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.

Mother's Day

Here is a quote about mothers that I find to be so true:

When God thought of mother, He must have laughed with satisfaction, and framed it quickly—so rich, so deep, so divine, so full of soul, power, and beauty, was the conception."-- Henry Ward Beecher
We celebrated mother's day in Westminster with Eric's fam. Eric and I gave Rita (his mom) with a pot full of fresh flowers. We actually went to a local nursery, perused through the mass of blooms and made our selection. Once we got home, we used the color and shape of the flowers to made a classic, original design. We placed in the pot spiked greens, white chrysanthemums, yellow snapdragons and purple alyssum. We certainly had a lot of fun with this project.

We had some flowers left over, so we lined our back patio with a splash of color. Ahh, I love spring.