Winter Break 7

Some images from the ride home from Denver, CO.


The trip through mountainous Colorado was a snowy mess.
Thankfully, the highway was pretty clear.
Three cheers for Snow Plow Drivers!






Once off the highways however, road maintenance fell to the local municipalities....who apparently couldn't kick down some of that fat skiing revenue to buy a decent plow.







Ski towns do have some great g'nosh, though.
This place had some dynamite burgers.

(Backcountry Brewery, Frisco CO)






On the way to Grand Junction, we stopped in a place called Rifle, CO. Whew. Talk about your one-horse towns.








Yep. It's all about priorities in good ol' Rifle.
This shot was too good to let go.

I don't think I've ever seen anything like this in UT. What a boring state!





In GJ, I treated the kids to a nice warm bath.
As much as they may fight like cats n' dogs, they absolutely love to bathe together. It was a trip highlight....and perfect fodder for when they get older! ;-)





On to the videos!

Winter Break 5: Merry Christmas!!!!

Christmas morning was a mad rush to get ready and head over to Ron's place. Mom had planned on taking some actual "portraits."

Sorry, this is as good as it gets with an Autie and a cranky toddler.






As usual, the presents were the biggest highlight for the kids!

A puzzle for my sweetie...







An interactive electronic game for Squirt...









A Little People dump truck for Amy...









And some Mr. Potatohead goodness for Boobaloo...
(a sure-fire win)








Amy's "big gift" was a Radio Flyer Inchworm that she absolutely loved!








No. Really. She...um...loved it!!!









Well. At least Vince got a kick out of it.







After spending the morning with the Watsons, we all loaded up the car and motored off to spend time with the Porches.


We were greeted at the door by Anne's big ol' Golden Lab.









Until finally all the Porches started showing up.
There's crazy Uncle Vince, my Vince's godfather.








Grandma Bea was a firecracker as usual.









Here was the full Porch presence for Christmas '08.
Where's Kevin and Chris?








Even with all the loot he got for Christmas, Vince was still entertained by the smallest things. In this case, Anne's "Dancing Santa" got the MVP. Thanks, Kringle.







Ho-HO! This spot was saved for a picture of Vince and Amy with all their Porch cousins!
But you know what? They IGNORED my kids the whole damned time we were there. Not even a "Hi" or a "Thanks" or a "Koochie-koo" or nothing. I don't think they spoke one damned word to us that I didn't pry out of their mouths. Way to show some love to the family, guys.
Don't mind my little retard.

Fuckers.



But, I refuse to end this post on a low note......

Peek-a-boo, Grandma!!!










Lots of lessons learned on this trip.
Lots of little nuggets of knowledge that I've locked away in my mind for next time.
Man, do I miss my family in CA.

Winter Break 4

The very next day, we took in the sights of beautiful downtown Denver.

Naturally, the political scientist in me was eager to tour the state capital building.











And I'm glad we did!
The legislature chambers were an incredible sight.







So was the view from the front door.

(That's the city-county building over there across the park, btw.)






Vince was pretty jazzed about the state Christmas tree.













But I just couldn't get enough of the beautiful architecture.









Neat, no?









We were checking out the little museum on the top floor when an incredible opportunity arose...








...to actually ascend the maintenance stairs and check out the tower balcony!






This was too awesome! The day was clear and beautiful.








That's Pike's Peak in the background.








And here's a shot of the Denver skyline.








To the south, we caught a glimpse of the Denver Cathedral and decided to check that out next.







We thanked our well-informed tour guide and set out on the streets again.







When we arrived to the cathedral, I started snapping photos of anything that looked interesting.












Look at those stained glass windows!








And how about that gorgeous altar?










The pipe organ was a real marvel, too. Sadly, I don't think this image does it justice.








And here's the little nook where I lit a candle for my babies.








After our trip to the church, we drove around to look at some other sights.

This is the house of the unsinkable Molly Brown.









And this is the big blue bear looking into the convention center.

I'm not sure what the point was of putting it there, but admittedly I'm not much of an art guy.




OK, so more winter break pics will be posted shortly!
Adios!

Winter Break 3

Our first night in Denver was a bit rough.
Amy complained quite vociferously about having to go to sleep and Vince was all knees and elbows. (Ouch!)

In the morning, we cleaned up, ate breakfast and motored up to Great Grandma Bea's in Aurora for a visit. I was a little worried about getting lost at first, but Denver's pretty easy to navigate if you just take your time and pre-plan your route.


Bea was as live a wire as ever. She was so happy to see Amy and Vince, she didn't even mind when Amy rifled through all her pretty porcelain knick-knacks and Vince went exploring.

(Before you say anything, I wiped that booger off of Amy's face right after the shot.)







Amy was especially friendly on this trip. She didn't shy away from either of our hosts. In fact, it wasn't long before she had Great Uncle Kerry wrapped around her finger!








Kerry was a champ and let Amy play with this novelty snowman doo-dad that sang and swayed to three different songs every time anybody breathed hard.

Yeah, it was a little annoying...





But the wilas couldn't get enough of it.
It even brought Squirt out of his little hidy-hole to be sociable.
Not too shabby.





After a great Mexican lunch from this little hole-in-the-wall place called El Lucerito, we said our goodbyes to Bea and Kerry (until Xmas) and hooked up with Cheri and Mike again for our next Denver adventure:


Oh, yeah. You know the kids loved this one!




In fact, we were all pretty excited to go on this trip. The exhibits were said to be top-notch and the admissions price had recently dropped from $20 to $13. (How generous.)







Not normally a guy who likes posing for photos, Vince didn't mind mugging with this toothy dude. I think it might have reminded Squirt of this fella.






Not to worry, though. Vince's enthusiasm for modeling quickly dwindled once we got inside.







As with the Glenwood Springs pool, Amy was a little freaked out by all the water....along with all the incredibly large fish inside that could eat her.






Vince on the other hand, got as close as he could to every exhibit.
He's still our big waterbaby.






As always, Lisa played the supermom that held things together. Along with keeping track of Vince, she also coaxed Amy out of her shell and helped her enjoy the exhibits more.







Cheri and Mike were happy to see the kids enjoying the aquarium.
But I think Cheri may have been more scared of the camera than the sharks! ;-)






Here's Grandma and Vince, taking in the scenery.








Lisa got this great shot of a Moray Eel.
Shoot, those things are ug-ly.












She even got this shot of a Nurse Shark taking a break.








But her best shot was of this wary diver keeping an eye on one of the tank's big-boys during a scenery scrub down.

Man, that fish was huuuuge.




I forgot to mention. Lisa offered to take charge of the photography chores while I helped the guys enjoy the show.

Here's Amy and I.






And here's a shot of the three of us at the Tiger exhibit....













That's right. It's an aquarium with a Tiger exhibit.
He looked pretty hungry, too. Gulp!







The shark tank was the real hit of the show.
Vince totally dug it....really.












Another image of Vince, Amy and I taken through Lisa-Vision.
I swear, my wife's really got an eye for photos.

(See how the light reflects off of my bald spot? Timeless.)








At the end of the trip, we decided to take a dessert break at the fancy restaurant inside the facility. $30 a plate? No thanks, I'll have the pie.






This was so much fun.
I can't wait to see what we do tomorrow.