You Are Never Too Young To Own A Ruffled Shirt

Obama Girl!

We generally don't like to emblazon our political views on our car, yard and not on our bodies-- a button here, a bumper sticker TAPED there but nothing that yells commitment. I, however, cannot resist good design. Lucy thinks Obama is the guy who sings the Banana Song (or The Name Game). Is it too early to start talking to her about domestic policy? I bought one for myself so that I can be an Obama Mama. Denver is a madhouse right now. I'm really glad I no longer work downtown. The vast number of people walking everywhere is rather mind boggling.

Obama '08!

I Would Attempt To Win A Gold Medal If This Was The National Anthem I Heard

I adore Marvin. I am not a basketball fan and I by no means support Nike but when this commercial comes on I have to stop the DVR, rewind and take a listen. It is the most impressive version of the national anthem I have ever heard and I've watched a lot of Olympics, Super Bowls and Stanley Cups in my day. This is the original footage. It's also pretty cool that this was a Nuggets game or is it an All Star game???.


Okay, if that doesn't give you goose bumps you had better be Canadian.

Another commercial I was completely infatuated with was this one. It reminds me of childhood when we would pick our heroes to play in our pick up games. If you asked Lucy she would pick Diego, Totoro, Woody, Remy, Ariel, Willy Wonka, Peter Pan, Po and the Iron Giant for her "run around the yard and completely irritate the poor dog" competition.

Citius, Altius, Fortius

Lucy had a lovely time visiting my family in Tallahassee. She and her cousin Riley were a couple of giggling, squealing, screaming. squabbling, crying,running, jumping, hitting, falling, girly girls. Bless my brother, sister-in-law, and sister because they probably lost a few years of life watching over them. But I am sure it was good practice for Uncle John and Aunt Cindy who are expecting another girl in November. Second thoughts? Too late!


Ever since Lucy got to play with Riley's dress up clothes she has asked for a princess dress. I finally relented and bought her one. She has yet to put it on.


Zoinks!


Swifter

Higher

Stronger
Lucy went with Auntie Marie and Nanay to the Children's Museum. They say she is really strong kid.


All in all she had a great visit!

So we have been watching a lot of The Olympics, or Lucy probably thinks it is actually called Michael Phelps. I can't get enough of the swimming events and I thought I was over the gymnastics stuff but I was enthralled. I tried getting Lucy to watch gymnastics but she wasn't too interested. She was most interested in volleyball. That being said, I am really tired of prime time space for beach volleyball. I am very much over beach volleyball. And I still don't get synchronized diving. GO USA!

So Bell is in Guam for a field project he is supposed to write some posts but who knows when that will happen so until then you can kind of get the feel of the place and the project by reading here .

Happy Birthday, Baby Girl!

This is what happens when you turn 4 years old. You start wearing a too tight tank top and rubber bands on your head. You've come a long way, baby.

Slip N Sliding Away

Our friends Dude and Elaina had a bbq this past saturday. It was a hot day. Fortunately the slip and slide was set up and the kids had a ball.







The new sport of toddler tossing.











Since Lucy was going to be in Florida for her birthday Bell wanted to make her a birthday cake from scratch. Auntie Marie and Lucy helped make it.



It was not the most aesthetically pretty cake but it sure tasted great. The caramel and 8lbs of chocolate icing helped a lot.












Cake, good.

The next day Lucy boarded a plane with her Auntie Marie for Florida. Sniff, such a big girl.

Taking the Matching Thing a Bit Far

Monterey, CA
Memorial Day at NPS

On The Road Again

We just couldn't get enough of the 20 hour drive from Loveland, CO to Monterey, CA so we decided to do it again. This time we took Nanook with us. He is a 10 year old husky. How many more chances will he get to visit the ocean? He was an excellent rider, especially when he realized that we weren't going to dump him off at someone's house for a long period of time. Lucy was also a super traveller. I think she has it in her blood. She is already an expert plane traveller. She didn't complain once having to sit for 13 hours straight. She doesn't need to be entertained by movies and she only made the occasional request for Dan Zanes and The Alphabet of Nations by They Might Be Giants, but who wouldn't?
All she really needed to keep her entertained for many, many hours was her bike helmet and a stuffed cat named Mary Poppins, whose last name is Bubbles.

This time we decided to to take the I-80 route through Wyoming, Utah and Nevada. Not the most exciting stretch of America. We saw some bison and antelopes in Wyoming and a lot of wind farms but many more petroleum plants. We saw about 20 deer carcasses on the road in Utah, stopped at Echo Canyon that had no echo and much to my chagrin, Bell bypassed the only rest area located on the Bonneville Salt Flats.
Lucy at Echo Canyon with Mary Poppins Bubbles


Morton Salt Mines


Bonneville Salt Flats

Why I get all excited about salt flats and not, say, the Sierra Nevadas, I will never know. And Nevada, what can I possibly say about Nevada except, see ya. The only interesting blip in this state is Deeth Starr Valley.
Sadly, I come to find out that it is not a commune of overzealous Star Wars fans who were shunned from normal society for their fanatical need to dress up as Princess Leia and Chewbaca. No, all it is is a small town called Deeth located in Starr Valley. But seriously, what a coincidence, right? Or maybe Bell and I are the only people who get a chuckle out of this? Anywho... Instead of blazing through the night we made the decision to stop at a motel for the night. Bell said this made him feel very old. Spending the night in a somewhat clean motel with the family because there was just not enough mojo to push on until dawn--this is what Bell finds emasculating. It's better than hitting a deer at night. The bustling town of Elko, Nevada had little to offer us except video poker and $4.50 a gallon gas. That may have been the cheap stuff.

Finally we make it to California, in the throes of a heat wave, yay! First we had to make the prerequisite stop at the summit of Donner Pass where Bell had to tastefully (pardon the pun) reenact the tribulations of the Donner Party.
It was 86 degrees on the summit. By the time we made it to Sacramento it was touching 100. The drive through the Salinas Valley topped at 108. Then we made the blessed turn down Highway 101. The temps began to quickly fall and the scent of eucalyptus was in the air. When we finally reached Monterey it was sunny and 58 degrees.
It's good to be back.

Portrait of an Artist as a Young Girl

--Self portrait
(prismacolor pencil)


--The Owl Family
(watercolor)


--Java and Nanook (with a bird on his head) in the Park with People
(watercolor)


--Papa Toots
(ink)

And So It Begins....

Our kid is growing up. I love it and hate it, all at the same time. No need to cue "Sunrise, Sunset" just yet, but I am getting to that point. And so it begins... Lucy had her first sleep over. You can read about it here and see some photos, too . The minute we dropped her off at Kaylynn's house she told Bell and I to leave. So we did. We had a nice dinner with big plans to watch a movie. One bottle of wine later, I promptly fell asleep by 11PM... on the couch. So this is how the other half lives.

Lucy also decided that she needed a new look.
The glasses weren't really doing it for her.


And so begins the trips to the hair salon for a shampoo, cut and style. She also wanted a mani-pedi, sheesh! Gone are the days of the free haircuts by Papa.


And so begins the day that Lucy has decided to take over all the cooking duties in the house. Inspired by her favorite movie to date--Ratatouille, Chef Lulu has made some memorable dishes such as Rat Soup and Sushi Cake. Delicious!


And so begins Lucy's days as a groupie.

We went to see Dan Zanes and Friends at the Boulder Theater today. Lucy loves Dan Zanes, almost more than James Brown.We as a family really enjoy his music. And I think Bell and I enjoy the concerts more than Lucy. A good time was had by all and there was a lot of little booties shaking.


Kaylynn and Lucy staking out a dancing spot.


Otis!


Lilly and Lucy getting down on the dance floor.


Dan Zanes!


"Catch That Train!"


Bubbles!


"Bye Bye, Sweet Rosyanna!"