A Feeding Fiasco

I took Taylor to Tae Kwon Do class this evening, as per our usual routine. Nothing out of the ordinary, just the last thing to do on a very long To-Do list for today. You see, I tried to get a little more than usual accomplished before Tae Kwon Do time this evening. I was, however, so intent on accomplishing said tasks that I ended up tasking myself right out of a decent meal. The whole day's intake for me through class time consisted of 2 bites of a muffin, several quarts of water and ten Tic Tac mints that I scrounged out of the bottom of my purse during class (when I finally realized I was STARVING).

Class finished at 6:45 p.m. Rather than fend off a hypoglycemic episode on the 20-minute drive home, I finally caved to Taylor's request to eat dinner at Pizza Hut. She's been asking me for forever to go to Pizza Hut and use the several 'free Personal Pan Pizza' coupons she earned for her reading efforts at school and in the summer reading program at the local library. Even though I am in no way a fan of Pizza Hut, I was hungry enough to eat a dead rat out of a homeless person's underwear. So, it really wasn't a choice as much as it was desperation coupled with the fact that a Pizza Hut is directly across the parking lot from ATA Family Martial Arts.

Apparently, when we walked into Pizza Hut just before 7 p.m., everyone else in the state of Colorado decided to order pizza delivered from this particular Pizza Hut restaurant. And you know that thing about 30-minutes-or-less-to-your-door-or-its free? Well, that same rule does not apply IN ANY WAY when you are a dine-in customer. From the time we ordered our food, it took 87 minutes to arrive at our table. And we were the only people in the restaurant.

Why wait so long? Well, in retrospect, that's an excellent question with no logical answer. All I can say is Taylor was very willing and I was out-of-my-mind hungry.

The first half hour of waiting I spent quaffing large amounts of water and Diet Coke. The next half hour of waiting I spent drooling over the salad bar contents, which were exactly 3 feet from me, and continuously reassuring Brendyn (our 14-year old waiter and low man on the Pizza Hut totem pole) that no, really, it's okay, we'll wait, no problem. Oh, they dropped the bread sticks again? Well, okay, are they coming any time today? 5 minutes? Okay. What? They burned the pasta? (How in the H-E-double-hockey-sticks do you burn macaroni???) SIGH. Okay. Are we going to get anything we ordered anytime tonight? Brendyn said YES Ma'am, and it's FREE. I looked at Taylor and asked, "Can we go home? Pleeeeeeeeeease?......... No? Well, fine. We'll wait for your pizza. And just so you know, it's the last one you're ever going to eat from Pizza Hut. EVER."

My increasing crabbiness should have been a great forewarning of what was about to ensue, but it wasn't. The last half hour of waiting I spent breaking several personal codes of conduct and shamelessly blaming my daughter for my degenerate behavior because she just couldn't live without having a Personal Pan pepperoni pizza for dinner.

What happened? Well, I went a little postal on the salad bar. At first, I went over to get a couple packs of crackers. I felt entitled to something. For the love of God, we'd been waiting for an hour. I hadn't eaten all day long. While I knew that was my own fault, I also knew that I would not stand for being deprived for very much longer! Can't the fools tell I am absolutely beyond famished??? For some reason, when that first cracker touched my tongue, it was like setting off an explosion in my head. A feeding frenzy ensued that, quite frankly, was as disturbing as it was uncontrollable.

I consumed an entire bin of celery sticks and two bowls of watermelon chunks. I absolutely despise watermelon. Didn't matter. I took the crouton bowl out of the salad bar and ate them at my table like popcorn out of a bucket. I stuffed fistfulls of olives into my mouth and I drank salad dressing like shots of Jack Daniels. I came up for air 15 minutes later to see Brendyn standing at the table with a pizza, looking at me like I was from Mars. I handed back the crouton bowl, looked at the pizza, then looked him square in the eye and said, "Can we get that to go?" I have to give him credit. He said not one word.

10 minutes later we were driving home, Taylor eating free pizza out of a box in the back seat of the car and Brendyn still standing at the cash register at Pizza Hut, wondering if I'd made a mistake or really meant to give him a $20 tip on a $0 ticket. :)

Kristin

She's Seven!

Oh, the joy!!!

Taylor woke up today with a smile on her face and it has yet to fade. I asked her if being seven years old is as great as she thought it would be. Her answer? "It's even better than I imagined it. It's like being a queen!" Not too shabby then. :)

We started the day off slowly, opening the gift from Grandma and Grandpa Anthony that she has been dying to open ever since it arrived several days ago. And really, who wouldn't want to open something that looked like this?

The Box.
You just know there's something awesome in a box this pretty.

Taylor opened the box and out of the clouds of pink tissue paper emerged even more pink--a ballerina outfit! Taylor immediately stripped down to her underwear and donned the pink garb. After a couple of poses, she flitted and fluttered upstairs to spend the next hour practicing along to her DVD "Zoe's Dance Moves".

Taylor has wanted a new ballerina outfit ever since she outgrew her
first one, given to her when she was 2 years old. My brother fondly
referred to her first tutu as a one-one. :)

After perfecting some moves that would earn her a stint with the Royal Ballet Dance Troupe, we convinced Taylor to put on some hiking gear and pack up her CamelBak for a trip to Lory State Park. John and I planned a day hike for her birthday, complete with a picnic, waterfall and a surprise at the end of the trail. Time to get going!

We decided to stick close to home, since the weather became cooler today and there was a chance our birthday plans would encounter some rain before the day was done. We ate our picnic at one of the Lory State Park picnic sites and loaded up on some chocolate birthday cake carbs before heading up the hill.

Mmmmmm! Seven pink candles on top of a piece of
chocolate decadence.

Our chosen birthday path.

Taylor got to see the waterfall for her birthday.
I was surprised that, at the end of August, any water was running.

Stopping for a pose with Daddy on her seventh birthday.

We thoroughly enjoyed our climb to the top of the trail. Colorado was at her finest today--not too hot, not too cold, just enough sunshine and a light breeze to keep us from melting during the most difficult parts of the trek.

What's this???

We encouraged Taylor to make it to the top of the hiking trail by saying, "You never know what you might find at the top...". We rounded a bend in the trail and she eye-spied this fluffy purple package waiting for her on a rock. Was she ever surprised! We engineered this surprise by having dad walk ahead to 'plant' the gift while Taylor and I lagged behind to, er, use the facilities. Next to the gift in the bag, Taylor claims that learning to pee in the forest was her best birthday gift. :)

Our gift to Taylor this year. A heart shaped peridot on a gold chain.
She loves it!

We had the birthday girl read her card out loud to us, then open her gift. For once, we managed to surprise her. I really don't think she knew what would be in the box. She held her breath for a second after opening the box, then said, "My first real jewel!" Here's a movie clip:

We did finally make it to the top of the trail and stood there, marveling at the beauty of the landscape surrounding our community. As always, we wondered exactly why we don't get out more often, but realized that with work and school, once or twice a week is really about all we can manage. We will be content with that!

A gorgeous view from the top of the trail.

Taylor takes a break on the way back down.

As usual, the trek down was much quicker than the hike up. We stopped to take a break and enjoy the view from the scrub pines, then loaded up the Gas Hog and headed for home. John was scheduled to work tonight and school comes bright and early tomorrow morning! Taylor got the opportunity to receive birthday wishes a la cell phone from Aunt Abby and Grandma Lou, which rounded out the day's events quite nicely.

Life returns to normal tomorrow. After a 10-day birthday marathon that involved family and friends, gifts and giggles, trips to Denver and right in our own back yard, we all feel very blessed. One last hurrah at school tomorrow lets Taylor tell her class about her birthday celebration and hand out ice cream bar treats at the end of the day.

Kristin

Day in Denver Part 2

After taking in our fill at the Butterfly Pavilion, it was time to head over to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Taylor opted to try out the museum this year instead of a repeat birthday visit to the Denver Zoo. A surprise move on her part, but it ended up being a great choice.

Our first two stops once inside the museum included the Space Odyssey and the Gems and Minerals exhibit. Taylor loved the hands-on learning moments in the space discovery areas. She dressed up like an astronaut, played with huge telescopes, watched an interactive demo on the planets orbiting the sun and tried her hand at "landing" robot replicas of the moon Rovers. She thought that was way cool.

Taylor poses with Mr. T. Rex at the entrance of
the museum. There were dinosaur skeletons
to admire throughout the museum.

My favorite exhibit turned out to be the Gem and Minerals display. Wow! I knew a little bit about the history of mining in Colorado, but I never knew about all of the wondrous things that have been discovered. Like the list of beauties below:

This red chunk of rhodochrosite was almost the size of my head.
Seriously.

This wall of rhodochrosite was found in a mine in Colorado.
Taylor loved this treasure.

This wall of gypsum crystals was the first thing we saw as we
entered the exhibit.

Tom’s Baby, an eight-pound nugget of crystallized gold unearthed in Breckenridge in 1887.

Here's my favorite display--huge chunks of aquamarine.
It's my birthstone and also, as I found out, the state gem of Colorado.

After such a dazzling start to our museum tour, it was time to divide and conquer. John and Taylor went to see an IMAX movie. I turned down the offer, intending to stop by the Native American artifacts exhibit on the second floor. My hopes were dashed when I came to the entrance of the exhibit and was told that it was closed to the public for a private party. Grrrrr!!! The one exhibit I really wanted to see! Of all the luck.

I eventually regrouped and spent time looking at the animal dioramas that take up much of the second floor. Maybe I'm crazy, but I'd much rather see live animals at the zoo than spend time looking at dead ones behind glass. What can I say? I apparently don't appreciate the fine art of taxidermy. The time did pass, and after meeting back up with John and Taylor for a snack, it was time to finish viewing the rest of the museum displays. Here's another run of photos that log our time in the museum.

A poor Egyptian woman mummy.

Apparently in the very early 1900's, a person could go to Egypt,

raid a tomb and purchase the mummy inside. For a price, you could also ship it back to the states

and ensconce it in your parlor for an interesting conversation piece. Crazy.

Dead sheep. ;)

More dead sheep! ;)
This exhibit raised a few eyebrows and a few questions from Taylor.
Notice the, uh, intact males. I believe the best explanation I could
come up with involved cantaloupes...

Taylor had a good time mimicking the various poses animals were in.

After completing the tour of dead animals, we made a last stop downstairs in the gift shop. Taylor picked up a bag of polished stones and gems to add to her collection at home. Every year at Halloween she brings home stones and crystals that our neighbor geologist hands out instead of candy. She's amassing quite a collection.

We stopped outside the museum to get yet another bear pose,
this time with the coveted bag of rocks. :)

She's contemplating a run for it!

At the end of the day, we stopped outside the museum to cool off by the fountains in the park. The place was buzzing with people. Some outside to enjoy the day, others there to begin readying the place for the Democratic National Convention. After relaxing for a bit, it was time to head home. After all, the morning would bring Taylor's seventh birthday and we had a lot of getting ready to do!

Kristin

A Day in Denver Part 1

For those of you who suffer from severe arachnophobia, please skip past this post!

We took a short break from all the activities this past Wednesday and Thursday to catch our breath and assess the finances. :) Well, okay, the break was really to wallow in self-pity because my family went back to South Dakota to get on with their lives. Sniff, sniff. I'm somewhat over it now, so we've started up again with a vengeance!

Yesterday we went on a family trip to Denver. Our first stop was the Butterfly Pavilion. We've had that place on our "To Go To" list for what seems like forever, but for many strange and vague reasons we never actually went. We had no idea we were missing such a fun time! I loved it! John and Taylor were slightly less enthusiastic than I was, but Taylor enjoyed playing in the giant mechanical "insects" part of the place and John got some great photo opportunities there.

There was so much to see! Insects of all kinds, tarantulas (yes, plural! *gulp*), a coastal habitat and of course the butterflies. We captured a lot of neat pics--here are a few of my favorites.

I held Rosie! Funny thing because if I get close enough to
a 'house' spider to see what color it is, I get a huge
case of the heebie-jeebies.

I actually thought Rosie was kind of cute...
and she felt like the leaves of an African Violet plant.

This Mexican Red-Kneed tarantula was busy in his cage.
VERY interesting.

A Venezuelan Greenbottle Blue tarantula stands like a queen
on her intricate burrow webbing.

A Green Banded Peacock Swallowtail butterfly.

Absolutely stunning!

A close-up look at a Paper Kite butterfly.
The Paper Kite butterflies were John's favorite.

We still don't know the name of this butterfly species.
This butterfly was Taylor's favorite.

My favorite butterfly was this one--the Common Morpho.
The vibrant blue wings would be reason enough, but
the underside of the wings are a muted tapestry
of browns and golds that is beautiful!

While we were wandering around the Pavilion, oohing and aahing over the beautiful butterflies, Taylor was busy keeping this guy in her sights. For her, the tortoise roaming around the 'jungle' was the fascinating find of the day. The powers that be at the Butterfly Pavilion repeatedly told the patrons to NOT touch any of the animals, turtle included. I'm sure you can figure out for yourselves exactly how long it took the average kid blow that right out of the water. Still, the tortoise didn't seem too traumatized and I didn't see any butterfly carcasses being swept away...

Tay and the turtle.

Well, enough for the time being! We've got a busy day planned for today, because a certain someone is seven years old today. Stay tuned for Part 2 of our day in Denver, as well as the birthday updates.

Kristin

You Gotta See This Blog

If you're reading this, take the time to check out this blog. You won't regret it! Cake Wrecks is a blog that everyone can enjoy--and I think everyone who goes to view it probably passes the website address on to fifty of their closest friends.

I already have favorites, including The First Censored Cake Wreck, the Naked Mohawk-Baby Carrot Jockeys and When Men Design Their Own Cakes. They are all snort-your-drink-out-your nose funny!

And Mom? If you're reading this, go to the Cake Wrecks website (just click the link right here and it'll take you there) and take a gander at the entry for August 21st. The comedian on the YouTube video starts talking about IHOP funnel cakes at about minute 4. Guess who that made me think of? :)))))))))

Kristin

First Day of Second Grade

Today was Taylor's first day of 2nd grade. My, my, the time does fly. She set off for school this morning with her new Hello Kitty shoulder bag, her water bottle and lunch, all ready to face the demands of being a year older and wiser.

"Bring it on 2nd grade. I'm ready!"

While Taylor was busy at school, the rest of us were busy preparing for the After-School Early Birthday Tea Party for Taylor. Grandma Lou got her early birthday presents ready for Taylor, finished icing the huge birthday cookie and got the tea service all ready to go. There was only one thing that we forgot--the candles! Oops. The tea party got off to a late start, but apparently that is nothing to worry about with an almost-seven-year old. She was busy telling us about her first day at school and how everything went.

The candles did arrive and the party commenced! Here are some pics of our tea time with Taylor.

It's tradition in our family to have a giant birthday cookie made for you
by Grandma Lou.

Um, how many Taylor? Oh, that's right. I guess you aren't quite
seven YET.

Both of the boys were very good sports about participating in a tea party for their seven-year old cousin. I'm sure it's not high on their list of things to do, but they both played along like it was the best idea ever. Thanks Chris and Sean!

Pinkies up everyone! :)

A golden dragon!
Now Taylor's pink dragon (Puffy Princess) has a mate!
She decided, after much deliberation, to name him Pyrus.

So many choices, but only 10 fingers and toes.
Grandma gave Taylor her own polish caddy, complete with
8 nail polish colors, remover, cotton balls and toe separators.

Grandma sat down with Taylor and read her card and birthday
message to her. Reading cursive is a little tricky, even if you're seven!

We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening relaxing at home. We threw in a little more Guitar Hero practice just for fun and watched the Olympics on TV. Taylor played a Lego people video game with cousin Chris and had a ton of fun showing him her Indiana Jones moves! :)

The morning will bring a sudden return to Life 101, as Grandma and the boys are taking off bright and early for home and Taylor goes off to school for another day of 2nd grade. I can only imagine how silent this house is going to be. :(

Kristin

Children, Chocolate, Chop Chop and Chuck It

Today is First Day of School Eve. Shocking, I know. The summer has barely gotten off to a good start and here we are, faced with getting up early in the morning and exercising our brains all day. Anyone else feel a little gypped?

Early this afternoon, Taylor took her school supplies over to the school. Upon walking through her classroom door, she was attacked by several of her BFF's. Everyone was ecstatic to see everyone else and a group hug was called for.

Happiness is...a group hug with your BFF's.
I didn't realize you could have more than one BFF at a time...

Taylor, Willow and Kaden say 'Cheese!'

After dropping off school supplies, the girls (Taylor, Grandma Lou and myself) took off to meet Abby at the Olive Garden for lunch while the boys (John, Chris and Sean) went shopping for 'guy stuff'. Lunch at the Olive Garden was delightful, as always. It took us 20 minutes to order because everyone was too busy talking to pay much attention to the menu! My kind of lunch, let me tell ya. I was so distracted by being in the midst of such great company that I promptly burned the roof of my mouth on the artichoke dip. Yowch! I'm sure you won't be surprised to learn that the injury in no way prevented me from devouring the rest of my lunch and insisting on dessert. :) Mom, Abby and I shared the best dessert I've had in years. Something called Black Tie Mousse Cake. Oh. My. Goodness. Absolutely out-of-this-world good!

This really should be called "Come to Momma!" Cake.
Delish!

Taylor decided to stick with her own dessert. A brilliant choice,
considering her sundae was served in a mixing bowl. :)

After lunch, it was time to head on over to Tae Kwon Do class. Grandma Lou and I were worried that the mixing bowl sundae was going to hamper Taylor's efforts in class. Not to worry. Taylor earned her second white belt stripe and two clips in class.

Mr. Overby presents Taylor with her second stripe.

The final activity of the day was Chuck-It. Or as most people would say, bowling. Everyone piled into the Gas Hog and made the trek to Chipper's Lanes for a little tango with the ten pins. Grandma Lou sat out (smart move Ma), I made it through one and a half games, the men bowled four games and Taylor bowled five. Having a lane all to yourself with the bumpers up makes for very fast bowling! Here's some candids of our evening at the bowling alley.

Thank goodness that the lightest bowling balls also happen to be...
PINK!!!

For most of us, this hand sign would mean "Hang loose!"
Not for Sean. For him it means "Longhorns Forever!"

Exhausted, but undaunted. Game #6 anyone? I'll go double or nothing!

After bowling, we all drove home and collapsed on the nearest sofa. A little reading, a little Olympics on T.V. and I'm ready for bed. One more day of all-out fun ahead!

Kristin

Funny Faces, Farmer's Market and Fort Fun

The movie on Saturday night was a huge hit! While many parts of the plot were a bit hokey and the acting wasn't all that stellar, the 3-D effects were awesome! 3-D has come a long way, baby! The 3-D glasses weren't too shabby either. Check 'em out:

Lookin' good people, lookin' good!

Yukking it up with Grandma Lou in the popcorn line.

3-D Boy with a vat of soda pop.

Predictably, Chris refused to participate in the 3-D glasses pics. At 14, he doesn't see the humor in goofing off and looking weird in public, even when he's in a town where the only people who would recognize him are the ones being goof balls. He did agree to wear the glasses in the dark (very dark) movie theater in order to appreciate the 3-D effects, then took them off before the ending credits started to roll. ;)

Yesterday was spent having brunch at a local restaurant, picking up some good deals (peaches, peppers and cantaloupe) at the Farmer's Market, then heading to Fort Fun for some laughs. I think it's safe to say that everyone had a great time!

First, a little Mini-Golf madness:

Sean takes aim.

Chris uses the pool shark method of putting...

Monkey see, monkey do.

After mini-golf, we all split up to frequent our favorite haunts. John took the kids over to the Go-Karts track to wait for over an hour for a chance to ride. Mom and I headed back inside for a little 'Deal or No Deal!' fun.

Beginner's Luck! We didn't win the Big One, but we came mighty close.

Two words. Ticket. Fever. :)

Sadly, I missed getting video or pics of the great time everyone else was having on the Go-Karts. I was far too busy gambl... I mean playing games in the arcade with Grandma Lou. Our beginner's luck at 'Deal or No Deal!' didn't last for long, but it sure made the afternoon fun!

Next up was bumper cars, bumper boats, mini bowling, the giant slide, the batting cages, the...
Well, you get the idea. There's no end to the things you can waste money on at Fort Fun. Really.

Taylor cruising in her pink (of course) bumper car.

Taylor's favorite arcade game at Fort Fun.

Joy!

Synchronized sliding, a new Olympic event!

Dad and Taylor on the bumper boats.

This may be my best picture ever of Sean Douglas.
He usually makes you work for a glimpse under that hat...

After a fun-filled, jam-packed day, it was time to go home and make some supper with all the goodies we picked up at the Farmer's Market. We made grilled hamburgers with all the fixin's and paired them up with the best produce ever. Cantaloupe, watermelon, fresh sliced tomatoes, peaches straight off the tree and corn on the cob. Can you say YUM YUM??? I don't remember a single thing after supper time.

Kristin