Image of "stork girl" courtesy of Grassy Greetings

Weddings and Go Karts

Alex and I have been on many adventures this past weekend.

On Friday afternoon I cut out of work early to go be a wedding photographer. Sort of. Ryanne and Lucas decided to get married officially here in Northern Colorado, to avoid the hassle and delay of all the paperwork in Illinois this summer. So on Friday they officially tied the knot over at the county courthouse. They were kind enough to invite me to come along and take a few pictures, and Alex and I were honored to get to be the very first people to congratulate them on their joyous day.

Alex and I surprised the lovely couple with a very exclusive reception. We celebrated with clandestine champagne and "wedding cake" cupcakes in the park next to the courthouse immediately following their marriage. After that, we walked over to the Rio for dinner. It was delightful to see them, regardless of the occasion, but even better to be a part of something so special.

For a while, at least, I think Alex will have a very skewed idea of what "weddings" actually entail. As far as he knows, it involves sitting at a table at a government office for 20 minutes drawing pictures of trucks on a voter registration form. Thence, sneaking booze and cake in a city park. But soon enough he'll get a taste of what weddings are really about.

In other news, Dana's final final exam of the semester is today. She spent part of the weekend studying, and the other part being exhausted.

So to help Mommy have time to studying, Alex and I spent Sunday afternoon up at Fort Fun. I decided it was time for Alex to drive the go carts.

We spent 10 exhilarating minutes zooming around the track on a blustery, misty afternoon. We were lucky enough to have a couple of other pairs of dads and toddlers on the track, so it was perhaps a little bit kinder and gentler than it might have otherwise been -- although those other dads were still pretty aggressive on the turns!

If Alex looks a little dubious in this picture, it is probably because we forgot to put on our coats before strapping into the go cart. So we were both pretty cold by the end of the race! Poor Alex was actually shaking when we got out. I felt terrible, but he insisted that he had fun and almost immediately was asking to "drive go carts" again.

I wasn't sure if he was old enough to really appreciate the ride, or not be completely freaked out by it. So every lap I would slow down a bit and hold his arm or knee and ask him if he was OK or if he was having fun, and he would grin or nod or mouth "yes". So combined with his pleas to go again afterward, I think it was a success.

When we were through with the go carts, we went inside to the arcade to warm up.


Alex took a ride on the scooper truck.




I also introduced him to the whack-a-mole game. (or whack-a-shark, in this case)

And he tried his hand at ski-ball. He really enjoyed it, but his arm needs a little work. He wasn't able to roll the ball hard enough to get it to pop up over the bump and into the goals. So I helped him out.

Oh, yesterday was mother's day too. I made Dana some all-natural pork sausage (no nitrates, no MSG, no preservatives) and our family's traditional scrambled pancakes or "iresterits" (no idea how to spell that). We practiced all day, and by the end of the day I had Alex saying "Happy Mother's Day". He said it to Mommy and he said it to Grandma Carla too, who called us from the train she was riding from Portland to Olympia, to visit GREAT grandma Jane.

Finally, I wanted to show off my tool-using higher primate. Last week he rolled one of his matchbox trucks under the dishwasher. He was frustrated for a few minutes and asked me for help to get it out, but I was busy washing dishes and barely noticed what had happened. Before i knew it he had gone to get one of his "sticks" (the corrugated edges of a huge foam play mat we have). I was delighted to see him on hands and knees using his "stick" to fish the truck out from under the dishwasher.

OK, maybe it's not rocket science, but it definitely marks a cognitive milestone in my book.

A Busy Saturday

Today was much busier than I expected.

Before we even left Berthoud we realized that today was the dedication ceremony for our lovely new streetscaping. We stopped to watch the mayor and the public works administrator and other luminaries give speeches; They had cake and confetti. Most importantly, they had firetrucks.



Alex got another chance to sit in the cab of two of our fire trucks. We walked around each of them several times to see where all the hoses are attached, how the ladders work, where the firemen sit, etc., etc. One of the firemen let Alex try on his fire jacket.

Firemen lower the flag after the dedication ceremony at 4th and Mountain

Once we finished our cake, we decided it was probably time to start the day. So we hopped back in the car, but we hadn't gone even a block when we saw about a dozen beautiful vintage cars on display by the fire station. So we just HAD to stop and check them out too!

Alex isn't sure about the Buick, but he really liked the Ford Fairlane and the vintage trucks, including Berthoud's own fully-restored Model-T pickup truck.

So after another 20 minutes of looking at cars, we decided now it was high time to start our day. Remember, our original plan was to go feed the geese and ride the trolley.

So up we went to Daddy's work to try and find some geese to feed our extra bread to. We didn't have to look far, we just followed the loud honking noises to the ponds on the southeast corner of the plant.

C'mon Daddy, over here!

Mmmmmm... more stale bread please.... honk honk!

I remembered that we actually have a really nice little play area at work too, so we stopped over there for another 20-30 minutes to run around and play on the slides and whatnot. Finally we decided to pick up where we'd left off on our quest to ride the trolley.

On our way up, we called our friends Kim & Tom & Dean to see if they would like to join us for a trolley ride. Dean was in the middle of one of his naps, but they said once he woke up they'd love to join us.

Meanwhile we had to stop at the new library branch and return a book.

Once all that was over, we decided it would be a good time for lunch. So we ducked into McDonalds for some chicken nuggets.

Then, finally we made our way to Old Town and found parking very near the trolley stop at Mountain and Howe.

As we got out of the car, we heard loud music and cheering. A party? Oh yes. It was the big Cinco de Mayo festival over at the municipal building. Well, we would be remiss if we did not stop to investigate. So we walked over to the park and made the rounds of booths, vendors, performance stages, fire safety exhibits, and so forth. We ran into my coworker Paul's wife Zoe and chatted about the big frog count going on. We watched some amazing machete dancers.

And finally, at long last, we decided ti was high time to resume our trolley plans. We sat at the station for about 5 minutes and lo, there was the trolley.

Ding! ding!

#21 is a 1919 electric trolley bought in that year by the City of Fort Collins for $6,200. It was in regular passenger service in the city until the 1950s. The trolley line runs on 600 volds DC. The non-profit volunteer Fort Collins Municipal Railway runs the trolleys every weekend from May to September. Adult fare is $1, kids are $0.50. The 3-mile round trip takes about 1/2 hour, running from Old Town to City Park.

Alex enjoys the scenic trip along Mountain Avenue

The present-day tourist attraction is a mere shadow of the 4-line municipal railway that once criss-crossed Fort Collins, starting with horse-drawn carriages before the turn of the century and quickly moving to electric cars that ran through the 1950s, before the railway was dismantled.

#21 is the only car currently in service, but the Railway is in the process of restoring a second car from Fort Collins' past, #25, that will eventually join the route. There is talk of someday expanding the line farther west and north, but the chances of it ever returning to regular passenger service are slim-to-none.

After one round-trip on the line we got the call that Dean was awake and ready to roll, so we arranged to meet Kim and Tom over at Gelazzi for some gelato, and then ride the trolley again with them.



Gelato is wonderful stuff. A bit expensive though - our medium serving was upwards of $8. Ah well, a rare treat, and they do give you all the free samples you want before making your decision.

Alex and I shared a cup of strawberry-banana and chocolate-chocolate chip.

Dean is getting big! I guess that's the natural course of things, but it always amazes me when I go several weeks or months between seeing otherwise-familliar babies. It seems Kim & Tom are adjusting well to life in Colorado. They close on their first house in a couple of weeks, a beautiful newer home on a half acre on the very south-west corner of town adjacent to a big natural area. I can't wait for the housewarming party.

Tom also recently helped Dana make the connections to secure a legal internship at CSU this summer. Kim is allllmost done with her doctoral dissertation in fluid mechanics. I think. Or hydrodynamics, or nuke-you-lur power, or something insanely technical and messy. Between his two engineer Ph.D professor parents, Dean is going to be one smart cookie.

So after we ate gelato and started to catch up a bit, it was time to return to the trolley. C'mon people, let's stay focused.



This time we rode to City Park and had a stopover so we could play at the park and walk around the lake. Despite the grey weather, the temperature was pleasantly cool and it did not rain on us. Our timing was perfect, too, as the return trolley was rolling to a stop just as we arrived back at the station in City Park.


Tom, Dean, Kim, Alex and Dan in front of Old # 21 at City Park

At this point, Alex was beyond exhausted. He was running on ice cream and trains, but fading fast. As soon as we got back to the car and changed a diaper, around 4:45, it started raining and Alex fell asleep.

We drove home through the rain and I carried Alex upstairs to finish his nap. By 6:30pm we had picked up a hasty dinner of stuffed sopapillas from Santiago's (in honor of Cinco de Mayo and our completely lack of energy to do anything in the kitchen), and Alex was slowly waking up on the couch watching a video.

The aftermath of the day's vigorous activities

Daddy, stop pestering me!

Today's Plan

Today Alex and I are heading up to Fort Collins. We're going to feed the geese at work. Then we are heading up to Old Town to ride the trolley. Today marks the start of trolley season, despite the rain.

Even though the venerable Ski Train is no more, at least we have the Fort Collins Municipal Railroad.