Friday, December 21, 2012

since nate went back to work this week, lucy and i are on our own again.  nate was off for an entire month.  it was great, of course we also moved halfway across the country during that time.
so lucy and i have been getting out and staying busy so we don't get too lonely at home.  i know it keeps lucy happy when there's some kind of activity in the morning.  we had such a good schedule back home and were working on one here.

monday we checked out a play cafe.  i think it's the only play cafe in town.  it was not the greatest.  there's quite a few play cafes in columbus and they are all really nice with fun schedules.  hmmm, well the one here in boulder has a long ways to go.  i think it's just because people get outdoors a lot here so there's probably not a high demand for indoor activities.  even in the winter there are days like today in the 50s!

tuesday we went to the library for a christmas music show.  that was fun, i was surprised lucy sat through 45min of it before we had to get up.  i am so glad i like the library here.  i was worried about leaving our library back home.  i'm glad they have so many activities and programs for families.  and it's nice that lucy and i can walk there in five minutes.

wednesday we dropped in on a toddler music class.  lucy didn't know what to think.  it's a very energetic group with a very energetic teacher.  i liked it, and think that she will too once she gets used to it.  it always takes her a little while to warm up to things.

thursday we hit the library again, this time for toddler time.  there were 2 other lucys there!  there was also a lucy at the music class.  there's ALOT of lucys in this town.

friday, today we went to a mommy and me art class at this great little studio called tinker arts studio
lucy really liked it.  we'll definitely be going back.

whew! so you see lucy and i have been staying busy.  i'm glad we made it through the first week of nate back at work.  i was a little worried there.  it's important for us to get out so we aren't stuck inside all day, thats when the days seem like weeks and me and lucy both turn into crabby little girls.

boulder has been good to us so far and we hope it continues to.




walk to the library

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

sweet 16


lucy, today you are sixteen months old.  you are the cutest 16 month old i have ever seen.  please don't grow up too fast, i think you are perfect right now.  although, each month i say this, and each new month you bring some new joy and amazement to my life.  all i can do is just shake my head in astonishment as i watch you grow and wipe the tears from my eyes waiting for what's around the corner.  i love you too much to even say.  happy 16 (months). 
daddy



Saturday, December 15, 2012

denver childrens museum

the denver childrens museum is AWESOME!  it is by far the coolest place i've been to for a kid, well besides disneyworld.  if we lived closer i'd be there everyday no kidding.  it was about a 30+ minute drive but it was completely worth it.  lucy had so much fun there she skipped her nap.  we spent a good chunk of the day there but felt like there was more to see.  every city should have something like this for kids.  i'm starting to get the feeling that people in colorado care a lot about their kids education.  they offer spanish and french story time at the library.  there just seems to be more of a focus on the overall well being of your child.  

after the museum we went to ikea and bought a few things for the house.  we also got lucy a kitchen after we saw how much she loved playing in the kitchen at the museum.  and a art easel.  she didn't want to stop painting at the museum.

we must've picked up some stomach bug that day because lucy was sick for about 24hrs and now nates got it.  its a nasty one.  i spent this morning cleaning up the germs.  








lucy pulling up a carrot from the make believe garden







this was a really cool room with music that lucy loved.  she danced around.


Thursday, December 13, 2012

i know this post is a little late especially coming right after the santa post.  but i had to get thanksgiving in there, and better late then never.

great grandpa neff.  

four generations



early christmas for lucy

sweater aunt macy knitted


we handed out gifts to the kids early as well

were hoping ryan gets good on this thing and then we can take him snowboarding when he visits


these little wood farm animals were made by great grandpa neff, they've been around for awhile


a really really old booster chair.  it would be lucys great great grandmas


Sunday, December 9, 2012

"cinta"

"cinta" is what lucy calls santa.  sounds like something spanish.  she saw santa twice on saturday.  we walked down the street to see the santa below.  it was her first experience and she didn't cry.  we've ben talking and reading about santa all week to prep her for the big meet.  she was really excited when she saw him and kept pointing at santa while waiting in line.  when it was her turn, nate walked her up to santa and sat her on his lap and she was SO shy.  she wouldn't look at him.  but you could tell she liked him, she didn't want to get up from his lap.  i think if we let her she would've sat there all day with santa. 





later on in the day we went and saw "cinta" again.  this time he was at macys.  santa's reindeers were even sitting outside!  this time she practically ran up to santa by herself.  there was another girl in front of her and if we hadn't held her back she would've jumped right in santa's lap with the other girl.  when it was her time, she walked up the two steps right up to him.  its was cute.

i thought it was nice that the santas here are free and you can take as many pics as you want.
it was also fun to see the older kids sit and tell santa what they want.  it's a new experience for nate and i too.  it's the magic of christmas!

santa is on pearl street every saturday, i think we'll be taking lucy back to see him =)


Saturday, December 8, 2012

yesterday we went to eben g park, library, and a little mountain town called nederland.  i love that we can bike to the park and library and it's all within 5 minutes of our place.  too bad winters starting and we won't be able to get out on bike as much.  we got bored in the afternoon and headed for the mountains to see how far we could drive.  we made it to a little quaint mountain town called nederland, it had a beautiful reservoir that looked like it would be fun to visit in the summer.  it started snowing as soon as we hit some elevation.  we also drove by a house we almost rented in the mountain.  it was quite spectacular but i don't know how i'd feel about living in the mountains.  it might be a little too secluded for my liking.  if we didn't have lucy it might be a different story.

the evenings are getting colder and we dug out the bundle me for her stroller.  since we walk everywhere it's been an adjustment trying to figure out how to dress and pack along for the walk.  you can always tell the families that live right downtown they have their children super bundled up.

i was wandering around looking for nate and lucy at the library when i came across a very familiar drawing of strega nona from the book strega nona!  i used to love that book!  on closer inspection it was signed and dated by the artist/author and gifted to the boulder public library.  so awesome!  i saw a few others i recognized.  the boy with the donuts is homer price by robert mccloskey some may remember his other book, make way for ducklings.  that kind of made my day.  i ran over to nate jumping up and down, excited and dragged him to see the original art....he didn't seem to share my enthusiasm. =(

lucy's been really into santa lately.  lucy's great grandpa carved a bunch of santas years ago and we are lucky enough to have a few of them.  she loves to play with them and knows to be really careful with them.  it's helped to get her excited about seeing santa.  next post is her first santa experience!









Wednesday, December 5, 2012

one thing that boulder has going for it is the food.  i knew it was going to be good, but i did not expect it to be this good.  i think my taste buds had been in sad mourning while living in the midwest.  not only is the food delicious, the restaurants pay close attention to where and how they source their food.  it is absolutely AWESOME to be somewhere where they REALLY care about the food they dish out.  everything is locally sourced or organic.  this is also something i'm extremely happy for lucy's sake.  back home we limited ourselves to restaurants that served healthier options on their kids menu.  sometimes it was such a challenge that we would just end up eating at home.  well since we've been here we've ate every meal out except for one.  and lucy has happily eaten off the kids menus with us feeling great about it!

i do have to admit that i'm slightly in love with the location of our rental.  we walk downstairs and we are right in the midst of food heaven.  we stroll down pearl street and pick a new restaurant to try everyday.  and surprisingly the prices are very reasonable.  since the weather has been abnormally nice here in boulder we've taken advantage and take lucy out to visit the play areas at every block interval. she had fun tonight playing on the rock garden kids area.  

boulder is also a dog town, everywhere we look there's dogs.  lucy is in love!  i wonder how long we will be able to hold out before we have to get a dog.

it's been fun exploring our neighborhood, and i am enjoying urban living but i still have a little ache in my heart for ohio.  i wonder what we'll do when two years are up...


those squiggly thing up top-crispy pig ears! and the greens may be the yummiest greens i've had lately.

this doggy was so sweet, he's 15!

nates disgruntled about lucys broken highchair strap ha!

i had to take a picture, of course why wouldn't they in boulder









and a little sneak peak at our christmas cards...if i ever get them made =)