The plan this past weekend was to travel to Steamboat Springs to swim in the hot springs. But the weather up top was drastically different than what we were experiencing in the foothills. They were forecasted to have snow, and 40 degree temps. Not so good for babies, who can only soak in hot water for short periods of time. Don't want to freeze the kiddos!
So we cancelled our trip last minute and decided to stick around town to enjoy the "early summer" predicted for the Fort Collins area.
Somewhat bummed our trip was cancelled, I decided to check off a bucket-list item with Sage. I had to do something spectacular.
Our first movie at the NEW indoor Fort Collins theater!
We saw Zootopia in a state of the art facility. Leather recliner chairs! You could put your feet up if you wanted to. And...food you ordered in the lobby (they had a full menu of pizzas,burgers, and salads) was delivered to your seat during the Previews. What?!? A full bar was available too. (But who wants a cocktail at 9:45am?)
By the time we got out of the theater, around noon, the sun was shining hot. And it was time to play outside!
Dad stayed home with Kale during the Sage-and-Mommy date.
How many people can you fit in a tunnel?
One...two...
THREE!
Saturday night Matt and I made popsicles in preparation for a hot Sunday in the backyard. The plan was to roll around in the sand and dirt all day...and end with a big cookout. We were excited to experience some summer!
I bought this popsicle kit a long time ago...while visiting my parents in Kansas City. Before Kale was born. At least 2 years ago. And I had NEVER used it. Don't you love it when you buy a new kitchen gadget and you're so excited to use it....and then it just gathers dust in the cabinet? So frustrating!
Well today was the day. Time to shine little popsicle maker!
Sunday funday had arrived. We set up shop!
We got out the sun shade. Picnic blanket. Sand and water table. Wagon. We had the yard chocked full of toys and supplies for an afternoon outdoors.
View from beneath the sun canopy.
What a sky. Love my blue Colorado skies!
Nico came out to do some sunbathing with me too.
And after a good round of play... it was time to unveil the popsicles (which were just frozen mango juice.) The kids loved them.
Cookout Time!
I was itching to get this grill grate out again and use it. (Another thing collecting dust in my kitchen.)
I did a corn, red pepper, zucchini, onion, jalapeno salad. Seasoned with garlic and smoked paprika. It was good...but the corn got overcooked. So next time, I will add the corn later than the rest of the veggies.
Best friends.
The bond between these two is just so amazing. Which is why I feel sort of bad spacing #3 (yes... I want a third!) so much farther apart. I sure hope s/he can still feel close to the older two.
Sage and Kale are two years apart in age. The next age gap will be at least 3 years. If not more. (Stupid daycare costs! That's what is holding us back!)
I had one big new recipe this week. I made it Tuesday night. The only way I was able to manage this on a weeknight was I had a dentist appointment, and got home a bit earlier than usual.
It was called the Eureka! bowl.
First I made a marinade.
Then I washed and chopped a big bowl of kale and tossed it in the sauce.
Then I roasted chickpeas in smoked paprika and tamari sauce.
Then I assembled the bowl, and sprinkled in the additional toppings (tangerines, avocado, sweet potato, and parmesan cheese).
It was a super salad!
Matt has trained this little guy well!
Earning his quarters for his whale bank. :)
We had a "no TV" night on Wednesday. We did a picnic dinner outdoors with Tokyo Joe's take-out. It was way more stressful than it should have been. Don't know where we went wrong.
So bad, in fact, I've branded a new logo which is #NoMorePicnics.
After the hectic outdoor eating experience, we took the kids on a wagon ride around the neighborhood...just to shake off the negative energy.
After finally settling the kids into bed, we patted ourselves on the back for successfully NOT watching TV. But boy was I excited to add it back into our routine the next day!
