Growing

Today I had a strange experience. Dana was called in to work on a patent, so I took the kids out for some Saturday activities. First we stopped at Target to pick up Genevieve's new glasses. Her doctor gave us a prescription for the time being, since he doesn't think it is time to operate yet on her cataracts. She picked out a pair of pink glasses last week. As she puts it, "they're pinker than that!"

Then in true weekend-Dad form, we stopped for a donut at Donut Haus in Loveland.




Then it was off to the Bounce! house in Loveland to bounce out that donut energy. This was actually a special treat for Genevieve, because her "star chart" was all filled in. Thanks to some heroic work by Ryanne last week, Genevieve has started using the potty! So G has had this "star chart" for several weeks now. She designed it and it has stars on it that she can color in when she uses the potty. Now finally she had completed it, warranting a special treat.




We have been taking the kids to this Bounce house since Alex was about 1. It is very familiar, and comfortable. But in all that time the kids have wanted us near them, in fact would not bounce without one of us bouncing with them.

Today, however, much to my surprise and amazement, as soon as that had their socks on, Alex and Genevieve were off and bouncing on their own. They were happy to have me around, but now perfectly comfortable on their own. After 4+ years of dependence, the time had finally come for me to sit aside and enjoy a cup of coffee, semi-peacefully, while they played. This, combined with Genna's newfound potty skills, and new glasses, really underscored these changes. They really are growing up.

After the bouncing we trekked a few miles south to Beethoud to have lunch at our old haunt, A&W. Then we took a "Daddy hike" around Berthoud to see what the kids remembered of it. By the time we walked past the old house the kids were clearly tired, and Alex asked, "can't we just stop here at our house now?". I was pleased to note both the Santa Rosa plum and honey crisp apple trees were happy and full of fruit.

A visit to auntoh's house

Two weeks ago we drove out for a quick visit to Ali and Eric's. As we did the previous trip, we rented a minivan from Avis to make the trip easier and more fun. Alex loves getting a new car, especially one with as many nifty features as the recent Dodge vans. The Avis vans all seem to come loaded with Rear DVD, satellite radio, and other niceties.

Among the other highlights of this visit, we toured the massive Kennecot Utah copper mine near AE's house, and had a delightful Father's Day dinner with Eric's parents. But most of the time we spent following Olli around, between his naps, as he explored the house on his new-found crawling hands and knees. Both Alex and Genevieve were fascinated with his baby toys, perhaps reliving their youths.

Alex at one of the many nearby playgrounds:



Running thru the sprinklers!



Some (mostly) peaceful front porch sittin' with Auntoh Ali:



Somewhere in Southern Wyoming; the after-effects of a busy weekend at Ali and Eric's:



A very worthwhile detour to the Hobo Pool, a free, hot spring fed public pool in Saratoga, Wyoming:



Too bad the excellent nearby Thai place has closed :-(

Speaking of great road food in Wyoming, we came across a great brewpub in Rock Springs, Bitter Creek Brewing. And stopped again at our new favorite almost-home spot, Lovejoy's in downtown Laramie. Always a good Sunday night special.

Genna enjoys a real fruit smoothie at Bitter Creek Brewing on our way out Thursday evening:

Alex's 5th Birthday

For Alex's 5th birthday, we threw a party at the house. Even though it was early March, it was a beautiful weekend, and we rented a gigantic bouncy castle for the back yard.

Alex invited a ton of kids over, which made for a lively event. He asked for ice cream cake. We bought way too much - which is a nice problem to have. Auntie Ali and Uncle Eric came to visit, and Grandma and Grandpa Stangel.

Daddy's First Braid

About a week ago, I successfully completed my very first braid of Genevieve's hair.


I had made many previous attempts, but had not been able to complete it before one of us got too tired, annoyed, or wiggly.

Pizza, Cookies, and Live Music at Whole Foods

Tonight was $8 pizza Friday at Whole Foods, and a live classic rock band to boot.




Oh, and cookies too, naturally!

Big Day

Today Genevieve used the potty for its intended purpose for the first time.




Now for a great (messy) adventure!

February In Review

It's hard to believe February is already two months gone by.  I've been remiss in my blog posting duties.

It was still snowing in February...  So we made several trips to the sledding hill.  (But why is Dana pulling the kids... UP the hill??)

February also featured Valentine's Day, and our favorite Valentine...

February also marked a major transition for Dana.  She said farewell to her first law job, in order to pursue a new position at a firm with offices in Fort Collins focusing exclusively on biotech IP.

Before she left, we stopped by her old office to say 'hi'

And her former employer gave her a warm farewell lunch

Later in the month we took our now semi-regular February weekend away from the kids.  We visited Saratoga, Wyoming, home of rejuvenating hot springs. 

Alas, we did NOT take a dip in the Hobo Pool, although it looked very inviting!

This picture does not show it, but it was absurdly windy all weekend, with high temperatures in the 30s.  We had to scramble from hot pool to hot pool amidst the piercing, frigid winds of Southern Wyoming.

And out of nowhere in February came a truly amazing set of old Stangel family photographs, including several of my Grandpa (Alex's Great Grandpa)
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From top left- Judy, Joan, Gene; bottom: Grandma (Jane) and Grandpa (Bill)

Glancing over my photo archive, I see that there is still lots more to come!  Cousin Oliver's baptism and the accompanying road trip, Alex's birthday party, and much more. Stay tuned.

Just a Lazy Winter's Day

Today was a positively gorgeous Colorado winter day, sunny and warm and drawing everyone out to enjoy the day.

Some of the best Saturday mornings start out with donuts

We took a walk by the stream near our house, and then came back home to grill some hamburgers for lunch and eat a picnic lunch in the back yard. Then we decided to spent an hour or two pruning trees and bushes. The kids played very well in the yard while we worked. They were "feeding" the plants some new "rock juice" (that is, juice made out of rocks). The plants loved it.

The kids, preparing to feed the plants their new "rock juice"

Gymnastics

Alex and Genevieve are taking a gymnastics class together this month at the Loveland Rec Center.  Alex has taken a couple of gym classes before, and Genevieve was feeling left out.  Also Alex seems to do much better when his little sister is around.  So we figured out a way to get them both in the class.  Here are some short videos from their first class together today (courtesy of Ryanne):

Alex does the high beam, by himself!

 

 Alex does the obstacle course:

 

Genevieve does the obstacle course, part 1:

Genna does the obstacle course, pt. 2:

After the Holidays

The holidays are over. We've disposed of the tree. Alex helped to vacuum.


We bought a TV and hooked it up to the Mac to watch videos. It's easy to see how the TV can become a babysitter. Have to be careful not to let that happen.


We are back at work, everyone back to their usual routine. We are looking forward to finding out which schools in the Poudre School District Alex will get into for next Fall. It's hard to believe his first day of Kindergarten is just 8 months away!