our summer is over...

Summer is definitely over in the mountains. The aspen leaves are just about ready to peak and temperatures, even though the weekend was warm, are starting to drop. We came back from Florida to savor this last week in the mountains and enjoy a little fall. We start our drive south a week from today. Arriving back here from Florida I have such mixed feelings about leaving our little mountain town for the winter. It is a very special place. I have decided to just enjoy our last bit of time here, and relish the memories of the amazing summer we had.

my sister getting ready for 4th of July fireworks in ...yes... a winter coat!

riding the gondola in Breck



morning visitors in our backyard!





whew...

What a week! I was hoping to have some pictures to share with you in this post, but it has been too crazy to even take pictures!! I always think it is amazing how you plan life a certain way and then life reminds you that you really can't plan anything!! We arrived at the beginning of the week eager to get a lot done on our house, BUT it is interesting to see how your home has survived after having renters living in it for 18 months. To make a long story short we discovered our pool and carpets were trashed. No biggy... Mark works wonders in the pool care world and carpets can be replaced. Well... after the carpets were installed, pool was being repaired, we happily began unpacking boxes. The first day I was resting on our couch when I noticed a tick crawling up my leg... hmmm... I thought. The second day I noticed a SECOND tick on me and again I thought hmmm... maybe we have a problem. Well that evening my family came to help us and immediately we noticed ticks everywhere!! On our legs, pants, walls, floor even on Gavin's neck! My uncle who spent most of his life in Kansas just kept on saying, "Well aaallll be..." So... life reminded me yet again that you never can count on your perfectly layed out plan. We are now at war with the ticks that have taken over our hose, but I am thinking we are winning. Not as much stuff has been unpacked... sheets are not on the beds for when we return at the end of the month, but what can you do other than laugh!! Even with all the busyness we still had time to visit with our family, who are amazing, celebrate Mark's Grandpa's 92nd brithday and I even took Gavin to a play & learn program at the library today. WHEW!!! What a week. I will come back with more details later. One thing I am getting excited about is I am DETEMINED to be organized in our home. I have been buying some items to help and I will have to share.

It's back to the mountains tomorrow to savor our last couple weeks, and fall!!... oh yeah... and about my last post... we forgot the stroller when we went to the airport!! So much for being prepared and ready. Luckily it worked out just fine :). Oh life... you KILL me sometimes!!!

the diaper bag is over flowing...

So we are all packed to head down to Denver, but Mark is battling a migraine so I thought I would write this quick post first!

I think one of the most stressful things as a parent is traveling with a baby/toddler. I have talked to many friends about tricks to make the flight the least painful. I am NO expert BELIEVE ME, but Gavin and I have flown a lot, mostly alone, and I have learned some things to make things go more smoothly. I actually was at the park this morning with some friends who shared even more ideas that I will pass along.

The first thing I have found helpful is to have a BIG bag. This is my flying diaper bag. It is huge, actually expands, and has great pockets and compartments. One compartment is insulated for a drink or food. I put all my necessities that I need in easy reach in the front pockets such as antibacterial stuff, snacks and my wallet. I also don't travel with my huge wallet. It is too cumbersome so I take a small pouch that can hold my license, Gavin's papers, credit card and a little cash. Inside I stuff it with as much as I can carry. We haven't broken down to buying a portable DVD player. We are a little old fashioned. I can see how those things would be awesome, but we depend on books, crayons and other activities instead.

Gavin LOVES books so I pack A LOT. I have 14 books packed for this trip. He used to like books with flaps so I would bring books with a lot of those, but now he likes books with a longer story. I also have crayons, paper, stickers etc. A dry erase coloring board, maggna doodle board, finger puppets (which are awesome. the small set is from Ikea), small Sesame Street figurine dolls and other small toys like cell phone and a bunny that hops. I also bring a few other toys for the inside of the airport like cars and stacking barrels.

...someone discovered all the toys I was packing!

And of course one security, snuggly object...

Gavin hasn't picked his yet...

I remember one secret to avoiding problems while teaching were keeping the kids engaged and it is the same while flying. If Gavin starts to get fussy I just pull something new out of my bag. I feel like Mary Poppins! Food is great too. I have lots of figure foods and a drink. I actually like feeding him even meals on the plane because it takes up time. Even when he was on baby food I would bring the container, bib and spoon and do it on the plane. Some other tricks I have learned is to NOT board the plane early. I feel like as much time as you can let them burn ofF some energy in the terminal the better. Even before he was crawling I would lay him out on a blanket just so he was free as much time as possible. I usually wait till last call to board! I also let Gavin choose the pace of activities. If he wants to investigate one page of a book for an hour so be it. I remember one flight he was so entertained by hitting the cover of Green Eggs and Ham. I think that activity shaved off 30 minutes of the flight!! I have also found not to force him to do anything. I used to try to get him to go to sleep when he wasn't ready. He would fuss and fuss so now I just keep him busy and happy and not worry about what we are doing. When Gavin was younger I did end up nursing him on the plane. It was great for his ears and to have him fall asleep. I still try to get him to eat or drink something during takeoff and our descent to help with his ears. My friend today recommended wrapping each item to play with up like a present. She says here son loves to unwrap everything and it takes up a lot of time! She also recommended colorforms for the windows and masking tape which I think is brilliant. She said he loves to tear it off and stick it on everything. I may be picking up a roll tonight!  The only thing that is now a challenge for me to get Gavin to do on the plane is to sleep. Argh!! If you have any secrets to that let me know!!

...mmmm chili

What a day! We are getting ready to fly to Florida on Thursday. I can not wait! I am so excited to see family, friends and our house!! We are going to start moving in this weekend. Our stuff is being delivered after being in storage for 4 months. I have learned that stuff is just stuff, but I am excited to see our stuff! We have been working crazily to pack for our move and our trip on Thursday. Not wanting to sacrifice anything I got the boy to the park today, got Polly for a hike, got dinner on the table and am now blogging! I can't type for too long... I gotta snuggle with Mark on the couch still and watch Entourage!

Before I crash for the night I wanted to share my chili recipe I told you about yesterday. I have to thank Mark and his family for it! It is very yummy! It is actually a recipe after the chili at Wendy's. The weather turned cold here over the weekend. I hope as the weather cools off where you are you can enjoy this chili too... or while you enjoy some Gator football!!

--Ooohhh pausing to watch the Dark Knight. It is the party scene at Bruce Wayne's house. My friend Meredith is an extra in this scene!!

Ok back to chili!:

Wendy's Chili

1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
2 Tbs. oil
1/2 tsp. salt
10 oz. can Campbell's French onion soup
2 Tbs.. chili powder
2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. black pepper
21 oz. can undrained chili beans
6 oz. can tomato paste
8 oz. can tomato sauce

Heat oil in skillet and add crumbled beef, sprinkle with salt. Pack firmly into pan and simmer, covered, 20 minutes. Zap onion soup in blender for 1 minute. Add to beef, mashing beef with fork until it looks like rice. Simmer 5 minutes, covered. Add chili powder, cumin and black pepper. Transfer to 2 1/2 qt. pot and add beans, tomato past and tomato sauce. Heat thoroughly 20 minutes to blend flavors, adding more chili powder if desired. Stir occasionally as it is heating through, being careful not to have the heat too high cuz the sugar in the tomato sauce will scorch.

Yield: 6 servings

You can see we have been enjoying it! Let me know if you try it!

...goodbye summer

As I write this the temperatures in the mountains are dropping. A cold front has moved through and temps are supposed to drop down to the 20's tonight. I am so sad to see the summer go, but looking forward to what the fall will bring. I am so full from our Labor Day dinner. Mark grilled up Koegel hot dogs (a Michigan institution) and topped them with coney sauce. He and Gavin devoured the coney dogs while I enjoyed leftover chili from last night. I am going to try to share the recipe  this week. It is SO good.

We spent the last weekend of summer with our very good friends Jason and Gretchen who just moved to Cheyenne Wyoming. It was SO great to see them and their new life. It was a great weekend with great friends. Here is a small snippet!

ah tomorrow...

I can not explain to you how much I am looking forward to tomorrow! Tomorrow I get to pick Mark up from the airport after his last trip to Florida for the summer!! He has been traveling back every other week to check on our businesses there, but tomorrow it is over! I am looking forward to my husband being home for dinner every night, having him next to me in bed and enjoying family time together. Mark has worked SO hard for us this summer and I am so proud of him. He has sacrificed free time, mental calmness and even sleep to provide for us and I can not thank him enough. He is an amazing man and I feel blessed to be married to him.

Gavin LOVES going to the airport too. He knows the routine. We first drive by the big horse sculpture that he is OBSESSED with at the entrance of DIA. It is the wildest horse sculpture ever! It is pretty intense!!! Actually a lot of people in Denver despise the sculpture. It makes me proud, the former art teacher, that my son likes a far out piece of art! Even when we are home he calls out, "Big, blue, neigh, eyes..." because the horse's eyes shine red. Wild, right? The other day we pulled up videos of the horse. I have included one video here. He went NUTS watching them! We joke that we are going to give him nightmares. After the horse we watch airplanes before we go inside to meet Daddy. He waits at the window in the terminal and watches for Mark to come  up the escalator while saying over and over, "Da da, Da da." When Mark finally appears he usually screams and runs to meet him. I can't wait!! After that we are heading to Cheyenne to visit are very good friends Gretchen and Jason. They are two VERY special people. Last time they came to visit us they arrived with groceries in hand and cooked us dinner. Who does that? They do!


I hope everyone has a happy Labor Day weekend enjoying it with people you love. And yes, I think summer is on its way out. I saw frost on the grass here yesterday morning, chain laws are in effect on I70 and I saw a few yellow aspen leaves appearing last night!

the flight of the fisher...

First of all... I would like to thank all of you readers for your emails and messages about the new blog. I went to bed last night thinking I definitely was crazy for sharing my life, but am encouraged by your notes! Especially my mom who commented on my last post. She is my best supporter. When you think a mom should tell you to stop doing something insane she always supports us in our decisions and cheers us on our way. Even when we moved her new grandson across the country! Thanks Mom!

In my last post I breifly mentioned how Mark flew to Florida yesterday with one of our dogs. Well here is the whole story... We are preparing to move back to Florida for the fall and winter from Colorado. (I will have to explain more later.) It is a challenge how to best get five bodies across the country safely and with sanity in tact. We decided we wanted to get the dogs back to Florida somehow earlier than the rest of us and of course my husband :) thought of an amzing idea. A few years ago I took our dog, Polly, to training to be a therapy dog. She passed and has a vest and everything. Well a few months back Mark was making one of his trips back to Florida and sat next to a woman who was flying with a therapy dog. He talked to her about how easy it was to fly with her dog. How no one questioned it. If you know my husband the wheels in his mind began turning!! I knew one day he would want to try this plan and yesterday was the day.

photogenic Fisher...

Now before I tell you about Fisher's flight I first have to tell you about Fisher. Fisher is one in a million. He is the cutest boy you have ever seen I mean look at his face! But the boy has issues. The funny thing is that when people come to visit us they are more likely to fall in love with him over our sweet, mellow girl Polly. Polly is content laying on the floor, chewing a bone... while Fisher is in your face, usually a toy in his mouth wagging his tail so hard his whole back end is shaking! But again he does have issues!! He would not be winning any best dog awards anytime soon. There was actually a period where we looked into finding a new home for him, but it is hard to do that with a troubled dog. So we see him as one of our children. He is part of our family and we must take the good with the bad. After much contact with vets, behaviorists and even herbs he is doing MUCH better. I do love him. But to fly?... he is not the calmest of dogs!!

We decided to have Fisher fly first because the next flight, we are all going, including Polly and she will be better to handle along with Gavin. The day before, we exercised Fisher to the limit to prepare him for the big day. That morning the imposter was happy to put on his big sister's therapy vest, took a triple dose of herbs and was ready to pretend he was there to give his daddy psychological support. I know... that is what Mark was prepared to say... Fisher was a psychiatric therapy dog! Early yesterday morning all 5 of us drove over to the airport shuttle stop that would take Mark and his "therapy dog" down to the airport. I had to work hard not to laugh when the shuttle driver asked, "Is the dog riding with us?" and Mark calmly answered, "Yep." In they went into the van and off they were on a big day of adventure. Mark said everything went so smoothly. Nobody questioned Fisher or even asked for papers. He said Fisher did great. Of course his bright personality couldn't be contained. Mark said he was curious about everything and everyone in the airport and on the plane. He had a hard time playing the part of an obedient service dog laying at his master's feet. But he made it, and I was so proud of my little boy. I miss him so much and am so glad he is a member of our family. I can't wait till we are all together again back in Florida!

fisher sitting in first class of course!