Thursday, July 31, 2014

Final Days With A One-Year Old


I began Saturday morning with a trip to the Farmer's Market. The tomatoes available at my local grocery story have been down-right disgusting lately. And so I turned to the community farmers for something tastier. (I LOVE garden tomatoes - and we grow them every year - but our crop is behind schedule thanks to that late June hailstorm.) 




Of course I was tempted by many other products while I meandered the booths. I came home with a giant sunflower, a bag of peaches, a handful of basil, and the cutest little baby hat for Kale.



Then it was time for something a bit more serious. With all the roofer and contractor interviewing that we have been doing (thanks to our big homeowners insurance claim) we decided this might be the ideal time to finally mitigate the radon in our house. We were warned that we had levels "slightly above EPA recommendations" when we bought the house in 2010. For $5 I invested in a test kit, so as to confirm how mild or serious the radon truly is. The kit was mailed to the lab for analysis today. Results will be available next week. 


Then Sage and I took a quick bike ride to a nearby park and I let him burn off some of his morning energy.



Fast slide!











Super man!


Afterwards it was time for a big feast hot off the new Weber grill. 
We had corn, real hot dogs, veggie hot dogs, and strawberries. Yum! The corn has been so good this summer!


Later that evening the cooking continued. I tried something new. A cauliflower gratin. And despite how plain or healthy that might sound initially - this was cheesy, creamy deliciousness. Even the meat-eaters loved it. 


Saturday evening Sage helped his daddy in the garden. 



And Sage had his first worm encounter. 


Oh boy did he love those worms!


Early on Sunday, Matt and I finally finished a long-time to-do item. We organized Sage's toys and found a new home for them in his closet. The house was starting to look way too chaotic, with bins of mix-matched toys all over the house. Nothing was organized. Pieces were scattered. And an impeding birthday with more toys on the way meant we needed to do something major. Thank you to Ikea for this awesome toy organization system!



Daddy picked out this adorable outfit. So cute! What a handsome little man in his collared shirt (compliments of grandma). But... he was literally in the outfit for no more than 10 minutes. This is why you don't put clothes on your toddler in the summer! Way too many temptations in the backyard!


So he was stripped down to the diaper and stayed that way until the next morning. Less laundry!




I closed out Sunday evening with some "chicken" enchiladas. I thought I had a pre-made enchilada spice packet in the cabinet. But was wrong. Already too far into the recipe to turn back, I quickly googled a spice mix on the internet. And was amazed with the final outcome! Way better and more potent than any pre-made packet. I think they call that a happy accident? 


Finally, to catch up on my CSU blog:


Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Parties, Parks, And Pools


Saturday morning I wanted to do something special with Sage. I thought and thought. And then it dawned on me.... how about the library! I last took Sage about a year ago. And he was clearly way too young at that time. So I felt we needed to revisit this neighborhood gem. We grabbed the stroller and began the hot and sunny walk there.


Sage could care less about the books. He wanted to play with all the sensory toys.





At one point, he tried to join another family. The mother, father, and two daughters had cozied up in a corner of the library to do some reading. And Sage snagged the last open chair in their circle. I thought it was adorable. So did they.


He also enjoyed the puzzles. He's pretty much a puzzle pro. Not much can stump him.



I picked out about 10 books to bring home with us. And Sage is fully enjoying them. It's nice to have some new material in the house. I get sick of the same stories over and over again.


After nap, Sage had a birthday party to attend - for his little friend Josie. She turned 1 on Saturday!


These two couldn't get enough watermelon. I'm grateful that his shorts just happened to be watermelon colored, because they were soaked by the end of the feast.





Josie's mama got her a "smash cake" which Josie then generously shared with all the other kiddos at the party. Sage was front and center patiently waiting for the ok to dig in.



He was timid at first. Just one little finger dip....
And then he got more comfortable.



After the festivities had wrapped up, we walked to a nearby playground to let Sage burn off all that cake frosting.


Dad found a giant dandelion. 
And Sage knew exactly what to do.
Blow!


The park we went to is probably one of the coolest I have seen in Fort Collins. I can't believe it took us so long to discover it! It has a splash zone, lots of climbing/sliding equipment and imitation rock formations.



In the cave.


Now on the cave.



You would think that would complete our weekend adventures...
But no... we also promised Sage a day at the pool.
So that's exactly where we went on Sunday morning.





Blast from the past! 
That's Sage and I exactly one year ago! Looks like we both have gotten bigger. 
I wonder if I'll ever fit in that bikini again.....


The day got off to a rough start. About 5 minutes after opening up the water to swimmers, somebody had a near-drowning experience. So all the whistles blew and we had to get out and wait for the situation to be addressed. The man was completely fine. Thank goodness. But it took about 20 minute before anyone was allowed back in. Normally, Sage would not have the patience for that. However, he was quite entertained by the fire truck that arrived on scene. 


In the end, we had an amazing time. The pool was a much bigger hit than any of us ever expected. Sage squealed with delight the whole morning. I had bought him some arm floaties - which allowed him to do a little dare-devil jumping and self-dunking. And he couldn't get enough of it. He threw the biggest tantrum I have ever seen when we finally pulled him out of the water to head home.


We were able to quickly dry up those tears with some close duck encounters at the lake next door.


Then it was off to Culver's for lunch.
Sage had a corndog.




During his nap, I harvested kale from our garden and roasted the leaves into chips.

Before.

After.


To my surprise, Sage enjoyed eating kale!
A lot!




(And for those that don't know...we are thinking of naming the new baby Kale - making my previous statement quite ironic.)