Celebrating the Season with Family & Friends

The holidays brought many adventures this year, including, but not limited to:

 

Visiting Santa at the Village Center, of course... Although, I believe he was an impostor. He wasn't the same Santa as last year and to me (a Jewish Mommy), last year's Santa is the REAL Santa. Cooper has seen him for the last 3 years and he's the real deal. I hope to see you again next December, Real Santa!

 



 

 A visit to the Wings Over the Rockies with Sofia!

 

 A visit to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science

with Nana, Papa, Grandma and Grandpa. Here are Cooper and I are in the MythBuster's exhibit doing the old tablecloth trick.

 

Cooper loves the pterodactyl wings in the Discovery Zone!

 We also visited the Transportation Museum for the first time. Cooper loved it and has asked to go back. It was great, but not so much for Tate. Too many "no touching" and "no climbing" signs everywhere. That's tough for a little guy to understand.

 

Next up: baking sugar cookies! And I am not a fan of sugar cookies. Too labor intensive but Cooper loved the whole process and doing it with him was so much fun! This will be a new tradition for us, I think! He especially enjoyed icing and sprinkling the finished product. There were a lot of cookies to decorate so we called in reinforcements! Thanks for helping, Ava!

 

 

Here are the artists in action and just a few of their beautiful creations! 

 

Christmas Day was a blast for the kiddos! Santa didn't bring Cooper his Polar Express Train (he ran out, apparently) but Cooper was thrilled with all his new gear! Lots of Legos, Planes planes, underwear :-) and other goodies! And Tate couldn't be happier with his goodies, too! Duplos, trucks and more!

 

 Cooper playing with his stocking stuffer space man legos.

 

Tate getting a little help from Nana on Christmas morning.

 

After a full day of playing with our new trinkets, Christmas dinner was well attended. Grandma Barb joined us as well as Grandma and Grandpa (they were enjoying dinner at the counter). It was quite a spread and everyone chipped in to help make it special.

Tate and Grandma playing "Planes"! What a hoot!

 

Janell even popped in for a visit!

 

 

Thanks for all your help in the kitchen, Moms! 

 

A wonderful holiday was had by all. Or at least they didn't say otherwise!  ;-)

 

 

We all hope your holidays were as fun-filled as ours were!

Cooper's First Time on Skis!!!

(I do realize that I am completely skipping over the holidays and New Year's by posting this now. I'm OK with that.)

New ski pants: $12 (Target)

Ski rentals: $15 (Sports Authority)

Helmet rental: $10 (Copper Mt.)

Ski tip connector thingy: $10 (Copper Mt.)

Lunch slopeside: $50

Gas: $15

Parking: $0 (FREE shuttle lot)

Lift tickets: $0 (The magic carpet is FREE at Copper!!)

Taking your kiddo skiing for the very first time: PRICELESS

Jason and I took Cooper out for his first ski adventure last Friday, Jan. 3, 2014, to Copper Mountain. This was a momentus occassion for us, for obvious reasons, as I practically spent my entire teenage years on skis and when I met Jason not long after moving to Colorado, skiing continued to be a big part of our lives. After all, we were engaged in Steamboat Springs after a beautiful day on the slopes back in March 2002 so it is obvious that we want to share this amazing sport with our boys.

We rented his skis from Sports Authority Thursday night and his first lesson commenced immediately.

Lets do this!!

(Papa was excited, too. Don't let this picture fool you!)

 

Cooper practicing his "pizza".

 

We headed out not so bright and not so early on Friday morning but made it to the slopes a little after noon. (Tate spent the day at home with Nana & Papa.) It was a picture perfect Colorado ski day with bright blue skies and sunshine!

 

Cooper protecting his eyes from the bright sun with Daddy's goggles and hydrating for his day on the slopes.

 

All geared up. Lets go! 

 

 

After renting a helmet, we were off to the (free) Magic Carpet for some (free) ski lessons, provided by Coach Mom and Coach Dad, with assistance by the wonderful ski harness from Ashton. Cooper took about half a dozen runs and was starting to get the wedge/pizza and french fries concept. Pizza=slow down; french fries=go fast!  All that talk of food made us hungry.

 

 

After lunch, Cooper managed just 2 more runs before the "I'm tired. My legs hurt. My feet hurt." started so we called it a day. Jason and I had both agreed not to push him past his limit and to ensure this was a good experience for him so he'd want to go again. I think we accomplished that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the only video I was able to capture:

 

 

 

 

 

Cooper was a tired but happy boy. The only thing missing in this picture is a hot chocolate with whipped cream. Alas, he didn't want one because it would be "too hot". My sweet little boy. I sure hope there are lots of family ski days in our future!

 

 





Sunday Funday at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science

With the weather starting to cool off in Denver, we're left to take our weekend activities indoors. Turns out, it was in the mid-50s Sunday afternoon and beautiful. Anyway, the boys had a blast at the museum and can't wait to go back. We're members now, so future trips are certainly in our future.

We started in outer space, Tate drove the space shuttle (Jason docked it twice) and  Cooper geared up for a trip to the stars.

 

 

 

After lunch, we headed to the Paleolithic era and the dinosaur exhibit. The kids put on a little puppet show and read some books.

 

 

Tate wanted to jump right in and play with the prehistoric beasts.  Literally! Lila thought it looked like a good idea. She's all smiles here.

  Biggest dinosaur ever!

 

Cooper was telling the volunteer a thing or two about the fossils in the box.

 

 Tate did not want to leave! Don't worry, kiddo. These guys aren't going anywhere. We'll see them again soon.

 

Tate's Girlfriend Visits!

Lila came over for a visit on Friday and she and my boys had a great time!

Hangin' at the barnyard. You should've seen them dancing to the music!

 

Hi Mom!!! I'm having  so much fun!!

 

CHOO CHOO!!! Tate shared his train so nicely!

 

Lila, you're welcome back at any time! We loved having you. :-)

 

 

Sunday Funday at the Zoo

 

We have been having the most amazing weather here in Colorado this fall. I'm talking 60s and sunny which means bonus days to have fun outside with the boys. So, Sunday we took them to the zoo and had a great day!

Cooper was our tour guide, making sure we hit up all the coolest animals. A few of them are featured here in pictures.

 

What's up, Groucho? Groucho is a 42 year old male and weighs in at 11,000 pounds!


Is that a 5th leg or are you just happy to see us? Nope, just a male elephant in musth, which is their mating season and lasts up to 3 months!

 

Sleepy Daddy leopard; happy brothers

 

 

Tate looks a lot like Cooper here at this age. Wow! Hi, Giraffes!

 

Roar!

This Red Koala moves like a big house cat and was my favorite animal of the day.

 HE'S SO FUZZY!

Mmm... lunch 

 

  The day concluded with a spin on the carousel and a train ride, of course!

 

CHOO CHOO!! 

 Hi Mom!

 

 

 

 

 



Cindy's Kitchen Adventures, AKA, Why My Pants Don't Fit

So, it's Autumn and with Autumn comes pumpkin. Obviously. And with pumpkin comes muffins, cookies and breads. And, my ever present sweet tooth demands chocolate. So, here's a bit of what's been happening in my kitchen lately and my thoughts on each recipe.
 
These pumpkin cookies were delicious and the hit of WODzilla, for those who knew I brought them, anyway.
http://lexiscleankitchen.com/2013/08/29/chocolate-chip-pumpkin-cookies/

 

These fudge brownies were good, but a bit dense for my taste and not very sweet. They are sweetened with dates, so that's why.

http://www.texanerin.com/2013/10/grain-free-fudge-brownies.html

 

 

These muffins are wonderful; they are soft and light and delicious! Perfect Paleo pumpkin muffin, I think! I also made them without the chips but with raisins and walnuts to try to replicate Mom's delicious pumpkin bread and they are delicious.

http://paleomg.com/pumpkin-chocolate-chip-muffins/

 

 

I also tried her (PaleOmg's) Pumpkin Swirl Brownies, without the swirl since I'm usually not that creative or just don't have the time. These were pretty great. More airy than the fudge brownies above and I really liked them. Enough that I ate the last few at work with my morning coffee. Yum.
http://paleomg.com/pumpkin-swirl-brownies/
 

 

 
These pumpkin bars were tasty, too. I didn't use fresh roasted pumpkin as the recipe swears you must use; I used canned and they came out great!
http://www.elanaspantry.com/paleo-pumpkin-bars/

 

 

I made these scones the other night. A little dense, but good. I had to use some whole wheat flour in place of the last half cup of almond flour because I ran out!

OK, I can't find the recipe link but here's a picture, anyway!

 

 

 

These little chocolate morsels from MyBakingAddiction.com snuck into my oven on Friday at Tate's nap time. And they are to. Die. For!!! I didn't make them into the monster 4 oz-ers as the recipe suggests. Mine are probably about an ounce. I used my small cookie scoop & I've only eaten 4. Or 5. Over 2 days. The rest are in the freezer. Hiding. Lurking.

http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/levain-bakery-copycat-cookies/

 

And these recipes are the reasons my pants aren't fitting too great right now.  On to the next kitchen adventure. The adventure in healthy and tasty (predominantly) Paleo food.