Washington Park

Back on October 8th, we took our family Friday afternoon trip to the Old South Gaylord Street shops and Washington Park. The shops weren't that exciting. It was one block of shops down one street. There was a tandem bike shop and a consignment sports shop but other than that 1-2 art galleries and a few spas.

The park great though. It was a little cold that day but we got out and walked around some. The park appears larger than Liberty Park in Salt Lake. There are two separate gardens and two separate "lakes". (They are just large ponds like at Liberty only slightly bigger.) There were some awesome playgrounds though and Ellie is realizing how much she loves to be outside and play. She just wishes she were bigger so mommy will let her climb stairs and ride slides by herself.

I am trying to help Ellie climb through this tunnel. She wouldn't. Jake and I just took turns pushing her from one side to the other, which of course was fun enough for her.

I love tire swings. We did spin just a little. We weren't sure how much Ellie would like or could handle.

These were some of the crazy flowers we saw in one of the gardens. The other garden really looked like a vegetable garden at the end of the season.

Two or three different groups were wandering the garden taking pictures while we were there. The flowers were so great and diverse.

All through out were these little paths so that you could walk through. They were gorgeous. I wish I could take better pictures and had taken more to show off. Although it was a quiet day, it was for the best because Ellie and I were leaving for a great adventure the next day.

Birthday parties

Yes, parties. Ellie was able to celebrate her birthday twice. The week of her birthday, she and I were in California with my family so in order to celebrate with Jake and his family, we had another one the Sunday after. Although they weren't so much as parties as us sitting around anticipating Ellie smashing cake on her face and hair. She didn't disappoint.

Here are the pictures from the California celebration. We were in Disneyland on her birthday so we celebrated the next day.

Then on Sunday, we celebrated with the Watterson family via webcam. It was quite fun.

Funny Signs

Here are some of the funniest signs I have seen around lately.

I'll bet their marketing slogan is something like, "At least it won't cost you an arm and a leg." Maybe their competitors say, "Repair costs that get you in the end."

Or in my case football season, hunting (deer, elk, moose, etc.)season, fishing season, baseball championship series, MMA/UFC fights, basketball finals. . .

I don't think this needs much of an explanation. Adult store, "cheaper than dating."

Seriously!?!?! Who starts this kind of club? (Actually it's a nonprofit organization designed to help strengthen the bonds between people and animals.)







I have also driven on Dam Road.

I am always keeping an eye out for other great signs.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELLIE!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELLIE! This past Thursday (Oct. 14th), Ellie turned one. I couldn't believe it. People told me time would fly but it really is hard to believe that just a little over a year ago she was a little tiny baby and now she is walking around babbling about who knows what.

Here's Ellie on the way home from the hospital. Look at how little she was. She was born at 6 lbs 13 oz.

Look at that sweet little face.

Last year's Halloween; Calvin, Hobbes, Susie, and Mr Bunbun.

She even fit in a basket. What a doll!

Ellie in her blessing dress.

Her first Christmas wearing her new pajamas sitting with Aunt Stef and her cousins.

Look at that face. Ha ha ha.

Playing around after bath time, like a little cocoon.

Enjoying some sun with Aunt Calee.

Sitting with cousin Becca at the Watterson Family Reunion.

Watching the Oakley Rodeo with Grandpa Steve.

Ellie and her cute train engineer hat. She was a little preoccupied on with the train driving by.

What a cute little cheeser! How we love this girl and are so glad she is part of our lives. She is such a good happy little girl. From how small she started to where she is at now; wearing 12-18 month clothes, 8 teeth, walking all around. She loves to talk and shop with mommy. She loves to tease daddy. I am happy and blessed to be her mom.

Ellie, always know that mommy and daddy love you so much. We love watching you grow and learn. You are a special girl. We hope you had a happy birthday.

Grandmas' Visit (cont)

On Wednesday, we traveled back up the canyon to Georgetown. This small mining town touts Victorian style housing and cute shops in the historic downtown. Just beyond the shopping is supposed to be the Georgetown Loop railroad. As we pulled up to Georgetown, we stopped by their visitors center and to our surprise it was CLOSED. Why would you close down the visitors center in a town that was obviously surviving on tourism?

Anyway, we decided to just guess and drive as it was a small town. Drive to one end and if you don't find anything, turn around and go to the other. Luckily we followed the right cars into the old shopping area. Before we window shopped, we drove around some of the old homes there. As we passed one place, my mom asked me to stop and go back as she thought she saw a donkey or mule in someones yard, just laying down. Close enough.

We walked around the shops, enjoyed some homemade ice cream, found some interesting/cool trinkets (rocks, trilobites, aspen leaves with only the veins left that are gold/silver plated, etc.). They were fun little shops. After we had walked around, we went to go find the train. One of the store owners gave us directions to the station.

As we pulled in, a man from the gift shop/ticket office greeted us and said that the last train of the day had already left. We were a little disappointed to have missed it. I think it would have been a fun ride. Then I remembered the 24th of July at This Is the Place park when Jake took Ellie on the mini train they had going. She didn't like it too much. We decided to wait for the train anyway as from where we were we could watch it cross over a 100 foot high trestle called Devil's Gate.

The train started to come into view. We watched it travel over the bridge and pull into the station. Ellie did not like the noise it made as it pulled in. She immediately turned on whoever was holding her, fussing, and cuddling deep into their chest. Maybe it was a good thing we weren't actually on the train.

Grandma Wendy bought Ellie the cutest conductor's hat, which oddly enough she likes to wear. (I will post a few of the cute pictures later.) The 4 generations picture in the last post was taken by the train station.

We then continued on our adventures by traveling back down the canyon to grab Jake for dinner. But we got distracted on the way down and stopped at Buffalo Bill's grave and the Boettcher Mansion.

At Buffalo Bill's, the museum was already closed but of course the gift shop was open and the actual grave site was just on the mountain side. Outside the gift shop was a lookout patio that faced Denver. (The grave is on Lookout Mountain just outside of Golden.) We spent a few minutes looking through those old viewing binoculars things. We tried to pick out a few things. You could barely see the airport it is so far out on the horizon. The gift shop had some cute things in it. Nothing that we really hadn't seen at other gift shops so far.

The Boettcher Mansion isn't a mansion by today's standards but considering it was built in 1917 makes it very impressive. Now it is use mostly as a events/reception center but I imagine it would be quite a site to see all done up for such an event. It sits on the mountain and aside from a small groomed gardens close to the mansion, it is all forest that surrounds it. There is an elegant stone gazebo type structure out back. The door faces away from the building and has a fireplace inside.

We drove down and waited for Jake to finish up at Young Men's to take off to dinner at H Burger Co. The burgers were pretty good. The patties were hand formed but the main reason for eating there was they have liquid nitrogen shakes. My mom wanted to try one to see how it compared to the ice cream place in Lehi/Provo area. Of course, Ellie provided the show. Not only for us, but she kept trying to attract the attention of the people sitting on either side of us to entertain them as well.

On Thursday, mom's and grandma Bonnie's flight left later in the afternoon so we tried to squish in a few more activities. First we took off to see the Denver Temple. In my opinion, the Denver Temple looks like a mini Jordan River which could be true as it was built shortly after the JR Temple. One of the main differences between the two is behind the Denver Temple there is a cute spot to take bridal picture. It is a circle of benches with trellis coverings and flowers surrounding it. Quite beautiful but I am sure difficult to snag a good picture of the temple from there.

From there we headed to the Cherry Creek shopping center. We grabbed lunch at Panda Express. Ellie loves the noodles in the chow mien. Apparently we had been keeping her busy because as she finished lunch, she took the opportunity to sit back and relax. What a silly goose.

One of Ellie's new found loves is stuffed animals so Grandma Wendy wanted to give her a Build a Bear (kind of a tradition with Grandma). Luckily they started making "small fry" Build a Bear animals. They are just miniature stuffed animals (already stuffed) that you can dress if you so desire. Ellie had a hard time deciding which one she wanted. Can you tell?

We even tried to hold the equal distance from her and allow her to grab at one but she would grab one and then grab another and then the last. If we tried to move the others once she grabbed for the first, she would start to whimper. To finish off our trip, Ellie wanted to show grandmas the fun play area in the mall. She loves it there and would have play longer but we had to leave to make sure mom and grandma didn't miss their flight.

We were really glad to have mom and Grandma come out and visit. Ellie still can't seem to receive enough attention from Jake or I to make up for theirs during the visit and I know she is lonely sitting in the backseat all by herself without grandma Bonnie there to tickle her piggies.

Thanks for such a great visit Grandma Wendy and Grandma Bonnie. We love you!

Grandmas' Visit

Yes the grammar in this posting's title is correct. My mom (Grandma Wendy) and her mom (Grandma/Great Grandma Bonnie) came out to visit last week. Boy did we have fun. Ellie is now a little stir crazy from being in the house so much compared to last week.

Here is our picture of 4 generations.


They flew into Denver on Monday. Ellie and I drove to the airport to pick them up. Unfortunately none of us really knew a lot about the Denver Airport, the airport doesn't have good guidance signs and they got lost trying to meet me outside. Once we found each other, we drove back to our place to drop off their stuff and then off to the Outlets at Castle Rock. Deal of the day; I bought a pair of levi capri pants (which I needed) for a grand total of $6.44! Awesome.
When we girls were done spending money, we drove home and picked up Jake for dinner. We ate at the Rocky Mountain Diner. Overall dinner was delicious and with Ellie there showing off for everyone, we had a show as well.

The next day us girls took off for the Denver Botanic Gardens. This, like the zoo, seems to be a developing project. First we toured the Children's Garden. In there the garden and learning activities are tailored for kids as well as being a rooftop garden to conserve energy over the parking garage.

I loved wandering around the actual gardens. After stopping for a bite to eat, we started our wandering in the tropical garden: an indoor conservatory that was as humid as the rain forests and jungles of tropical areas. In the center of the room was a "tree" with stairs and an elevator so we could go to the upper levels of the canopy. Below is a picture looking up, notice the pretty purple flowers at the top.

This is the close up of the purple flowers. They turned out to be one of my garden enemies, Morning Glory. I couldn't believe how big the flowers were.

We left the tropical garden by the way of the orchid garden. Outside they have areas grouped off to show gardens of different types; rose, lily, oak grove, Japanese, and many more. Being fall, some of the areas weren't the greatest but others were just wonderful.

We also found the romantic garden that was to be closed later that evening for a function. We guessed a wedding ceremony.

There were quite a few areas with water displays and the gardens were also displaying several statues of Henry Moore.

After enjoying the gardens, we stopped at home to "hopefully" allow Ellie a small nap. Small doesn't describe the shut eye she got.

Next we drove out to the Red Rocks Amphitheater. This is a really great place. I hope one day I can see something performed here. The theater is set right next to the foothills and is mostly natural formations. Of course there have been a few modern additions for safety and for technical purposes.

This is us standing at the top of the theater. Behind us is the stage and looks out over Denver.

The top row is row 69, I think. If you have been to Rice Eccles Stadium (where the Utah Utes play football), it has a few more rows than the west side. Nothing was scheduled to be there that night but there were about 30-40 people there exercising. It was quite a sight. Some just walked the rows, some walked/ran stairs, some high stepped the benches but I thought it was a great way to exercise if you were already in shape.

Ellie, Grandma Wendy and I walked all the way down the stairs to the stage. Grandma Bonnie waited on row 43 for us to come back up. This is what it looks like from the bottom. That's Grandma sitting all by her lonesome.

Ellie and I playing on the stage down front. I will tell you, it was a hard climb back up. Carrying a 20+ pound infant didn't make it any easier. My calves were stiff the next day.

We toured the amphitheater hall of fame and museum to learn about how has played there and the history surrounding it. Apparently dinosaurs used to roam the area. There was a bit of information about that as well.

A short drove over a small pass took us to Idaho Springs, a small mountain mining town. We drove past a few shops but stopped for dinner as it was becoming late. We stopped at Beau Jo's pizza. You buy the pizza based on weight. Their Rocky Mountain crust stands about 1 1/2" to 2" high. Our server told us most people save the crust and eat it with honey like rolls.

Check out their salad bar. We loved the bath tubs.

One of the menu items is called the Challenge. We weren't about to try it. $75 for a 16" pizza that weighs 14 lbs; consisting of pepperoni, sausage, hamburger, green peppers, onions, and mushrooms. The challenge; if only two people can eat the entire pizza (crust and all) in one hour and one sitting, the pizza is free, they receive $100 cash prize and 2 Beau Jo's t-shirts (seen on Man vs. Food).

Having had enough adventure for the day, we headed home. Ellie was one tired little girl and even though Grandma Bonnie was sitting next to her on the ride home, she still fell asleep.

Rough day!

Today has been a bit of a rough day. Ellie has decided that she is done eating baby food. Last Saturday we bought a few more jars because she was still eating it. At all three meals yesterday and this morning she would eat maybe 3 bites and then start waving her arms in front of her and yelling. If not quick enough, baby food would go flying. Now we have all these containers and she won't eat it.

This morning while I was cleaning up the clothes she pulled out of the laundry basket, I heard her wandering down the hall. Once I couldn't hear her anymore, I called out. Not getting an answer I knew she was in the bathroom. When I got in there, I saw her take a bite out of the toilet paper roll. I promise, she has plenty of fiber in her diet although you couldn't tell because she also eats the corners of the remaining card board boxes in our front room.

After bringing her back and closing the bathroom door, I got back to work. I hear her again take off down the hall. I know she isn't in the bathroom so I know she has gone back to the storage shelves to pull off the covered toilet paper rolls, tissue boxes, and anything else she can get her hands on to. (Can you tell she does this on a regular basis?) Unfortunately Jake also stores his pop cans on the shelf. Ellie can reach them but they are slightly over her head. I hear her grunt a little and then I hear a can hit the floor. Next came the scream of a child that was hurt somehow. I assumed it hit her toes and pinched them. A few minutes later I realized I was wrong. There is a small bruise forming on her cheek just below her eye.

She recovered quickly. Hopefully she'll leave the drinks alone from now on.

Ellie is trying to eliminate one of her naps. This only works for a day or two and then she is so tired she can't help but take 2 naps. Today she snuck a short 30 minute nap in the morning. Then we went for a walk. She has been a little stir crazy/cabin feverish since my mom left.

Once back from the walk, she emptied the laundry basket again as well as the Tupperware cupboard and the dish towel drawer.

Got to love that little girl.