Halloween In Fort Collins

As you probably know, we spent last weekend in Fort Collins, Colorado with our kids and granddaughters. Since we came home on Tuesday, we were there for Halloween. It was a beautiful Colorado night - clear, cold and lots of stars overhead.

We went over to Marie's sister's house for a quick dinner, then we headed out to the neighborhood to see what the kids could gather.

Juliet went as Strawberry Shortcake and Leah went as a Vanilla Muffin - at least as much as she would wear. Being only one year old, Leah just enjoyed being out with everyone without knowing what was happening. However, Juliet being four knows real well what was going on. She went from house to house with her cousins, Maggie dressed as a Blue Smurf and Kaley dressed as a Princess. Juliet, being smaller, usually trailed her older cousins, but she still had a good time.

Here are some pictures. First, Leah watching all the pre-activities.

Pictures of the door-to-door visits. Marie's sister lives in a nice neighborhood where most of the neighbors participate in the Halloween activities.

Then there were the post activities - checking out the night's haul.

Juliet's Birthday Celebration

Today, Sunday, October 30, is Juliet's 4th birthday. However, we had the party for her yesterday. It was held at Jumpin' which is one of those indoor jumping places with all the blow up slides. It's also one of those places where the noise decibels exceed the take off noise of a jumbo jet - at least to my old ears.

Juliet's cousins were there as long as several friends from her day care. Despite the noise, it was a lot of fun.

We'll give her our presents today so she'll have another mini-celebration.

Here are a few pictures from yesterday.

Juliet in her princess dress - a gift from one of her day care friends.

Marie's brother Michael gave her some large building block mats. He and Wade Daniel made Juliet a little house.

Nana and Leah.

Last Day Recap

Today, Sunday, is our kids and grandkids’ last day with us.  They leave for home, Fort Collins, Colorado, early tomorrow morning.

We’ve covered the Balloon Fiesta, the Zoo and Explora.  So here are some pictures and one small video to cover a few other things we did while they were here.

The first is Juliet had her first two horseback rides this week.  Today, she rode Sugar while I led her and her Daddy, Wade Daniel, rode on Morgunn. I used a lot of what I have learned working with the kids at Galloping Grace Youth Ranch to help her feel comfortable.  I even wore my riding helmet so she would feel comfortable wearing her helmet.

Everyone seemed to have a good time – even younger sister Leah as she watched. (Great pictures by Betty)

As some of you know, at the Galloping Grace Youth Ranch auction and dinner, Betty and I bid on and won the Wells Fargo gift package.  Part of that package was one of the Wells Fargo horses – a little larger than the usual stuffed horse.

Here’s a short video of the fun that was had with the WF horse.

Finally, a picture of Juliet in her Halloween costume for this year – she’s a ‘pretend’ Strawberry Shortcake.   And a picture of a happy Papa with his little one – Leah.

A great visit and they will be missed, but we’ll see them soon when we go up to Fort Collins for Juliet’s fourth birthday on October 30.

Explora Adventure

We took the granddaughters, Juliet and Leah, to Explora yesterday.  I have to admit that I didn’t know about it, but Betty did.  It’s a children’s science center that’s part of the Albuquerque museum system.

We arrived there about 1:15 in the afternoon and we didn’t leave until just before closing at 6:00. Even then we didn’t see everything.

It’s a neat place that has some things that most adults would find fun. At least I did.

Here’s a video of our adventure.

Juliet & Leah Meet Nemo

Well, not Nemo per se.  Betty and I bought a Clown Fish Air Swimmer for Juliet and Leah’s visit.

Wade and I put it together today (not that hard, but it took time) and pumped it full of helium.  We debuted ‘Nemo’ today for the girls.  Wade did a great job of controlling ‘Nemo’s’ movements around the room.

Here’s a short video of Nemo’s coming out party.

A Rainy Day at the Zoo

Yesterday, Tuesday, if you recall, was kind of a rainy day.  So, what did we decide to do?  We went to the Albuquerque Zoo.  Actually, we got there about 10:30 AM and it wasn’t raining – yet.  It started raining pretty hard just about lunch time so that worked out well.

We ate lunch at the Cottonwood Café and, by the time we were through (remember, with a 4 year-old and a 1 year-old, meals can take a little time), the rain had slowed down enough for us to continue.

Actually, it was kind of nice.  It was cool and pleasant and most of the animals were more active than they would be on a sunny day.  In fact, as we approached the tigers’ cage, one of them let out a huge roar and jumped into the pool.  That was cool!

Here are some pictures and a short video of my favorite zoo animals.

Bubblelicious!

Yesterday, Monday, it was a beautiful day in Fort Collins, Colorado.  Juliet and her Nana decided to go out and play with some bubbles.

Monday Video–Nana and Papa Showing Off

We just got a couple of videos of our granddaughters so, naturally, as Nana and Papa we want to show them off.

First, here’s Leah showing off a new skill.

Here’s Juliet singing to entertain her younger sister, Leah.

Now is that great or what?

Transitions

I got Betty safely back to Fort Collins last night and we both crashed.  She had a wonderful time and she should have a post of her experience tomorrow.  We leave in the morning to drive back home.  It's been a wonderful visit, but it's time to be home.

So, I'll leave you with a couple of pictures of Juliet in her Halloween costume for this year.  She's Jesse from Toy Story and she's yelling "Yeehaw" in each picture.

Just a Quick Hi from Colorado

We're having a good time with our kids and granddaughters here in Fort Collins.  Tomorrow, Wade Daniel will take the day off and we're going to do something with the kids.

One of the thrills for Betty and me is that Juliet is calling us 'Nana' and 'Papa' all the time now.  That really feels good.

So, I'll just leave you with a couple of pictures of how good a time I'm having.

Leah's Welcoming Party

We made it to Fort Collins on Saturday evening without incident.  On Sunday, as planned, we went to a 'Welcome Leah to the World' party.  Marie's sister, Melissa, and her husband planned it and it was held at a community center in the retirement community where Melissa works.  Family, friends and co-workers were invited and there was a pretty good turn out.  Betty took a lot of great pictures and here are a few.

Melissa welcoming everyone

Melissa leading a baby trivia game -- did you know that for the first three months of life a baby can breath and swallow at the same time?

Juliet eating her watermelon slice

Table favor made out of baby diapers

Marie opening one of the welcoming gifts while her niece, Maggie, looks on

Marie laughing about one of the gifts

Marie's mother, Nancy Jo, holding Leah while Kaley, Marie's other niece looks on

Leah's welcoming cake

Marie and Juliet checking out Leah's cake

Yummy foods

Marie's dad, Gary 

This is Juliet's day care provider, Brenda, holding Leah -- Brenda is fantastic and does great things with the kids helping them get ready for life

Some of the gifts for Leah

Naturally, Melissa had to plan a party game which initially made me cringe -- normally I'm not a big fan of games.  Each table was assigned a baby doll.  First, someone had to put a diaper on the baby.  Then another person had to put on clothes that fit and matched.  Then another had to look through hamper and find two socks that matched and fit the baby doll and put them on (that was my job).  Then another had to drink about a third of a bottle of juice.  Then we had to identify the flavor of a jar of baby food with the label missing.  Finally, the baby doll had to be swaddled -- fortunately we had the day care provider, Brenda, who really know how to do that.

Here's a video of the dreaded party game.

Finally, as things were wearing down, Juliet found a balloon to play with quietly all by herself.

A good day.