Laowai

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  • SOUVENIRS

    Okay, after this post I’ll stop going on about our vacation. Here are my souvenirs from our trip. I picked up this little tray with dimples at an antique store in Golden. There were tons of Coors Beer trinkets at the antique store but there were Coors lab ware items too. I guess Coors also made porcelain lab ware and eventually spun that part of the business off into a company called Coor Tek. So this is just a little porcelain tray that I can put tiny treasures on but it says Coors so I’ll remember our trip to Golden.

      

    And here’s my real treasure. Add this to my collection of favorite things. I found this little girl at the Denver Library. We spent the day at the Denver Art Museum and the library was having a big used book sale next door. The art museum was great. I was most interested in the sculptures of cowboys and horses and the paintings of big western landscapes and I was not disappointed. The museum also did a great job of integrating things that were interesting for kids and hands-on throughout the museum. If you’re in Denver make time for a trip to their art museum. Anyway – back to my treasure. She’s a little book printed in Sweden and she changes her outfit when you turn her pages. Oh so cute. Silly Bea though she was going to get to play with her – oh no – this dolly is for mommy. Now I just need to find a Swede to read the story to me.

    And here’s a souvenir of another kind – a photo of my cutie getting excited about a bear.

  • THE COLORADO CHAUTAUQUA

    When I was looking for somewhere to stay for our trip to Boulder I really wanted a cottage with a bit of a kitchen and a bit of character and a (little) bit of money. I found the Colorado Chautauqua and it was everything I was looking for. Chautauqua is a movement that started in the late 1800s as a place for people to gather in the summer and learn something new. It was that time in our history when people wanted to travel and were able to do so with trains. There were Chautauquas all over the nation and just a few remain today. Today the Colorado Chautauqua is a group of old little cottages just outside of Boulder that are privately owned or rentable. There is a big auditorium and a dining hall and they have a great music festival every year. I love to see old black and white photos of women in long dresses climbing mountains. And I love those old lodges and cabins in the mountains that came about when trains were expanding people’s reach. This place had all that good history and it is set right next to the mountains. We had a beautiful meadow of wildflowers just beyond our back porch. I would love to visit again when Bea is a little older.

    Good memories!

  • GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY

    We spent most of our vacation time in Boulder but the last couple days we were in Golden, Colorado. Brian had worked there and it’s conveniently close to Denver. Golden is a cute little western town and it just happened to be celebrating it’s 150th year when we were there. So we got to watch a great small town parade – call me pathetic but I get teary-eyed at parades. It happened last summer at the Tawas 4th of July parade too. I think it’s the loud noise combined with the sweet, small town enthusiasm that makes me emotional. Here are some of the highlights from the parade –  try not to get choked up.. 

    One thing that was not a highlight was the Coors brewery float. Golden is the home to Coors – it’s a huge brewery located right along the picturesque river that goes through the town. You’d think that they would have a big impressive display for the parade that celebrates the town that they are a huge part of. No, they had a lame truck bed with some employees in sweatshirts, some neon fringe around the edge and a dinky Coors sign on the back. Don’t they at least have an oversized beer can laying around to throw on the truck. Golly. 

  • COLORADO VIEWED FROM DADDY’S SHOULDERS

    I’ll forever remember this trip as the trip where Bea spent most of her time on Brian’s shoulders.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Okay, now I must go, there has been a request for a shoulder rub.

  • GREETINGS FROM BOULDER

     

    We’re having a mostly good time here in Boulder. Our hiking and gazing at the mountains has been interupted only sometimes by two-year-old tantrums and rainy weather. I’ve learned that the people out here are serious about their recreation. Here are a few photos.

    The cute-as-a-button little cottage we are staying in:

     

    Bea dragging Daddy down the mountain:

     

    Waving to Mommy:

     

    Relaxing:

     

  • BLOOMERS

    I made these bloomers from the Heather Ross book today. Bea has been into wearing dresses lately so she needed a pair of diaper covers to go under them. It’s no fun to be walking down the street and hear “mommy, my diaper fell off” trust me. The pattern called for elastic thread for the leg openings. Elastic thread is new to me but it turned out to be pretty easy to use. My little model was uncooperative – so here are the little booty covers (as Brian called them) on a hanger.

    And here is a photo of our first trip to the beach this year. Well our first official trip where we lathered up with sunblock, packed snacks and expected our toes to get wet. Hard to believe we felt like hanging out at the beach on Monday when it’s only in the 60s today.

  • BRAGGING

    I’m bragging – but I guess that’s what my blog is all about huh.

    My slipcover play stove was featured on Apartment Therapy. Yippeeee!

  • JENNA’S GOT HER GROOVE ON

    I had been meaning to post this video of Jenna a while back but I couldn’t figure out how to rotate it without upgrading my software ($$$). Then last night we were watching the Red Wings play and Bea was doing this strange little dance with a wide stance. We were cracking up and we couldn’t figure out what she was doing – then it dawned on us – she was pretending to ice skate. The way we were laughing so hard reminded me of all the laughing that we did when we saw Jenna in this video.

    So just tilt your head if you want to see that cutie wiggle her booty.

  • SWINGERS

  • EXPERIMENTER

    Lately, I feel like I am so lucky to be able to move at Bea’s pace. We spend our days with very few deadlines. If she wants to linger over picking out a shirt in the morning or if we have to have an impromptu coloring session – it’s OK. I realized how slow we move over the weekend when Brian started to get antsy as she was walking down the stairs all by herself. He had to fight his urge to scoop her up and plop her in the car. I realize more and more that everything she does is an experiment. She lets sand run through her fingers, she blows bubbles in her bath, she drags sticks behind her, she stomps in puddles, she examines every bit of dirt and rubbish on the sidewalk – I wonder to myself what it would be like to experience these things for the first time. She doesn’t even know yet that it’s a good thing to lick the spoon when you’re making cookies. 

    Here are some photos from our trip to the botanic garden over the weekend. We finally got to take Daddy along and we had a nice Bea-paced walk. And the lettuce was pretty too.