I Scream, You Scream...

A busy day -- a classmates birthday party and a babysitter so Mommy and Daddy could go on a day date to see Catching Fire. Needless to say, the Critter went to bed early.

Holiday Wrap

Ace starts his gift wrapping early.

Thanksgivukkah

We all celebrated Thanksgiving at Marc & Gianna's place, as has become our Denver tradition.

Ace also found delight in the fact that Hanukkah began on Turkey Day this year - and our hosts had a gift wrapped and ready for him.

Food and toys -- sounds like the best way to begin the holiday season.

The View from up Here

As Mommy purchases all the necessary items for our vegan Thanksgiving (yes, that's her way down there), Ace surveys the scene from the 18th floor of Whole Foods.

In the Swing of Things

Ace is enjoying Thanksgiving vacation, with some increased time with Daddy, who is home all week. We were able to go play at the Big Dipper park today, which is rare these days with the early sunsets.

Spell it Out

We made some Duplo art at Barnes and Noble today.

Craft Shop

What a fun time we had at Snow Mountain Ranch! This morning we hit up the Craft Shop and painted some Christmas ornaments.

Snow Mountain Ranch

We kicked off Thanksgiving week by heading into the mountains, to an amazing YMCA of the Rockies facility near Winter Park. In addition to speeding around the roller rink on this trike, we swam in a fantastic indoor pool, visited the library (and checked out books and Legos), had dinner in a big cafeteria, and read books by the lodge fireplace.

What will tomorrow bring?

Lil Hopper

Ace masters the fine art of dribbling the soccer ball.

Grandpa and Maisy

Ace and Grandpa enjoy an evening matching Maisy game.

Face to Face

Perhaps there was a connection? They sure did spend a lot of time looking at one another.

Here We Go 'Round the Obstacle Course

Ace and Mommy enjoyed some free play time at Great Play. The construction of an obstacle course was high on the agenda.

Shabbat Shalom, Santa!

You might think it’s a bit early to get into the Christmas spirit, but Ace - Jewish outlook though he may have - was fully ready to start unloading his wish list on the Big Guy at the mall today.

Park & Slide

On another adventure to find great playgrounds, we finally reached Westland Park in Greenwood Village. Here Chase slips down the giant slide that takes you from the parking lot to the playground

Does this make it all better?

We had a bit of a rough day, with Chase's behavior through the morning, towards both Mommy and Daddy, best summed up as: unacceptable.

A mid-afternoon outing to Barns & Noble set us back on the right path, and The Critter insisted on stopping off on the way home to buy some "I'm Sorry" flowers for Mommy.

Tomorrow is another day, thank goodness!

Snowman Cookie

Today's adventures were met with one fail after another. Finally, in near break down mode, Mommy and Ace surrendered to the sweet tooth, bought a cookie and pulled over to the nearest playground.

Autumn Bliss

The sheer bliss of childhood is wonderful to see.

Rough Night

In this picture your eyes may be drawn to the contraband pacifier or the homemade tough-guy painter's tape bracelet, but you'd be missing the point. You should note the developing shiner over his right eye, where a book fell off the headboard a few minutes after lights out and clocked him. Mommy and a cold washcloth came to the rescue.

Urban Camping

Chase readies our campsite in the Children's Garden at the Botanic Gardens this afternoon.

Risk Management

This injury was sustained in the line of duty, as The Critter went a bit too fast with the knife, while cutting up zucchini for dinner. After the wound was dressed, he went right back to the chopping block to ready the avocado.

Coin Collector

Ace and Mommy worked together to sort and count the change from his piggybank. He determined that he had 130 quarters. It's unclear whether he will spend them all in one place.

Social Climber

We had to run some errands today, an endeavor that necessitated promising Ace a trip to a "special park," although we had no specific location in mind.

Mommy, of course, came through in a pinch, locating a really cool play area where we enjoyed a great lunch and plenty of climbing opportunities.

On the Outside Looking In

Wonder what this tasted like?

Part of a Healthy Breakfast

This healthy breakfast is brought to you by IHOP. You should have seen what he looked like after eating all those chocolate chips!

Climbing Up the Walls

After a very busy day with Mommy, The Kid still had a bit of energy he needed to get out before bed.

Sprinkler 'Spection

The Little Engineer was quite intrigued by Wes, a gentleman who came by this evening to winterize our sprinkler system, especially when he had to go down into the crawl space. Ace ultimately assure us Wes did a good job on the project.

Whose Feet are These?

Mommy had a moment today looking at Chase's feet while at the swimming pool. Aren't little kid feet so cute? Mommy thought how they won't always be this cute and how lucky she is to be able to spend every day with her guy.

Smooth Sailing

Ace works on some play-doh art as Mommy prepares his dinner. When asked what he was making, he did not hesitate: "This is my boat collection!"

Chasing Pigeons

After a bike ride with Mommy, Ace gets out to stretch his legs and chase pigeons around the school yard.

Cheeks Chase Roasts a Marshmallow

We returned to Sunflower Farms for their last day of the season. The campfires were burning and the marshmallows were plentiful. Chase enjoyed exploring the hay bale maze and took a ride on a horse-drawn wagon. A beautiful day!