Mother's Day 2012

I woke up this morning at nearly 7am and felt so refreshed.  It took only a moment to realize I hadn't fed Joanna all night.  She slept completely through the night!  No one could have given me a better Mother's Day gift.

I sat up and thought about going to check on her, and then I noticed the bed was empty.  I peeked out the window, and Andrew's car was gone.  A quick call informed me that my family was out at Oliver's new favorite destination--McDonald's.  They were going to bring me home an egg & cheese sandwich with a coffee.  It was the first time I can remember that I had nothing to do when I woke up.  So, I grabbed Andrew's work iPad and played a few games of Hanging with Friends.

When my family arrived home, we had a breakfast picnic on the bed.  I ignored the crumbs.  After everyone was fed, Andrew started the shower for me and then took the kids out to the grocery store to get things for lunch and dessert.  I got to take a completely uninterrupted shower.  I had time to put in my contacts, brush my teeth, scrunch my hair, and even put on a bit of mascara.  It was nice.  When my family got back, Oliver handed me a bouquet of lilies and said, "Happy Mother's Day."  With Andrew's help, he signed a card to me, too.  My favorite part of the day happened next: Oliver wanted to play "pretend baby."  He laid in bed and listened to me sing him lullabies, and then he said, "I love you, Mommy."  

We got everyone dressed and bundled up, as it was kind of chilly out, and we took a slow drive downtown.  We stopped at a coffee shop--Crema Coffee House--that I'd read about in our AAA newsletter.  We drove through a warehouse district to get there.  It was definitely urban, but it felt safe.  I enjoyed a soy latte with perfectly aerated soy milk (you'd be surprised how rare such a thing is!)--hmmm, foam!  The food was out of this world, too.  Andrew had the most flavorful vegetarian breakfast burrito, and Oliver and I split a vegan chai cupcake.  So good!  We ate so quickly that we were reluctant to leave.   

So, we set out on foot for a stroll through the neighborhood behind the coffee shop.  We passed some apartments and town  homes and entered a neighborhood of old, brick homes.  There were large trees that provided shade.  People worked hard on their small gardens, and plants and flowers erupted from fences around us.  I loved it!  We passed by a community garden, and Andrew and I shared our ambition for our own garden one day.  I commented how I'd really love to live in a neighborhood just like this.  I assumed the homes would be out of our price range, and I was right.  A glance at the house listings when I got home revealed that they ranged in price from half a million to $1.5 million.  It's a shame I have such expensive taste in homes.  This is why I dream to move back to the Midwest one day, where a person can buy a brick home in a neighborhood for what we pay for our town home here.  But that's another conversation for another day.

After our walk through the Curtis Park neighborhood, we decided to go to The Children's Museum.  Oliver flew paper airplanes, rode on a firetruck, and played with bubbles.  Even Joanna got to play at the baby pond. 

We took the kids back home for a nap, and Andrew made us lunch.  Then, we wiggled into our swimsuits and went to the rec center to swim, splash, and slide down the pirate ship slides.  Joanna is a natural and kicks and paddles her arms when we motor her around the pool! 

Once home, Oliver and I worked on making pie--chocolate truffle--and put it in the fridge to set.  Andrew took the kids for a walk and gave me some quiet time to myself.  Then, he gave the kids a bath, made Oliver a small dinner (as we weren't hungry, and I wanted to save room for pie).  We wound down upstairs by playing some games on the iPad together, and then it was the kids' bedtime.  They went to sleep without a hitch, and Andrew did all the dishes as I worked on laundry.  We ended the night cuddling and watching some old episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation.   

It was the perfect Mother's Day.  I felt loved and celebrated, and I got to spend lots of quality time with the kids.  I am the luckiest woman in the world.

The Denver Children's Museum in Photos

Fun at the Children's Museum

Today was cold. Even though it's winter, we're not used to that this season. Anyway, we decided to join Shawna and Owen on a trip to the Children's Museum. Her friend Holly came and brought her two girls, Savannah and Briley.

I truly didn't expect Oliver to have as much fun as he had. He enjoyed the museum completely. Everything was fun and interesting to him. We could have stayed all day, and he would have had a blast.

He played with a train set a little bit with Owen. Then, I took him to a painting station where he rubbed paint in his hair. After that, I decided to take him to the baby/toddler area. Oliver was completely thrilled with the over-sized teddy bears. He dove into them, pet them, and pointed out their heads, ears, eyes, noses, and feet. Super cute!

He took to a toy ball that he found in the toy collection and carried it around with him for quite some time. I started hiding it under other toys and behind toy doors. He had a blast finding it. At one point, he left it on the floor for a few minutes. Owen came by and took it. Oliver walked up to him and snatched it away.

He also enjoyed the gears, which he put away, and the wooden eggs, which he also put away. He liked the steering wheel, and he liked the spinning, wooden animals. He had a great time!