Summer Field Trip

We braved the crowds for today's "Free Day" at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. It was exciting! And crowded! Eliana liked the pterodactyls, or "old quackies" as she called them.
What a great Monday-Funday!

Eliana protesting having her picture taken with me.
Oh, special moments caught on film.

Ashleigh and Dominic

Proof that Parker takes part in our adventures, too.
(Here, he burps. Amazing!!)
He's three months. No cute stories on his museum enjoyment.
He slept. But he sure is cute!

It's Hard to Go Home.....

Maybe Sarah Palin had to resign because it was just too much work looking after Alaska AND Russia!! Ha!

Interesting article politically, socially, and feministly (that's not a real word, but it should be.)

Check it out:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2009442072_egoodman10.html

Hot Cookies

Eliana calls all cookie-like-products "cookies." This goes for cookies, crackers, pretzels, rice cakes. You get the idea. So when I tried to explain that the firecrackers going off outside her bedroom window for the days leading up to the 4th weren't actually "pops" as she'd been calling them, but firecrackers, she looked at me quite puzzled and asked, "Hot cookies?!?"
Yes, bug. Hot cookies.

We had a great time with great friends up in Steamboat Springs for the holiday weekend. Lots of fun, lots of food, a good parade (prizes being examined closely in the above picture), some swimming and lots-o-laughs. Man, I love summer.

Hot cookies are loud!! Ellie-Belle liked the purple ones.
And put on quite the dance show.

Hold on to your handle, Uncle Gabe!!

All Systems Are Go!

Aye, it's been busy around here. We've been doing so much stuff that I've forgotten to keep up with my little blog experiment. So, I guess we'll have a "update" post as I can't come up with something clever to seamlessly tie all of our adventures together.

First, Jim's surgery went really well. He's home recovering after about 4 days in the hospital and actually goes back to work next week. Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers. It made a difference and we're pleased as punch that he has to put up with us for decades to come.

Second, Eliana and Parker are having an excellent summer, me thinks. Ellie has gotten lots of quality time in Mama & Papa's "pool" (hot tub) and Parker is growing like mad. The surgeon decided no surgery for our little man, which we are now fine with. No need for superfluous surgery. We'll just call his little umbilical hernia his "safety button" and move on. Eliana is convinced that the little bubble on his belly means the baby is going to pop but I think I have lots to time to prove that's probably not likely.

Third, I've decided that this is the summer of babies!!! We've had, and will have, lots of baby birthday parties, we have friends who just found out they are expecting, and friends that just had their babies (Welcome Matthew & Angie!!) We're also eagerly awaiting the arrival of our first niece in September. We're super-excited to have so much new company for our little ones. We got a head start on our group of friends but soon enough it will all even out.

Fourth, we've been very busy with little household projects that we finally have energy to tackle. We've got a basement bedroom to paint, organize and actually put to good use, some ceiling fans to get up, a swamp cooler to fix, and some new furniture to purchase. But we did put in a play area for the kids. Derrick did the whole thing in a few hours and Eliana has used it everyday since. Awesome!!

More to come as summer wears on. Happy Fourth to everyone!!

Bon Voyage

Nobody really likes their neighbors anymore, I've discovered. Gone for most are the block parties and the bringing in of each others trash cans and the borrowing of a cup of sugar. But we had great neighbors. And now they will be someone else's great neighbors in some Atlanta suburb. And I am sad.

Dr. & Mrs. Roede have moved on and this weekend we spent time celebrating all the fun stuff we did while they were here. Not only were they neighbors (this happened quite by accident as we knew them before they moved in a few houses down from us) but Danyel worked with Derrick and they were just great friends. We went to shows (FOO FIGHTERS!!) and movies and even on trips. Yeah, good enough friends that we could even travel with them....that doesn't come by everyday.

We laughed on their patio watching the chiminea till 2 in the morning....we fixed up our backyard for the little bugs to play in....we had birthdays and showers and weddings and snow days and homecooked dinners. Somewhere along the way the went from friends and neighbors to best friends and the greatest neighbors and even babysitters for miss Elle. The kind of neighbors you most certainly take for granted until they are gone.

Eliana walks around all day saying "Peep, peep!!" as her way of asking about JR who would honk every single time he drove by our house for the past three years. We love you JR & Danyel. We will miss you. And we're planning to come visit ASAP.

Our Day in the Sun...

The sun came out today. And we finally took advantage of it.

Our friends Darci & Preston generously invited us to join them at the Lakeshore pool this morning for some sunning and swimming. Wonderfully fabulous and now I'm more tempted than ever to join. The trip was probably my first official solo-parent adventure with the two kids. We had such a great time and I have a feeling this is Eliana's summer to turn into a little fish. She LOVED the pool and even got quite brave walking out all the way to her chin. I'm sure I'll be hearing about the "Pool, Mommy! Pool!" all week. Parker slept and lounged and got all the attention, what a little flirt. I managed to keep up (and get a little sunburned. I was too worried about the kids!!) Impressive.

I'm glad to get a bit of sun before our big Wednesday. My dad, Jim, goes in for kidney surgery tomorrow afternoon. It's a big six-hour ordeal and while the parents keep assuring us things are just fine...it's scary to think of him in any pain. We'll be thinking about him all day long....while we're down at Children's Hospital having a surgeon meet with Parker for potential surgery on his umbilical hernia. What a day.

I know there will be lots more good days for us this summer. Happy, sunny, laughter-filled days. We just have to get through tomorrow. ;)

Surprise

Mr. Pope still has the ability to surprise. Not something I necessarily expect after, what, seven years together? Here we are, doing the baby thing, living the baby life. Our paths cross at odd hours for feedings and bath time and every now and then even for dinner. We have a couple of laughs over the phone some days and when we're actually in person the conversations usually turn to planning and organizing, if we even have time (or mental capacity) for that.

This is in no way a complaint. I can only speak for myself, but I'm deliriously happy right now. We have two beautiful, healthy kids. I'm kind of in the stay-at-home-mommy groove. And my husband is awesome. He cooks, he cleans (not often, but he tries), he makes me laugh. Things are good.

I don't need 23-hour-a-day relationship validation. But then he goes and sets up a date....for me and my friend for dinner and a movie. The sneaky twosome planned it all without my knowledge and it made me feel loved beyond belief. They took the time to do it...in the middle of their busy days....to surprise me. Dinner was great (although I did yawn a few times) and the movie was just what I needed, about 2,000 laughs.

Thanks for thinking of me, love. I'll see ya tonight around 3 a.m.....