Learning Lessons

We've just complete our first full, not-much-unpacking, get to know our new town week.  Dad had to work but mom doesn't start for another week, so she and I got some good quality bonding time.  Highlands Ranch has 4 different, huge rec centers each with an indoor and outdoor pool, fitness center, tennis courts, park etc so on Monday, we checked out Eastridge.  Mom got in a work out and then we went swimming in the indoor pool with the twisty water slide.  It was even faster than the one at the La Paloma Resort in Tucson that I love so much.  I even made mom go down it a few times.

On Tuesday, it was another rainy, cloudy, wet, cold, miserable day and we just couldn't get our act in gear to do anything but complain.  It wasn't a pretty day but thankfully the next day, Wednesday, was my birthday!  I woke up to find a whole bunch of really cool birthday presents but I think my favorite is the cat.  It is a pretend cat that does nothing but sleep and purr all day.  My camping friend Madeline has one and I coveted hers ever since I played with it.  I even named mine Abbey, just like she did.  Mom and dad think it is about the perfect pet.  You don't have to feed it or clean up after it and it keeps me very entertained.

This is dad and me on my birthday morning.
After dad left for work, mom and I hit the Southridge Rec Center and used their indoor pool which has a big "swim channel", basically a lazy river and a huge climber/jungle gym IN THE POOL!  It was so cool and I had a great time and wore myself out!
Dad managed to get out of work a little early so we could go out for my birthday dinner.  I picked LoDo's which is a local bar/brewery.  Mom and dad were a little worried that I picked a bar to go to for my 5th birthday but in my defense, it is the only place I know and they have really cool place mats for kids to color.  That's all I really need!
(Sorry, these pictures are a little out of order)  After dinner, we went for a little drive to see what was happening around us and found a whole herd of buffalo.  Buffalo are very special to the Walker family every since Mr. Walker ran over one in the family's '69 Oldsmobile.  It was at night and the buffalo should not have been there- he ran out in front of the car.   Killed the buffalo but the Olds was still drivable.  That was a good car!  We came home and had some delicious chocolate cake and ice cream, I talked to a few admirers and then headed off to bed.  All in all, a great start to being 5!

 (Me at LoDo's)

Thursday was pretty quiet.  Mom and I went to park near our house and played for awhile.  It was still a little cold and windy, so mom kept it short.

Friday was a good day all around.  Mom and I went for a long hike in the Backcountry Wilderness that is part of our community association.  Highlands Ranch owns 8600 acres of land that is a 5 minute walk from our house.  They have several miles of trails for hiking and mountain biking.  We were out and about for about 2 1/2 hours and took in some amazing views.  I wanted to keep going but we had to get back for my doctor's appointment.

Friday afternoon, mom signed me up for a "Kitchen Experiments" class at the rec center.  I had a great time there learning about yeast (we made pizza), baking soda (we made volcanos) and sugar (we made 2 different kinds of taffy).  Mom needs to look for more classes for me- it was 2 hours of down time for her.  Always a good thing!

Saturday, we decided to try out the light rail system and headed downtown to the museum of natural history.   Everything was going well until we had to get off the light rail and jump on the city bus to finish our trip.  Public transportation is always interesting and this was no exception.  Most everyone was very nice, some were more than a little odd and a few were quiet smelly.  And the trip took twice as long as if we had just driven down.  So our lesson for the day was:  Light rail good, city bus-eh- not the best.

Our Sunday was pretty quiet as well.  We badly needed to cut the grass, so dad went out and bought a push mower (he is blaming mom for this idea but he's the one who actually did the buying) and mowed our grass.  It was kind of a nightmare because the grass was so long.  Dad ended up with blisters and aggravating his hernia.  We figured the neighbors were peaking out their windows laughing at the desert rats trying to deal with real grass.  But it turns out they weren't because they all have push mowers too.  The neighbors claim it isn't to bad to mow when the grass isn't so thick.  We'll see!
Mom and I decided to abandon ship while this was going on and walked to another huge park near our house.  Tons of kids and really fun play equipment to keep me occupied.

Monday was quiet as well- just finishing up some "getting settled" errands.  I did meet the little boy that lives behind us.  He is six and we spent some time chatting and climbing the fence together.  I really liked him and I hope I see him tomorrow.

I go to day camp for the first time tomorrow.  This will be my first school adventure away from Casita Jose.  We had to buy me a new lunch box and I helped mom pack my lunch.  It's huge- turkey sandwich, carrots, peppers, wheat thins, squeezy yogurt, goldfish, cherries and a cookie.  Mom is wondering how much will come home.  Should be a very fun day!
See you in a week!

A Whole Hand!

A kind of amazing thing happened today-  I turned 5!  Or as  I like to say, a whole hand!  Mom and dad can't believe it's been 5 years since I graced their world with my presence.  Mom and dad are pretty impressed with what a neat kid I'm turning out to be in spite of them- funny, smart, compassionate, active, sensitive, semi-fearless, dog and chocolate loving, live in the moment and about the most adaptable kid you'd ever want to meet.

Happy Birthday baby girl- we love you!

Adios Tucson/ Hello Suburbs!

Whew!  We've had a little bit going on for the past few weeks and we are T.I.R.E.D.  But the good news is we are settling in quickly and love our new home.

Lets see, where were we?  Last we blogged was Mother's Day.  The following Wednesday was mom's last day at work.  She was doing great- packing up all her stuff, saying her good byes and then she went to take off her badge and turn it in and realized that this was really, truly it.  She would never badge in again as a Carondelet employee after 19 years.  She got a little blubbery and was really, truly sad- for about 2 hours.  Then it hit her as she was doing her last walk up Sabino Canyon that she's FREE!!!  

We had our last semi-homemade meal Wednesday night and got ready for the movers to come.  Mom was a little surprised that only two guys came but they managed to get most of the house packed up on Thursday.  They brought some extra help on Friday and finished the job and the got the truck all loaded up and ready to go.

While that craziness was going on, we were also getting ready for my pre-school graduation.  I started at Casita Jose when I was 3 months old, so these teachers are like family for us.  Most of the teachers have been with me through it all and it was an amazing place to be a kid.  It was a bittersweet thing and the one thing that made it easier to leave was that I would be leaving in a few months anyway.  Sniff, sniff.
We did a presentation for all the parents where we showed off our math skills, science skills, art skills and listening skills.  Then we sang two songs, one of which was "On Top of Spaghetti"- that was our favorite.  We practiced really hard and did a great job.  Then Ms. Barbara, my teacher, gave out our diplomas.  The best part of the night was the cake and punch we had after-  Woo-hoo!  I didn't go to sleep until mid-night!

This is Ms. Becky- she made all our breakfasts and lunches.  I loved her- she was so kind and patient with me and was able to calm me down when no one else could.

Some of my very good friends.

This  is Ms Liz- she was the supervisor.  I loved helping her in the office.

This is Ms. Barbara.  All of the teachers at Casita are amazing but Ms. Barbara was my favorite.  She was so creative and fun and kind and had really high expectations of us.  I just loved her- mom too!

This is my very best friend.  We played together ALL THE TIME and we were both sad to leave.  I will miss him the most and have already called him once from Denver.  (Mom thought we looked very cute together in our coordinating outfits- and we didn't even call each other!)
We had a great, sad time saying our good-byes and then headed up to our hotel for the evening, ran around there for awhile and then hit the hay but had a really bad night of sleep.  We just kept plugging away though because on Saturday, we got to celebrate my birthday a little early.  I had a "How to Train Your Dragon" party at Peter Piper Pizza and got to see most of my friends one more time.  Grandpa Vern and Grandma Sue were able to make it too.

We spent one more day at the hotel and had a little bit more fun going down the water slide a bazillion times and swimming most of the afternoon.  After another semi-restless night, we loaded up the last of our stuff and set out for Albuquerque.  It was slow-going with me, two dogs and a camping trailer but we made it.  Uncle Adam and Auntie Erin were there to save me and keep me entertained for the evening so mom and dad could rest for a bit.

We had a really nice, relaxing evening and then mom and dad left me behind as they headed up to Denver to get settled before I got there.  I had a great  time in Albuquerque with visits to the zoo and the museum and dinner at Uncle Adam and Auntie Erin's.
On Thursday, Nana D, Mr. Walker and  I headed up to Denver.  Mom was soo very relieved to see us.  Our furniture arrived on Wednesday morning and took all day to unload but dad had to fly out of town that afternoon for business so mom was attempting to unpack everything on her own.  She was doing pretty good but was getting incredibly irritated and cranky at how long everything was taking.  Thankfully, Nana and Mr. Walker arrived ready to work and work they did.  They got most of the house unpacked, boxes broken down, packing paper folded AND dinner made.  Whew- we couldn't have done it without them- thank you, thank you, thank you!
Dad got home Friday night and Nana and Mr. left Saturday morning and we were still looking at a few days of unpacking.  Blech.  We did managed to walk to the park which is literally 60 seconds from our house and Saturday, we experienced our first tasted of suburbia Denver style.  Tons of people were out in the street talking, kids running around all over.  I made new friends already and mom and dad are feeling like this was a very, very good choice for our family.  Now if it would only warm up a bit!

Mom is already loving the basement and the upstairs playroom.  How did she live without one all these years??  She will never again live without either!

Here is the view from our front yard- very tranquil.
So that was our two weeks- some very sad good byes but some very happy beginnings and we are ready for our new Colorado adventure!

Our Farewell Tour Continues!

We missed last week's post because Blogger wasn't uploading when mom was writing our blog at 9 o'clock at night and then dad was out of town all week and we just ran out of time.

We have had a really great time for the last two weekends and are having a major case of "why have we lived here for so long and never done this before??"

Last Friday, mom went out to dinner with her fellow supervisors from work and her old boss who retired last September.  They went to a really great new restuarant, had really great food and laughed a whole bunch.  It was a great night!

On Saturday, dad's boss from his work hosted a going away party for us and we had a ball.  All of dad's camping friends were there.  These guys have known each other for years and spent many weeks camping.  One by one, they got married and one by one, they had kids.  The camping trips have almost dwindled away but we still get together as families for lots of occasions.  Our group has 4 little girls ( and one boy- poor Evan!), two of us are almost 5 and two of us just turned 2.  We have a fabulous time whenever we get together and Saturday was no exception.  Janet and Eric just bought their house and we broke it in for them- while they stood helplessly by.  The good news is, no one got hurt and nothing was broken.  Mom is really going to miss her "mom friends" support group!

After a kind of crazy Saturday, we had a low keyed Sunday which was good because dad was heading back to Denver for the week (where it snowed- again) and we needed some down time.

Mom and I had a pretty quiet week- I got to watch a lot of TV as mom seems to be a little stressed and a little not focused right now.  We did have a fun Monday evening though.  We met one of mom's friends from work and we did a "Meet Me at Maynard's" walk.  This is a loosely organized, go-at-your-own-pace walk through some very cool areas of downtown Tucson.  I got to ride my bike, while mom and Nora walked.  It was beautiful- we wandered through some very old parts of Tucson and mom saw some areas she wished she knew about sooner.  So very cool.

Dad got home on Thursday evening to find me playing very happily with my favorite kid sitter- Ms. Colleen.  Mom was out once again at a happy hour with her co-workers at a local brewery.  Colleen and I had a fabulous time and I'm very sad that I won't see her again for awhile.

Mom and dad both had Friday off of work to start on the moving prep stuff.  They don't have much to do as the moving company will be packing all of their tons of stuff and loading it.  Mom can't begin to describe how happy that makes her!  Dad picked me up from school and we had a daddy/daughter evening while mom was out.  Again.  This time she headed back downtown to the Cup Cafe for dinner with her mom friends.  Another fantastic meal and great company.

On Saturday, I had my last tennis lesson with Ms. Serena and did really well again.  She put me up with the older kids and I held my own.  After that, I went to my friend Kaden's birthday party and then we met up with one of dad's biking friends and his family for dinner.  They have a 5 year old son and I had a bag full of dinosaurs, so it was a great evening!

Sunday was Mother's Day!  It wasn't quite the relaxing day that everyone planned on because we ended up doing a lot more "getting ready for moving" stuff (we leave next Sunday) but dad and I came through as usual.  I picked out and painted a ceramic horse and made her a bead necklace and dad got her a GPS for her to use- he doesn't want her getting lost in our new city.  Grandma Sue came over for dinner and we wrapped up the day with a good game of Go Fish- I let mom win once but otherwise I was the champion!

Next week, we will be posting from Albuquerque.  Mom's last day of work in Wednesday, the movers come Thursday and we leave Sunday.  Should be an exciting blog next week!