a perfect piece of time

Goodbye Blogspot!

2011-03-12T21:53:00.001-07:00

We've moved! Our new blog is at www.aperfectpieceoftime.com. Hope to see you there! :D

Wednesday Morning Baking

2011-03-09T12:09:00.002-07:00

Made these adorable goldfish crackers from Smitten Kitchen this morning. They were easy and fun, as well as delicious. The only change I made to the recipe was white whole wheat flour instead of regular whole wheat. Mine do seem a bit puffier than the crackers in the SK photos. I'm wondering if this is due to our high altitude. Yeast breads rise crazy fast here and bake fast too. But I don't think there was anything in the crackers to make them rise. Hmmm...a little culinary mystery. At any rate, they were a hit with everyone. Next time I definitely need to make a double batch!

Niamh's Imagination

2011-03-01T05:38:00.007-07:00

Yesterday Niamh was playing by the bookshelf with heart shaped crayons and a Hello Kitty face made of Perler Beads, and narrating a story between the two, when Rowan said "Mama, I sure like Neevie's imagination."

Niamh is a storyteller. Besides telling stories with her toys (or non-toys, as the case may be), she is also the one who will pick up a book and tell a story as she flips through the pages. Sometimes related to the actual story, sometimes not. I especially love it when she narrates her life in real time. Like the other morning when I asked her to go upstairs to get dressed. She cheerfully replied "Okay, Mama!" while walking up the stairs. And then in a slightly quieter voice "She said as she dashed away."

Through The Back Gate

2011-02-28T11:21:00.002-07:00

Rowan wanted to drive his truck on the path behind the house, which led to the idea of trying our sled on the small slope between the path and the field. We bought this sled years ago in Switzerland and had sadly never used it until now. Turns out it is great fun! One of the many things we meant to get to during our time in Morges, but never did. Kicking ourselves now, as I knew we would, for not using our time there more wisely.

If you are wondering where was on Muriel this particular morning--she was inside with Daddy. When she sees Ro and Niamh excitedly getting ready to go outside on snowy days she thinks she wants to go too, but has always had enough of it after about ten minutes. Oh, yeah. That's why we never did much with the snow when we lived in Switzerland.

Staples RJ Ranch

2011-02-28T05:48:00.002-07:00

Came across this really cool old ranch building near the bike path. If there hadn't been a stream separating me from it, I would have been tempted to do some trespassing for more photographs.

2.25.11

2011-02-27T06:26:00.009-07:00

stay out of the way when daddy is shoveling the sidewalks

don't worry, she thought it was funny

Wintery Math

2011-02-26T15:03:00.008-07:00

snow ice cream!

It snowed Thursday night and almost all day on Friday, giving us the opportunity to make snow ice cream. There are a gazillion recipes out there on the internet, and they are all basically the same. I used two different methods, one with cream (minus the vanilla pudding mix) and one with chilled sweetened condensed milk. I thought the ice cream with the condensed milk would be better, but neither the kids or I could taste a difference. Maybe a side by side test is in order for the next time it snows. One thing I found helpful, which neither website mentions, is to make sure the individual bowls for the ice cream have been chilled for a bit in the freezer before serving. This ice cream melts fast and the chilled bowls help slow it down a bit.

One of my clearest memories of the Thanksgivings spent at my Great-Grandmother's house in Eastern Washington as a child is making snow ice cream with my sisters and cousins. It was fun to do again!

Muriel + Owl Hat

2011-02-18T05:20:00.004-07:00

Just got this hat in the mail yesterday, made by the very talented Kat, found here. If she hadn't closed her Etsy shop because her third baby is due in a few weeks I'm pretty sure I'd be ordering at least ten more of The Cutest Hat Ever.

Hammond's Candy Factory & Dinosaur Ridge

2011-02-17T06:23:00.008-07:00

On Saturday we spent the day in Denver at the Hammond's Candy Factory, and then at Dinosaur Ridge. Both were kind of a bust. We didn't see much candy making at Hammond's because apparently on a Saturday in the middle of winter they don't have a lot of workers. The tour guide told us we should come back either on a weekday or in the summer.

And Dinosaur Ridge?

Well, the dino footprints were all covered in snow. But we were the only people at the visitor's center, and the guide that was manning it was really nice and interactive with the kids. At any rate, it was nice to get out of the house for a bit.

Below are a few pics I took at Hammond's.

Finishing Her Lunch at Snack Time is Tough

2011-02-15T06:11:00.008-07:00

These are the looks Muriel gives me when she doesn't eat her entire meal at lunch and I make her finish it in the afternoon before she can have the super ~~gross~~ special snack Rowan somehow talked me into buying at the supermarket.

On a different note, in these pictures Muriel is sporting her very favorite "moon" shirt. When she started asking for her moon shirt every day a month or so ago, I told her over and over that she didn't have a moon shirt. It took me quite a while to figure out what she was talking about.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T12:00:00.003-07:00

One thing I love about being back in the states is all the holiday candy. On the other hand, I do miss a lot of the holiday treats we had in Switzerland. Such a dilemma!

iPhoneography at FuoriBorgo

2011-02-04T20:35:00.001-07:00

The lovely Francesca over at one of my favorite blogs, FuoriBorgo, asked me to do a guest post for her on iPhoneography way back in December. Being the terrible procrastinator that I am, I've finally gotten it done for her, nearly two months later. Thanks for being so patient, Francesca!!

Niamh during quiet time a few weeks ago. Comfy!

It's Hard To Take Pictures of Toothless Dinosaurs

2011-01-29T06:11:00.003-07:00

But I did eventually manage to get that toothless smile on camera. The tooth fairy is becoming very familiar with our house!

Eruption!

2011-01-27T16:19:00.004-07:00

For Christmas Rowan received a volcano kit from Grammie Krista and Papa Gary. We just got around to making it last weekend, and it was of course a huge hit!

It was not quite the fiery explosion I was expecting from the picture on the front of the box.

In Rowan's mind however, it is perfect. Especially nice is that with just baking soda and vinegar for the lava, he can make his volcano erupt over and over again. Thanks so much, Grammie and Papa!!

Green Beans and Lettuce

2011-01-24T06:00:00.002-07:00

I'm pretty sure she's the sweetest two year old around--chapped lips, chapped cheeks, crusty nose, attitude, and all. Her language has really taken off the past couple months. I hear a lot of "What that for, Mama?" and "Why, Mama?" I really need to try and get her little voice recorded. Sometimes I wonder if she's really related to Rowan and Niamh. On Saturday the only thing she ate for dinner was green beans and pile after pile of plain shredded lettuce. Yum.

Chocolate Pie For All

2011-01-23T20:00:00.002-07:00

Happy National Pie Day! Okay, I'm not really that on top of things. Nor do I really care that much that it's National Pie Day, as much as I love pie. But I happened to see it mentioned on Facebook as I was preparing to write this post, and thought it was a mildy interesting coincidence.

Anyway, In summer of 2001 Pat and I discovered one of our favorite desserts in the May/June issue of Cook's Illustrated. Their chocolate cream pie became something we made for many, many special and not-so-special occasions. After Niamh was old enough to care if she was eating the same dessert as us or not we stopped making it very often because of the eggs. But then (!!!!) a week or so ago I saw a vanilla pudding post on Smitten Kitchen which led me over to her chocolate pudding and chocolate pudding pie recipes. Both eggless! I don't know why it never occurred to me that puddings can be made without eggs.

I made the pudding straight away, but waited until Pat returned from his latest business trip before making the pie. I ended up using the crust recipe from CI (slightly adapted), and the pudding from SK. The pie turned out really great, but Pat and I both agreed that it didn't seem quite as chocolate-y as the CI custard/pudding recipe. I think next time I'll add the chocolate according the the CI recipe.

All in all, thumbs up. It was the perfect addition to movie night on Friday. And we're thrilled to be able to make our favorite (one of, that is) dessert again!

clearly, not everyone was riveted by Astro Boy

Instagram Experimentation

2011-01-22T09:41:00.002-07:00

I've been playing around this past week with a new photo app called Instagram. I love the filters, but I'm not sure about many other aspects of it. It does not save photos at full resolution, which is a huge downside since I like to print out iPhone photos. The photos do look great on the screen though, so I'll print one or two out just to see how less than full resolution photos look. It's supposed to be a great way to share pictures easily and interact with other photographers by posting your photo simultaneously to many different places besides Instagram. It was fine for Flickr. But when the thumbnail posted to your Facebook wall is clicked on you are rerouted to an Instagram site, instead of the photograph simply being enlarged. And between Flickr, Facebook, and this blog do I really need another place to keep up with?

In looking at other people's photos I notice that there are indeed a bizarre number of cat shots. Also quite a few photos that I'm skeptical were taken with an iPhone. Such as fairly close and detailed moon shots, as well as pictures with a lot of bokeh. Of course there's no iPhone-only rule, but in a photo app like that one kind of expects to be looking only at iPhone photography.

In spite of all that I'm going to give it another couple of weeks. I'm @emilyfrances for anyone who wants to experiment with me.

Eagles In Socks

2011-01-21T17:25:00.005-07:00

The kids went outside to play this morning and when I looked out the kitchen window a bit later I noticed that nobody had their shoes on anymore. Yes, it is mid-January. Yes, there is still some snow on the ground (can you see it by the fence?). No, it was not above fifty degrees. My first instinct was to open the door and order them to get their shoes on immediately. But they they were running back and forth so joyously I instead opened the door to take a picture. When they saw me they said "Look Mama, we're eagles!"

A little bit later they tried to convince me that it was perfect weather for getting in their swimsuits and running through the sprinkler. "We want to be fresh and cool!" "It would be like a bath outside!" There were some very sad faces when they realized no amount of reasoning was going to convince me say yes.

"Mama Braiding My Hair With One Arm"

2011-01-19T13:04:00.000-07:00

Mean Old Bear

2011-01-18T10:31:00.003-07:00

summer sunrise in Colorado

Rowan (screaming at me):

"You are mean, mean, MEAN, like a mean old bear!"

Hmmm...maybe old photos from the summer where everything looks peaceful with help give me some zen today. I hope the worst thing he ever calls me is a mean old bear. No? Well, as long as I'm looking at summer sunrises, I might as well indulge other wishful thoughts.

Neevie-roo's Turn

2011-01-14T06:39:00.005-07:00

Niamh, a few months back, said a few things which I wrote down in order to not forget:

"I wish the moon would fly down to us in the car so I could hold him."

And when I asked her to please stop growing:

"If I stay four years old I will never get to have a birthday and everyone else will die and then there will be nobody to cook me dinner."

Dinner Questions

2011-01-12T09:19:00.005-07:00

Rowan, last night at dinner:

"Do they speak English in Hawaii?"

I had barely finished answering this question, when it was followed by:
"How does the Easter Bunny move...or walk?"

Then, a little later (after worrying a bit, for the one thousandth time, if the Easter Bunny comes to the United States):
"Do bats hibernate or do they come out every night?"

And:
"Where is heaven?"
When I said that nobody knows he said
"Maybe the computer can tell us where heaven is."

Even Suburbia Is Pretty When It Snows

2011-01-10T06:07:00.006-07:00

The kids and I made this garland for the birds and squirrels mid-December, and I was totally disgusted to come back from our trip to see that not one berry or kernel of popcorn had been touched. Anyway, it snowed quite a bit yesterday which was fun for the children, but has me worried about driving the next couple of days.

Breaking His Mama's Heart

2011-01-09T05:47:00.022-07:00

Rowan adores the desk that is under the new loft bed we got for him when we moved back to the States. It's almost always very messy, strewn with things like pencils, markers, coloring books, stickers, prizes from school, tooth fairy dust in a baggie, and lots and lots of airplane and train tickets that he's collected from various travelers. Every time I try and talk him into tossing a few of the tickets he protests so strongly that I can't help but relent and let him keep them.

The newest addition to his desk is the family photo we sent with him on his first day of kindergarten. It came back home this week in his Friday folder, and when he saw it he immediately wanted to put it up in his room. But he said that it made him sad to look at it because he never wants to leave us. He's been talking about going away to college off and on this past week. I'm not sure what has prompted it. Maybe Toy Story 3, which the kids got for Christmas. Maybe saying goodbye to our families after the holidays were over. Maybe something else entirely. At any rate, it's been on his mind. Yesterday morning he came quietly downstairs with his alleegah in his hand and told me again that looking at the family picture makes him so sad because he loves me so much and never wants to leave. As he leaned into my shoulder his eyes filled with tears and I'm pretty sure my heart broke.

Winter Morning at Lake Loveland

2011-01-08T13:35:00.003-07:00

Tomorrow it's supposed to get pretty cold for a few days, so I figured today would be a good day to get the kids out of the house for a bit. The lake is pretty well frozen over, and there were even people out in the middle of it, but I was too nervous to let the kids go out much further than Niamh is in the above photo. It's been warmish the past couple days and I couldn't stop thinking about books I'd read as a child where someone would go through the ice on a frozen lake/pond.

There was a lot of this:

Which of course led to some of this:

But I don't think it bothered them much.

We even spotted some wildlife on the other side of the street. As we were watching the big flock of geese/ducks/birds a man came up to me and excitedly showed me the wood duck he spotted which he hadn't seen in years. I'm afraid it was lost on me, but I figured I had better take a picture for Bumpa.

The kids were much more excited about the fat, round squirrel who was scampering through the snow and up the trees. We saw ducks and geese all the time at the lake in Morges, but I don't think we ever once saw a squirrel, which still seems strange to me.

Home Sweet Home

2011-01-05T06:45:00.011-07:00

It was an unusually clear day on Sunday when we flew out of Portland, OR on our way back to Colorado. There were four peaks visible which we think (but are not certain) are: Hood, St. Helens, Rainier, and Adams.

Well, I'm not so sure about the sweet part of the title, as we were all pretty sad to leave the Pacific Northwest, but it is nice to be back in our own space after two weeks of travelling. We spent Christmas day and the week before with my whole family at my older sister's house near Portland. The day after Christmas we headed up to Washington where we rented a house in West Seattle for the week and got to visit with Pat's family in Tacoma and our friends in Seattle. There were of course a few bumps (we may or may not have brought some sort of 24 hour stomach bug with us to Portland), but overall it was a really great trip.

It's been kind of crazy since we got back with trying to get the house organized again (Christmas stuff is still up and it's driving me crazy!), a bunch of appointments on Monday, and then me having minor dental surgery yesterday. I now have a shiny new front tooth to replace the one I ran into a parking meter with when I was eight years old. I never thought I'd say this, but, please--no. more. ice cream.

Anyway, so for now here are a few very random iPhone photos. Will hopefully be getting to the others this week!

Niamh & her new cousin Ila

Disgruntled Ila B.

Christmas tree at the Pittock Mansion

Another Christmas scene at the Pittock Mansion

To Seattle!!!

Muriel at the Museum of Flight

While in Seattle Muriel attached herself to our friend Jay

Waiting to get into the Harry Potter Exhibit at the Pacific Science Center

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T18:25:00.002-07:00

Ready for Santa!

2010-12-24T22:44:00.001-07:00

Gingerbread "Festivity"

2010-12-17T06:00:00.008-07:00

Our gingerbread projects, on two different days, didn't start out "festive", but I'm afraid ended that way when Rowan had complete meltdowns because they both didn't go exactly how he had imagined. The house didn't look just like the picture on the box, and we didn't have any candy for the gingerbread people, as they had had when he decorated his gingerbread man at school.

I was only able to keep my temper for the second meltdown by documenting this tragic face (taken post rolling on the floor, kicking and screaming).

It was too late in the afternoon for good light in this photo, but I still had fun playing with the tree bokeh.

Rowan's Holiday School Program-2010

2010-12-10T08:04:00.004-07:00

A few weeks ago Rowan's school had their holiday program. He was a little nervous beforehand, but did really great. I found it interesting that the school did not have a Halloween party since not everyone celebrates Halloween, but that they did sing some religious songs for the holiday program. Maybe they figure that since there was a Hanukkah song in with all the others it was okay?

Morning in San Francisco

2010-12-08T14:38:00.006-07:00

The morning before Thanksgiving we spent a little bit of time in San Francisco. Not too long, because we were worried about afternoon traffic getting out of town, and we were also all a little grumpy from not going to bed until (at least) midnight the night before. We made a quick-ish stop at the Ferry Building where we got donuts (egg free!), chocolate, bread, and cheese. After that we went to the Golden Gate Bridge for a quick walk before heading to Santa Rosa.

the bay bridge

Ro outside the Ferry Building

Niamh's first donut ever! Complete with four-year-old attitude.

I wanted a picture of all three kids together in front of The Bridge, but that wasn't in the cards.

Little Bird

2010-12-06T20:00:00.002-07:00

"Mama, when I jump it feels like I'm soaring like a bird!"

12.6.10

2010-12-06T13:46:00.005-07:00

St. Nicholas visited our house last night, leaving the kids a few treats,

three new figures for the nativity scene,

and three new Christmas books. This year Muriel received Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree, Niamh received The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree, and Rowan received Christmas Day in the Morning.

We ended the morning with Italian peppermint hot chocolate and a sad, sad attempt at making eggless St. Nicholas bread. I thought that a sweet dough like what is used for cinnamon rolls would be a good substitute for what the bakeries in Morges make. Cook's Illustrated has a recipe for quick cinnamon buns that don't have eggs. It sounded perfect! The recipe though did not have yeast, which made it more like a biscuit dough, which is very hard to shape into little St. Nicholas men. So next year I will try again, this time with a yeast dough!

Static Electricity

2010-12-02T05:00:00.001-07:00

The static electricity in our house since we came back from CA has been out of control. It's not only doing crazy things to the girls' hair, but every time we touch a light switch we get a nice jolt of electricity. I hope that this won't last the rest of the winter!

12.1.10

2010-12-01T12:11:00.003-07:00

Happy first day of December!

Back Home!

2010-11-30T08:30:00.003-07:00

Golden Gate Bridge

Goat Rock Beach, CA

Half Moon Bay, CA

We returned Sunday afternoon from our Thanksgiving weekend visiting Pat's family in California. There were a few bumps, such as the kids not going getting to bed until midnight (CO time) on Tuesday night due to airplane issues and me getting another round of strep throat. I'm also pretty sure Niamh was feverish for a few days. In spite of all that it was a pretty good trip. Most of the photos I took are all still on my camera; these are from my iPhone. We are slowly, slowly getting back to normal here, so hopefully I can get some more pictures up this week.

A Sixth Birthday Interview With Rowan

2010-11-23T08:06:00.007-07:00

I've come across several bloggers that have a tradition of doing birthday interviews with their children. I'm hoping this is something I can maintain year to year with each of our own children, as it's such a great idea!

A couple of notes: Rowan's alleegah is his bunny (pictured in the post below), the Shinkansen song he talks about is Bullet Train by Choo Choo Soul, and the airplane book he talks about is DK Big Book of Airplanes by Caroline Bingham. We did a practice interview a few hours before this one was recorded and many of his answers changed in that short amount of time.

Rowan-Six Years Old

2010-11-23T05:29:00.000-07:00

Happy sixth birthday to our sweet boy!

Train Party!!!

2010-11-22T16:20:00.003-07:00

Rowan turns six tomorrow (!!!), and had his birthday party yesterday. Including our own children there ended up being thirteen kids at the party, which was quite chaotic. At least, that's how it felt to me. Ro had a great time, and it seemed like the other children did too, so I suppose we can call it a success. The kids played with Pat's electric trains (a huge hit), decorated train cakes, played games, and ran around like crazy.

A special thanks to our friend John, who took all of the above photos. In all the madness I took none, so I'm very glad John volunteered to be our party photographer!

Muriel & The Big Red Thomas Book

2010-11-15T07:37:00.004-07:00

Friday, 11.12.10

2010-11-13T05:56:00.012-07:00

misty sunrise

egg-free chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast

sick boy

potty practice (I think Niamh was as excited about this as Muriel)

preparing for Rowan's birthday party next week

trying on her big brother's hat & backpack

playing in the melting snow

Niamh loves the snow

poor mitten-less Muriel

Muriel + Paint

2010-11-12T07:01:00.002-07:00

First Snow in Colorado

2010-11-11T13:48:00.018-07:00

We woke up to a bit of snow this morning. It's melting now, but the kids had fun playing in it this morning. Even our little sickling, Rowan. He is in the midst of another one of his bouts of fever, where he has no symptoms except for a high fever which comes and goes.

Halloween 2010

2010-11-01T08:23:00.010-06:00

We had a great Halloween and the kids are super sad this morning that it is all over. There was a visit from the Great Pumpkin, deliciously spooky stories, haunting music, time spent with friends, roasted pumpkin seeds, eyeball soup, mummy dogs, costumes, and trick-or-treating, which of course ended with a lot of candy. Muriel was a little scared at the beginning of the night when everyone started getting into their costumes, but warmed up once she got into the spirit of trick-or-treating. My only regret is that in all the chaos I did not get a photo of Pat, John, and Jennifer dressed up in their costumes (Darth Vader, and two characters from Mario Kart). I did not have a costume, but have big plans for next year. As do the children. They are already dreaming of next Halloween!

A Duck: Art by Niamh

2010-10-31T10:38:00.002-06:00

Pumpkin Patch 2010

2010-10-24T06:32:00.007-06:00

The weekend before last we got to go to a pumpkin patch for the first time in three years. There was quite a bit of excitement leading up to this event, but it ended up being kind of a let-down. Muriel screamed off and on for the first hour we were there until we put her in the stroller with a bag of goldfish. The Rocky Mountain Pumpkin Ranch turned out to not being quite like a traditional pumpkin patch. More like a fall festival, I suppose. A very expensive fall festival. There was no pumpkin patch, just a field where pre-picked pumpkins were lined up. There were also food stands and lots of rides and activities for the kids (all costing $, of course). Rowan ended the morning with a lovely meltdown because we told him he couldn't go on the firetruck slide. Between him and Muriel there was a very small window of time where everyone was happy. But, at least we got our pumpkins at someplace other than a grocery store!

More pictures on Flickr.

Bear Lake Trailhead

2010-10-20T12:51:00.008-06:00

On the first weekend in October we took the kids back to Rocky Mountain National Park to do some hiking starting at the Bear Lake Trailhead. We initially skipped over Bear Lake, which is just off the beginning of the trailhead, and headed straight for the trail that leads to Nymph Lake, Dream Lake, and Lake Haiyaha (there are at least several more lakes around along this trail, but these are just the ones we hit). We started out pretty early, and on the return trip realized what a good idea that had been, as once we got closer to the parking lot the trail started to feel a bit like walking the streets of a big city. Anyway, it was a beautiful hike. The kids did about 4.5 miles without too much trouble. The only problem we ran into was that Lake Haiyaha was completely unsuitable for children under the age of about 3.5-4. It was surrounded by very large boulders, and impossible for Muriel to walk around. Niamh did fine, though she was a little scared. Rowan thought it was great fun and pretended he was a great horn sheep climbing over the rocks. Oh, on the way back to the parking lot we did peek in at Bear Lake, but it was just too crowded at that point (somewhere around noon), so we didn't spend much time there.

More pictures on Flickr.

Sweater by Grammie Annie

2010-10-16T18:24:00.004-06:00

A perfect fit! Thank you, Grammie!

Pink Boots

2010-10-16T17:00:00.002-06:00

Niamh has ditched yellow as her color of choice in favor of pink. And she's going all out with it...

...right down to her new pink boots.

Someone Has Lost Another Tooth!

2010-10-16T05:00:00.001-06:00

Party!

2010-10-15T15:10:00.006-06:00

We went with slightly duck-y theme for Muriel's birthday celebration, given the attachment she has to her little duck. It was a good time, with all the birthday necessities-friends, family, balloons, cake, ice cream, and even a few gifts. More photos are up on Flickr.

Birthday Morning Photo Session

2010-10-15T14:57:00.003-06:00

I took Muriel out early on Wednesday morning to get a few photos of our brand new two-year old. Here are a few of the photos, and I have some more up on Flickr.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Muriel!

2010-10-13T22:45:00.004-06:00

Our little Swiss Miss turned two years old today. We had a lovely day, and will post more photos of that later. But for now, will just end with this photo I took this morning.

Two Toothless Kids

2010-10-11T06:00:00.000-06:00

Rowan and Gwenyth--September 26th, 2010

Portrait of Bumpa by Niamh

2010-10-10T11:15:00.006-06:00

With "blue eyes, nose, snout (nostrils), mouth, arms, and legs"

Fun With Uncle Mike

2010-10-10T10:23:00.003-06:00

A few weekends ago (actually, the same weekend we went to see Thomas) Uncle Mike came to town for one last fling before he becomes a father.

It was a great weekend! The kids had fun with Thomas, picnics, stomp rockets, and playing (or pestering. It's a fine line.) with Uncle Mike. And I believe a good time was also had by the big boys, revisiting favorite college past times.

Day Out With Thomas 2010

2010-10-05T14:20:00.007-06:00

A couple of weeks ago we headed back to the Colorado Railroad Museum with the Metcalfs for the museum's Day Out With Thomas event.

The kids all had a great time, though I think the thirty minute ride on Thomas, in which the train circled the museum four times at an agonizingly slow speed, was probably not a highlight. There was much more fun to be had sifting through gravel, playing with trains, petting ponies, sitting in fire engines, and eating ice cream.

There are a few more photos up on Flickr.

Muriel and Her Bike Helmet

2010-09-30T17:03:00.003-06:00

Muriel has been wearing her bike helmet constantly the past couple of days. When I try and take it off she screams like it's the end of the world.

Nevermind that I couldn't get her to wear a sun hat all summer!

Life in Colorado

2010-09-30T14:30:00.004-06:00

This morning we looked out the back window of the house to see a small herd of elk wandering around in the field.

Definitely not something you'd see in Morges!

Weekend in Portland, OR

2010-09-29T12:20:00.002-06:00

A few weeks ago my mom, two sisters, and I gathered in Portland to celebrate the impending arrival of the newest Winchell Sister baby. My sister Amanda and brother-in-law Mike are expecting their first baby in November and we are all SO excited! We had a great weekend sans-enfants. There was a lot of laughter, good conversation, relaxation, and of course fantastic food.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend. I'm afraid there aren't a whole lot because I wasn't really in the picture taking mood. Sometimes it's nice to just focus on being in the moment rather than recording the moment.

Heehee! I saw this on some photo blog (can't remember which one now), and Amanda humored me and let me try it out on her.

pampering at The Barefoot Sage

donuts being made at Moody's Donuts

basketful of hot donuts--the best I've ever had!

shelves of artisan salts at The Meadow

Toothless Grin!

2010-09-21T05:52:00.004-06:00

Rowan lost his first tooth yesterday afternoon when we brushed it right out of it's spot with a toothbrush. He is both relieved and excited. It was getting pretty worrisome when during yesterday's slightly stormy and scary weather he felt like he couldn't suck on his fingers for comfort because of that extremely wiggly tooth. And he is of course very excited about the tooth fairy's visit. I hope she doesn't disappoint!

Conductor Muriel

2010-09-20T16:13:00.002-06:00

We don't have a train layout yet, but we sometimes set up an oval the kids to play with. In this case Muriel is in control of the New York Central's 7795 steam engine.

North Fork Trail to Deserted Village

2010-09-13T20:51:00.007-06:00

On Sunday we went hiking up near Rocky Mountain National Park on the North Fork Trail to Deserted Village. It's six miles round trip, and we weren't sure that we'd actually make it all the way to Deserted Village. Rowan cried for about the first half hour because he was scared. Of the rocks on the trail. I tried to get something more comprehensible out of him, but wasn't able to. He was of course totally fine after that, and even had a good time. Anyway, we did manage to make it to Deserted Village, in spite of the rough start.

According to Best Hikes With Children: Colorado Deserted Village, which is simply a ruined log cabin, is all that remains of the Earl of Dunraven's hunting lodge. The Earl of Dunraven was an Englishman who, over one hundred years ago, tried dishonestly to gain control of Estes Park and the Big Thompson River drainage.

It was a great hike, though definitely pushing Rowan and Niamh's limits. Luckily there was a creek, two different sets of horses to pet, and M&Ms to help power them through. I'm thinking kids only a year or two older than them would have no problem at all. We spent most of the return journey planning out our farm. Prompted by the horses the kids got to pet, our farm started out as just five horses with a barn to keep them in, but quickly evolved into a real farm with horses, cows, chickens, sheep, ducks, pigs, and a vegetable garden. I'm sure I'm forgetting something--it was quite involved. Rowan knew how many of each animal he wanted, and then we had to name them all.

At the very end, as Rowan and I were just about to reach to parking lot, Rowan told me "Mama, my favorite part of the hike was when the horse sniffed me, but my very favorite part was talking about our farm." So sweet!

Letterboxing!

2010-09-08T07:45:00.000-06:00

On Monday the Metcalfs joined us in driving to Boulder for a morning of hiking along the South Boulder Creek Trail. Other than the fairly strong winds, the weather was just about perfect for hiking.

I think the wildfire must have started shortly after we began hiking. It was odd to see clear sky looking one direction, and look the other way and see the smoke piling up.

At any rate, I was excited to finally get to do some letterboxing! This is something I've been hearing about for a couple of years, but I don't think there's a whole lot of letterboxing going on in Switzerland. The day after reading this blog post on Dim Sum, Bagels, and Crawfish, I raced out and bought all the supplies needed to do our own letterboxing. There are a bunch of letterboxes around Loveland, and I'd been meaning to get the kids out to do some hunting every weekend since Lucia's post, but it just hadn't happened.

We hadn't set out on Monday with letterboxing in mind, but I grabbed the bag on the way out the door, figuring that Boulder of all places was sure to have quite a few letterboxes scattered around. And sure enough, after consulting Clue Tracker on the drive down, I saw that there were several letterboxes on the very trail we were going to be hiking. Finding the letterboxes with their handcarved stamps was a lot of fun. And we actually found every letterbox we searched for, unlike all of our attempts at geocaching which have failed miserably.

Another highlight of the hike was playing in the creek on our way back. The water was crystal clear, and shallow enough that the kids could wade from bank to bank without worry. It seems like, in hiking with children, having a water element along the trail always helps to cut down on the whining.

What a great way to spend our first Labor Day back in the States!

Allergy Update

2010-09-01T06:01:00.003-06:00

We finally got Niamh in to see an allergist. They did a skin test on her, and she had pretty strong reactions to egg white, egg yolk, whole egg, and peanut. Not too surprising, though I was hoping the peanut allergy had gone away. I don't think she's been exposed to peanuts since she was about a year old. He prescribed an epi-pen for her, just in case. But the good news is that the doctor said there's an 80% chance she will outgrow all of the allergies. Five, he thought, would be a likely age for the allergies to start fading away. So we'll be going back in about a year for more tests. And he thought it would be worth it to see if she can tolerate eggs in baked goods now. Hooray! I think today is a good cookie baking day!

Here is a National Geographic article on allergies, which I found very interesting.

Weekend Photos

2010-08-31T06:01:00.006-06:00

On Saturday the kids got to attend their very first parade for the Corn Roast Festival. Rowan was initially pretty scared, being sure that there were going to be cannons. But there were of course no cannons, and even the marching bands turned out not to be too loud for him. I think the loads of candy that were thrown at the children probably helped too. Niamh's dance studio had a float in the parade, and Niamh was thrilled to see her teacher in it. After the parade we made a quick stop at the festival itself, but it was too hot for anybody to get much enjoyment out of it. We will have to try going in the morning or evening next year.

Then on Sunday morning we got up bright and early to watch the hot air balloons being launched. So beautiful! And much more pleasant than watching hot air balloons in the bitter cold!

Weekend In Seattle

2010-08-30T05:37:00.009-06:00

At the beginning of this month I was able to spend a wonderful, but all too short, weekend in Seattle. Had breakfast with my parents, got to hang out in Ballard with friends, finally met a sweet baby that had been born while we were in Switzerland, and-the point of the whole trip-attended a baby shower for my dear friend Eve. I'm afraid that I came back to Colorado fairly homesick. But I'm so glad that we are at least close enough to the west coast now to be able fly over for events like this!

my mom at Señor Moose
(wishing I had thought to get a picture of both my parents!)

sweet baby Corbin

house in Ballard

at the Ballard Farmer's Market

Eve

More pictures can be found on Flickr.

Niamh's First Day of Dance Class

2010-08-25T06:32:00.003-06:00

Niamh went to her first dance class on Monday afternoon, and surprised Pat and I by doing so well. Even though this was all her idea, I was doubtful that she could do it without the tears, pulling on Mama, hiding behind Mama, leaning on Mama, hugging Mama, etc that is normal every time we go somewhere new. Even if I am staying with her! Even if she has done it all before, like with preschool or hanging out with friends. She wouldn't let go of me at the very first, and whined a little, but the teacher suggested that I sit in the studio with her for a few minutes, and that did the trick. She let go of my hand, sat down with the other little girls, and that was it. She even spoke when her teacher asked her questions! She smiled through the whole class, and has declared that all of the girls in it are her friends (though she can't remember their names). We are so proud of her and happy for her!

at Dairy Delite after class

Fishing: Round Two

2010-08-24T05:00:00.005-06:00

On Saturday we went back to Trout Haven Ranch to try our hand at fishing again, this time with the Metcalfs. For the first two hours or so we were almost completely unsuccessful.

The fish (and there were a lot of them) swam past most of the worms without any interest.

But not always! They were really good at taking the worms off the hook and hardly having their mouth touch it at all. There were a couple of times when a fish was hooked and even out of the water, but still managed to wiggle away (see above photo). Using the worms John was the only one of us who caught a fish. We were just about to give up and go home with only one, when Jen saved the day and asked the guys inside the shop for help. Before that they had been very hands off. But when asked they not only gave us corn as bait instead of worms ("corn is like a steak dinner to the trout"), they also came out gave us pointers on actually catching the fish.

I unfortunately have no photos of fish being caught, but we did walk away with nine between us, which made the children very happy.

One of the nicest parts about fishing the easy way is having someone else clean the fish.

That evening we all convened back at our house for playing and a delicious, if bone-y, dinner of grilled trout. John did most of the cooking and he did a really great job. I think we all agreed that while the experience was worth it, the trout had entirely too many bones to make eating them very enjoyable, even if they were tasty.

There are a few more photos from our day up on Flickr.

First Day of Kindergarten in the US

2010-08-18T19:41:00.003-06:00

Rowan's first day of Kindergarten was today. He was a little nervous, but I think he kept the nervousness mostly internal. He needed a photo of his family for his classroom, so we set the camera on a chair and used a remote to take this photo at the last minute. It's printed on computer paper and sandwiched between two pieces of contact paper. Not super great, but I hoped it was better than not going with a photo at all.

Then he was off to Kindergarten! Thankfully we can still walk to school, though it was so hot today Rowan was really wishing he didn't have to.

And here he is coming out at the end of the day. As with school in Morges, I really have no idea what he did. When I forced him to tell me two things he said "eat snack" and...can't even remember the other! Whatever it was, it was equally as informative. But he said the time went by very very fast, and he seems excited to go again tomorrow.

Cowgirl in Pink

2010-08-14T05:53:00.004-06:00

Bug Hunting

2010-08-02T14:39:00.003-06:00

The kids have been enjoying hunting for bugs a lot lately. Actually, it would be more accurate to say that they enjoy helping me hunt for bugs, which is not quite what I envisioned when I got them the nets and bug "houses". I really don't like bugs. I've found lady bugs pretty gross ever since my dorm room in college was invaded by swarms of lady bugs one autumn. And every time one of the grasshoppers we've got jumps I've have to work hard to suppress a squeal of disgust. Guess what the most common kind of insects are we've been finding? Yep, ladybugs and grasshoppers. Also a few roly-polys, and some sort of little hopping/flying beetle that lives in our grass. We almost caught a month/butterfly once, but it got away at the last second. Anyway, I'm really hoping with some more practice that this is something the kids can do somewhat independently!!!

Backyard Sprinkler Fun

2010-08-01T15:08:00.005-06:00

There were no thunderstorms yesterday afternoon (somewhat unusual), so the kids spent some time in the backyard playing in the sprinklers.

For some reason Muriel is not very fond of sprinklers in our backyard, though we go to a spray park with sprinkler-like things, which she likes quite well. The sprinkler in the first two photos waves back and forth, and she would not go near it. The one in the last photo doesn't move around, so she'd play in it a bit more...but not much, as you can see from the photo.

But all three were up for popsicles afterward!

Playing Dress-up in the Backyard

2010-07-27T05:11:00.004-06:00

Saturday Morning at Horsetooth Falls

2010-07-26T21:08:00.005-06:00

On Saturday we were out of the house by 8:15 for a hike to Horsetooth Falls. It was a really lovely hike, and just about perfect for the kids. Short, but still long enough to feel like a real hike. The weather was a bit cooler than it has been, and there was small, clear pool at the end for wading. I think this is one we'll have to do again, especially in the spring when the falls are more of a waterfall and less of a trickle!

Muriel 7.21.10

2010-07-25T21:58:00.003-06:00

Colorado Train Museum

2010-07-25T15:59:00.004-06:00

Is anyone surprised that we went to the Colorado Railroad Museum last Sunday, on our second weekend here? Or that we bought a year membership? It was a big hit with the children, so I think we'll be putting that membership to good use.

Rowan's favorite engine, though it was frustrating to have to share it with other children who wanted to play on it. Especially because he was too shy to play in there unless he was alone or with one of us. There was a rope you could pull which rang a bell on the outside of the engine.

this was through the window of an train car that held stacks and stacks of old bound copies of the Rocky Mountain News.

Rowan Makes it to the Rocky Mountains

2010-07-24T21:57:00.010-06:00

Okay, so actually we all made it to the Rocky Mountains last weekend, but Rowan was the most excited about it. This is how the hour long car ride into the park went:

Rowan: Are these the Rocky Mountains?
Pat/Emily: No, these are just the foothills.

five minutes later
Rowan: Are these the Rocky Mountains?
Pat/Emily: No, these are still the foothills. It's going to take about sixty minutes to get there.

three minutes later
Rowan: Are these the Rocky Mountains? There are a lot of rocks!"
Pat/Emily: No, still the foothills, Rowan. We will tell you when we get to the Rocky Mountains okay?

two minutes later
Rowan: Are these the Rocky Mountains?

Needless to say, he was thrilled once we finally got there. Even though we were out of the house by 9am, it was very crowded by the time we got into the park, and finding a parking spot at a trail head was difficult.

We ended up doing a very short "hike" (walk) on the Alluvial Fan Trail. It was crowded, but the river was beautiful, regardless.

We even spotted some wildlife, though it wasn't the Bighorn Sheep Rowan is dying to see.

After our hike and a snack we decided to head back into Estes Park for some fishing at Trout Haven Ranch. We were completely unsuccessful despite the vast numbers of fish that could be seen swimming around the pond. The children, especially Rowan, were quite disappointed. Luckily we live close enough that we can go back often, perhaps on a day when the fish haven't already seen a gazillion worms.

Niamh, Our Little Dancer

2010-07-24T21:39:00.009-06:00

Niamh has been dancing up a storm (thanks to Zoe Elko and Angelina Ballerina). She often goes outside to do her "ballet".

Settling In

2010-07-23T20:18:00.001-06:00

Having been in Colorado for almost three weeks, things are finally starting to feel somewhat normal. Niamh and Muriel got over the jet-lag within a few days, but it took Pat, Rowan, and I much longer. Seems like there was 5-7 days of 1am-3am risings.

The children are mostly thrilled with all the new food, but they won't eat some things, like the yogurt. They thought that the housing development across the field from our house was a different village. They are not fond of driving everywhere. For the first two weeks, they asked almost every time we went anywhere if we were walking or driving, not understanding that we really can't walk anywhere. Niamh once begged to ride her scooter somewhere that it would take twenty minutes to drive to. When I explained that we needed to drive because it was too far away, she told me she could just ride her scooter really fast next to the car. She wasn't even deterred when I told her I thought her legs would get tired. "When one leg gets tired, I'll switch to the other leg!"

They really love having a yard. The only plant in the backyard is one lonely sunflower in a corner, and it is dutifully watered every day. Perhaps we need to make a trip to a garden store for some other plants for children to water.

We've made it!

2010-07-22T15:50:00.003-06:00

This trip from Morges to Loveland was one of the most painless flights we've had with the children. I'm not sure I can say exactly why, but for some reason it all went pretty smoothly.

Rowan mostly watched movies the entire way from Geneva to D.C.

Niamh colored, played with stickers, or some new toys she got for the plane. And Muriel did a little of what Niamh did, and also...

took a nap for about an hour. We hit the only snag in the journey when we got to D.C. and found out our flight had been canceled, and Rowan then completely melted down. We were able to get on a new flight a couple of hours later, but Rowan's meltdown lasted until about forty minutes before the flight, when he finally crashed on the floor of the airport. He basically slept until we got into Denver.

Niamh and Muriel played for a bit, but then they also fell asleep. And they too slept until Denver. We got to our hotel around 10pm, found out it was too late to even have fast food for dinner, so we just ate whatever snacks we had leftover from the flight. We took the kids down to the pool for a little bit before it closed, and they got to bed at about 12:30.

The next day we got into our new house bright and early, and the rental furniture arrived a few hours later.

This photo of Muriel asleep during dinner pretty much sums up how tired everyone was by the end of that first day in Colorado.