NYC Day 3

I’m sure the NYers are going to say “duh.” But rain really sucks worse in the city.

We split up today along gender lines. The guys went to a diner and then checked out the USS Intrepid. Ben apparently had a great time splashing and climbing and running. The ladies checked out Tea and Sympathy and then did a bit of shopping around the W Village (I think). The only problem was the RAIN!!! We were all soaked. Tabby and I ended up getting wellies at Marshalls to cope.

At 5:50 we realized time had gotten away from us and we headed downtown to meet up with our friends we’ve never met before, Ani, Niel, Olivia and little Niel. It was a nice and crazy evening. They had bad traffic, the kids were tired, drinks got spilled, my dad had the diaper bag, the rain complicated things, etc. But the restaurant was nice, we got to go by Magnolia and grab some cupcakes and best of all, we got to meet these lovely people we’ve known forever, more or less.

We got back super late. The kids were exhausted. But it was a fun night.

NYC Day 2

It was hot and humid today. Sticky humid. But oh well, lots to see. Matt and I did a superquick run along the waterfront before it got nasty. We grabbed breakfast at Sarabeth’s Kitchen. Eggs Benedict with smoked salmon was great. Then we went to the American Museum of Natrual History. Unfortunately, one of the big exhibits we wanted to see (frogs) was sold out for the day,

so we skipped through Central Park and went to The Met. The kids had an awesome time in the park. We climbed Belvedere castle, saw some turtles and enjoyed being outside. Ben really got his energy out and was pretty good while at The Met. Tabby loved the Met and was so excited to see all the amazing stuff … suits of armor, Egyptian carvings, antique furniture, etc. etc. We had a super fab dinner at The Cafeteria – the Mac ‘n’ Cheese is awesome!

Full and FUN day!

NYC Day 1

Well we made it. Still not sure if the red-eye was a good decision or not, but the kids did sleep a good portion of the flight and we all had to have naps. For obvious reasons we did not do much today … just got pizza and rice pudding and did some shopping. We had to buy a pack ‘n’ play for Ben to sleep in (this was actually about the same price as bringing our own) … speaking of which, the Babies R Us in Union Square is the nicest one I’ve ever seen. We also checked out the Crumpler outlet store which was cool. We scored some great little backpacks for the kids.

We have spent the evening in. Our apartment is in the financial district and it’s got a great view of the Brooklyn Bridge. There’s some dignitaries in town and we’ve been watching the motorcades go through town. Also, in case you were wondering, I’ve been playing with my Bokeh kit. Cheers!

It’s a Small Town

Last night we had an odd moment of serendipity. The first camping trip we made with our pop-up we met a lovely family with a young son. He and Tabby were instant best friends and we all had a great time chatting together. We exchanged contact information and I’d emailed and sent a photo of the kids, but we hadn’t heard back from them.

So last night we met up with my grandma and parents for dinner. Our first choice restaurant was closed and we went to a nearby Red Robin. We’d finished our dinner and Tabby had just requested dessert and we were sitting there visiting. All of a sudden, my sister, who was with us on the camping trip is pointing to the table behind ours. I had no idea what she was talking about and was completely confused and I kept hearing “pop up” … well lo and behold, it’s our camping buddies from back in August!

Well it is a small town after all … just 3.2 million people.*

 

* Greater Denver Metro Area

Running and Such

I can hardly believe that summer is over … and also almost officially over. It was a crazy summer. We were traveling practically every other weekend all summer, except a notable 4 week stretch in which we traveled two weekends in a row and then were home for two weekends (that was when we goofed on the dates for family reunion, so it wasn’t planned).

A few of the weekends we didn’t travel we had races. But despite those races, it wasn’t a great summer for running. Usually we do our long runs on the weekend and it’s difficult at best to get those in when you’re out of town. I have successfully snuck them in when we’ve gotten home on Sunday, but usually there’s so much to do I have to dive into things like laundry and putting away and getting ready for the week.

But I did do one very important thing fitness wise this summer … I got reacquainted with Robyn. Robyn is my best friend/worst enemy 3 days a week. She is the coach at Front Range Adventure Bootcamp. Three times a week at the slightly insane hour of 5:15, I arrive at her gym with a bunch of other women, mostly moms aged 26-45, and we do the workout of the day. We run. We do pushups. We hold plank for minutes at a time. We do pullups, ring-dips, squats, lunges, Romanian dead-lifts, Turkish get-ups, hand-stand pushups, and I could go on and on.

Thanks in large part to running but in equal part to Robyn’s “abuse” I am quite strong and in better shape than I’ve probably been in since high school. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not svelte or lean, but I’m smaller … a medium, not a large. And right now I’m maintaining and feeling pretty good. But long term, I’d like to really concentrate my efforts not only on my workouts, but also my food, and lose a few more pounds. I know it would help my running and it wouldn’t bother my vanity either. We can still be vain, right?

So fall is here … and it’s time to get back into a routine. More running … and more mindful eating. But first I need to get through 2.5 weeks of travel.

Sharing Time

Saw this on Carol‘s Pinterest boards and I have been laughing whenever I think about it since. Teehee!

I just bought a backpack for our NYC trip. I got a good deal and I think I can sell it on Craigslist for nearly what I paid for it. It’s more compact than our hiking backpack. So yay. Now I just have to figure out about a pack ‘n’ play.

I am very excited to make this French Onion Chicken. Unfortunately we are negatory one lg. skillet. Ours lost all its coating in the center and we had to send it off to recycling. We need to buy a new one but we haven’t figured out which one we want. We’re trying to decide if it’s worth it to buy a more expensive one if it’ll last longer. I have my doubts.

I’m trying to figure out if Matt and I can get a date night in this weekend. We’re supposed to have dinner with some friends on Sat night and we’re getting together with my family on Friday night. Signs point to doubtful. But who can complain?

I still need to do a post about the jam I made, but meanwhile we are very much enjoying the results. The few photos I took turned out horribly and I need to redo them. It’s hard to get decent natural light in the evenings now since the sun is going down so much earlier than just a few weeks ago. Mornings are harder too I notice …

Hope your week is progressing acceptably or brilliantly.

Thoughts on Camping

We’ve now been on two fairly successful camping trips with our pop-up. $$ aside, I’m very glad we bought it. The trips have been GREAT and I think it’s pretty safe to say we wouldn’t have gone camping without it. I can do without pretty well when it comes to camping … I don’t mind lack of electricity, showers, etc. but I LOVE my sleep and with the pop-up I finally can get sleep while camping. Yay!

Of course maybe the same thing could have been accomplished with a $60 cot from Bass Pro. I guess we’ll never know. Anyhow, here are some things I DO know so far about camping:

  • Not a fan of Campsuds dish soap … does not cut grease worth crap unless you have hot water. This trip we used plain ol’ Dawn and collected our drainage in a grey-water bucket, which can be used to douse the fire, so no worries there. Some say Dr. Bronners (also biodegradable) is better, might check it out later.
  • Just cooking alone makes plenty of dishes, so this trip we opted for paper plates/bowls for eatingĀ  … these can then be burned for kindling in the campfire. Saved us tons of water.
  • This last trip I pre-cooked the bacon in the oven and just re-heated it on the stove. So much more fit in the pan and it was so quick! It could keep pace with my frantic pancake-making.
  • I pre-mixed all the dry ingredients for recipes (pancakes, cornbread) and then marked them with the quantities of wet ingredients required. I also decanted the proper amounts of wet ingredients into other vessels to save space if needed.
  • We purchased a big sports cooler to fill with drinking water and that helped me out a lot – I don’t tend to like the taste of water from other places and won’t drink as much as I need. That was Matt’s idea and it’s a very good one.
  • Breakfast the last morning has been cereal with milk both times and I plan to keep it up – quick and easy while we pack up.
  • We have both an LED lantern and several LED flashlights. They rock. They are small, compact, take few batteries, last forever and produce a ton of light (we didn’t get the brightest ones and I’m so glad because the ones we have can half blind you!).
  • Planning and packing are super important. We found a packing list somewhere on the interwebs that we modified for our own use … if you’re interested, it is here inĀ pdf and txt.

We’ve got one more trip tentatively planned for this year – hopefully the weather will hold! I’m sure we’ll continue to refine our camping as we go forward. We are collecting cool places to camp from friends and coworkers and I’m already getting excited about going next year. Many more places we want to see!

The Dunes

 

This weekend, we went to Egypt.

No … I kid, I kid.


We went to the Great Sand Dunes National Park. It’s an incredible spot, about 4 hours from Denver. It is caused by a very rare natural phenomenon that traps the sand in this valley and creates the beautiful dunes. But I like to think of it as God’s own little practical joke: dropping tons of sand in the middle of the Rockies. Tee-hee.

Continue reading “The Dunes”

Tabby at 4.5

Hard to believe our girl is half way to 5 years old. She seems like such a big girl in so many ways. She has gotten to be incredibly independent and I’m always quite proud and slightly wistful when I see how capable and self-assured she is. She does so many things all on her own … brushes her teeth, puts away her dirty laundry, makes her bed, picks up her room, writes letters, washes her plate, buckles her carseat, gathers her stuff for school, etc. etc. We have to spot-check some things of course, but it’s less and less. She is hugely social and pretty much nonplussed with new social situations. She truly enjoys being with people and likes to chat up people in public who interest her. And she’s forever asking who we’re going to see or who’s coming over.

She loves to help with almost anything we’re doing. Cracking eggs, stirring batter, chopping veggies. She helps me fold laundry and set the table. She is incredibly good with her little brother. She likes to teach him things and as much as she enjoys that because she enjoys being in charge, she truly enjoys helping him become a big kid. They play a game where she sings some words and he fills them in and she is super proud as he learns new bits of her favorite songs and new words for this and that.

Of course it isn’t all sunshine and roses. She has been testing us in some frustrating ways, relentlessly pushing for what she wants (now now now!) until I’m liable to snap that she won’t get it EVER if she doesn’t stop hounding me. She loves to push the limits of established rules for her own benefit but is quick to point out when rules aren’t followed – if it’s to her own advantage, that is. There are also moments of fake crying and SCREAMING that earn her time outs. We also had a lying incident a few weeks back that earned her a very early bedtime. The naps are fading away. More often than not she resists so thoroughly that I just give up. But she’s still required to be in her own room, playing quietly and not waking her brother up. It’s really lasted much longer than I might’ve thought.

We find that she really loves her little routines … movies on a Friday night; going to the gym on Saturday morning; samples at Costco. And she remembers things that absolutely amaze me. I really have to watch myself and not make any idle promises or threats because she will remember and call me on it. Good training for me, right? Say what you mean and mean what you say. She is less into TV than she once was. She loves to play her leapster or gameboy though and movies are still a hit. But she will spend hours writing in her workbooks or playing believe or coloring. I want to start getting into doing some more crafty projects with her. She really enjoys them.

She is a real joy to be around and we feel so very lucky to have her in our family. Every day is a joyful adventure with Miss Tabby.