The No. 2 Coolest Thing I Have Ever Done!

June 21, 2012 By

Cars Land was phenomenal and Radiator Springs Racers is my favorite ride at Disneyland. Truly. (Go here if you missed my original post).

But do you know what else was so astounding that it made my Top 2 List of Coolest Things I Have Ever Done?

OK, so I just made up the list but the following experience I had at Disneyland ranks right behind my amazing opportunity to be Microsoft’s accredited blogger at the 2010 Vancouver Games.

Following our preview of Cars Land, the media was set loose with their families in California Adventure Park for the entire day. What’s so cool about that? The park was closed to the public in preparation for its grand re-opening the next morning. That’s right, people. About 1,000 media and their families had California Adventure Park to themselves. Don’t believe me?

It was like a dream come true to visit Disneyland without the crowds and worth every penny we spent to get there. Oh, and did I mention the weather was a moderate 70-degrees?

I could not have picked a more perfect day.

Our craziest moment was during one of our first rides on Grizzly River Run. Last spring, I waited 1.5 hours for the thrill of doing this white-water rafting adventure.

At the end of getting tossed around by Grizzly River’s rapids, we prepared to get out when the ride operator glanced over at the line (or lack thereof; we were the only ones there) and asked the golden question: “Do you want to do it again?”

And for the first time in my history of Disneyland, we went around yet again without even unbuckling.



The novelty didn’t even wear off when we emerged soaking wet.

That night, our big Disneyland sendoff was a private showing of Worlds of Color–a water spectacular that wove water, color, fire and light into a kaleidoscope of fantasy.

Water
Color
fire

Of course my pictures don’t do it justice so check-out Disneyland’s official ones:


Do you know what was mind-blowing? We were each given our own light-up Mickey ears and once the show started, we realized they were perfectly synced to whatever colors were on display.

At least it was the coolest thing ever once I decided Disneyland wasn’t trying to control our minds and take over the world.

There was only one drawback to the entire experience. When you’re a Disneyland newbie like Jamie, the bar has been set waaaaaaay too high.

Cars Land’s Luigi’s Flying Tires

But we’re happy to just do the limbo the next time we visit Disneyland.

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

Disneyland at last!

June 19, 2012 By
If you’re not a fan of Disneyland, come back next week because I’ll be singing the praises of the Happiest Place on Earth the next several days.

When I got invited to the media preview of Cars Land, I asked Jamie if he’d finally like to go (he has been threatening to sue his parents for years re: never taking him). It took him only a moment to decide “YES” and so we bit the bullet and bought tickets for the entire family.

And I’m so glad we did.

I mean, just look at this dude.

I’m glad I had a do-over, too. The kids and I went for one frenzied day last spring break and between the crowds, the heat and the zero research I had done (my tour guide friend had to pull out at the last minute), it was stressful.

Not this time. A friend told me January and early-June are great times to visit Disneyland and she was correct. A lot of schools weren’t on summer break yet so the lines were more manageable–we never waited more than a half-hour for a ride.

Once upon a time, I would have thought waiting that long was dreadful. Now I know that’s a good thing! We stayed at the gorgeous Grand Californian Hotel and you pay for what you get. Namely, it’s pricy (particularly on the weekend) but being located inside the park made for easy access and frequent breaks and dips in the pool.

We also had NO IDEA about the Downtown Disney District, a 20-acre admission-free area right outside our hotel that consisted of about 50 restaurants and shops.

We were a wee bit excited to be there!

We started out at Space Mountain which, if we’re being honest here, scares the bejeebers out of me. I’m fine with rollercoasters but not in the dark. We then spent a truly fabulous day exploring the best of what Disneyland has to offer.

Star Tours
Thunder Mountain
Hadley freaking out before Splash Mountain’s Big Plunge
Bode, our very serious navigator with the map
Jambalaya, clam chowder, beignets & mint juleps to drink at French Market

 

Did we overdo it? You betcha! I literally could not drag the kids out of bed the next morning but a brisk breakfast on our balcony helped wake them up a bit.

I won’t point out sleepy Bode actually put his coat on upside down if you don’t.

It’s called opportunity-cost.

And the sleep deprivation for our first day at play was so very worth it.

Next time: tune in for details from the red carpet!

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

Surrender

May 24, 2012 By

We’re on the cusp of four weeks of non-stop insanity that includes Haddie’s birthday and baptism, juggling both sets of grandparents for a week each, redoing Haddie’s bedroom with my mother-in-law, adventure camp at Avid4 Adventure, Disneyland, two weeks of swim lessons, a trip to YMCA of the Rockies Estes Park and I have a conference in Keystone.

Oh, and then we’re heading to Canada in July.

Basically, if you need anything from me I’ll be available in August.

I’m excited my parents are arriving on Memorial Day for their visit. Though we have a spare bedroom that doubles as my den, it’s less-than optimal for my mom whose poor health requires comfortable living quarters and a nearby bathroom. We’re gladly giving them our Master Bedroom during the visit and Jamie and I will camp out in the basement.

At least that’s the story we’re telling them. One morning they may wake up with the kids and discover we’re playing hookey in Hawaii.

The room-darkening shades in our and Haddie’s bedroom have been busted for months. Though they still work, there are some glitches with getting them to stay up so Jamie chose THIS WEEK OF ALL WEEKS to get them fixed. We won’t get them back until after my parents arrive and so Jamie opted to put a towel in the windows to block out the sun in the morning.

Not just any towel but a nightmare-in-the-making.

“Are you kidding me? I can’t sleep with that thing looking at me.”
“It’s fine.Plus, that towel is big enough to fit the window perfectly.”
“What about my mother? She is going to be sleeping with it?!!”
“She’s the one who bought it for me (during our vacation to the Outer Banks).”

Welcome to Denver, Mommy Dearest.

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

A Romantic Interruption

May 23, 2012 By

Jamie. Yes, the man grows giant pumpkins. Yes, he seems to work 24/7. But he has always done remarkably well in the romance department, for which I am grateful.

One year, he surprised me with a getaway to a gorgeous cabin in Breckenridge. Another time, it was the St. Julien in Boulder. Another favorite was the scavenger hunt that led us to the Lumber Baron Inn.

For his most recent surprise, he told me I needed a nap because we’d be staying out late.

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I have to be in bed by 11 p.m.”
“That’s why you need to take a nap.”
I continued, “Cuz if I stay up past then, this Cinderella will turn into a pumpkin.”

For any other guy, this analogy would work. Not for a giant pumpkin grower. He deviously grinned and queried, “How big?”

That afternoon, I took a nap.

We dropped the kiddos off at Aunt Lisa’s for a sleepover and he told me we were going to dinner in downtown Denver. We parked the car in a lot across from the Brown Palace, the luxurious, historic hotel where we spent our wedding night.

I casually asked, “Are we going to the Brown Palace?”
“No, but we have a few minutes before our dinner reservation so why don’t we pop over?”

I was excited to go on a stroll down memory lane so we toured around the opulent lobby, bursting with energy during Afternoon Tea.

“Why don’t we go up to the top floor and look down?” he suggested. I gamely followed him in the elevator. When we arrived at the eighth floor, he pulled out a piece of paper for me to read–a wonderful love note reminiscing the start of our lives together. He then led me over to a door, opened it with a key card and there, in the corner suite, there awaited our luggage and a menagerie of candles.

Jamie had snuck over earlier in the day (he told me he had a work meeting) to check-in and set everything up. He had even brought our Magic Bullet to make Pina Colada smoothies!
Dude should totally go on one of those shows about how to romance a woman.

That night, we headed over to Larimer Square and dined at Tag, an ultra-hip and chic restaurant and then strolled around 16th Street Mall, Denver’s popular pedestrian area. He spared no expense in showing us a good time.

Really, the only things he overlooked were my personal items.  Of course, I didn’t want to complain because he’d gone to all the trouble to set everything up. But on his surprise getaways, it would be swell if he could bring a few of my overnight items (especially since he came armed with a carry-on with some of his own). Though he did make a gesture.

“It would be nice if I had some make-up,” I commented the next morning.

“I did bring you make-up,” he said proudly as he pointed to the lone eye liner pencil he’d put in his hygiene bag.

I inwardly laughed he thought that’s all I needed.  Next time, I’ll just hope for a toothbrush and call it good.

Because his romantic gestures definitely are.

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

How you know your husband really *gets* you

April 5, 2012 By

I repinned this stellar pin on Pinterest and told The Husband:

“I’d dress like this every day if I could.”


After a long pause, he finally said:

“I’ll get you some goggles.”

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

Chess: A Real Love Story Intermingled with the Anti-one

March 24, 2012 By

I don’t remember who gave me the soundtrack to the musical Chess but I’ve been in love with it since my college days. Add music by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus (formerly of ABBA) to lyrics by Tim Rice (Evita) and you have a winning combination. One Night in Bangkok is probably the most recognizable on the soundtrack.

But I’d never seen it on stage. I’ve Googled it over the years and the only shows were in London so I figured it just wasn’t meant to be.

When I made the loooong pilgrimage to Canada over the break, I dug up that old tape (remember those?) and listened to it almost non-stop. I even voiced to Jamie how I would love to see it someday.

That someday happened within weeks of returning back to Colorado when I heard Chess was coming to the Arvada Center March 23-April 15– a hop, skip and a jump away from my house. What. Are. The Odds?

As a side note, I’d like to point out that for once, the odds were in my favor.

I obviously jumped on it the moment tickets went on sale and last night, Jamie and I attended the preview. Though I had a general idea of the story line (love triangle between an American and Russian at the world chess championship in a Cold War setting), much of it was new to me. Politics, intrigue, affairs, it was all there.

The first act was slower than the second and I can’t say I would have loved it had I not been already enraptured by the music but there I was singing away with the magnificent cast.

Fortunately, I left the dancing to them.


Outside of the theater is an art gallery. If the musical was the anti-love story, then Jamie and I are the anti-connoisseurs of modern art. I don’t discount its worth but I do profess my inability to “get it.”

Thus was the case as we stumbled upon the painting in the background of this picture.

“Merchants of Desire,” Jamie read.

“Hmmmm….” I murmured.

“The funny things is,” he mused, “There is no desire in it.”

And that, my friends, is why we’re so perfect for each other.

In the end, it was like a dream come true to see Chess, though we later joked the ending is like the anti-love story. Spoiler: Nobody ends up happy.

Except, of course, me for finally being able to see it.

==========

I searched around trying to find my favorite duet from Chess: I Know Him So Well. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-AcCOiPtZA&w=560&h=315]

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

The state of affairs

March 15, 2012 By

So, I obviously don’t have a new blog yet.

Poor Jamie is working more than ever and we ran into a problem with the new design. Namely: we can’t figure out how to get the particular WordPress template we chose to work.

A minor problem.

Jamie doesn’t have time to figure it out. My friend Lori graciously came over but couldn’t figure it out, either. For a lot of Jamie’s projects, he outsources to a dude in India so he suggested he send Said Dude my blog information for him to take a look.

But he keeps forgetting. “I can’t do it now,” he says late in the day. “I have to do it in the morning with the time change.” Then he forgets again.

On a related note, Jamie doesn’t even read my blog but he keeps apprised of it through his mom who often calls to bust him for his exploits. Yesterday’s post was a current example.

Me: “Did you send my blog info to India yet?”
Him: (Ignoring me) “Did you write a blog post about me that was mean?”
Me: “Which time?”

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

Dad in Charge

March 14, 2012 By

Every Tuesday night, the youth meet at our church for a group activity. Usually Jamie goes because he is in the Bishopric but since I work with the Young Women, I try to get there as often as possible. If one of us remains behind, we’re on bedtime duty for the kids.

Or at least we’re supposed to be.

Tuesday night, Jamie had to work (surprise, surprise) so he stayed home with the kids while I played wallyball. When I arrived home about a half-hour after their bedtime, I was surprised to see them sitting on the couch, TV blasting, unshowered and obviously unchaperoned.

“Why are you still awake?!!!”
“Daddy didn’t say it was bedtime!”
“What have you been doing this whole time?”
“Eating cookies and watching TV.”

Sometimes honesty is not always the best policy.

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

Unintentional Blog Hiatus

March 6, 2012 By

Between Bode getting sick, Hadley’s non-stop Destination Imagination rehearsals this week, recovering from my own illness, appearing on 9News yesterday for a segment on baby showers, trying to crank out my column and volunteering at school, I’m on temporary blogging hiatus.

What that really means is I am between blogs right now.

Jamie started my new blog’s design and transferred over allll my archives (no small feat; I’ve been blogging for many years now). He just needs to put the finishing touches and it will be live.

But here’s the problem: he’s busy.

Apparently he thinks working for clients who pay our mortgage is more important than this here blog.

At this point, I have to manually input my posts in both blogs and that’s just a bit too much for me to handle right now.

So, stay tuned. Next week, I’ll have details on our ski day in Loveland (it’s a doozy) and hopefully will be announcing my new site very soon.

I just need to start nagging The Pumpkin Man to do it.

© Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck–A Denver Mom’s Blog
Filed Under: 9News, Humor, Jamie

Leap Year ’12 Time Capsule (and Evidence I Suck at Math)

March 1, 2012 By

I instituted a new Leap Year family tradition yesterday: we made a time capsule for us to open when the next Leap Year rolls around.

The only other time I’ve done a time capsule was when I was 16. I must have been inspired by a Young Women’s lesson at church to journal my life so I went home and made a very serious tape.

At least it seemed serious until I opened it 10 years later when I was 26 and was mortified at how ridiculous I sounded saying “rad” every other word.

It was, after all, the ’80s.

I’ve since gotten over that and really wish I could find that tape for my posterity to mock.

This time around, I had everyone in the family answer a questionnaire with the following:

Name and age

Favorite food

Friends

Favorite subject

Favorite things to do

What I’m looking forward to this year.

What do you want to be doing in 4 years?

What do you want to be when you grow up?

I threw in a newspaper with today’s headlines, the entertainment section detailing current movies and some drawings and mementos from the kids. When we asked The Pumpkin Man how he wanted to commemorate February 2012, we put a pumpkin seed in the time capsule.

Here’s for hoping that hobby will be long forgotten by the time we open it.

Then, we sealed it up tight and put a bold, DO NOT OPEN UNTIL 2016. (Apologies for the sideways picture; can’t get it to rotate.)


OK, truth be told the reason the letters are in bold is because I originally wrote 2014.

Turns out 2012+4….well, here’s for hoping you know the answer.

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