The Author's Assistant

We love going to Barnes and Noble to enjoy the story times. Today an author came to talk about her books and to show kids how to do yoga and meditate. Bridget was invited to be her assistant. She was so excited!

The author used this jar as a simbol of our brains and she asked the kids to share thoughts that clouded up their minds. Each time they shared a thought they sprinkled in some glitter. Bridget decided to share a scary thought..."My scary thought was that I thought my parent were both gingerbread men and I ate them!"...don't ask me. I have no idea where she came up with that, but it was pretty funny.

They're clearing their minds.

... and here is her signed copy of a book about meditation. It's a cute book. Overall it was another fun day at Barnes and Noble. We'll be sad when summer is over and we can't go anymore.

An Early Birthday Surprise!

Brent and I decided to get Bridget another bike for her birthday. Her old bike is still in Texas and there was no way we would have room to get it back to Colorado with us. She's grown a lot since we got her that bike, so she was needing a bigger one anyway. Since spring has started she has been asking for one. The day before Bridget's birthday Brent is working and we had no clue how we would get a bike and hide it from her until her birthday. So after some thought we decided to give it to her early so that she would have some time to ride it before we go on vacation. So on Wednesday morning I went to Walmart and got her bike. I set it on the sidewalk under our balcony and called Brent on his phone. This is a picture of Bridget walking out the door wondering why Brent is telling her to go outside. Her face was so funny. She knew her birthday wasn't for a few days so she was completely caught off guard.

She was so stunned, she just kept saying "Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness!"

She hopped right on and we went for a ride to the park.

Ice Cream on a hot day.

Happy 1st Olivia!

Another one bites the dust.

...nuff said.

The 4th of July.

Brent was working this 4th of July so on the 3rd we went to the local park and watched the fireworks. Our plan was to go to Breckenridge and see him in the parade there but we got stuck in traffic and didn't make it. So instead we turned around and hung out by the pool. We also went to see the new movie Kit Kitridge An American Girl. It was so cute. After that we went home and played with sparklers before we went to bed. This is a case of it sucks to live so far away from family.

A weekend in Telluride.

One day I got a random email from my friend Aime, she wanted to know if we would be up for a girl's weekend with her and her mother in Telluride. She said that her Aunt had a house there and that Telluride was having a wine fest on this particular weekend. Without hesitation we said yes!

So on a Thursday she picked us up and we headed for the hills. We got a late start so we decided to stay at her grandparents summer condo in Gunnison. When we pulled up it was very dark but we could hear the river rushing even though we couldn't see it.

The next morning we stepped outside to see exactly how close they were to the river. The water was up really high but it was so beautiful. She said that they spend every evening out of there patio by the river and all of their neighbors come out, drinks in hand and they all visit and eat appetizers while they watch people raft or fish the river. It looked like so much fun.

After a few more hours of driving we made it to Telluride and we got to see where we were staying. It was a beautiful three story house located just off of the main street.

It was so cute with a little manecured lawn and a little white picket fence...

it was amazing that this place even had a yard. Mountain homes aren't known to have very big yards.

As soon as we got inside the house we changed clothes and went for our first hike...

Aime is so much better at self-portraits than I am.

Bridget taking her time and enjoying the scenery.

After our hike we got cleaned up and decided to go for a gondola ride. This is Aime and her mom, Linda. Aren't they cute?

Bridget and I riding the gondola also.

After the gondola ride we decided to grab a bite to eat.

The next day we went for another hike. Our first hike wasn't so successful because Bridget whined the whole time. So I bribed her with marachino cherries. I told her that at the beginning of the hike she was going to start with 5 cherries, and that each time she whined we were going to take a cherry away. I didn't want her to give up before we got to the waterfalls. My trick worked. As soon as we turned a corner we could feel the spray from the falls, it was delicious. It was a hot day and the cool spray felt so good. If you look hard you can see Bridget and I standing at the bottom of the falls. We were getting soaked.

Bridget was so proud of herself for making it this far she insisted on hiking some more.

We made it to where the snow was and that was Bridget's goal. She wanted to throw a snow ball so badly.

On the way down we decided to dip our feet in the stream. It was freezing cold but it felt so good at the same time. Bridget actually took this picture of Aime and I. After this picture Bridget decided to go in too and fell in on her butt. She had to sit in her underwear for a while to let her shorts dry off. She didn't care though because she made it to the top without whining, and she was so proud that she was going to get some ice cream with 5 cherries on top. As we walked down she kept saying, "I can't believe I get 5 cherries!" It was like she won the lottery or something. It's amazing what 5 cherries can accomplish.

After our hike we had lunch at a local Mexican restaurant and Aime and Linda headed back to the house to take a nap. Earlier that day I had promised Bridget that I would take her swimming and to get some ice cream, and of course to get her 5 cherries. After we were finished with all of that we went home with just enough time to take showers and get ready to head out to the wine fest.

At the beginning of the fest I was nervous because I don't know anything about wine. It all tastes the same to me. I was even afraid to ask for a sample because I was afraid I would mispronounce it. But after a couple of sips I got used to it and I would roll the wine around in the glass and sniff it and nod like I knew what I was doing. And after some time I could actually taste the different flavors. I did learn that I like german wines a lot because they are sweet. It was fun, we would walk from gallery to gallery tasting and talking. Amazingly enough Bridget hung in there, talking on Linda's pedometer like it was her cell phone. She was having a blast talking to her imaginary friends. She was so good for spending the entire day hiking and swimming. I thought she would be too tired to tag along. We rounded our "Taste of Telluride" by going into this tent, they had amazing food and I had the yummiest drink of my life. It was some sort of watermelon cocktail. We spent the remainder of the time snagging the watermelon drinks and tasting the different foods from the culinary demonstrations.

As we walked back to the house we had to stop to take a picture of us in front of the Wine Festival sign, I insisted.

Bridget and Linda walked hand in hand talking in British accents, because they thought it was funny...

and I had to stop and take a picture of these beautiful flowers because I loved the way the setting sun was making them glow.

We rounded out the evening by eating dinner in the backyard, and Bridget played a round of golf. The next day we woke up early and had breakfast at a local bakery. We took our coffee and had a ride on the gondola one last time while we watched the sun rise. It was a perfect way to end our trip.

Oh, who's counting?

Emily comes to visit!

Emily was getting ready to go to Africa to climb Mount Kilimanjaro so she decided to come see us and do some hiking. This is the first hike we did, it was more like a walk on a long dusty road with a great view.
After our hike we got cleaned up and went to Breckenridge to see Brent at work. Bridget loves going down the pole with her dad, but notice the sign.

Here we are being as lovely as can be. I just adore that girl, I can't wait until she gets back from Africa.

A cute little family photo of us in front of where the slopes are.

The next day Emily and I decided to go on a real hike at Red Rocks. It started off really boring so we decided to take a really skinny trail feeling pretty sure that we would find adventure. Unfortunately, we found more adventure than we bargained for. As we walked up the skinny trail it got skinnier and skinnier and kept leading us closer and closer to the big boulder you see behind us. I was walking ahead of Emily, when all of a sudden, we heard a rattlesnake rattling it's tail at us. I must have walked past it and woke it up and by the time Emily got to it it was wagging it's head at her. We both screamed and I went up the hill and Emily went down the hill, since it was in between us. As soon as I got to the top I realized there was nowhere to go but down. I decided to give the trail a try again thinking the snake would have left but it didn't, it started rattling at me again so I took off running. So, here I am stuck on the top of a hill shouting at Emily and she was at the bottom trying to help me figure out a way to get down. She was contemplating climbing another boulder next to me but we were pretty sure that she would get stuck on the boulder and I would be held hostage on the top of a hill by a rattle snake. And we would both be up a creek without a paddle. Finally, after some time passed we decided that I was just going to have to chance the trail again. So armed with a big rock I started to make my way down, wimpering and shaking the whole way. I would roll the rock down the trail to try to set off the snake before I got there. Luckily enough, he had left, and I made it down to the bottom without having to amputate any limbs where a snake might have bitten me. We hiked for another 3 hours because we got lost, but were sure to stay away from any shady places for the rest of our hike.

After the hike we got cleaned up and Emily watched High School Musical with Bridget, actually they pretty much reinacted the whole movie. This is a picture of them singing "We're all in this together..."

Later that night we went to the Littleton Block Party and listened to music and watched some fireworks. It was fun! The next morning Emily left and now she is climbing Mount Kilimanjaro probably telling her guide how she took on a rattlesnake with one arm tied behind her back during her adventure in the Wild West.