One Big Chicken

We had lunch at Wisdom's on our last day in Arizona. The kids had a blast riding the "big chicken" out front!

A Pooh and a Puppy

Nonie and Grande had costumes for the kids to play with. They looked so cute watching a movie on the couch!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ellie looked like a little angel for Thanksgiving in her Polly Flinders dress. Despite 6 adults in the house we weren't able to convince Nick to dress up in anything more than shorts and a T-shirt!

Playing at Nonie and Grande's

The kids loved the sunny, 80 degree weather of Arizona! They spent much of their time outside on the patio playing and swimming. We're having a hard time now that we're back in Colorado convincing them to wear winter clothing....

Wagon Train

We were delighted to visit Nonie and Grande for Thanksgiving for the first time this year. The kids were real troupers on the 14 hour car ride. We let them out in the deserts of New Mexico to run around a couple of times, and they did great. The last hour that Nick was awake we did hear a lot of "Are we there yet?", "How about now?", "Now?", "Now?", "Mom, I'm not talking to you; Dad are we there yet?"..... Then he mercifully fell asleep.

Children's Museum

Nick and Ellie had a great time at the Children's Museum in Lafayette with their Playgroup. The enormous pirate ship was a big hit with both of them. Ellie liked it so much she didn't want to leave, and Nick and I had to climb up to the deck and haul her out...

Happy Halloween!

The kids had a great time trick or treating despite the cold weather. Ellie either didn't grasp the concept entirely, or she was in an altruistic mood this evening as she was placing all of her candy in Nick's basket! I'm sure that won't happen again next year! Nick was a very cute Buzz Lightyear and due to the weather Ellie was a lion instead of a sleeveless fairy. And they had just as much fun handing out the candy at our house as they did receiving it for themselves.

Carving Pumpkins

The kids had fun cleaning out the pumpkins, and planning the kinds of faces to carve on them.

Nick wasn't too sure about the pumpkin guts, but he toughed it out.

Here Sis, Eat this....

Boo at the Zoo

We took the kids to the Denver Zoo today to see the animals and to trick or treat. They both loved it! Ellie was perfectly happy with the first lot of candy she received and didn't seem to grasp the concept of accumulating more, but Nick sure did!

Nick's New Toy?

Fun in the Leaves

Rocky Mountain National Park

Paul and Nick looked for trout and longed for a fishing pole. While Ellie wanted to swim in the glacial waters and "feed the crocodiles". I spent most of the time "fishing" children out of the water, drying off shoes, and trying to explain to Ellie why she wouldn't be seeing any crocodiles in Colorado.

Fall Colors Colorado Style

We decided to head up to Rocky Mountain National Park to check out the fall colors this weekend. The weather was unseasonably warm- 85 and sunny. The aspens are pretty, miles of golden trees. Just not quite the reds and oranges we are used to in the midwest....

Ballet Recital

Now that Ellie is taking ballet class, dressing in ballerina attire is a daily occurrence. In order to be the prettiest ballerina possible, one must wear as many tutus as will fit on your body at one time. Hence the multi-layered skirt. She's also a multi-talented ballerina, not only does she dance, she also sings and plays the piano at the same time!

Fairy Tale Dress Up

Sir Nicholas Knight and Dame Eleanor Dancer

Happy Birthday Eleanor!!!

Our baby is 2 years old! Hard to believe. She enjoyed eating Dora cake and the lifesized Dora balloons. This year Ellie was actually able to unwrap her own gifts. She loves her new Bitty Baby, stroller, and high chair. And she gets a big kick out of the little pink vacuum! Unfortunately, Nick likes the vacuum too and they frequently fight over who gets to use it. Now if only it actually worked.....

The kids enjoyed their visit with Nana and Papa. Nick was able to go fishing with "the guys" in Estes Park. And the children had fun eating lunch and playing at the White Fence Farm.

Nick's First Day of School!!

Nick enjoyed his first day of Pre-K in Mrs. McDonald's class. You know it's going to be a good year when your teacher has the same name as your favorite restaurant! He picked out his own superhero backpack and is extremely proud of it. Drop off went great, he remembered which class was his, hung up his backpack and joined the other kids. Didn't even look back at his poor old mother to say goodbye. Sigh...