The Retrograde Series: Episode 2 - Celebrating Life in the Parenthood

Technically last year was our first Mother's and Father's days, but with Ariel being so small, we didn't do much. So we made up for it this year.

Mother's Day


I woke up to one of my greatest joys. Breakfast. Vicki made Monkey Bread, which if you have never tasted it, are certainly missing out. This is one of the breads we used to devour as kids. It was great to celebrate the past and the present in one delicious dish. Along side were fruit salad, juice and a fragrant bouquet of flowers.

Eric and Ariel took me to finally redeem my birthday present: a massage. And well overdue. I don't understand why I don't get massages more often. They are so wonderful! We finished off our afternoon with lunch at Garbonzo's. Eric and I loved it. Ariel preferred her puffs to falafel.

Father's Day

I surprised Eric with a trip to the Colorado Renaissance Festival. Back when we were dating, Eric took me here on one of our dates. It's a shame it took us this long to get back. It was a great weekend to be outside - not too hot and mercifully cloudy. Ariel enjoyed looking at all the costumes and animals and music. I was afraid she'd start crying from overstimulation, but apparently, she's not that kind of kid. We watched a play or two, went to the archery booth, and listened to the masterful playing of the carillon musician. The Carillon is a rare Medieval Instrument, made entirely of 4 Tons of Bells and was impressive to see. It was Phantom of the Opera meets the music of the middle ages. Visit this webiste to hear sample of the music. http://www.castinbronze.com/

But the highlight of our day was the jousting tournament. We sat on the villian's side and everytime we were prompted to boo, Ariel jumped right in, growling and screaming with the rest of us. She actually watched the action in the arena. She really is a great kid to take on outings. We slept so good that night. It was a perfet day to celebrate Daddy Eric.

Happy Father's Day

Since I haven't had time to go shopping for Eric's first father's day, I improvised. I bought a frilly, pink sundress for Ariel. Because Eric likes to see his girls dressed up, this was her gift to her daddy. I know it sounds lame, but it's the thought that counts and Eric just beams when he shows Ariel (and her outfits) off.

We started our day off with Coffee for Dad at a local coffee shop. It was a nice quiet morning and Eric and I enjoyed ourselves while Ariel caught a cat nap. Maybe we'll make this a tradition of ours.

After church, we drove up to Eric's parents house and had a nice afternoon of food and conversation. Jesse grilled the steaks and I made dessert (a lemon pound cake). Don't ask what time I had to do this. I honestly don't remember.

The grill master Pretty girls

We had a good day, but we may go to the reservoir and have a picnic lunch next year.

Father's Day

We celebrated Father's Day with Eric's fam. We feasted on tasty steaks and potato casserole. I made a strawberry and cream cake, but it was nothing like the monstrosity I made for Eric's bday.

This year, we had an extra guest as Jesse's friend, Olga, was visiting. She is from Kazakhstan and she had a 24 hr flight just to get to Colorado. I give her mad props, I'm such a wimp when it comes to traveling by plane.

Roger got a new digital camera from the crew. I'm kicking myself right now because I forgot to take a picture of the card Pazu gave to his "grandfathers". It had the feel of a scrapbook page and Pazu's picture was on the front and it said "Happy Father's Day" in stickers. On the inside, I put a quote by John Steinbeck that said,

"I've seen a look in dogs' eyes, a quickly vanishing look of amazed contempt, and I am convinced that dogs think humans are nuts."

.Then I wrote something Pazu would say on the other side. I think the grandma's were more in love with the card.

It was a beautiful day and we had a wonderful visit. (This is the picture on the front of the card).