They Predicted "Flurries"......

This week has been kind of stinky for us- a continuation of our bad weekend from last weekend.  I was sick all last weekend with a fever and stuffy head and it just continued for the rest of this week and into today.  

Monday was President's so I didn't have school and day camp was closed so that meant mom got the day off to hang out with me.  That turned out to be a good thing because I didn't feel great and still had a temp.  But as it goes with my parents, we had plans to meet Daddy for lunch at his work, so that is what we did.  Fever be damned.  I'm very glad we did though because I like nothing better than to hang out with my Dat dat whenever possible.  We got to see his office building (but not his official office- I think because mom is a Democrat and they don't allow Dems into Raytheon), his cafeteria and meet some of his coworkers.  I didn't eat a whole lot but that wasn't the point really.  After, mom and I stopped by the toy store to pick up Lego Monster Trucks for me to work on.  Dad got me a yellow when I was down and out on Sunday and we put it together.  I decided I wanted all the colors, so I took my allowance and got the green one and the blue one.

I spent the rest of the afternoon quietly putting them together all by myself.  Mom helped me a little with the tires but otherwise it was all me.  I named mine Skull Crusher.  I gave the green one to mom and she named it Holey Guacamole and dad named his blue one Blueberry Gobbler.  I think theirs sound kind of whimpy but that's what they wanted.

I was still sick on Tuesday with a fever, so dad stayed home with me.  I camped out on the couch all day watching Scooby and dad camped out upstairs working from home.  It was a win win for both of us.

I felt well enough on Wednesday that I went to school.  Mom picked me up early because she felt bad and even though I wanted to stay and claimed I felt fine, I was in bed by 6:30 and slept hard until 7:30 the next morning.  I could have slept a lot longer if I had wanted because the "nothing to worry about" snow storm that was only bringing "flurries" to the area ended up dumping 10" of snow on us.  That resulted in a two hour delayed start for school which really just ends up making the whole day feel weird.  The nice thing was, it stopped snowing by 9:30 AM and the sun came out and it was really pretty.  The bad thing was, dad was out of town for work so mom got to shovel the driveway which resulted in her straining her back and not being able to stand up straight on Friday, Saturday or Sunday.  Stupid snow.

 I spent the rest of the weekend on the couch because my fever came back.  We're not quite sure what to make of it since it doesn't get above 101 but I still feel like poo.  A phone call to the doctor may be in order.
On the positive side of things, we are starting to see signs of spring around here.  The birds are back and singing in the morning, we hit 60 degrees yesterday (but only 38 today) and the grocery stores have the propane tanks out on display next to the flower pots.  We realize that March is a long, cold month and the snowiest month of the year for Denver, we also realize that it was snowing when we arrived in May last year but we feel like we can see the light at the end of the tunnel now and that makes everyone very happy!
Have a good week!

Good Weekend/Bad Weekend

We have had some highs and lows over the last 2 weeks.   Last post, we were recovering from a huge snow storm but most of it has melted now and we are anxiously awaiting spring.  (Hint, hint Mother Nature).  Last weekend was our high point/good weekend.  Mom's college roommate, Heidi, flew into town for the weekend.  Mom and I picked her up at the airport on Friday night. (As a side note, since I am going through a growth spurt and was absolutely famished at the airport even after eating a bag of cheerios, a carton of blueberries and milk, mom bought me some Veggie Pirate's Booty from a gift shop.  Not good- I would rather starve than eat that.  Tasted like algae.  Anywaaaaay)  We met dad at my second favorite restaurant, Lodo's, for dinner.  It was the start of a food fest weekend for mom and Heidi.

On Saturday, mom and Heidi were up and out the door early to get a start on eating and shopping.  Their first stop was a little French bakery near our house (owned by honest to god French people- they even had an accent!) for some pain au chocolate.  A delicious way to start the day!

They headed down to the Denver Art Museum for some culture and because it had been two hours since they last ate, they were starving.  They met one of Heidi's friends, who happens to live in Denver, for lunch at a great little English Pub.  After that, they made it to Larimer Square where they found flavored balsamic vinegars and olive oils (the Goedels are now the proud owners of White Coconut balsamic, cinnamon pear balsamic and Persian lime olive oil), Patagonia boots 50% off and an awesome little French bistro for dinner.  Not a bad day.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, dad and I were having our own kind of fun.  We went to the Butterfly Pavillion and I had a ball.  I got to meet and hold Rosie the Tarantula.  She was so very cool and ticklish!

We then ventured into the butterfly "cage".  Now, you would think that a girl who loved holding the giant, hairy spider so much she went back twice would have no problem with pretty little butterflies.  But.  I didn't so much like the things landing on me.  Scared me and grossed me out.  I did manage to catch one though, so I wasn't a complete wuss.

On Sunday, while dad was burning off calories riding his bike in the basement, mom and Heidi were doing the food thing again.  At least this time, I got to join them.  We headed out for breakfast at Snooze.  This time, it was red velvet (of course), blue berry with Meyer lemon sauce and a chocolate/dried cherry that was fabulous!

I got dropped off back at home and mom and Heidi set out for more eating and shopping.  They did get a little walk in up to our Highlands Ranch hill so they weren't complete sloths.

Dad and I had another great day because THE MONSTER TRUCK RALLY WAS IN TOWN!!!  My dad is the best dad ever!  I loved, loved, loved this!  My favorite was Monster Mutt and Megasaurus.  Dad's favorite was leaving at the end and hoping never to return.  That may have something to do with the racist red neck sitting behind us yelling at all the trucks and spitting all over us.  Whatever.  I still thought it was fabulous.

Heidi rolled out of town Monday morning and after dropping her off, mom came back to spend some time in my class room helping my teacher.  She got to trace shamrocks and then painted our hands red to make Valentine's hearts.  It was a fun hour, even if I ignored her most of the time.
On Thursday, Uncle Jim (Nana's brother) was in town for the evening.  We had a good time catching up.  I showed him all my dinosaurs and did a good job of pretending to be interested.
Saturday was the start of our bad weekend.  First, our microwave went on the fritz.  In the middle of cooking dinner, smoke starts pouring out the top and stinking up the whole house.  Thankfully, no flames but still no fun.  Now we have to wait for a repair man to come out.  On Tuesday.  How does one make nachos without a microwave??  Then, Saturday morning, it was finally warm enough for mom to get a run in.  She put on her brand new, never before worn, winter running tights and headed out.  She was doing just great until she tripped, fell and tore a hole in the knee of her brand new, never before worn, winter running tights.  Boooooo!  And finally, Saturday,  I woke up feeling not very good but mom and dad promised we could go to the zoo.  So they pumped me full of Tylenol and against their better judgement, off we went.  We did actually have a great time there but by the time we got home, my throat hurt so bad and I had a temp of 103.  Mom and dad win parents of the year award!  I'm a little better today but still not having a good day.  Lots of TV for me today.

And, just because she is so cute, here is the latest picture of Sophia, all clean and pretty!

Have a fabulous week everyone!

A little bit of snow

As I'm sure you have all heard (because it was on national news no less) we got a little bit of snow here in Denver.  This was apparently the biggest snow in February for the past 100 years.  Supposedly, Highlands Ranch (where we live) got 30+ inches of the white stuff but we only measured 26" at our house.  Either way, it was a lot of snow.  It started snowing Thursday night and didn't stop until noon on Saturday.  Mom made the mistake of stopping by the grocery store Thursday night to pick up some stuff.  It was a madhouse and she's lucky she made it out alive!  On Friday,  I got a snow day and dad, not knowing any better since we are new to this, went into work.  He knew it was a mistake when he got to work and only 2 other cars were there.  The good news is one of the cars belonged to the head honcho so dad looked really good especially since his co-workers that live out this way didn't come in.  Dad does know better for next time though!  

Mom and I made the most of our day.  We took the dogs out for a snowy, belly deep walk and then came home to try our hand at making snow ice cream.  We took some liberties with the recipe but it didn't turn out so good.  We dumped it and made caramel corn instead.  That also didn't turn out like it was supposed to but at least it tasted good.

Dad got home nice and early- it's amazing how fast the commute is when everyone else stays home.  Because dad LOVES the snow (crazy man) we spent the next hour hanging out in our driveway like snow hillbillies drinking beer and sitting in our "snow chairs".  Snow chairs are surprisingly comfortable if just a tad cold.

When we couldn't feel our fingers anymore, we headed inside to warm up, eat dinner and hit the hay.

On Saturday, we woke up to 6 more inches of snow but it was starting to clear so mom took her skis out for while.  It wasn't the smoothest of runs, having to plow through 2 feet of snow but it was definitely a good work out.

When she got back, she found the entire neighborhood out shoveling drive ways and sidewalks and helping each other clear out.  It was the Amish barn building of snow shoveling.  Mom and dad were kind of intent on buying a snow blower until they realized the people with the snow blowers get stuck blowing everyone else's snow.  Since mom and dad aren't that nice, they decided to stick with the shovels for awhile.
Mom eventually headed off to work for a bit, so dad and I hit the sledding hill and had an awesome time.

Even Animal got in on the action.

Dad and I also built some snow men.  They are getting better and better but we still need to practice some.  We have snowman envy of the house down the street because they built the perfect snow man, red scarf and all.  Hmmppff.  I told mom this morning in my grumpy voice that it's not fair that they can build a good snow man and we can't.  Pout, pout.

We are back to the usual this week so hope everyone has a wonderful week!