Day 4-5: Family time

Dad-O arrived late Tuesday night, so after spending Wednesday morning waiting for a rental car, Mommy and Mason drove over to Aurora to meet up with him, Auntie Nay Nay and cousins Asani and Eli.

After feeding the fish, and wrestling Uncle Rob/Dad-O to the ground, we loaded Mason, Asani and the double stroller into the car and headed for the Denver Zoo.

Good zoo, that Denver Zoo -- and pretty much the way I remember it from my youth and many field trips. It's especially good for the little ones, as the animals are all in close proximity for viewing.

Mason went CRAZY for the elephants and both boys begged to ride the "choo-choo." We happily obliged.

The gorillas were lots of fun, but my personal favorite was probably the giraffes. They were inside by the time we got there, so we were really close. We HAD to wake Mason up from his nap to see them. We tried to wake Asani, but he kept turning his head away and trying to get comfy on Uncle Rob's shoulder. We were sure to snap a picture for future reference.

Thursday was spent with the Great Grandparents. Great Grandma and Grandpa Seeley were around in the morning. They brought Mason a new book "Going to Sleep on the Farm" and Mason even sat still long enough to let Great Grandma read to him a bit -- just like she did to Mommy when I was younger.

After that, we headed over to Great Grandma and Grandpa Woodman's for lunch. Grandma made her famous grilled cheese (I just can't make 'em that good, golden brown and perfectly melted cheese) and chocolate milkshakes.

We capped the afternoon off with the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, where Mason and Ava, the flower girl and niece of the happy couple became fast friends.

Days 2-3: Mountain men

Mace took to the cabin like white on rice. He had lots of fun toddling around outside picking up sticks, watching Papa work and playing with all those cabin-only tools.

Mommy and Grammy walked Mace across the mesa to the neighbors so we could play on the park in their backyard. Yes, it really was a park! The playground was pulled out of a Winter Park park when the city put in new play equipment and reconstructed in Jim and Sue's backyard. I guess that's an advantage to having acres of land around you.

After naptime, though, is when the real fun started. We packed up a fishing pole and headed to the lake.

Of course, Mason was more interested in the sand, the water and the rocks than in actually fishing!

He didn't seem to mind the frigidly cold water, either, as he slid right down into it, sitting with his legs crossed as it lapped against him and the shore.

Day 1: Comin' Round the Mountains

After church and some running around by Grammy and Mommy, we headed up the hill for the mountains. We did, however, have to make one quick stop to deliver some chairs to Great Grandma and Grandpa Woodman.

Mason tested them for comfort and found a little time to horse around and hand out hugs before we headed up.

We made a quick pit stop in Winter Park where we ate some good Mexican food and Mason got a chance to ride an elk...don't try this at home.

Let's Go Swimming!

Mason finished up his first summer of swim lessons in grand fashion today. Between Dad-O and I, the kiddo has been to 10-or-so lessons at the Jackie Robinson Pool around the corner, and done, well, swimmingly.

Today was particularly impressive. He jumped off the wall into my arms. He blew bubbles. And most impressively, he got his arms and feet moving to propel himself across the pool. Best of all, Dad-O made a surprise stop on his way to work, so he caught all the highlights pool-side.

We're sad to see the summer go (and the pool close) but are hoping to continue our lessons (if only with Mom and Dad-O) at an indoor pool and return to classes next summer.

Thanks to Melissa, our fabulous daycare provider, we had a class just for the kids at daycare, and they even worked it out so that us working parents could go.

Anyway, some photos and videos of our star in action:


Mason scoots into the water. It's COLD.

Going under...and back up.

Swimming with the noodle.


Showing off his diploma. For more pics, click here.

The grand finale: Videos!

Go East, Young Man

We spent Sunday afternoon touring the Lower East Side with some friends. The point of the excursion: To sample food from a variety of restaurants. And that's what we did. We started with octopus balls, finished with donuts and at a variety of culinary concoctions in the middle. Mason's least favorite dish was the hummus -- as he demonstrated by spewing it out of his mouth with rocket force, then coughing, hacking and wiping all remnants off his tongue with his forearm. His favorite, probably the cinnamon gelato, or maybe the donuts. You'll have to ask him.

Nevertheless, it was a six-hour trek and he was a superstar. He pooped out after the hummus -- lest he have to try something else so exotic, I suppose. We decided to reward him with a trip to the Hester Street Playground, in the heart of Chinatown, before heading back home...

Gettin' down...

Mason staged an impromptu dance party last night when we went over to visit the neighbors. Some of their friends came over with guitars to jam and record some music and Macey took it upon himself to provide the visual entertainment to go with the audio mix. Of course, as is his new tradition, he did his cutest dancing while Mommy was running back to our apartment to grab the camera, but it's still pretty funny. I for one am a big fan of the squat-while-still-shaking-his-booty-move in the first clip.

Who needs diapers?

When the box they come in is much more fun...









Thanks for visiting Fort Mason!