Labor Day

On Labor Day (last Monday) we decided to drive up the hill to Estes Park. I had the idea that we could go listen to the elk bugling after sundown in Rocky Mountain National Park.

We arrived in town just in time for the dinner rush hour. The BBQ restaurant we wanted to try had a 35 minute wait, so we ended up at our old standby, the Estes Park Brewery. They never fail to please. The free beer downstairs is a huge plus. For those who have never been to the Estes Park Brewery, and even for those who have but have not been there with a two year old boy, there is one important fact to note: It is situated immediately adjacent to a go cart track.

What's more, we were seated at a table with an unobstructed view of said go cart track. This turned out to be a big win for us, because it kept Alex occupied (distracted) through most of dinner. The CSU-CU football game helped keep me distracted too, but we had a good time. At least it wasn't a Cal game. The one trade-off was that we promised Alex that if the go carts were still open after dinner, we would go ride them.

Daddy and Alex turning some hot laps at Fun City:





After that we drove up into Rocky Mountain National Park -- which seemed to be offering free admission for the holiday -- at least nobody was at the ranger station. We stopped a few miles up the road and got out to listen for the elk. I heard them; I think Dana did too. But about that time Genevieve decided she had had enough of all this nature. She let us have it. She started screaming, and she didn't stop until we were about halfway back down the mountain along US 34. I am beginning to think she is not much of a nature girl.


Earlier in the weekend, Dana gave Genevieve a bath in her little blue bathtub. Alex calls this her "boat," and it's a pretty apt description, except the water is inside-out.



Later that day, Dana and Alex engaged in a rousing game of Connect Four:

Note: Before you assume that our son is a total genius, look carefully at the arrangement of checkers - there are no actual 4-in-a-rows there... maybe in another year

Now here are some gratuitous pictures of Genevieve:

Cute baby...

This is what we call "Elvis lip"

Here's contemplative Genevieve

Here's surprised Genevieve?

Because of Dana's class schedule this semester, Tuesday and Thursday evenings have become my time alone with the kids. I have been enjoying this time with them. I get to hold Genevieve and try to manage Alex as best I can. It's also a good chance to boost my confidence that I really can handle two at a time. But in the 10-20 minutes before I pick them up from Ryanne, I have found myself getting absolutely terrified, for no good reason. I just start thinking, "Holy crap, what am I going to do with these kids for 3 hours straight?!?" It's the same feeling I used to get when I was in the Cal Marching Band, in the moments in the North Tunnel of Memorial Stadium right before a football game. We'd all be standing around, jumping up and down, psyching each other up for the pregame show, but the whole while thinking "I don't know what I'm doing! I haven't practiced enough! There's 20,000 people out there who are going to watch me single-handedly destroy this show! Aaaaaaaaarrgh!" For those who have not had the privilege, it is a bit like climbing to the top of the roller coaster, spending a few milliseconds staring down the other side in abject terror - yet longing for it, wanting it to come every bit as much as you're dreading it.

Maybe the feeling will subside eventually and I'll be completely comfortable handling two kids at once. Someday I'll probably laugh it off, thinking it's trivial.