Stef's Visit, round 2

Aunt Stef came out to visit again. We love when people come visit. It always gives an excuse to do things. She flew in late Wed so we just talked and planned out the short trip.

Thursday we decided to head out to the Wildlife Experience. I had seen a few things about it and it looked interesting but not too many people I know had visited. They had a special visiting exhibit about the Megalodon (an ancient, extinct, giant shark), so we were able to learn about sharks.


Stef and Ellie standing next to the metal model of a Megalodon.

The reflection on Stef's leg is from a knee brace from a tube war accident with my brother Jeff.


How do you size up to a shark?

Look at those chompers.

Scale models of various shark mouths. I've heard about big sharks but I don't want to meet the one with a mouth that big.

They also had dig site to uncover various bones and artifacts. Ellie had to take off her shoes because the mini rubber pieces kept making their way into her sandals and sticking to her feet.

Ellie collecting all the brushes.

The main part of the whole experience showed all the climates and ecology's of the world. There was taxidermy of common animals, some interactivity, and computers that educated about the animals, plants, human influence, and what we can do to help for each of these areas. It was fun to travel through the tundra, into desert and plains, and down to the ocean.

For whatever reason, Ellie decided to slide down this ramp. Seriously.

At the ocean was one of these new interactive light images. I have no idea how they work, I only know the first time I saw one was at Old Navy. It projects an image on the ground but then as people walk or move, so do the objects. 

Trying to catch fish.



They had some small fish tanks and we were able to watch some of the feedings. I am pretty sure there was at least one of every fish with a major part in Finding Nemo in these tanks.


Ellie was confused by the name "lion fish".

We ate lunch outside, which Ellie was very good to make sure that everyone had the same food on their napkin. She loved having a picnic with mommy and "Stessie".

To kill some time before our "Animalopolis" movie, so we went into the kids area to play. They had these great animal costumes and Ellie actually let me put them on her. I want to find these costumes now for Halloween.


Oink, oink



Happy little frog.

After we headed to the theater for our short Suess like movie on animals. Stef bought some popcorn, of which Ellie ate half, and we watched the movie. It was really cute and quite funny. Of course Ellie laughed hysterically anytime Stef or I did.

I liked the Wildlife Experience. Of course the majority is for older kids but can be a great educational activity for kids who love animals.

Then it was nap time so we came home for naps and to make delicious Chicken Kabobs. It was a fun but low key day.

Those crazy kids..

Westland Park also has a playground, so we took daddy to go see it.  I think he enjoyed it almost as much as we did. What do you think?

Ellie spinning.

Mommy spinning. It's amazing how it feels like you are spinning faster than you really are.



Daddy gave it a try as well. I'm not sure if you can see it in the video but his eyes really were shaking back and forth very quickly.

Daddy also made friends with another father there and they climbed on top of some big rocks together. Ellie showed daddy the giant slide, which has sharp turns that have given me slide burns and if kids go fast enough it almost bumps them right out of the slide.

We like when daddy comes out to play.

Jake's Love

I promise, Jake and I are still married and Ellie and I do see him on a regular basis. I know he doesn't get much love from the blog but that's because his life is not as exciting as mine and Ellie's. (Love you babe.)

He is still working for the lawyer in Broomfield and really likes it, which is a good thing. He is also learning a lot from the lawyer. Sometimes it seems like he learns way more for the job than he does from school. School started about 2 weeks ago for him so he spends his mornings in class and then heads up to work. Can you say "brain overload"? That's a lot of new information but he is doing great. I try to be patient when he takes time for himself to unwind from all that learning. Ellie sometimes isn't so patient and jumps on him or just gets in his face to have him read a book.

He does get to come out and do stuff with us occasionally and we really love it when he does. Keep up the good, hard work. We love you.

Very cold but not cool experiment

Just in case you were wondering, carbonated beverages in air tight container while exploded when left in extreme temperatures. We learned the first half of this lesson a few years ago when a can of soda was left in my hot car while I was at work. It took me almost half my drive home to figure out why there were spots on my windshield that wipers and wiper fluid wouldn't clean. The top of the can had blown wide open spraying soda all over the windshield and on the ceiling. If you look in the Mazda, you can still see stains on the ceiling.

This past weekend, we figured out that cold does the same thing. Although I can't believe we didn't hear it go off.

What the freezer looked like when Jake opened it.

Upon further investigation (specifically for the top of the can)...


What the shelf looked like.

The culprit.

Garden and Park (with Music and Movies)

There are 1 or 2 main reasons I am glad summer is coming to an end; everyone else's kids are back in school so indoor play areas and parks aren't as crowded and SCDF Free days start happening more frequent.

The Botanic Gardens at Chatfield had a free day, so Ellie and I drove out so we could be out of the house and she could run around.  It was a gorgeous day, a little warm in the sun but we packed a lunch and went to see if things were any different from our visit earlier this year. Mostly it was just greener. 

Old barn and solo

Ellie wanted her picture taken sitting in front of the car.



"Mommy, picture. Cheese"



She wanted to sit on this railing but wouldn't look at me.

"Ba-gawk."



Playing in the fort. "Cheese"

Although it was hot, the sprinklers came on.

It was a nice morning adventure that allowed us to be home in time for a nap.

A day or 2 later, some friends invited us to join them in Golden for Music and Movies in the Park. The movie, Back to the Future. I hadn't watched that movie in so long.

They start the evening off at around 6:30-7 with live music. The band we had was awesome. I wish I could remember the name. The played "Elvis" type songs that were great for dancing. A couple of times, Ellie made me walk to the front of the stage so she could dance with the other kids up there but every time we got there she wouldn't dance because she was too busy staring at the crazy outfits and tattoos of the players. The female bassist (who you can't see well in the pic) was wearing short shorts and had a trail of small stars tattooed up the back of her legs (yes both of them) with a larger star at the top, just below the short cuff. One leg also had a garter tattoo.

Ellie did like dancing back where we were sitting. She really wanted Josh to dance as well, although he doesn't quite stand on his own yet. She did try to mimic some of the dance moves done by Sarah (our friend with the red hair).

The Valdez couple asked us to watch Josh for a bit while they walked and found ice cream. They were nice enough to buy us popsicle. Guess who wanted to try to eat one on her own?

Popsicle!!

Mmm...a-licious!!!

I still made her share with me.


We are each trying to make sure we eat our fair share.

Although the movie didn't start until almost 8:30, Ellie did everything she could to stay up the whole time. So at 10:45 as we climbed into the car, she fell asleep. Silly little girl. I had a great time. Thanks to the Valdez family for sharing the evening with us.

Crochet

I don't know why but since moving to Denver I have definitely become more crafty or at least more willing to try new crafts or finish projects. Maybe it's the whole stay at home thing or just that fact that I don't have work or school or a husband to take up my time.

I have found I can accomplish quite a bit while Ellie naps or while Jake is studying or playing video games.

I learned to hemstitch crochet around items from my mom. (That is a whole other story because I write left handed so she tried to teach me to crochet left handed even though she is right handed but I ended up crocheting right handed.) So I took things a step further and bought a cheap book with instructions for other crocheted items. Here is my work.

Baby blanket, hat, and scarf.

If anyone wants to say how impressed they are, you won't be so inclined after this little revelation. I completely messed up the blanket so bad my first attempt that as I finished the first ball of yarn, I just started over again from the other side unraveling and redoing the entire thing. It looks good now but that was a lot of wasted time the first go around.

Around our place...

While running errands the other day, I found a blow up pool, float ring, and ball for 5 and half dollars. Ellie now has a little pool in which she loves to play. The pool sits on our front patio which is great because it's so shaded that she doesn't need sunscreen to be out there. On the other hand, the hose water doesn't get very warm. That doesn't bother Ellie though. She loves it.

Ellie pouring water in her own swimsuit.

I didn't realize the extent of Denver weather and storms. I thought this picture just looked cool.  

I think the people who live in that direction are really wet right now.

Ellie loves going out our kitchen patio and looking at the oree-orange sky. Some nights have better colors than others, I think she just likes being outside whenever she can.


One of the better sunsets we've had. The sky was more pink than the picture shows.

Same night as above, just less exposure. I was trying to capture the pink.

Ellie no longer calls for me to come take her out of bed after naps. Instead I usually find her like this.

Boo! Hi mommy.

The blanket on the head is not just a nap time thing either. She puts dish towels, sheets, Jake's and my shirts, etc on her head. Sometimes they just sit on top like hats. Others they are ghost coverings. Either way, it makes me laugh.
She has switched from calling me "momma" to calling me "mommy." She hasn't made the "dadda" to "daddy" transition as well but every so often she calls Jake daddy.

I must be a spiritual giant!

To have to write, teach, and speak so much in one week must mean I am a spiritual giant, right? Maybe it just means I have a lot to learn. I recently changed callings in church. I am now the 2nd counselor in the Primary presidency. Because of this calling, I now have a month in which I teach the primary sharing time lessons. This is my month. My first question is how do you teach children that their bodies are temples and it is important to take care of them, especially in today's society. So I have been preparing for weeks.

A few weeks ago, I was also asked to speak in Sacrament meeting about sacrifice and service so I have been preparing that (yes, ahead of time) in addition to the lessons. I am also in charge of the nursery as part of my counselor duties and have been trying to prepare materials for newly called nursery teachers because we were going to try and hold a meeting this week.

Then in a meeting on Wednesday we as a presidency decided to provide material to the parents of primary children to help with family discussions. I have been preparing that as well.

All I can say is this week, after all my studying and preparations, I feel like a spiritual giant.

Splash Park

Because of the whole HOA fiasco, we started looking at other options so Ellie could play in water.

(By the way, I waited 3 weeks and then called the pres to ask why I hadn't heard anything and if we could use the pool. She said that 1 of the presidency voted they shouldn't grant exceptions to the rules so no we can't use the pool but when it comes time to review the rules, they will look at changing it. Guess how much hope I have of anything happening? About as much as I have that the post office will deliver letters and packages as they claim they will.)

One of the ladies in our ward told us about this great park only about 10 minutes away. On one side is a playground that is shaded by trees or canopy covers and the other is a small splash park. So we went there for play group. We played at the park for a bit it was warm and I wanted Ellie to play in the water.



Yes she is sitting so the water hits her face.

 

Of course she ran every where. Why wouldn't she?

The best part, as she first started to play she would run out into the water, get a little wet and run back to me, squealing like a banshee.



Since rock climbing is in her jeans, she couldn't just walk around to play up there.

 She has scrapes, i.e. boo-boo-boo-boos, all over her legs from climbing those rocks.


Jump, jump, jump.

Once she was frozen and shaking (the water wasn't the slightest bit warm), she decided that is was more fun to jump and splash than place her face in the fountains. 

She's not very good about watching where she jumps.

She played until 12:30 when I pulled her out, wrapped her in a towel to try and stop the shivering, and fed her lunch. Normally she wants to eat at 11:30-12:00 and throws tantrums if she doesn't have at least a snack. After eating lunch and warming up, she went back to jumping until 1 when again I pulled her out so we could come home and she could nap.

We're glad someone showed us this place. We took Jake to see it a few nights later. We will head back to play again soon.

Caregiver Ellie

Ellie has become quite the caregiver around the house. She has always liked helping from a young age but recently she has started carrying around or pushing around in the shopping cart her baby, bunny, and/or lamb. For a while, she tried putting dish towels or handkerchief on them like diapers. So I grabbed an old newborn size diaper out and put it on the baby. For days she would "change" the baby's diaper.

Now, when it is about time for Ellie to eat, she will place either the baby or the bunny (more often the bunny) into her high chair. The other day when she did this, I managed to record this gem. See if you can pick out what she is saying.

What do you like to eat?

I have tried to teach Ellie to like fruits and vegetables while not having to eat junk food galore. I am not sure if I have succeeded or if she just likes them because she does. She loves just about all fruits and veggies including steamed broccoli (and she loves saying broccoli), tomatoes, carrots, peaches, kiwi, and cherries. Although she doesn't like zucchini or mushrooms.

One thing that is "a-licious" is homemade salsa. After watching this, Ellie now gets her own special bowls.

Modesty in Dress

I didn't realize I would need to have this conversation so soon with my daughter, but apparently we need to talk about dressing modestly.

After a shower one day, Ellie tried to dress herself. This is how her shirt ended up. There really are sleeves on it.

Today after her nap, I walked into Ellie's room to find her dressed like this.

Or maybe she just needs help learning how to put on shirts properly.