This kid. Turns out the dentist was wrong. We will NOT have to have every tooth in our poor son's mouth extracted. His top front teeth are squirmy and we're squirmy with glee over this discovery. Here's to saving $100 and pain and suffering for every tooth that follows in this new dental lead.
A couple weeks back, we loaded up 4 first graders and 1 kindergartner into the Pilot and headed to the Museum of Nature and Science to celebrate our little man's 7th bday. The car ride there was a party in and of itself. Lots of singing and very random storytelling took place. Some stories the parents involved would have been quite mortified to hear coming from the children's lips - we quite enjoyed those stories. We lined up the littles for an iMax movie to start the festivities. Dude's favorite classmate, Kemper, and her mom joined us too. They all chowed on popcorn and sat impressively quiet for the 50 minute show. It was fun for us to see the kids fighting over who got to sit next to the birthday boy. He was definitely the star of the day, which he deserves.
After the show, Dude chose to spend the remainder of the museum time in the space room, his fave. We spend quite a bit of time at this museum and he knows the exhibits by heart.
The red head embracing Dude is his fiance, Hannah. She made sure she marked her territory with the other ladies. Kemper, the little cutie below, is a special friend for our Dude. He latched on to her at the beginning of the school year and hasn't given up his affection for her. She does a very impressive job of tolerating his ongoing affection.
This photo gem will be front and center at their wedding some day.
After museum play we headed to the park next door for cake, presents and playground time. It was a typical awesome weather day in Denver, making the frolicking that much more enjoyable.
Cake, courtesy of our master baker, Miss Kim. It was quite a hit. Dude insisted on eating his face, so that he did.
Photo bombing was a highlight of the afternoon.
Darling little ones. We all had such a fun day, parents included.
On Dude's actual birthday we had a storyteller come after school to entertain the neighborhood kiddos. She was darling. I'm thinking this will be something my mom will have to do in her retirement. Following story time we dined on our favorite fast food, Wahoos Fish Taco, with the White family. Dude lived like royalty for his 7th birthday. He's still coming down from it. We do love spoiling our little tiger (his animal of choice these days). Happy birthday duder.
A couple weeks back we loaded up the Pilot for Dude's first ski weekend. We were meeting our friends, Greg and Laura and 6 year old Trevor at Granby Ranch for the boys first stab at the Colorado sport we're all expected to be pros at. Most of us dabble, but I'm not a dabbler. I offer support from the lodge, coffee in hand and a yummy book in my lap. I'm good at that and don't fear breaking my lanky, uncoordinated legs or neck while participating in lodge activities. As we started our trek that Friday night our phones started blowing up with warnings from friends that the mountain pass we were headed to was closed due to an avalanche. Awesome. We turned around and dined on pizza and beer with our skiing buddies back in Denver. Fortunately, the pass opened at midnight, enabling us to drive up the next day and switch the boys' lesson to Sunday. It all worked out and it was beautiful weather. No coats needed.
Dude and Trevor tried out their skis on Saturday afternoon with the dads. Trevor took to it immediately - it was rather impressive I must say. Dude loved going full speed down the hill and managed to stay upright but didn't quite know how to go about steering or stopping. These skills are essential in the art of skiing. Dude had fun in his lesson but he never got off the magic carpet hill (which is kind of like the equivalent of the hill in our backyard). That was irritating, but whatever. Maybe next year. He did get a killer neck tan and Tim was a sight to behold that next week. Picture a bright red face with large white holes around his eyes where his goggles were placed. Priceless, especially given the two board meetings he had that week.
Don't be fooled by the darlingness above. She didn't ski. The man behind the counter couldn't resist her plea to have some "baby skis" and fit her for free so she could bum around outside for 30 minutes. This is about the extent of what she accomplished, but man did she look cute.
We all stayed at a condo on the property at Granby Ranch, which was added fun. You would think it's easy to get up and ski when you live 1.5 hours from some of the best skiing in the country. It's not. It's a cluster of goggles, sunblock, snot, lost gloves, frost bite, extra socks, helmets, boots, long underwear, snacks, crowds of people stompin around in 100 pound boots and MAN does it break the bank. I don't know if skiing will be a regular family activity due to some our lack of natural born coordination and agility, but hopefully we'll figure out how to get up there at least once a year.
I don't know who the over-excited and screechy woman is behind the camera. Try to ignore her if you can.
No rhyme or reason to this video, but it is a few minutes of pure Mile High Vogel fun. Featuring my little helper, cleaning her step stool with hand soap, my musician singing about an assortment of subjects in his oh so high pitched tenor voice and a few extra morsels.
How is he 7? Looking back, I was so incredibly ill prepared to be a mom seven years ago. This child has brought out more strength, endurance, patience and love in me than any human being ever has. He somehow manages to capture a new piece of my heart daily. I adore this little man. Every single morsel of him. Happy birthday buddy. We're so proud of who you are, where you've come from and the mountains you'll climb. We thank God for the gift you are to us and to everyone you shine those gleams on.
Our crew currently lives in the middle of the Michigan woods in a log cabin. We called Denver home (thus the name of this blog) for 17 years until 2019, when we uprooted our unsuspecting children and dog to this new life in the Midwest. After a loooong hiatus, we're back in this simple internet space trying to document life from our quirky perspective. Thanks for being here.
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