Memorial Day Recap

Kate and I had a very enjoyable Memorial Day weekend. My sister and her family came up from Colorado Springs to visit us for a couple nights. Here's how the weekend played out:

Friday - Heath, Dianna, and Julie made it up by just before 7pm, having braved the terrors of Friday rush hour traffic in Denver. It was probably just as well since neither Kate nor myself got off work until 6pm. Julie was a bundle of energy after being cooped up in a vehicle for so long so we let her buzz about the house (which terrified Rune to no end - the poor cat barely emerged from under the bed all weekend). None of us were interested in cooking so we ordered take-out from Johnny Carino's and I popped over to pick up the grub. We let Julie stay up a little bit but eventually put her to bed. Then the grown-ups stayed up a little bit later to play Such 'n' Such, a new game that Kate's sister Emily gave us for Christmas.

Saturday - Kate unfortunately had to work most of the day, but one of her kind-hearted co-workers offered to come in and work Kate's afternoon so that Kate could get home early. How nice! In the meantime, the rest of us stopped in at the Hickory House for a quick breakfast before visiting the Discovery Science Center. Kate used to volunteer at this place but I'd never visited the Center, even after living nearby for six years! It wasn't very busy so there was plenty of room for Julie to run around and play with everything. She seemed to particularly like the sand pendulum, the echo headphones, and the shadow room. But she played with everything at least once. Afterwards, we came back home and tried to put Julie down for a nap - but she wasn't having any of it. She kept calling down, wondering if Aunt Kate was home yet. :-) Well, while Dianna, Heath, and I were deep in a stirring game of Upwords, Aunt Kate returned home. We took a quick walk down to Edora Park to let Julie play around a bit. Heath and I watched over the little one while Kate and Dianna lounged in the shade. We didn't stay too long since Julie is a bit sensitive to sunshine. Then while Julie was getting cleaned up, Kate and I prepared a dinner of mostaccioli. We let Julie play a little bit before sending her off to bed early (she zonked out pretty quick!) and the grown-ups again played games 'til all hours in the morning. I think we played some Such 'n' Such again and a little Quiddler. We also broke away briefly to pick up some dessert at the local Coldstone Creamery.

Click here for pictures of Julie's visit to the Discovery Science Center.

Click here for pictures of Julie's visit to Edora Park.

Sunday - Kate and I went to the early Mass at SEAS while Dianna and Heath took a rare moment to sleep in. When we got home, Kate and I made some quick egg sandwiches for breakfast and then we all headed out The Farm at Lee Martinez Park. Admission to this place has been free for a long time, but after June 1st, they had to start charging visitors - so we snuck in at the last possible free moment. :-) Julie seemed to have a lot of fun running about and looking at all the animals. But what she talked about the most was her pony ride! It was a little scary for her at first, but she seems to remember it as being fun so all is well! :-) After the Farm, we decided to take a walk around Old Town Fort Collins to look for some lunch. We stopped in at Children's Mercantile and Julie picked up some new shoes, casting away her old Sesame Street footwear without a second thought, and a set of blocks. I talked everyone into stopping at Hu Hot, a Mongolian grill style spot, for lunch. Boy, I love that place! Highly recommended! After lunch, we made a quick stop at Ace Hardware to look for some household items then it was back home. Somewhere in the day, we worked in a game of Boggle and Wise and Otherwise, but I'm not sure when. Dianna, Heath, and Julie left for home somewhere between five and six. Kate and I spent the rest of the evening vegging out in front of the TV, watching Star Trek: Enterprise on DVD.

Click here for pictures of Julie's visit to The Farm and Old Town (plus some pictures of her helping Aunt Kate bake bread).

Monday - Kate and I slept in a bit (yay!). When we got up, I couldn't get myself motivated to do all that much - a real bout of lazy-day syndrome. Kate prepped the turkey and we got to try out our new roaster oven. She also put together a bit batch of homemade stuffing (I'll have to post the recipe sometime) and made some of her cranberry relish. Around dinnertime, Bill and Tammy came over, bringing some steamed broccoli and homemade cheesecake. Ron also stopped in, bringing curried peas. We all just sort of hung out and gabbed through the evening, which was very nice.

Then the next day, it was back to the grindstone. :-)

All in all, not a bad way to spend my three-day weekend.

Thanks for reading. Hope your having a great day!