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.