Life in a Mountain Town

We've moved up to beautiful Frisco, Colorado for the summer, and are settling in. We have a lovely 3 bedroom townhouse next to downtown. It has enough room for us to play, but it would be a bit small if we were stuck inside!

Fortunately there is a lot to do right outside our door.

Grandma Carla and Aunt Ali are visiting this weekend, while Ryanne is off to Chicago for a well-deserved vacation.

Yesterday we went to Dan's favorite place in Breckenridge, the "crepe shack" (actually "Crepes a la Carte"):
Much to our dismay it started snowing on us while we were enjoying our crepes!

Later on in the afternoon after we returned to Frisco it cleared up, so we walked over to the elementary school playground just a couple of blocks from our house.
We brought the big green ball to play "soccer." Alex got a big kick out of it, but I think Dan and Ali had the most fun.
It wasn't long before Alex was distracted by the enormous, well-appointed playground.


He likes the swings!

I mean, he really likes them.

Like, a lot.


He also likes the slides!
So does Auntie Ali
And after a long, busy day at the park, it's nice to retire to the Brewery for dinner and drinks
Here Aunt Ali supervises Alex

And finally after all that, we're all pooped out for the day

Now, without bragging too much, here is a picture of my office upstairs for the summer:
This is my view of Lake Dillon from my private deck
Yesterday I spent an hour or so setting up my office, complete with high-speed cable internet, my trusty conference call headset, and a nice little folding table we brought up from Berthoud. I even brought the "red phone" (Who do you want answering the red phone at 3am??).

We're Still Here

Stomach flu, tornadoes, horribly messy rental houses, and a hectic end to the law school semester can't keep us down. But they can keep us from blogging.


Sick Alex being fed popsicle pieces by Ry-Ry

A couple of weeks ago Alex came down with a stomach bug. He got sick, then Ryanne, then Dana, then Dan. Meanwhile Dana had final exams: two tests and a 25-page paper. Our last tenants moved out and left quite a project for us to work on. We had to remodel, paint, or clean most of our house near CSU before our new tenants moved in.

In the midst of all this, a serious tornado touched down in Windsor, Colorado, just a few miles east of us. It destroyed several neighborhoods and killed one. Fortunately everybody we know in Windsor is OK.


Alex making an attempt at climbing onto his toy box. He eventually got it, but not on video.

Yesterday morning, Alex said "nose" and pointed to his nose, perhaps his first "real" word. He's been reliably saying "Ma ma ma ma ma" to Dana, and occasionally "Da da da da" to Dan. He also is signing a few important words, including "milk" (squeezing his fist like he's milking a cow), "more" (touching his fingers together), and he waves "bye". We're working on "please" now (rubbing his chest), and "cracker" (tapping his elbow).

He loves fruit! He eats 7-8 strawberries at a time, and he loves cherries too, and apricots.

Musician, Dancer, Gardener

The simplest, cheapest toys remain the best. Here, Alex demonstrates his talents playing this "flute" - a bendy straw from a free sports bottle:


He has developed a love of the outdoors, and in particular, the garden. Alex and Dana regularly venture out to weed, plant new seedlings, and just enjoy the dirt and green leaves.





Here's the first batch of radishes poking up


And last year's lemon balm is back in force


We also caught a big furry spider in the kitchen light last night


Alex has happy feet now.

When he's happy and he knows it, he stomps his feet. And he likes to turn in circles too (video of that to follow shortly).