First Day of School

At last!!

I was a little more enthusiastic than Violet.


But she loves school, and was happy to be there once we arrived.

Eeek! A Shark!

A dogfish shark, that is, at the Maine State Aquarium in Boothbay.


We make a yearly trek up there to the one room aquarium, where you'd think the main attraction would be petting the sharks, but really it's rubbing the bumpy picture.




They also have a big touch tank where they actually let you take the critters out of the water, but Stella wanted nothing to do with them. Not even a little bit.


I really love the aquarium for it's relative peace and mild activities. Same puzzle year after year. There's something refreshing about the consistency of the place.

You know, it's just fun. You can't help but feel good out on the coast like that with the blue sky and bluer ocean.

Vacation

We went to Colorado for a week in August to visit Jason's mom, Carol (aka Grandma). His sister Courtney and her boys Dalton and Keegan also flew in from Phoenix. We haven't seen the boys in a couple years and Violet was thrilled to 'meet' them. But first? She was thrilled to fly. She has been asking to fly for ages. Since she can't fly on her own (meaning, with her own two wings) she has resorted to asking if we will take her on a ride in an airplane. Or a hot air balloon. Or a blimp. Seriously. The girl is crazy about blimps. But an airplane will do.


Dalton and Keegan left Grandma's house a few days before we did. The day after they left I asked Violet "Do you like being at Grandma's house better with Dalton and Keegan? Or better just you and Stella?" Her vehement answer: "Dalton and Keegan". But as you will see, actually playing together was anything but smooth. I caught them in a quiet friendly moment playing with Keegan's Legos.


But the they noticed me trying to capture the moment, they started acting like their regular selves.


It being this hard to get a picture of two of them together, check out the four of them together. In our week-long tie-dye project no less.


So by comparison, the remainder of the week was tame. We had fun with Grandma, and got to explore the Denver Botanic Gardens with Jason's friend, Penny. We met with Chris and his lovely new girlfriend, Robin. We rode the Georgetown Loop Railroad. And I personally checked out a few yarn stores, as well as a luscious fabric store in Golden (though their website doesn't do them justice).

Here is Grandma playing with the girls and their homemade Play-Doh (much nicer than we made when I was in preschool). She kept making things only to have Stella demolish them before the rest of us could even focus. They're sitting in grandma's greenhouse which makes me astoundingly envious. But not quite as envious as the tranquil courtyard you can see in the background.


The Denver Botanical Garden was fantastic, and Stella took quite a shine to Penny. In fact, for quite a bit of our walk, Stella wouldn't let go of Penny. And I must say - Penny is rather nice.



And I'll round it out with a few pictures from the Georgetown Loop Railroad. Incidentally, Georgetown is a really cool little town. It lies in a valley along I-70 just west of Denver. It is long and narrow, and seems to have mountains growing out of it's jowls. I-70 crawls along above you, and while you can see it, and hear it, it is still somehow very far away. But on to the train pictures.


So really, that's all I have. And seriously - isn't that enough?

Questionable Content

I can't help but post these, but as this is not really a secure site, I'll likely remove some of the photos in a week or so. Just so they're not hanging around in cyberspace.

Violet is very keen on backyard camping. She and Jason go regularly, and no campout is complete without hotdogs and marshmallows. Well, in truth, no campout is complete without marshmallows. They don't even have to be cooked over a homemade-charcoal-fire like the one below. Sometimes we just throw them at her mouth and she tries to catch them like a seagull. I digress. Friday night was a full fledged campout, and Stella decided to get in on the action too.




Now how cute is that. Do you see that charred little bit of marshmallow? I know she's my own kid, but man is she ever adorable. Freaking adorable.

And Waifer must be the most restrained dog I have ever met. Persistent, but restrained.

Timeless

Some things never cease being fun. I remember doing this when I was a kid.




They were concentrating so fiercely.



Obviously the process is more important than the product, each of which was hastily tossed aside when it was 'done'.

Weekend Fun

One of Violet's favorite activities is crafts. Any kind of craft will do, but even better if there is a grownup to 'play craft' with her. Yesterday morning we made these masks before I left for work. (at 7:45 - yes, I was pretty proud of myself) They were Violet's design. I cut out the eye holes, and I made Stella's bear. (Or would that be Jason's bear?)



In the afternoon I met up with Jason and the kids for Family Fun Day. Stella had her first ride on a horse. Every week she watches as Violet rides Misty at Equest where she does hippotherapy, and she is incredibly enthusiastic about it. She was thrilled to get up on Dusty for a whopping 5 minute walk.

I wasn't sure she was actually having a good time based on her facial expressions.


But when it was time to get off she said "No! No!" and clutched tightly to the pommel. Makes me think we need to move to the country to a house with a barn and ... oh, what am I saying! Over my cold dead body! And Jason's cold dead body!

I'll try to post some pictures of Violet riding sometime. The horse in that link is actually Zack. Violet got to ride him at the student horse show in 'costume class'. Her favorite part? Zack has cool handles on the side which Misty does not have when Violet rides her.