Day of rest?

July 13, 2014 by

I’ll admit it. I was feeling a wee bit depressed on the first day the kids were at Camp Chief Ouray. Since I’ve been going non-stop since summer break started, I opted to force myself to stay inside, chill out and get some work done. To emphasize my point I stayed in my bathrobe and vowed to Jamie that Fat Kitty and I would be working from bed all day long. The good man that he is, Jamie ordered in lunch and dinner and we ate from bed.

By mid-afternoon, I moved to my office but I was still unshowered and in my bathrobe. Jamie walked by and looked at me quizzically.

Me: “I had to move from my bed because it was hurting my back to type on my computer.”

Him: “Who knew laziness could be so painful?”

Filed Under: Humor, Jamie

When Murphy’s Law rules your life

July 12, 2014 by

I come to Canada every summer to avoid Denver’s miserably hot July. We’re Vernon, B.C.-bound tomorrow for the week.

The irony of the forecast is not lost on me.

Filed Under: Canada

It’s Canada Day (and that other American holiday)

July 9, 2014 by

I’ve long whined that no one ever comes to visit me in Colorado. I mean, how could they not? Colorado is gloriously gorgeous and one of the top tourist destinations in the United States. I now realize that it’s because I never actually invite anyone and having an “open invitation” isn’t enough.

Case in point: I invited my childhood bestie Stacey to come visit and she came. Imagine that! Not only did she fly down to visit me but she somehow agreed to accompany the kids and me on our two-day drive back to Calgary at the end of the week. Now, that is friendship.

And being the swell friend that she is, she brought the kids Canada T-shirts and I’m sure she bought out the Motherland’s maple leaf paraphernalia so we could celebrate Canada Day!

We kicked off the holiday by a glorious hike around Evergreen Lake and, of course, I converted yet another person to Country Road Cafe.

Evergreen Lake


One of the reasons why I love our summer hiking group is because it’s not just about the hiking, it’s about falling in love with the outdoors and truly exploring. It took us nearly 2 hours to hike the 1.3-mile loop around the lake because of stops like this by Evergreen Dam.

A visit to Colorado isn’t complete without stopping by Red Rocks, one of the most famous concert venues in the world.

I won’t mention how Hadley kicked my butt on a race up the stairs. Am I really getting that old or maybe she’s just getting that fast.

That night, there were revelries. Maple leaves. Red and white. Yummy food. Canadian geography puzzles. And a whole lotta fun.

I forgave Hadley for kicking my butt when she not only painted her face red-and-white but insisted on doing mine as well.

Fat Kitty was not impressed with the celebration.

Fat Dude wouldn’t even hold the hockey stick I tried to put in his paw.

It is just me or has Jamie never looked hotter?

A few days later, we threw yet another party with friends but this time with red, white, blue and pies….

Not to mention star-styled hair.

And since the fireworks are shot above our neighborhood, we had to throw another party.


Sadly, this is the only picture I got of the whole evening. No disrespect to the Americans but after a cram-packed week and throwing two fetes, I was all partied out.

There’s a first time for everything.

Filed Under: Bode, Canada, Colorado, Hadley, hiking, Humor

Family Travel: Keeping it Real (or really painful)

July 8, 2014 by

I have always loved to travel. The problem is, travel has not always loved me. I once journeyed to France for a wedding, only to get lost and miss the entire celebration.

I built a career as a travel writer by writing a humor column about my mishaps. During a meeting with my editor, I made reference to one of my misfortunes on the trail and he professed, “You mean this stuff really happens? I thought you were making it up because there is no way all that could happen to one person!”

Welcome to my life.

When I had a family, there were understandably even more challenges. While so many writers expound upon their tried and true tips for “The Perfect Family Vacation,” I keep it real. Family travel is about survival. The only two things that keep me sane are my sense of humor and a huge dose of denial. Maybe Prozac would help, too.

Just not Tylenol PM.

I am currently embarking on a month-long, 3,000-mile drive home to Canada with my children and I confirmed that I am the Real[ist] Family Travel Writer. For this trip, I am the solo driver and we groggily awoke at 6 a.m. after a day of revelries and fireworks to hit the road. I wasn’t feeling well so I popped a pain killer in my mouth. A pain killer that turned out to be Tylenol PM.

Click to keep reading. If you dare.

Filed Under: Family travel, Humor

Rolling Video Games Denver: The Ultimate Surprise Party for Bode!

July 7, 2014 by

My soon-to-be 8-year-old son Bode’s friends have varied interests. Some are soccer and track stars, others like math, reading, basketball, riding their bikes and swimming. But the one thing that binds every single one of them together is they love video games.

When Bode announced he wanted to have a video game birthday party, I balked. We tried to pull off that theme a few year years ago with our Wii and various DS gaming consoles but it was so anti-social as each child retreated into their little gaming space. Video games are fun, but the caveat for throwing a similar party was it had to be a bonding, social experience.

I also wanted it to be a surprise. A few years ago, I threw Jamie a surprise bash for his 40th birthday and Bode thought it was the coolest thing ever.

So I let Bode think he was planning the party for the following day and surprised him with Rolling Video Games Denver (RVG) parked in front of our house.

I first connected with Mike Worley’s company on Twitter several months ago and thought the concept was brilliant. A 32 -foot mobile video game theater chock full of your favorite video games that comes to you? Sign me up! (Or rather, my son).

Mike, a father of two, left Janus Capital two years ago to start RVG. Though he doesn’t consider his family “gamers,” he loves the idea of providing parents with a fun, easy and memorable party for their kids. His gaming trailer is now used for all kinds of events–everything from tailgate parties, private tournaments, employee appreciation, church events and farmer’s markets. When you book a party as a result of seeing them at your kid’s school, they donate money back to that school’s PTA/PTO.

“This weekend, I have two birthday parties: the first is for a 21-year-old and the other is a man celebrating his 40th birthday,” says Mike. But his most popular demographic? Boys ages 8-14.

Ever since we threw my husband Jamie a surprise party a few years ago, Bode has been begging to have one so I figured this was a perfect opportunity. His 14 friends gathered in the RVG trailer and when Bode arrived after lunch with his dad, he was bombarded with ecstatic boys yelling “SURPRISE!” Dumbfounded, Bode responded, “I had no idea!!!”surprise1

I think his sheer joy will only be comparable to his wedding day and maybe the birth of his firstborn child. So long as its name is Steve.

If you love Minecraft, you’ll totally get the reference.

The trailer has four 46” HDTVs with two more outside (allowing a total of 24 gamers) and offers more than just Xbox, PlayStation and Wii gaming consoles. They also have DirecTV satellite and can customize their party package so the kids can play video games inside the trailer, while the adults can kick back and watch the Broncos game on HDTVs mounted outside the trailer.

The best news of all? The kids wanted nothing to do with me so I wandered around dazed, confused and downright grateful. It was my best and easiest party, ever.rollingvideogamesThat is until our two hours were up, it started raining and instead of holding the rest of the festivities in our backyard, I had 14 squirrely 8-year-olds racing through my house.

Next time, I think booking the three-hour package with Rolling Video Games Denver is in order.

Filed Under: birthday, Bode

My MIA Status is, Welp, MIA!

July 3, 2014 by

It’s official: I am in my busiest month of the year so posting will be sporadic for the next several weeks. My bestie from Canada is visiting. We’ve been all over creation, threw a Canada Day party and will be doing it again for the Fourth of July before we leave with the kids on Saturday to drive to Calgary. We’ll Stampede it up for the week as we play with family before heading to a glorious lake house in British Columbia for seven days. From there, the kiddos and I will continue our circuitous route to Idaho where we’ll spend time with a couple of former roommates and mission companions, followed by a week in Utah. At least for the kids. I’ll be jetting off to California where I’ll be an ambassador for Skype at BlogHer.

Then, Bode and I will somehow drive home late-July (while Hadley stays an extra week with Grandma in Utah) and plan for Bode’s early-August baptism where family will be descending upon us once again.

FlipKey just named me one of the top 25 family travel bloggers to follow in 2014. Too bad I’m too busy to blog about our adventures. 🙂 It’s all good and I’ll have plenty of stories to share when I’ve resurfaced.

I’ve been posting over at Mile High Mamas so be sure to check me out there–From a Funny Lesson on Attachment-detachment Parenting to our adventures at Brainard Lake Recreation Area last  weekend.

Exploring Brainard Lake Recreation Area

I hope your summer is as wonderful as ours!

XO

Filed Under: Family travel

Camp Magic, my zipline freakout and why Bode is never getting married

June 26, 2014 by

My husband Jamie and I have been parents for 10 years and we have never been alone together at our home for more than one night since having kids. So it was a shock for me when we dropped them off for week-long Camp Chief Ouray at YMCA of the Rockies located between Grand Lake and Winter Park.

But not for Jamie. As we were walking away from my daughter’s cabin, we followed the procession of parents to their cars.  “Do you know what all these parents have in common?” he observed. “They’re all smiling.”

And so were the kids. While Jamie and I reconnected with nightly dates, Hadley and Bode had the time of their lives at Colorado’s longest-running overnight camp for boys and girls ages 7-17 where they stayed in rustic cabins as they did archery, camp crafts, swam, rode horses, canoed, hiked, raided the kitchen, camped under the stars one night, gorged on s’mores, had regular devotionals, skits, campfire songs and so much more.

My adventures were only beginning.

CLICK TO KEEP READING


Filed Under: Humor, travel

Love, marriage and theft

June 25, 2014 by

Sometimes Jamie buys me things because he’s sweet and thoughtful.

But mostly he buys me things so I’ll stop using his stuff.

Filed Under: Humor, Jamie

Buying Hawaii (at least in my dreams)

June 20, 2014 by

To fuel my moving-to-Maui obsession, I discovered a show called “Buying Hawaii” on Destination America, which follows home buyers on their journey to purchase a home in Hawaii. What I love is that most of the episodes feature average families looking for realistic properties, not the multi-million dollar dream homes 99.9 percent of the world can’t afford.

But that doesn’t stop me from dreaming, of course.

When I informed Jamie about my find, he rolled his eyes and said, “I saw that show when I was going through the channel guide. I was hoping you wouldn’t find out.”

Though Mr. Realism is a dream-killer, the surprising thing is that Bode loves the show. One afternoon when I wasn’t feeling well, he curled up beside me and watched back-to-back episodes. I thought we’d seen them all (there were only about seven) but I was thrilled to discover one more. When Bode came home from school, I made the grand announcement.

Without hesitating, he crawled up next to me and, all business, he asked, “What’s their budget?”

Now, that is a kid who gets me.

 

Filed Under: Bode, Humor

Camp Chief Ouray = Hurray!

June 19, 2014 by

On Sunday afternoon, we dropped the kids off at Camp Chief Ouray at YMCA of the Rockies near Granby, Colorado. For six blissful days, they have been horseback riding, singing around the campfire, bonding with their cabinmates, hiking and having the time of their lives.

Jamie and I planned to do the same. I was originally invited on a press trip to Tennessee but my sweet husband asked me not to go and promised he’d make it worth my while to stay behind. We’ve had dates every night–from Downton Abbey marathons (we’re newly hooked) to steak dinners to a night at the temple to going out to eat at a Peruvian restaurant.

It has been wonderful  to reconnect as a couple–the first time we’ve been truly alone at our house since we started having kids 10 years ago.

While I was driving with the kids last week, I raved about the couple time Jamie and I were going to have and, trying to get a reaction from the kids, promised there would be lots of kissing in their absence.  They both protested and groaned.

“Hadley, what’s the big deal? Don’t you want Mom and Dad to be in love and not get divorced?”

“Sure I do but you don’t have to be all crazy about it.”

 

Filed Under: Family, Hadley, Humor
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