Colorado, Part 1

August 6

the couch with Sherman 

Last night we got in and made it to Eliza’s without any problems.  G. was already asleep but we did get to hold A. until she went to sleep also.  There was dinner and lots of talking.  Eliza & Sam have a beautiful house with lots of great space.  They have the kind of kitchen I dream of - lots of cabinets & counter space, and a huge deep sink!  There is also an amazing green couch upstairs, which unfortunately for me doesn't fit in my suitcase, otherwise it would be coming with me!

I have a feeling that the posts are going to get shorter and shorter because as much as I would love to talk and talk and talk about the babies, I am going to hold myself to just the big stuff, which might be small stuff actually… who knows what I am talking about?

This morning my cell phone woke me with a wrong number.  No biggie, I was waking up anyway and met Eliza and A. downstairs.  G. was up shortly after that and so was Julie.  I made pancakes for breakfast and we played with the babes all morning.  There was a nap, Eliza’s lasagna for lunch, and some showering.  

During the nap we had a great time mounting Sam on a piece of foam.  (I wrote it like that because that is Eliza asked us to join her in the activity.)  They printed out a picture of Sam so that his daughters could see him every day that he is in Afghanistan.  At first G. was a little apprehensive (rightfully so) but later in the day she started recognizing him as Daddy.  I digress.  Eliza, Julie, & I rolled out the larger-than-life-sized vinyl picture of Sam and then cut him out of the foam board.  I think it is important to note that this picture of Sam is from the mid-torso up and larger than real life Sam.  I think we are going to play hide-and-seek with Sam’s cutout (and scare Eliza) a few times this week.  **I hope that when he comes home at the end of the month he takes a picture with himself so we can see how big it actually is. 

This afternoon we left the house and went into Colorado Springs.  We hung out at Poor Richard’s, which is 4 stores (restaurant, book store, toy store, & coffee shop) that are all connected.  In the back of the restaurant they have a kid’s area with toys and books.  We hung out there for an hour and then walked around the block.  We also visited Terra Verde, a great shop with tons of variety of things.  We closed the store.  We also noticed a rather large amount of zombies walking around downtown.  So I stopped one and asked; there was a zombie bar crawl.  I wish I had taken more pictures of the better ones. 

On a side note, I got to talk to my wonderful husband tonight.  Our schedules have not been that compatible for keeping touch this trip.  We have video chatted twice but that is all during the whole time I have been away.  It was wonderful to hear his voice and hear all about what he has been up to these last few days.

We came home and the night got away from us.  There was baby dinner, bath time, and bedtime.  Julie went to the grocery store and then we cooked dinner.  We made my chili-mac-n-cheese.  I forgot to add tomato paste to the grocery list so it was less baked altogether, but it was still delicious.  We added zucchini = YUM!  And then everyone faded quickly and it was bedtime for us as well. 

That was a lot longer than I thought it would be.

August 7

So mornings, they have a routine.  We are all up by about 8:30ish.  Julie has probably showered.  My hair is probably standing straight up, like it does.  And G. is playing.  At some point G. will take a nap and we will enjoy the quiet or talk about playing games.    At some point we will be hungry and make lunch.  The afternoons have the most variety.  On this particular afternoon, we went to the park and played on the swings (exclusively).  When we got home, Julie and I tried to avoid a meltdown (not our own) and played the rest of the night.  

 

August 8

So today was a normal day. Got up.  Ate breakfast.  Played with the babies.  Naptime.  Went to Target.  Brought home Panera for lunch.  Then Eliza had a Dr. Appt.  So I stayed home with G.  When she woke up from her nap, I got her up, got a new diaper (for her not me), and had lunch with her.  We played outside and inside.  We sang songs.  We were happy with very few tears until G. heard the garage door and I thought “sure let’s see who is there.”  Epic meltdown because she just realized Mom had not been there the whole time!  OMG! It was fine.  She survived. 

the healthiest meal on this trip

Then I stole the car for the night to have dinner with my grandparents (on their way South from Aspen) Aunt Jody and Cousin Jake.  Jody has a beautiful house and a stunning eye for eclectic decorating.  She has the most beautiful art that her daughter Courtney painted back in high school.  And the hall bathroom is to-die-for-stunning.  I wanted to sit in the tub for hours (but it would have been awkward if anyone needed to use the bathroom.