Amber | Life Elevated Mom

At long last: the sordid details of my joyride to Paris

August 29, 2011 by Amber

On Friday, my 7-year-old daughter did not come home on the bus as expected.

In a frenzy, I tore over to her school and was terrified when the staff was unable to locate her. “Haddie’s teacher said she got on a bus but we’re not sure which one,” they assured me.

As I was conjuring up every worse-case scenario in the book, they located her on the same bus she rides in the morning, which is different than her afternoon bus. Call me crazy but switching up the route…and bus number…is confusing for young kids.

And mortified parents.

I posted my angst to my friends on Facebook and while most were sympathetic, some of my closer friends blamed me, citing “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, Amber.” And exactly are they referring to? My accidental joy ride in Europe.

When I was 21, CLICK HERE TO READ ON AT MILEHIGHMAMAS.COM

Filed Under: Humor, LDS

How to spend the perfect Colorado day

August 27, 2011 by Amber

As a family travel writer I am often asked by visitors, “If you were new to Denver and had just one day to see the nearby back- country, what would you do?”

Today, we did IT:

Namely, hiked to St. Mary’s Glacier and indulged in one of BeauJos Pizza’s famous mountain pies in nearby Idaho Springs, Colo.

St. Mary’s Glacier is one of the top tourist destinations in the area and for good reason: it’s located 45 minutes from Denver just 9 miles off I-70. I’ve done this hike every year since I moved to Denver.

Well, with the exception of when we arrived at the trailhead a couple of years ago and Jamie ran over Hadley’s foot with the car.

Gracious parents that we are, we let her forgo our annual adventure.

This is the second year in a row our kids have hiked to St. Mary’s Glacier by themselves. I wouldn’t call this a particularly easy hike (it’s really steep and rocky without adequate signage) but it is relatively short (just 3/4 mile to the base of the glacier).

There is also a big change this year. The lack of parking has been problematic and we were usually forced to perch on the shoulder of the road overlooking a steep cliff. Remember when Jamie ran over Haddie’s foot? That occurred whilst precariously parking. This year, they have a designated overflow lot that’ll cost you $5.

Well worth it to avoid trips to the hospital.

The steep, rocky hike:

Overlooking St. Mary’s Glacier and lake.

The 1.5-mile round-trip hike to the base of the glacier is only the start of the adventures. Every year, Hadley begs to go higher and higher. By next year, she’ll be capable enough to summit the darn thing along with the kamikaze skiers and snowboarders. This year, we held Adventure Girl back as much as we could.

It’s only a matter of time ’til she’s hauling her skis up there.

And dragging her poor mother down with her.

(Topping off a perfect day with BeauJo’s BBQ Chicken Mountain Pie in Idaho Springs)

Getting There: Take I-70 West from Denver, past Idaho Springs’ three exits. Take the next exit marked “Fall River Road.” Just past the bottom of the ramp, take a right (north) on Fall River Road. Follow this road up approximately 9 miles to one of two parking areas for the clearly marked trailhead to St. Mary’s Glacier.

Filed Under: Colorado, Family travel, Favorite Posts, hiking, Humor, outdoors Tagged With: Denver

A good-bye to summer (PLEASE?!!!)

August 25, 2011 by Amber

I’ve been rather silent regarding Denver’s weather. There is a reason for that. I have renamed my city the Devil’s Summer Home.

Usually by late-August, the temperatures are cooling down and the nights are glorious. What we’ve endured as of late? Record-breaking 95+-degree weather.

Miserable doesn’t quite summarize me.

I have been surprisingly proficient during the day. I would wake up early, go biking or hiking, play outside with the kids and then stay holed up indoors in the afternoon or go to a water feature somewhere.

What has really been kicking my butt have been the evenings. When it’s this hot, the temperatures don’t cool down, rendering out ceiling fan (which usually cools the house) useless. Our air-conditioning unit is too small for our house so our upstairs is a sauna. In a perfect world, I’d leave our bedroom window open but alas, we live near a train track and the whistle keeps me up all night.

Oh, did I mention it’s allergy season and the field of weeds behind our house?

I’ve been waking up between 3:30-4:30 a.m. every morning and wander around like a zombie for the rest of the day.

On the final day before school started, it was 100 degrees so I announced to the kids we were going to our favorite secret watering hole off Ralston Creek. Here are the kids last year:

Here are the kids this year.As it turns out, it was the perfect reprieve with plenty of creek-wading, log-scaling and tree climbing with our besties Sean and Alex.

I’m counting this blog post as my official end to summer.

Now, if Denver’s weather could only figure that out as well.

Filed Under: Bode, Colorado, Hadley

School’s Back….From Summer (and Bode’s anxieties)

August 24, 2011 by Amber

I’ll be jumping around quite a bit the next couple of weeks as I post the rest of our summer adventures but for the the sake of the grandparents, today was the first day back at school!

We started out with a special breakfast of pancakes with fresh raspberries and fruit smoothies. For special occasions, I always bring out our “You Are Special Today” plate. Starting kindergarten at a new school trumps entering second grade so Bode got the plate. In the sweetest little voice, he queried, “Am I special today, Mommy?”

You’d better believe, it Buddy.

But so is this gorgeous girl.

Haddie’s outfit is courtesy of a shopping spree with Grandma B. in Canada. Bode’s ensemble is thanks to Grandma J.

It was my best back-to-school shopping year ever.

I’m thrilled both kids scored the best teachers at the school. Haddie already adored hers and many of her closest friends are in her class. But the greatest news of all? Their class pet is a hamster! As in a real one! At back-to-school night, her teacher had a sign-up sheet for kids to take Gracie the hamster home every weekend for an entire month! Imagine the excitement!

That is one thing I conveniently forgot to volunteer for at back-to-school night.

Entering kindergarten is a big milestone but for some reason, I wasn’t overly sentimental about it. This is likely because Bode will only be in class for 2.5 hours a day, less time than preschool. Next year when he’s in school full-time will be a bigger adjustment for us all.

Bode is a pretty go-with-the-flow kind of kid and though he’s initially a bit reserved, he has no problems making friends. However, I have sensed some deep-rooted anxieties about kindergarten because he doesn’t know anyone.

Let me scratch that: he doesn’t know any boys.

We have two girls from church who are in his kindergarten class but in Bode’s world, they don’t count. I first realized he was anti-girls when we were at Coscto’s food court a couple of years ago. A few darling girls from his preschool came over and I kid you not–they fawned all over him. Bode was mortified and didn’t even look up from eating his hot dog despite my many pleas to be social.

After they left, I asked him why he wasn’t friendly and he excused his behavior with, “I was hungry,” which is boy-code for “I don’t like girls.

Problem is, girls really like him because he’s cute, thoughtful and nice.

Of course, that will all change in a few years when they start going for the bad boys. Sadly, Bode doesn’t realize these are his years to capitalize on their affections.

There are three kindergarten classes at Bode’s school: the morning class (his), the afternoon class and an all-day class. Knowing his apprehension about making friends, I took him to a kindergarten playdate on Saturday so he could mingle with his peeps. Problem was we couldn’t find even one boy in his class so he buddied up with an all-day kindergartener.

Who was, of course, a boy.

This morning, Jamie and I arrived at the school early with the kids. Bode’s classroom is in the 2nd grade area so Hadley will be right next door. The kindergarteners were required to line-up against the wall before going in. At first he looked pretty chill until a girl arrived. And then another girl. Then more girls. I kid you not–at one point, there were eight girls and just Bode.

Basically, it was his worst nightmare.

A few token boys arrived later but that didn’t dispel his anxieties when saying good-bye.

The 2.5 hours flew by but when I picked him up, he was a different kid. He enthusiastically rambled on about the class rules (don’t know who gets excited about that), why kindergarten is better than preschool (they have a library) and that he made a friend (Trey).

He also had a couple of boys who will assuredly become his BFFs because they complimented him on his backpack.

Mario: The great bonder for boys everywhere.

Filed Under: Bode, Hadley, Humor

Why I might drown for the 2011-12 school year

August 22, 2011 by Amber

Friday was our back-to-school night. For the first time, my kids will be at the same school: my daughter is entering second grade and my son is in kindergarten.

Before you start congratulating me that I have “arrived,” kindergarten is for a measly 2.5 hours, a mere drop in the bucket in the downpour of motherhood.

What I hoped to get out of the evening: Meet my children’s teachers, deliver their school supplies, connect them with future classmates, and point out the bathrooms (it’s best to keep expectations low).

What I got: All of the above and so much more. (Side note: the bathroom were locked.)

I have admittedly held off on being involved in the school. I volunteered in my daughter’s classroom a couple of times a month and helped with class parties but avoided joining the PTA because of my already overbooked schedule.

It’s not that I don’t believe in the PTA–I’m truly grateful for the volunteers who work so hard. It’s just that I’m an all-or-nothing person. It’s easier for me to boycott things upfront rather than get sucked in when others aren’t stepping up. The outcome is usually that I become the one leading the charge.

You could say I have control issues. Or lack-of-control as it pertains to just saying “no.”

At the kindergarten orientation the night prior, there were two presenters. The first was the PTA President who coincidentally gave a private swim lesson to my water-shy son last summer and taught him to conquer his fears. I hedged on the idea of finally joining the PTA.

Until the next woman stood up. She heads up a completely separate committee called “Accountability” that deals with the nuts and bolts of the school. Budgets. Development. Bonds. Mill levies. This group works closely with the district and makes things happen.

While the subject matters sound tedious to a right-brainer like me, I’ve long wanted to become familiar with the school’s inner workings and find out why things happen the way they do. I was sold when I heard the only commitment was once a month for a 1.5-hour meeting and I signed up at back-to-school night.

As I walked away from the table, the PTA President interjected, “OK, now sign up for PTA!”

The PTA? Had she not just seen me sign up for Accountability, my token contribution? As I started to decline, my PTA-cheerleader friend Lisa swooped in and before I knew it, my all-or-nothing approach had turned into “all” as I also signed up for the PTA.

Rah rah rah.

I later tried to justify what had happened. I mean, the woman taught my son to swim. How could I NOT sign up?

I’m just hoping the 2011-12 school year will not be my year to drown.

Filed Under: Humor

Birthday wishes to a prophet and a tribute to the family

August 21, 2011 by Amber

When we have sampled much and have wandered far and have seen how fleeting and sometimes superficial a lot of the world is, our gratitude grows for the privilege of being part of something we can count on–home and family and the loyalty of loved ones. We come to know what is means to be bonded together by duty, by respect, by belonging. We learn that nothing can fully take the place of the blessed relationship of family life.

-President Thomas S. Monson, “A Sanctuary From the World, 2008. Born August 21, 1927.

Calgary Zoo with Aunt Sue, Mom & Dad.

Niece Ashton’s darlings in Calgary.

My amazing sister-in-law Jane and niece Emily in Calgary.

Dear Aunt Sue aboard Calgary’s only paddlewheeler at Heritage Park.

Aunt Lisa in Crested Butte, Colorado.

Grandma and Grandpa Johnson in Utah.

Uncle Jer, Aunt Tammy and our darling, prayed-for nieces.

Great Grandpa Smith, our only living grandpa (Bode taught him to play Angry Birds.)

Uncle Chris, Scofield Lake, Utah.

My niece Ashton’s temple sealing for time and eternity with her husband Fred in Cardston, AB.

Darling nieces at Wheeler Farm, Utah.

The Borowski clan in the Outer Banks.

Crab stalking in the Outer Banks with my brothers Pat, Jade and Dad.

Lazy summer days with Grandma Johnson in Utah.

The man with whom I’ve started my own family atop Bear’s Hump in Waterton Lakes National Park, Canada.

Mom and Dad on a walk in Fish Creek Provincial Park, Calgary.

Everywhere, with everyone, is a little cut of home.

Filed Under: Family, LDS

Summer Doldrums and Fat Kitty Torture Techniques

August 19, 2011 by Amber

One of the few positives to come out of my recovery period (I’m currently on Day 7) is my home-bound kids have been forced to come up with their own entertainment.

Why would that be a good thing? We’ve had such an active, amazing summer that the mere thought of school sent shockwaves through them. Now that the doldrums have set in, their return to school next week won’t be nearly as traumatic.

Waking up at 7 a.m. is another story.

Though I’m grateful I’m feeling better every day and now only have very minor, sporadic chest pain, my house arrest has confirmed to me I am not a homebody. Here are a few things we’ve been doing:

1) Hung with friends. My friend Tina came over on Monday with besties Nolan and Rowan. Gone are the days when they played dress-up and got nekkid but they still had a grand time slip ‘n sliding and burying Haddie in the sand. Clothed this time.

2) Ate. Many supportive friends have brought over treats. When in doubt with how to pander to the sickly, food is a good choice.

3) Showed Mommy new tricks in an effort to induce a real heart attack.

4) Weeded the kids’ overgrown pumpkin patch. That was Day 5. And the ultimate evidence I was bored out of my mind.

5) Witnessed a miracle Fat Kitty catch a mouse in the garden. Unsure of what to do with the little critter, he did the ultimate in animal torture: he sat on it.

(Hadley commemorated the occasion by drawing this picture of the mouse in his mouth).

4) Played soccer with Fat Kitty. Or rather, at him.

Me: “Bode, don’t kick the ball at poor Fat Kitty!”

Bode: “But Mommy, he’s the goal!”

Filed Under: Bode, Humor Tagged With: Fat Kitty

The reality of my favorite place on earth

August 18, 2011 by Amber

I’ve traveled the world but if I had a favorite place on earth, Waterton Lakes National Park is it. Located in the southwest corner of Alberta, Canada, Waterton forms the world’s first international peace park with its better-known neighbor Glacier National Park in Montana.

Waterton does not have time to waste on nonsensical foothills. From the wind-swept prairies, the narrowest point in the Rocky Mountains does a dramatic upthrust to form staggeringly beautiful peaks in this intimate national park that measures just 200 square miles.

It has been 10 years since I was in Waterton and I have long dreamed of taking my family there. I had the whole thing mapped out in my mind. As we approached the valley, we would stop at the stately Princes of Wales Hotel. Built in 1927, this hotel is perched on a bluff overlooking Waterton Lake and has some of the best views.

We would browse the Canadian souvenirs in the hotel’s gift shop.

Tour the hotel.

And then we’d go out to the lawn where we’d pose for pictures.

Looks like a cut of The Sound of Music?

Think again. We made a tactical error in doping Haddie up on Dramamine to combat her carsickness. The drive from Calgary to Waterton is three hours and usually she conks out just a few minutes after taking the medication. She didn’t this time.

By the time we arrived in Waterton, she had reverted to the Terrible 3s and was out of her gourd with fatigue and crankiness.

You know, during the moment I’ve dreamed about for the last 10 years.

Just keeping it real, people, keeping it real.

Filed Under: Canada, Family travel, Humor

The coolest kids adventure race on the planet: in pictures

August 16, 2011 by Amber

On Saturday, Hadley competed in the KEEN Vail Kids Adventure Race. I was devastated to miss it due to my hospital stay but had a blast “training” her and our neighbors (who also competed). Over the last few weeks, we hiked, biked and zip-lined all over Denver.

But nothing could have prepared them for the adventure race, which was so much more challenging and exhilarating than they could have imagined. Since I wasn’t there, I was grateful to my friend Jennefer who let Haddie stay with her overnight and took pictures of their great adventures.

=========

The Race

Introducing: Team Adventure Girls with Sydney and Hadley.

Off the starting block. Girls vs. boys, neck and neck (Haddie and Syd are on the left).

At one point partway through the race, Hadley and Sydney started to pass a boy’s team, which prompted the chauvinistic father to shout at his son, “If you let that happen, I will never enter you in another race again!”

I will include Boy Domination in next year’s training.

There was a tunnel through the river that later included a huge obstacle the girls needed to haul their bikes over.

There were plenty of volunteers to assist in the transition areas. The girls were in charge of keeping track of their map and getting a stamp at each station in order to move onto each new challenge.

Sydney was a fantastic teammate, frequently helping and encouraging Hadley throughout the race like this ropes course.

Slip slidin’ away! (Haddie’s favorite part).

Official hiking trails?

Adventure racers don’t need no stinkin’ hiking trails. They go straight up the mountain.

But they do need a zip-line to race back down.

The tubing portion was a nice reprieve from Vail’s toasty temperatures.

I know it’s not kosher to pinch hardcore adventure racer’s cheeks but that’s what I want to do when I see this cute picture.

Haddie also told me about the “little waterfalls” they went down.

I didn’t have the heart to tell her they’re called rapids.

Of course, what would an adventure race be without a climbing wall….

…and a mud pit to finish things off right?!

Or just really, really dirty.

Haddie had a blast competing in the KEEN Vail Kids Adventure Race. Was it a cakewalk? Definitely not. In fact, some sections of the course (particularly the mountain biking) would have been a challenge for adults. Despite being an adventurous kid, a couple of times she was freaked out to the point of tears.

But the greatness of a race like this is it yanked her out of her comfort zone where, in a controlled environment with capable volunteers, she challenged herself. I realized as parents, we shelter out kids too much and often don’t let them realize their true potential because of our own insecurities.

Hadley overcame her fears and has not stopped talking about the race. In a word, she triumphed.

And you’d better believe come hell or high water (or hospitals) I’ll be there to watch her do it again next summer.

Filed Under: biking, Colorado, Hadley, hiking, Humor, outdoors

(Non)Expert advice: Save the marriage & do not back-to-school shop together

August 15, 2011 by Amber

If there is one thing I despise about back-to-school, it’s the shopping.

Now, let me be upfront here: If it isn’t Costco or Target and ends in ________ mall, I generally have to be dragged in kicking and screaming. For this reason, I left my kids’ school supply shopping until just a few days prior to the advent of school last year.

Here’s a little tip to the procrastinators out there: you will not win. The supplies will be depleted and you will have to go to several different stores instead of just one, augmenting an already stressful situation.

Note: if you somehow find school supply shopping cathartic, I will be happy expound upon the aberration of college-lined vs. wide-lined notebooks and my goose chase to find Elmer’s Glue-all and NOT their School Glue (which is 99 percent of what the store carried) while battling a battalion of frenzied moms.

This year, I recruited a reinforcement and brought my husband Jamie. I handed him the much shorter list for my kindergartener (about 12 items) while I tackled my 7-year-old daughter’s list (my sheet included the other grades’ items as well).

Things shockingly went smoothy until they didn’t.

Isn’t that how it always has to happen?….

We both finished in under 30 minutes and were on the way to the check-out when I looked down at my sheet, stopped and morosely declared “OHHH NOOOOO.”

As it turns out, I had collected everything a first grader needs for academic success but here’s the catch: my daughter was in first grade last year and is going into second grade. Who knew?

Evidently not her own mother.

The lists are, of course, completely different and so I trudged back to the school supply section, dumped my previous findings and started from scratch. I was glad my husband had at least figured it out.

Or so I thought.

When we reunited, he started questioning the veracity of the list.

“A clipboard? Why on earth would a kindergartener need a clipboard with his name on it?”

I tried to explain a few scenarios but he then threatened to boycott some other items as well.

“Jamie, if it’s on the list, we have to buy it. It’s like the commandments–you can’t pick-and-choose which ones to follow.”

He seemed to get it and grumpily purchased the good-for-nothing clipboard. When we arrived home, I started labeling the items with my children’s names and double-checked to ensure we bought everything.

He didn’t.

“Jamie, where are the 10 glue sticks?”
“We have a ton of glue sticks.”
“No, we don’t.”

In his defense, I could have appeared on an episode of Hoarders for my glue-stick fetish but that was a few years ago and rehab taught me only three glue sticks per household was necessary.

“What about snack-sized Ziploc bags, Jamie?”
“We have those as well.”
“We only have quart- and gallon-sized.”
“Same thing.”

And then came the colored pencils, which he also neglected to purchase. His defense?

“That was not on the list.”

“It was item No. 1.”

{Silence. Chirping crickets.}

Tomorrow, I’ll be returning to the store.

And next year, the back-to-school supply shopping battle will be waged alone.

Filed Under: Humor, Jamie