"Lights of Parade"

Last night, the three of us went to what Emily has been calling the "Lights of Parade". In fact, it's actually Boulder's Lights of December parade, a current family tradition. While the parade was the typical fun -- a local tradition with dogs, cub scouts, people wandering around hading out candy, hokey floats and the contrasting styles of the BHS and FHS marching bands -- the highlight was on the walk home. We took the bus back from the mall and walked home along the dark sidewalk. As we walked, it turned out that the glow sticks we had started at the beginning of the evening we still hanging on, and all three of us had one attached to our left glove or mitten.

We took turns leading as we walked along in the dark, trying not to laugh too loud as one person walked like a penguin or did a butt wiggle dance or arabesques or whatever came to mind. I've never had a more fun walk home from the bus...

A Bad Dream

Sunday morning, around 6am, there's a cry from Em's bedroom, "Mommmm!"

I go in to check...

Me: What's the matter, love?
Em: I had a bad dream!
Me: What was it about?
Em: The toilet was plugged.
Me: Oh, well, that's not a very scary dream is it?
Em: To a little kid, that's a scary dream.

True, true.

10th Mountain Hut

Two weekends ago, we all went on a great hut trip to the 10th Mountain Hut, just north of Leadville. John, Floye and Mae (2 months) joined us, and allowed Em to ride in the car halfway in and halfway out (walking about 2miles each way.)

Em just soaked the place up -- she picked blueberries, hiked to the lake, helped with dishes, went to the outhouse on her own, played cards and 'took care' of Mae as much as she could. It was a great time...

The crowbar gets a little longer...

Last night, I picked Em up after her music camp, tossed her in the burley and chauffeured her out to Boulder Brewery to catch some marimba music. She chatted the whole way there, and back. We hung out on the patio with a Frisbee couple and their kids, ate a cheeseburger and salad and listened to Kutandara play some great music. Em pointed out, quite accurately, that the woman playing the big marimba looked like she was really having fun. She wasn't the only one...

First Day of the Last Year of Preschool

Patti: "So how was school today?"
Em: "Good."
Patti: "Not great??"
Em (with hand gestures): "This side is Bad, and that side is Great. I was on that side."

What the future holds

Em: "As long as I'm alive, I'll always be what I am."
Me: "Uh, why yes, I believe that might be a tautology."
Em: "...a human."
Me: "That is an interesting observation."

Where the missing kids are

Em (in the middle of playing "School"): "I have fourteen kids, but one is missing, so I only have thirteen kids."
Me: "Oh my gosh, that's terrible!! Where is the missing kid??"
Em: "Lost Vegas."

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em

Patti called home to check in after her soccer game. It had not gone well. Emily wants to say hi, and she asks how the game went. Patti told her, "Not very well. The other team beat us 17-4." Emily's response: "You should have switched to the other team, mom." Excellent idea.

Jokes from the mountains

The past few days, P,E&J have been up in the mountains so communication has been limited. I answered the phone at work this afternoon, and Em replies, "Hey dad, you wanna hear some jokes?" She proceeded to tell me three jokes. By the third one ("Why do giraffes have such long necks?"), I was able to stop her between the setup and the punch line.


Oh, and, "Because their feet smell."

After a bit of goofing around spitting cherry seeds into a bowl, said to mom (about dad):

He isn't the boss of the house...you are.

Well, that's just great.

With the power out, we dropped Em off at school anyway, then went on our way, wishing the staff at school, "Good Luck." Jean brought Em up to Chatauqua and I biked up to meet P and her class for their end-of-the-year picnic. It was a gorgeous day, and we all had a blast.

Current common phrase: "Awesome!"

As in (while playing the train game in the car), "Awesome word, mom!"

The kitty

A quote collected by Jean (a couple of weeks ago):

The kitty is so zany to deal with!

Latest plans...

Apparently, Em is now training for next year's Bolder Boulder. This evening, she decided that a bike ride home from Viele Lake was an important part of that training. Slow and steady (with only a few pushes), and we made it home.

Music class was highlighted by some inspired dancing, and some really fun coordinated drumming (granted her clothes were inside out because that side was less covered in chocolate ice cream.

This past weekend included two trips to the Creek Fest ("I spent my own money for the bouncy castle and train!!!"), the last dance class of the session, and meeting mom at the end of the Bolder Boulder.

Two quotes...

At the fields yesterday, when offered a popsicle, "I should check with my parents first." Good choice...

After lights out last night, Patti started some of gram's brownies. After I pulled them out of the oven, Em yells downstairs, needing some attention (this is about 45 minutes after lights out).
Patti yells up, "What do you need?!?"
Em: "Whatever you're making, could you save me some for tomorrow??"

First spring league practice

Got to meet the new team last night, or at least 8 of us. Good players, all of them know how to flow with the disc. Could be a really fun season.

Saw Em only briefly afterwards before she headed up to Gramma's for the evening. She and Gramma saw a coyote on their walk, then heard her howling. Too cool. This morning had breakfast with her, came into work, and then I'm headed up to meet John for a hut trip. I'm excited, and nervous about the fact that I always pack too much, and have trouble carrying it all...

Visual: After hugs and kisses and many waves goodbye, I'm driving off and look in my rear-view mirror to see Emily and Jean skipping, hand-in-hand off to Em's school.

Let's See How This Works...

After reading a post about writing down a one-sentence (or so) journal, it's worth a shot. Here's one for today:

I spent two hours helping run a skills clinic for GRU, the local Ultimate frisbee organization. We had four stations -- I was in charge of teaching the rules. It was pretty fun. Emily and Patti came out an joined me. Emily hung out and listened for two of the sessions, and otherwise wandered around with Patti. Afterwards, Em and I hit the playground and wandered around, and she met a new kid whose parents play in the leagues. It's amazing to watch her talk to people when she feels comfortable. At one point, I asked her if I could play a point of pickup and said she could go play with Sonya, one of the adults. Em walked right up to her and started playing with her. Sonya looked surprised, but seemed to have a good time.

Em went over to Lukas' house to play. After a while, his mom brought her home saying, "Emily wanted to come home and tell her Dad she loves him." It's just a matter of time before she tells me that I'm buying her a new car, and I will be helpless to stop her....