Its that time of year again...

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Diggin Holes...

So the other day i ask Justin to see if he can dig up the pesky little rock that pops up out of the ground in the meadow...its just a little rock, but a kid could fall on it and get hurt....

 

 Thats the Rocky Mountains for ya! :)

Meanwhile, he has been working so hard...he is installing a Heliostat at the Childrens Museum in Lafayette today, we are soooo proud of him!  Hope all goes well today babe!  We love you!

EMS Conference in Keystone~

 Now that ive had a few days to wind down from the weekend, i can share some photos and stories with you.  Every other year i attend the EMS Conference in Keystone, Colorado for 3 nights...my rare break away from the family and a little alone time.  But its not really a vacation, as we spend 8 hours each day in a classroom looking at grotesque slides and sharing horror stories in EMS.

 Its amazing how exhausting sitting in a classroom all day can be, but at least we had a beautiful view when we got back to the condo.  This year we stayed at the Hidden River Lodge, and it was a great place.  There was a gym (not that we used it), and hot tubs (not that we used them), and even a lovely foot trail behind the lodge (so im told).  What did we do, you ask...

 Power Lounged!  Connie had just gotten back from a vacation with her mom back east, and i had the crazy 4-day Halloween weekend, so we were both still trying to recover from all that activity.  After a few days we did start to unwind though...

 hmmmm....i dont seem to be getting a pulse!  We had some laughs at the reception hall...lots of booths, vendors and freebies, along with a very expensive cash bar.  No worries, we had ample booze back at the condo!

 

In fact, after a whole weekend of classes, we decided to kick our last day off with some red beers...we are volunteers after all...so i think we earned it!

 Afterwords we drove over to Frisco to return our keys and scope out the town.  Isnt this a pretty place!  We made the mistake of not stopping here to eat last time on our way home, and sadly realized there is not really anywhere else to get food on the way home...so this year we stopped at the Boat Yard.  Red beers, falafel with fries and sliders for lunch hit the spot!

 Then we drove through the town of Rand...this store is about it.  But this store was awesome!  If you get the chance, be sure to stop here.

 There are fun things to explore...

 and if you have to go to the privy, or even if you dont, be sure to take a peek at their Necessary room!

 thats right...i took photos of it...but i couldnt help myself, it was so cute!  Never thought id say that about a privy :)

 And look at this lovely quilt display.  I purchased the book, Love of Quilts: A Treasury of Classic Quilting Stories, by Benberry and Crabb.  Its a collection of 28 short stories about quilts and quilters and i look forward to reading it during the chilly winter months.

It was a nice end to the weekend...i say that of course, because about 1/2 an hour after we left this store i got a call from home telling me jordyn had an accident and was on her way to the ER in our ambulance.  Long story short, apparently she fell earlier in the day, then about an hour later she collapsed just inside the house...we're uncertain if she passed out, fainted or even if the fall earlier had anything to do with any of it, but it spooked justin enough to call 911.  By the time our ambulance rendezvoused with the town ambulance she was completely fine.  She was basically glanced at by the Doc and then released.  He said he didnt see any reason to do a CT scan or MRI on a perfectly healthy 4 year old, and that we should just keep an eye on her.  Then he said, welcome to the great uncertainty!  (thanks for that doc).  Anyways, that was on Sunday and she seems fine, thank goodness, but what a nightmare that drive to the ER was.  Im still processing it.  Meanwhile, our cat Spooky disappeared on that same night and hasnt been home since, so we are really sad about that.  I havent given up hope, but she's never been gone this long.

Stay at Home Robin : Square 4

 Okay, so the 4th block was due in October, and im a little behind, but only by a couple of days :)  Kate has already posted the block specs for November, so i didn't want to fall too far behind.  If you arent familiar with this swap, its a year long project, and each month Kate gives us dimensions for a new block to add to the quilt.  I'm doing themed quilts...Winter and Halloween.  The tree and the haunted house were the latest blocks added to the quilts.  If you'd like to check out some of the gorgeous quilts being made click here.  Oh, and ignore the chalky looking lines on the haunted house...that's just spray starch crusties i forgot to brush off before taking the photo :)

Halloween Extravaganza - Part THREE !!!

 On Sunday morning we drove back home for trick or treating.  When there's only one kid in the canyon, folks expect her to come by...and they spoil her rotten when she does.  We went out earlier this year, as it was a school night and we wanted to enjoy the warmer weather. 

 While out trick or treating, we discovered that there were a few other kids up here this year doing the same.  Grandkids visiting their grandparents, which means, we actually had trick or treaters at our house for the very first time!  We were soooo excited that someone besides us would see our decorations and pumpkins :)  We planned it so we would be back before they came by, and we were still able to visit ten houses or so...

 including the store, where Mena had a special gift for Jordyn.  Thank you Mena, she loves it!

 This years Halloween was fantastic...so many wonderful adventures, laughs, and good times!  I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween too.  And to my father, who would have been 66 on Halloween...Happy Birthday Dad...we love and miss you!

Halloween Extravaganza - Part TWO !!!

 On Friday, we headed down to Denver...our first stop, the Butterfly Pavilion.  This little guy hitched a ride on my back for about 10 minutes...what can i say, i must smell sweet!  At least he didnt land on my nose like last time :)  This was Justins first time at the butterfly pavilion, so naturally he had to hold Rosie, the spider.

 Jordyn already had her turn, as you can see by the sticker she's wearing, but she would hold that spider all day if she could.  Its one of her favorite things to do here!  In fact, it wasnt very crowded, so we all had a turn holding Rosie :)

 Here she is being silly near the tarantula case...they have a really cool exhibit on tarantulas going on right now...spiders everywhere!  Personally, I dont find them nearly as creepy as the giant hissing cockroaches. 
Afterwords we went to my cousin Greg, and his wife, Diane's fundraiser/send off party.  They are participating in the Punkin Chunkin' contest in Delaware, and they were leaving the next morning.  They (team Inertia) took second place last year, and we are all hoping they can take home the trophy for first place this year. (of course, i dont know how they'd get the trophy home if they won, but we're hoping for the best just the same!)  Good Luck guys...and travel safely!  You can watch all about it on the Discovery Science Channel around Thanksgiving.

 Saturday morning it was time for Boo at the Zoo!  We did this two years ago and had a blast, and since the weather was unbelievably wonderful, we decided to do it again this year.  With 80 degree weather, the zoo was packed, but everyone was having so much fun.

 Jordyn did some trick or treating, but mostly we were enjoying all that the zoo had to offer...

 my little monkeys :)

 Christy had never been to Boo at the Zoo, so she came with us.  She was in charge of the wagon, which made it nice trying to navigate thru the crowds with a four year old in tow!  Thanks Christy :)

 Jordyn made such a big deal over the carousel at Fort Fun, that i knew she would flip when she saw a real one!  Naturally, when she saw it, she had to go for a ride, so all 3 of us decided to give it a go!  She picked the leopard...

 and i rode the black bear, of course!  Justin had to ride along side Jordyn since she fell below the 42" mark, but i think he had a great time too.

 This Halloween booth was all decked out...and i think Jordyn was even a little spooked by it :)

 This part of the zoo was new to us...Lorikeet Adventure.  You go inside the exhibit with all the birds and you can purchase nectar to feed to the them.  These little guys were hilarious...and Jordyn LOVED feeding them.

 One of my favorite sites at the zoo, was the 3 week old Komodo dragon.  According to the sign by his pen, this is the third time the Denver Zoo has hatched clutches of dragon eggs, and is the only zoo in the world to accomplish this significant occurrence.

 After the zoo, we had a date with the family at my Uncles VFW.  They were hosting a childrens Halloween party, and there were a lot of kids.  We were a little big late, so i didnt take many photos there...but they had a lot of wonderful goodies for the kids...activities, prizes, and again...candy galore!

 We went to my Aunts house afterwords, and the cousins had a ball running off all that sugar, while the parents enjoyed a few beers :)

 and of course, some pizza...nothing washes a pizza down better than beer!

 When we got to Christys house, we dumped out Jordyns bag to check out her Halloween loot...

 man, that kid scored!

Hope you enjoyed part two of the Halloween Extravaganza...coming up next...part three ~

Halloween Extravaganza - Part ONE !!!

There are sooo many photos to share from the weekend, that i decided to split this blog into three posts! Hope you dont mind, and if you love Halloween, then you should enjoy the ride!  First off, the preschool party was on Thursday, and as you can see, the kids were very excited.  Last year their party was canceled due to snowy weather, so this year was a first for many of the kids.

Ms Bev and Ms Donna grabbed their masks and led the kids on a parade and trick or treat adventure through the classrooms at the school.  They received lots of goodies from all of the classes and even the principal had something fun for them.

I have a video of the trick or treating, so stay tuned.  After school, many of the kids headed over to the library for a story time party.  At this point, the kids were extremely hyper, and they were all getting the stink eye from their mothers :)  (mine included).  They didnt even eat that much sugar, but man were they out of control!  It was all i could do to get this shot!

After a while though, they settled down and enjoyed some stories...and some crafts...and of course, more candy!

The library always has such nice things for the kids...and look at the cool spider we got to take home with us!  Later that evening we decided to carve our pumpkins...Justin decided we each had to do one, so while they hollowed out the pumpkins, i separated the seeds for roasting.  There is nothing more tasty than homemade roasted pumpkin seeds.  All it takes is a little butter and some seasonings and yum!  We like garlic salt on ours (anything garlic is a go in this house :)

Well, i hope you have enjoyed part one of the Halloween Extravaganza...stay tuned for part two and part three!  :)