Family Trip

Last weekend was perfect for me.  We took a long weekend and went on a mini family vacation.  It was mini in the sense that it was JUST the four of us AND we did NOT visit ANYONE.  It was history in the making.  For our first mini family vacation we decided to ride the train... or correction:  Addie insists it wasn't a train.  It's an air-train.  How cool does that sound?  ...  We decided to ride the AIR train to Glenwood Springs.  It was the first time any of us have been on a train in the US and I must say...  Wow.  They give you LOTS of space!

The girls loved to watch the scenery as we went by and it was worth watching.  Their favorite part was passing by the people on rafting trips who decided to moon the train.  Ellie thought it was hysterical at first but then after some consideration she announced "It's a little bit funny but I don't think it's very polite."

The girls look so tiny next to the train, don't they?

Glenwood Springs has a little amusement park that you have to ride a tram to get to.  Of course this was a fantastic thing for the girls.  Very exciting stuff.  I get a kick out of how they enjoyed waving to the people in the other cars.  And to the ghosts in the empty cars.  Addie loves to say "Hi" to just about anything.

The view from the top...  WOW!  This is a happy happy Niffer.

Fairy Caverns is located at the top too and the girls were impressed though a bit disappointed that they didn't see any real fairies.  Only a little.  I'm sure they were hiding.

Mommy and Daddy's favorite part was this stelagtight (which apparently the spell checker wants to change to "tight fisted").  What was neat about this is that you could watch the water drop onto the formation.  You could watch it being formed (very very very slowly) right in front of your eyes.  Michael took a great photo of the splash from the water dropping down.   Pretty cool.

I suppose any visit to Glenwood Springs wouldn't be complete without a trip to the hot springs.  The girls enjoyed how hot the swimming pool was but commented on how the water tastes a little funny.

And I suppose any visit staying in a hotel wouldn't be complete without the girls wrestling with Daddy on the bed.  What is it about a Daddy relaxing on a bed that seems to scream "Please, tackle me!"???

I love the magic the girls bring to everyday life.  While waiting for our train to arrive for our return trip home, the girls turned these yellow lines into a stage.  They danced and performed for me.  Everyone commented on how well behaved they were.  Magic has that effect on young children.

All in all it was just what this Niffer needed.  A trip with my very own mini family.  I'm thinking there are many more to come!

Monkey

LOOK WHAT ELLIE CAN DO!!!!

Sentences

Ellie has been practicing her sentences! She wrote every sentence without needing any help with spelling. I happen to think she's incredible.

And this last one is my personal favorite, mis-spellings and all:

To My Love

Today we celebrate our 8th anniversary. Wow. How is it possible that time can go by so quickly and yet at the same time, it also feels like we've been together much longer? I guess that's the mystery of life.

Whenever I try to write about my feelings for you I always come up blank. There is no doubt in my mind that the 8 years (actually, 10.5 years) we've been together have been the best years of my life. I love you just as much, if not more, than I did that beautiful September day in Manitou Springs. We've been through so much together and built such an amazing life for ourselves, but I still feel like I did on that day. I still feel like this is just the beginning. Our story is yet to be written even if I know the ending. The ending goes something like this "And they lived happily ever after."

Though our lives have changed and now it's filled with the energy and laughter that two daughters provide, I thank my lucky stars every day because I have never felt anything other than "This is what I want."

I want to grow old with you and so far we're off to a good start!

Special Surprise

A week or so ago we gave the girls a big surprise. We told them it was coming but we didn't say what it was. It drove Ellie BONKERS. Finally the day of the surprise we told them they had to dress up as princesses and both girls jumped at the opportunity. For real life. Really they did.

They even let me braid their hair into pretty heart braids. Well sort of. Ellie had a full heart but Addie decided she was ok with just half of a heart and insisted that it looked better. Uh. Ok. Whatever.

The surprise was Cinderella at the Boulder Dinner Theater. Oh my goodness were they excited when they finally found out what we were doing.

Nana and Grandpa joined us. While Ellie and Addie were mesmerized by what was going on up on stage, I'm pretty sure the grandparents were mesmerized by the girls.

As for me, I loved watching the girls too and the show was pretty good. One thing that I particularly loved was that Cinderella (or I should say the actress who played Cinderella) had some sort of minor disability and had a bit of difficulty walking, and certainly couldn't do fancy footwork in a dance routine. I loved the fact that it showed my girls... no, I'll correct myself... it showed ME that my girls don't care about that sort of thing. She was still a perfect pretty princess in their minds.

How did it go?

Ah, the big day. The first day of Kindergarten. It's a moment in everyone's childhood that symbolizes growing up.

And Ellie missed it.

Yep, you heard me right. Ellie's first day of Kindergarten and we were on vacation. Her mommy and daddy really need to change the way we view vacation and when we can take it. Suddenly we're in a world where we can't just pick up and leave whenever we want. It's going to affect Ellie's education. Strange.

Alas, it's not that big of a deal. She missed two days of Kindergarten so her first day was the following Monday. She was so excited to be a Grizzly Bear.

Here's the rundown on the Kindergarten decision:

- Private Kindergarten is CHEAPER than public Kindergarten so she is still at the same preschool she was at before. What? We have to pay for PUBLIC Kindergarten? Well, technically that's free, but that just gets you to lunch. Then you have to pay or provide lunch. Then you pay for the second half of Kindergarten, which gets you to 2:30. Then you have to pay for after school care to get you to 5:00 or 6:00 (we're working parents, remember?). Crazy.

- Private Kindergarten has better parent/student ratios (9 students per teacher instead of 25 for public).

- Private Kindergarten takes weekly field trips to the Library and monthly (or every two months) field trips to other "real life" places like the farm, super market, etc.

- With the Private Kindergarten located in the same preschool (she's a Grizzly Bear now instead of a Black Bear, for those of you keeping track), it's far more convenient. Addie is still in preschool (she just recently moved into the Polar Bear room). From a logistics standpoint, it was a no-brainer.

So... The downside to this decision is that Ellie was quite disappointed that she didn't get to ride the bus to school like many of her other friends would.

She's also disappointed that she's not in Kindergarten with Michael like we originally thought she would be. She's concerned he's going to find another girl who he will want to marry instead of waiting for her when 1st grade begins.

She's disappointed that she won't meet a bunch of NEW friends.

But there are lots of upsides too... She still gets to see her best friend Brynn in the afternoons.

She is in the room right next door to Addie's room and gets to give her sister hugs many times through out the day. She excitedly tells me "Mommy, I was SOOO lucky today because I got to hug Addie FIVE times!!!"

Likewise, she still has Stretch and Grow and Spanish classes, BOTH of which Addie participates in with her. They LOVE it. Ellie loves being the big sister and Addie gets a kick out of doing something she knows the big kids get to do.

Regardless, I know she's doing ok. Every day when I pick her up she is super excited to tell me about what she learned that day. And she's learning a lot. She's so mature. So brave. So excited. I asked her what her favorite thing about in Kindergarten is and without hesitation she said "I really like to learn every day!"

So her first day of Kindergarten wasn't the typical "big change" that one would expect. No, for us, that's going to be the first day of 1st grade. I'll be the parent crying while Ellie skips off for her new adventure, and all my mommy friends will be like "oh, yeah, that was so LAST year." Ha!

First Day of Kindergarten

She was so proud.

Wordless Wednesday

Travel Buddies

Ellie was Daddy's travel buddy and was so proud to be chosen as his special travel buddy. He would say "Where's my travel buddy" and Ellie would jump to attention, "I'm here! Here I am!"

Addie wasn't so keen on being my travel buddy...
Addie: I'm not your travel buddy!
Mommy: Why not?
Addie: Because dat's a boy! I'm a girl.
Mommy: Oh, is "Buddy" a boy's name?
Addie: Yeah, but I can be your travel bear 'stead.
Mommy: Works for me, Travel Bear.

The infamous sheep-skin rug

There is just something about the sheepskin rug that Grandpa Lou and Grandmommy Jeanne have at their house. Ellie commented on it years ago, and this time it was Addie's turn. When she saw it spread across the back of the couch, she asked in a concerned voice, "Is dis part of Mernin?"