As always, the entire family was
looking forward to this break. Though
the semester went really fast, it also seemed really hectic. It is very refreshing to have a couple of weeks
away from all of our normal obligations.
My last day at work was amazingly
fun filled. The entire building, staff,
students, and administrators, took part in creating a Lip Dub that is now
posted on YouTube here. (Click on that different colored "here" in the last sentence to watch the video.)Watch
closely around 4:55 and you might see me holding a copy of The Great Gatsby in the background.
Our Oak Park family really needed this.
Our new administration team (wearing the crazy Christmas get-ups) has been very successful in bringing back
the spirit of the Northmen. Joe and Lynn
have watched the video a few times, and they are even more eager to become
Northmen than they were before.
The biggest highlight of the week was that Dan’s mom, Ann, was here. She came with us to the
Christmas Eve service at the church of one of my students. He invited our family to join his family, and
I couldn’t say no. It was a very well
done, short, and sweet service. There
were refreshments afterwards, and everyone there was so kind and welcoming to
us. I love our church, but this small
church was a very nice change of pace, and we all felt the true spirit and meaning of Christmas during our time there. I
didn’t miss the hip-to-hip crowds that we would have experienced at our church
on Christmas Eve at all.
This year was the first time Mimi got to be with the kids for Christmas
morning. I think she enjoyed it. She got up with them and helped them
“organize the gifts” so we could sleep in a bit. I wasn’t able to sleep, but it was great to
get to listen to the conversations among the three of them. Once we started opening presents we tried to
prolong the event as much as possible with breaks for mimosas, coffee, and our
traditional Breakfast Casserole. Both
kids were really sweet about taking turns and making sure we all had gifts to
open. Aunt Jill’s tape job (Thank you
for volunteering to wrap the majority of our gifts! I hate wrapping.) on the packages and the more than adequately
bubble wrapped and peanut filled box from Auntie Mary also kept the festivities
going a little longer. After the
packages were all opened, we all settled in to enjoy our new things. Favorites:
Dan: Chicago Cutlery Knife Set
Me: Jurassic Park Sweatshirt and a
note in a card that made me cry from my parents. I have the best parents!
Joe: 1500 Pokémon Cards (not an
exaggeration, Dan found the mother load on e-bay) and Kindle Fire HDX from
Santa
Lynn: Make-up box and Kindle Fire
HDX from Santa
Mimi: Kindle Reader from her three
kids
Dan made a wonderful roast with
potatoes and carrots in the crock-pot for dinner. Jill and Brian came over the evening. We had a bit of wine and great
conversation. Brian surprised Joe with a
signed baseball from a Royals player. The
greatest moment however, was presenting Charlie, Jill and Brian’s dog, with a
new toy…his very own pair of Grinch underwear.
After hearing that he regularly steals and runs around the house with
any undies he can get his paws on, we knew we had to get him some for
Christmas. I haven’t laughed so hard in
a really long time about anything.
Dan had to go back to work the day
after Christmas, so Mimi and I decided we needed to entertain the kids. On Thursday we decided to take advantage of
our membership to Union Station. We
drove down after lunch and went to our first moving on the Extreme Screen. I was amazed that the tickets were only $5
and our membership got us a free bag of popcorn. It was so worth it that I can’t wait to see
another movie there soon. Walking with
Dinosaurs was a spectacular film. It was
highly entertaining and educational at the same time. We all laughed out loud and learned something
as well. Even, Joe, the dinosaur expert
learned some new things. I can’t say
that we all cried, but one of us did.
Lynn is my super sensitive kiddo.
She had tears streaming during what I like to call the “Bambi” moment of
the movie. I hope no one considers that
a “spoiler.” How else is the runt
supposed to set out on his own in an animated movie if his parents don’t die?
Unfortunately, Lynn hasn’t had enough experience to see that one comin’.
After the movie we went on up to
Science City. Lynn was able to light up
one display by spinning a huge wheel around.
Joe decided he wanted to try the high wire bike. He was exactly the minimum height necessary
to go on it. I was certainly more scared
about him being able to do it than he was.
He went up the stairs, got strapped it, peddled out backwards, peddled
back forwards, unbuckled, and came back down the stairs. He was proud of himself, but I am pretty sure
he thought the gushing from Mimi and Mommy was completely unnecessary. Are seven year olds supposed to be “too cool”
for Mom’s high fives? Well, he let me do
it anyway, so I will call that good. It
ended up being a very successful day.
The kids zonked out that evening and Dan, Ann, and I ended the night
with some good games of Words With Friends.
The weather was amazing on Friday,
so we decided to hit the zoo to introduce Mimi to the penguins. When we arrived, Nekita, the polar bear
jumped into the water and began playing with a large plastic barrel. It was really fun to see him push it as far
down as he could and then see it spring back up to the surface. He also did his requisite swim around to push
off the glass where all the people watch him.
I could watch him do that all day and then go home, but we had to get to
the penguins.
The new exhibit for the penguins is
fantastic. There is an outdoor viewing
area at the front entrance. Upon
entering, there is a large viewing area of the enclosure along with displays of
a few types of fish and jellyfish. Our
favorite part of the exhibit is around the corner from the main viewing
area. As you go down a hallway that
looks like the exit to the building, there are several different areas that
give views of the penguins under the water.
In one area there is a set of steps to sit on to watch. All four of us sat down to watch and were
just mesmerized. The penguins were
chasing each other in what looked like a game of underwater tag. One was picking up a rock from the bottom,
dropping it, and then diving down to get it again. A feather that was floating around fooled
many of the penguins. They all kept
trying to eat it. This was apparently
very funny for all of the kids watching.
Our last stop before the carousel was the Tropics building. All of the monkeys in the exhibit were more
active than I have ever seen them. We
sat for a snack and watched them watch us.
There are times that I am sure we are just as entertaining to them as
they are to us. On our way home we
stopped at my favorite store, The Hillcrest Thrift Store. We didn’t find anything to mind blowing, but
it is always fun to look around.
The weekend was pretty low key and
relaxing. We went to the Y on Saturday
morning to swim. Then later in the
afternoon we met Jill and Brian for our first ever meal at Stroud’s. Thankfully we were close to the beginning of
the line that formed before they opened at 2:00. We didn’t have to wait long at all for a
table. The chicken noodle soup, fried
chicken, sliced potatoes, and cinnamon buns were all amazing. The kids really liked their burgers as
well. We will definitely go back again. Dan and I went out to do a little shopping on
Saturday night while Mimi put the kids to bed.
We ended up buying an area rug for our living room. I love it, and it should last a really long
time. Ann made fun of us for coming home
so early, but I was wiped out. This girl
likes her 9:00 bed time.
On Sunday, as we arrived at church,
we had the horrible realization that there was no Sunday School. Fortunately there were activity bags provided
that were semi-entertaining. Joe really
didn’t like the change of schedule, but he ended up handling it. Ann was so great to help Dan with our coffee
cup washing duty while I kept the kiddos happy.
It was also great to spend a little time talking with a new friend that
I met through my Book Club. We had been
going to the same church for a long time, but hadn’t met. I hope she becomes a regular member of the
Book Club.
The weather turned really cold on
Sunday, so we stayed in all afternoon.
We all rested, played on our tablets, read, and played a few games of
Left, Center, Right with Lynn. She is
one competitive little girl. Thanks to
her dad, at 5 years old, she is already a pro at talking “smack.” “You’re goin’
down Mommy!”
Mimi had to head back to Dubuque
yesterday morning. We were all so sad to
see her go. By last night, Joe was
already saying how much he missed her.
He really does love being surrounded by family.
So that is week one in review. I did clean out my closet and do some lesson
planning yesterday, so now I am feeling free to finish reading a couple of books and to tackle some more writing projects before this break is over. I won’t have guests again until Easter. I can worry about cleaning the house then.
Happy New Year! May you enjoy each day you have and each
person you have to the fullest in the coming year. Smile more, laugh more, write more, and for
goodness sakes, yell a little less too.
Oh, wait, that was me talking to myself…anyway, be happy. It really is more fun!
Mimi is the name that Joe gave Dan’s mom a few years
ago. She was trying to get him to call
her Grammie, but all he could say was Mimi.
It stuck. We got to see Mimi at
Diane and Keith’s in Boulder for lunch before we all headed home. She had been visiting to celebrate her sister
Mary’s 70th Birthday.
The only wildlife that Dan really wanted to see was
moose. He got his wish as we were
driving up to Grand Lake. We saw several
more on our drives around the area during the week.
N is for 
ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK and RAFT
There was a little paddle raft in the garage at the house
that the kids and I decided we needed to try out. We tried, we failed. There was yelling and
crying. Then the wind blew so hard the
sand was stinging our legs. Dan rescued
us with the car just before the previously mentioned hail began. You are allowed
to laugh at the picture as long as you promise to never mention the raft to my
face.
Diane and Keith really do have the house stocked with all
the necessities. You know, chocolate,
marshmallows, graham crackers, a fire pit.
S’mores were of course on the menu every night. The extra bonus item was the set of rotating marshmallow
roasting sticks that made us all feel like fancy gourmet ‘mallow roasters. I am now convinced that an even rotating
speed is what makes the perfect marshmallow. 
On the day we drove
through the national park we planned on stopping in Estes Park to eat the
picnic lunch that we had packed. Once we
saw how busy the little town was, we decided to keep driving until we found a
place that looked peaceful enough to stop.
We happened upon this little park situated outside of Loveland, CO. At one time it had been the location of a
power plant. It was wiped out by a flood
in the 70s, and unfortunately was hit again this fall in the floods. We had an amazing afternoon there relaxing in
the shade of the trees and playing on the playground all while listening to the
great rush of the river near by. We feel
pretty blessed to have been able to enjoy this little jewel before it was
completely destroyed.
We decided to head into Winter Park to enjoy the summer
activities that are offered there. We
ended up being there on a day that they were holding an X-Games type
event. We got to see mountain bikers
doing all kinds of amazing tricks on a jump course. Every flip and landing had me holding my
breath and silently praying that my kids don’t ever want to do anything like
that for fun. I don’t know how all of their
parents haven’t died of heart attacks.
There were several vendors at the event giving away free things. Lynn stocked up on one of her favorites, chap
stick, and our family was introduced to Clif Bars for kids and Mint Chocolate
Clif Bars. Yummy on both counts! We also were able to pick up a bunch of
really fun logo stickers and patches from various groups. 
During the summer (that I am so blessed to have off) I enjoy
going to a weekly Yoga class at the Y.
They have free childcare. I get an hour and a half to myself, and I get
an amazing work out. One afternoon while
Dan and I were hanging on the front patio, I decided that I really missed my
yoga workout, so I decided to do it right there. Dan thought we needed some pictures of this,
so here is one. I am pretty proud of my
Warrior pose. 