Week in Review

Date night is a great night :-)  Tonight the kids got to play at the rec center's watch program (pizza+snack+movie+bounce house+gym play) and we met friends in Denver for Mexican food.  I feel like I don't get to see my friends much, so it's an extra treat when we can get together last minute!  The kids had a blast too.  Here's some photos from the past week. 

Dinner out with the family last weekend.


Disney education in preparation for our Disneyland trip!  The boys were watching Monsters Inc. 


He's still learning the mechanics of steering.  Loves to wear his helmet. 


Last day of summer, I think it was. 


Our conversation via text:

Rachel: I can't remember when the boys have sat so long without fighting or getting bored. It's been minutes.
 
Ben: ENTIRE MINUTES!!




Decided I needed to bake something pumpkin today.  Enlisted Sam's help. 


I took up the camera for this shot, planning to caption "Look how little mess he made!"  Then he upended the bag of chocolate. 



Jack is quite the student.  He seems to enjoy doing his homework!  He takes it very seriously. 

Enigma

Tonight we went out with 6 friends to escape a mystery room!  Brian had told Ben about these games and that there was one in Boulder.  So tonight we went to Enigma on Pearl Street.  I'm proud to say we did quite well!  Well, at first we looking for such subtle, complicated clues that they had to prompt us with an extra hint.  But once we got started with that we did great.  Only 30% of guests escape (and the host said no one after 8pm has done it) so we were in the top tier.  And of those, they said most finish with less than ten minutes of time left.  We had 17 minutes left!  If we hadn't missed the first (rather obvious) lock we would have saved 20 minutes!  Oh well. We will have to prove our stuff some other time with their second room. 
 
Here's a puzzle for you to solve!

Sam is quite the talker now and loves to identify superheroes.   See if you can guess which character he is talking about based on his pronunciation.  The answers are written in white following each character, highlight it with your mouse to reveal.     

Boss Spider-Man, sometimes Iron Man

Shoeshine Superman

Matmon Batman

Four Thor

Huuuulk Hulk

Minss  Minions

Cat Captain America

Maymax Baymax

Mick Maus Mickey Mouse

(yes, just like Nadia)

Birthday Video

I forgot to add this to the bottom of yesterday's post.

Happy Birthday Sam!

Sam is two years old today.  We celebrated in two-year-old fashion yesterday.  More pictures on my flickr page if you want to see more. 

First, Frankenberry cereal (blech, that his dad bought; the kids loved it).


Then early in the morning we had to get to Olde Town to participate in the Arvada Harvest Festival parade.  All Kindergarten kids and their family are invited to walk.  So we thought, why not make it special for Sam and take the bus?

Bus!  Bus!  City bus!  Fun!  Bus!







A bit more walking, a lot of waiting, and we were part of a parade!



Here's Jack talking with his teacher. 


We stopped a block from the end of parade route to finish at the playground. 



Then back to the car for shopping and lunch.  We bought a trike for Sam at Toys R Us and had pizza buffet. 

Cheetza!  Cheetza!  Cheetza!



Before nap he had a minute to try out the trike. 



After nap Amanda joined us for cake and presents.  It's just a Rice Krispies treat cake - since Sam only eats the frosting off cake anyway.  I figured the treats would be easier to form into a train.  It was a delight to the boys.









Happy birthday little Sam!

Salt Lake with the Walkers

We had been planning a trip to Salt Lake City all year long.  I dreamed of dropping off the kids with grandparents, then spending time in the city with our dear friends Nate and Miranda and my brother Andy and his wife Jenn.  After Brian died, I looked forward to the trip in a new way.  It was planned for mid-August.  By then all the memorial work and immediate grief would be past.  The trip would be like pressing the reset button.  It really worked too!  When I came home I felt more relaxed and at peace.  We had new memories with old friends to think about.  We had a really great time.

First things first: deliver kids to grandparents.  Done. 







Then a half day spent in the desert listening to a Brandon Sanderson audio book, and we arrived in a soaking wet Salt Lake.  Thus began a continuous stream of talking, laughing, and eating. 









(That's ginger beer so strong I sputtered after a sip)








Where we ate:
Japanese
Lunaberry
Hires
Mellow Mushroom
Finn's

We went to the farmer's market and craft fair, then saw Jenn perform in the Fringe Festival.  What a surprise to see my aunt Martha and cousin Jill there!  Miranda also had a reunion with a childhood friend in the audience - crazy!  Then breakfast with Andy and Jenn, quick stop at Trader Joe's, then onward to Grand Junction to pick up the kiddos. 

I'm so so happy we went.  I can't wait to do it again.  Is everyone up for this next summer?

Posting for posting

Ben says I need to post something and he's right.  I don't blog when I get down.  Since school started I got a terrible cold with a lingering, terrible cough.  Then I had a really bad weekend related to mourning with depression and anxiety.  This week was starting to get good - cough improving, depression clearing.  Then I was up most of last night with a vomiting toddler.  Ugh. 

Maybe I'll throw some photos up here in a lazy post.  I know I haven't talked about our SLC trip, Jack's dance classes, Sam's general cuteness, and the birthday for Jack's doll.  More laundry for me, then some pictures here.