Hadley: Yoda Incarnate?

September 27, 2012 By

One of my favorite quotes:

Do or do not, there is no try.

I saw it for the first time when I was doing the full-pull in Moab–an insane day of rafting, biking and mountain biking. My friend John and I were trekking through Mill Creek Canyon to a cossetted swimming hole when I saw Yoda’s infamous words.

Fast-forward to last Sunday when Hadley had an exceptionally great day. Not only was she agreeable but she went above-and-beyond to be kind and make us a fancy dinner without asking. I fed her many praises and she glowed.

That night, in bed.

Me: “I was really impressed with Hadley today. She really tried to be good.”
Jamie: “She tries every day.”
Me: “Huh?”
Jamie: “Some days, she tries really hard to be good. And others, she tries to be bad.”

I’ll take the former, thanks.

© Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck–A Denver Mom’s Blog
Filed Under: Hadley, Humor, Jamie

Jamie’s wake-up call

September 13, 2012 By

Hadley’s back-to-school night was last week. She continues to love her new school and is making lots of friends.

After an overview from the principal, we went into the classroom so see what they’ve been working on these past weeks. The school’s philosophy is to teach academics through the arts and are they ever staying true to that.

 In orchestra, she’s learning the basics of posture, position, pizzicato, bowing and creating a beautiful sound on the violin.

Hugest bonus ever: she does not yet have violin homework so we haven’t had to listen to the painful trial-and-error process. Horribly played violin=nails on chalkboard!

She’s also learning the recorder, all-immersion Spanish and knitting in her Handwork program. Gym class is always outside rain or shine (exempting -20-degree days), which I LOVE. I think it’s ridiculous how everyone hunkers down at the first sign of inclement weather.

And yes, that’s the Canuck in me talking.

While we were sitting in the student’s desks getting an overview from Haddie’s teacher, I could see Jamie gazing around the room. After the orientation, he commented:

“The parents in Haddie’s class sure are old.”
“They’re all our age, Jamie.”

I suspect Botox is in his future.

© Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck–A Denver Mom’s Blog
Filed Under: Hadley, Humor, Jamie

Summer 2012: It’s a WRAP!

August 21, 2012 By

We’re currently in back-to-school mode but I’d be remiss if I didn’t post about some forgotten moments of summer.

Or rather, soon-to-be forgotten because I have the worst memory ever.

Of course, there was our trip to Calgary to visit my family, whom I’m missing like crazy. From My Favorite Ice Cream Shoppe.

Cute cousins
Attacking my bro Pat
Disturbing family pic w/ niece Emily, SIL Jane & creeper Pat
Overlooking downtown Calgary

To my almost-daily bike rides with Dad all over the city. Dude is in his 70s and still cranking out 20 miles/ride.

Not to be forgotten is our better-than epic trip to Disneyland to witness the opening of Cars Land.

‘Twas definitely in the Top 3 Vacations Ever.

And that means a lot because we’ve been on some killer trips.

Like this one to YMCA of the Rockies Estes Park.

We also had plenty of local adventures such as Heritage Square. I did a write-up at Mile High Mamas about it and between the alpine slide, amusement park and new Miner’s Maze Adventure, the kids had a blast.

Water Walkerz a.k.a. “hamster balls” were a hit

The claustrophobic need not attempt.

And then there were plenty of activities with the youth from our church. Every Tuesday night, they congregate for fun or service and my kids are always delighted when I let them tag along.

Like this boating adventure at Chatfield State Park.

Haddie tubing behind the boat w/ her two babysitters
Stomp rocket fun; minor nailing of geese involved

The weather turned really blustery and we were delighted our group of 30 had the beach to ourselves.

Fair-weather wussies.

On another youth activity, we hit Bear Creek Lake State Park for some good ol’ fashioned crawdad fishing, swimming and playing.

Building the crawdad swimming hole

And the scariest of the youth activities: tubing down Clear Creek. The Adventure Kids had a blast navigating the rapids.

Until they rode with me and we flipped backward and capsized. Want to talk about scary mom moments as I tried to swim upstream to collect them? I prefer not to. Big-time #MomFail.

But I made up for it on our final getaway before school at the Omni Interloken Resort in Broomfield where we endlessly played in the pool, fine-dined and scavenger-hunted with their Camp Omni program.

Poolside with the Honey
Snowcones at H2O Pool Bar

And, of course, we have to end with Hadley and Bode’s television debuton 9News.

Dear Denver Summer 2012: You about killed me with your record-breaking streak of 100-degree days in June and July.

But you’re definitely a summer we’ll never forget.

© Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck–A Denver Mom’s Blog
Filed Under: Bode, Family travel, Hadley, Humor, Jamie Tagged With:

How Omni Hotels’ Appetizer Changed My Life

August 18, 2012 By

During our fun staycation at Omni Hotel Interloken, we were thrilled to have breakfast and dinner at Meritage, their signature resort restaurant.

We ate a lot. Jamie had the Land and Sea with lobster and buffalo tenderloin while I opted for the 16-spice Chicken with blackberry licorice reduction, green onion mashed potatoes and glazed carrots.

It was every bit as unique and tasty as it sounded.

The kid’s menu had a great variety of food, including Captain Nemo’s Fish Plate (Hadley), Little Paisan Pasta and Red Sauce (Bode) and Yosemite Sam Sliders.

Following the meal, Bode groaned he couldn’t eat another bite but I secretly ordered them a worms in dirt dessert (cookies smashed in chocolate pudding with gummy worms). When our server brought them to the table, Bode perked up and I interjected, “Oh no! But you’re too full to eat this!”

“That’s OK,” he bravely countered. “I CAN MAKE IT!”

What a trooper.

But the appetizer we ordered? I’ve been dreaming about it ever since and the best news of all: the hotel is a mere 15 minutes from my house so I envision many date nights there. The glorious appetizer was Grilled Flatbread Portobello with tomatoes, Haystack Mountain goat cheese, portobello mushrooms, onions and artichokes.

I’m not kidding when I say it was so good it almost reduced me to tears (foodies will understand that rare time when you find a dish that so perfectly matches your palate).

“Jamie, I’m not kidding when I say this is the best appetizer I’ve ever had.”
“Whatever.”
“No, I’m serious. Can you think of anything we’ve eaten that is better?”
“Yes I can. The Blooming Onion at Outback Steakhouse.”

At least one of us has taste.

© Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck–A Denver Mom’s Blog
Filed Under: Bode, Family travel, Humor, Jamie Tagged With:

My fellow pumpkin widow

August 10, 2012 By

Tomorrow is the annual “Patch Tour”–a time when the illustrious Rocky Mountain Giant Vegetable Growers Group select a few of their fellow growers’ patches to tour and, if we’re being honest, SPY.

My pumpkin updates have been few and far between because we’ve been gone or busy this summer and I’ve barely noticed all the time Jamie has been spending in the pumpkin patch (I think that has been his evil plan). He lost one of his plants to a disease a couple of months ago so we’re down to one hallowed pumpkin he has christened after my mother: Christine.

There are a number of jokes I could insert here about hoping she’ll be big and round but I’ll refrain.

A couple of months ago, I was given some perspective on Jamie’s whole pumpkin obsession. It started out like most Sundays do. We attended church, came home and there was a message on our voice mail from a pumpkin grower named Tom who was visiting from Indiana.

“He wants to know if he can come over so I told him to swing by,” Jamie said.
“When?”
“He’s five minutes away.”

I inwardly groaned but then Jamie offered: “He’s bringing his wife. She doesn’t like pumpkins, either.”

Finally an ALLY!

The phone rang just as they arrived. It was the chicken lady on the phone for me (another topic, another day) so I could only motion “hello” as Jamie led them to the pumpkin patch.

After wrapping up my call, I raced out there and called out to Tom’s wife Megan: “I heard you’re NOT a pumpkin grower?” She eagerly nodded. “Well get inside with me, right away!”

I’ve never seen a woman move so quickly.

We commiserated about (what else?) our pumpkin-obsessed husbands.

How we are the same:
Our husbands grow giant pumpkins. Duh.

How we are different: Tom grows over 400 pumpkins. Yep, you heard correctly.  He has a separate patch for his competition pumpkins and another field of them that they hand-plant over Memorial Day. These pumpkins are primarily used for genetics.

If you’re not a pumpkin geek, you have no idea what that means.I do, so that sadly means I am one of them.

I also discovered another way Megan and I are different.

“How long has Tom been growing?” I queried.
“Several years,” she replied.
“Wait. How long you have been married?” I countered.
“Four years.”
“So there was FULL DISCLOSURE BEFORE YOU GOT MARRIED?”

Yep. And even worse, she was on vacation in Denver and he managed to work in some patch tours.

I got a lot of things out of that visit but one thing in particular: perspective.

I never thought I’d say I’m grateful for just one giant pumpkin.

© Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck–A Denver Mom’s Blog
Filed Under: Humor, Jamie, pumpkins

How Jamie was on a roll (and in the doghouse)

July 15, 2012 By

When you’re in the car driving for 20 hours, you tend to get a bit punchy and everything becomes hilarious.

As we waited at the U.S.-Canadian border, I mindlessly challenged Jamie to a thumb war and he beat me.

“In my neck of the woods,” he announced, “We call these the ‘BORDER WARS.’”

The kids then started chanting “U.S.A, U.S.A.”

Watching the Olympics could get ugly next week.

=====

I’m terrible with a map and have zero sense of direction. That said, I did rather well with the GPS on my phone during this trip and started boasting about it to Jamie.

“Maybe I’m not so bad with directions. I think I can do the ‘Amazing Race’ after all.”

“Amber, if you were to do the ‘Amazing Race,’ they’d have to rename the show ‘LOST.’”

© Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck–A Denver Mom’s Blog
Filed Under: Humor, Jamie

Wyoming or Bust–Or Rather, Busted in Wyoming

July 13, 2012 By

The kids and I are currently holed up in my childhood home in Calgary. Jamie joined us for a few days but has since flown home, leaving us with a stretch of languid summer fun. This morning, Hadley asked me, “What day is it, Mommy?”

That is my definition of a great summer.

Of course, we still have a two-day drive back to Denver in our future and the trek to Calgary was memorable to say the least. A couple of hours into our drive, Jamie started slowing down and pulled off to the side of the road.

“What are you doing?” I queried. Not long ago, he was freaking out because we had to pull off so Hadley could fully shut her door.

And then I turned around to see a nice highway patrolman. He issued us a $170 ticket and a warning for our obstructed license plate from our bikes on the back of the car. HELLO, if that is against the law then half of Coloradoans are breaking it.

We got back on the road and not even 30 minutes later he started slowing down again. “What are you doing?!” I started to say and then I saw it: another cop.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

Yep, another ticket but for only $100 this time. In his defense, our cruise control is busted and we were in armpit of Wyoming with ugly, sagebrush hills so it was so easy to speed. There are no tourism dollars to be made so why not nab motorists for going 7 miles over the speed limit?

Quite coincidentally, this was near the stretch in The Cowboy State where I thought we were going to die last Christmas.

It would appear we have an all-hate and no-love relationship with Wyoming.

Mostly just hate.

© Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck–A Denver Mom’s Blog
Filed Under: Humor, Jamie, travel

4th of July’s Hole of Death

July 9, 2012 By

We didn’t have high hopes for Independence Day this year. Due to the wildfires, most of Colorado is under a fire ban so there were no fireworks. The problem is, they’re shot right above our house and we shut down our street and have a neighborhood party.

4th of July 2012: Nada.

Though I completely understand the fire ban, what sucked about the situation is we had planned our trip to Canada so we would specifically be here for our 4th of July party, only to have the whole thing be a bust.

So, we made the best of it and you know what? We still had the best time. Every year, we attend our church’s pancake breakfast and patriotic service but this time, we added a new tradition: biking.

With full bellies, we headed across the street to the new skate park.

We didn’t last long there. Something about obstacles being two-stories high.

And so we hit Ralston Creek Trail, one of my favorite areas. We wove around the bike path,

Rode singletrack across meadows.

We hit Ralston Creek for a much-needed cooldown.

And we introduced the kids to a cossetted dirt park hidden in the trees.  Jamie challenged Bode on the series of dirt paths, jumps and obstacles. This was his first time off a paved skate park and he was extremely cautious. Turns out, it was for good reason.

In Jamie’s defense, he warned him about The Hole of Death.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwXc5hqLZ3M]

I stopped recording just before it got ugly. If he’d known how to swear, he probably would have.

Stay tuned tomorrow for my own dose of 4th of July ugliness.

© Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck–A Denver Mom’s Blog
Filed Under: Bode, Hadley, holidays, Humor, Jamie

That’s what husbands are for

July 2, 2012 By

I have felt overwhelmed and grateful by all the support I’ve received from friends, family and complete strangers since I started writing professionally.

But a few weeks ago, I received my first vicious email from a reader about my column in The Denver Post. I don’t write a lot of controversial stuff and what he was spewing out was so ludicrous, irrational and hateful toward children that I promptly deleted it and deemed him a madman.

But still, it bugged me.

Later that day, I commented to Jamie: “I got my first piece of hate mail today.”

He didn’t ask what it was about and only offered, “No, it wasn’t. Remember that kindergarten article you published a couple of years ago in the Denver Post’s YourHub? A man was so irate about it he sent ME an email telling me to tell my ‘misinformed wife’ she was nuts?”

“Thanks for the pick-me-up, Jamie.”

© Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck–A Denver Mom’s Blog
Filed Under: Humor, Jamie, Marriage

All (Not) Quiet on the Western Front

June 25, 2012 By

This is a sampling of what we’ve been enduring in Denver the past couple of weeks:

I despise the heat but I’ve been coping with our record-breaking conditions rather well and have only complained very minimally about it.

Until Saturday.

 Let me back up and say that due to our hot and dry conditions, Colorado is having our worst wildfire season ever with more than 100,000 acres burned and 10 wildfires going strong across the state. It’s devastating to watch so many family’s homes going up in smoke. Our firefighter neighbor is in the middle of a 12-day encampment on the fire line and I greatly applaud the sacrifices of so many.

To say it grates on me whenever someone rejoices about the heat that is exacerbating a horrible situation is an understatement.

There are three ways I’ve been coping with the heat: 1) Denial. 2) Daily outdoor swim lessons (what great timing) and 3) Air-conditioning. I won’t mention the fact our unit is too small for our house so our bedrooms upstairs feel like a sauna.

But where was I? Ahh, yes, my heat meltdown. We went camping last weekend in this 100-degree heat. I’ll have more details on that later and though it had all the fixins for the perfect getaway (friends, kayaking, fishing, horseback riding), the heat rendered me numb.

Bode’s first time fishing
Hadley’s first extended horseback ride

And not the good, cold kind of numb.

Jamie had a Bishopric meeting at 6:30 a.m. Sunday so I encouraged him to hang out with us during the day on Saturday and then head home that evening so he wouldn’t disturb us. Though we had an AWESOME time, I suffered through the day’s heat and started to come to life that evening when temperatures dropped from the triple- digits. But it was still sweltering when the kids and I went to bed.

9:30 p.m. Hot. Prayed at least kids would fall asleep and that I’d take one for the team.
9:45 p.m. Baby in neighboring tent crying.
10 p.m. Kids fell asleep. Realized being a team player sucked.
11 p.m. Baby still crying. Don’t blame baby. Was right there with him.
11:30 p.m. Parents take him home to his nice air-conditioned house. Consider stowing away.
Midnight. All is finally quiet in the campground.
12:30 p.m. Snoring begins at a neighboring tent and does not stop all night long.
1 p.m. Musical beds. Bode is a wild sleeper and rolled around the entire tent, forcing me to frequently change my location.
2 p.m. Still hot. And now exhausted.
3:30 p.m. Grab my iPhone and email Jamie about my misery.
Sunrise. Woken up by loud neighbors.

That email’s contents are private but evidently convincing enough that Jamie had an ice-cold smoothie and also some limeaid with fresh mint sprigs from the garden waiting for me.

It was the equivalent of drunk dialing, only it was “overheated emailing.”

And with the way our summer is starting out, it won’t be the last time.

© Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck–A Denver Mom’s Blog
Filed Under: Humor, Jamie
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