Field Trip

Last Friday I took the afternoon off and Brian, Sadie and I went to the Denver Bronco's football stadium, Invesco Field, for a tour. I purchased a Groupon for this tour way back in October and give it to Brian as a Christmas gift. Of course we waited until the day before it expired to redeem it....

This was a really fun activity for us, and especially cool for Brian, who is (and always has been) an unwavering and enthusiastic Broncos fan.

We toured some luxury suites, the press rooms, the Bronco's party room, and the visiting team's locker room (the Broncos don't allow the public into their locker room.)

But the coolest part of the tour came towards the end when we got to walk right out to the edge of the field. It really was fun to be right there where the players are. Having been to several games at Invesco, it was so fun to see it from this vantage point. Sadie was dying to run on the grass, but unfortunately that's not allowed.

It was really fun to do this as a family. And we bribed Sadie to hang in there for the whole tour by promising her pizza afterward!

Reunited

I made this sweet family of gnomes for Sadie months ago. We started with three and added three more to the group. Sadie loves them and plays with them a lot. Then three of them disappeared for a couple months. And it made us absolutely batty! Finally, a week or so ago, they reappeared (they were hiding in a little-used drawer in our bedroom of all places....). Now they're a family again and I can finally take the photos I've been meaning to since I first made them.

This was such a fun and easy craft. Sadie was fascinated by the process, too, so I was actually able to make them while she was awake and in the same room (which doesn't happen that often as a crafting mama to a two-year-old). I used Carrie Logic's awesome tutorial found here. The materials were cheap and easy to find and these little friends continue to provide a lot of fun for Sadie.

not yet....

A couple weeks ago, we went to a friend of Sadie's three year-old birthday party. It was a princess party, and since we aren't really in the princess phase yet (not sure how I feel about that, but it sounds like it's somewhat inevitable), we improvised with a pretty dress and butterfly wings leftover from our wedding.

Sadie looked like a perfect butterfly/pixie princess. She slowly warmed up to the party and enjoyed playing with her friend's toys. Then she found her bedroom and her friend's beautiful princess bed. And we pretty much didn't see her for the rest of the party.

Seems like she might be ready for a "big girl bed". I don't think mama and dada are quite ready for that though. She's so nice and contained in her crib. And now that she can open doors, there's no telling what shenanigans she'd be up to in the middle of the night if she had free reign....

Self Care

I am finding myself in a period of being very mindful of how I take care of myself mentally and physically (not really tackling the spiritually part for now...). I'm amazed at how some recent changes in my life have affected my energy level throughout the day and week, my sleeping habits, my ability to cope with stress and premenstrual symptoms, and my overall feeling of contentment and vitality. These changes include mostly eliminating coffee from my morning routine (with the exception of a weekend morning every once in a while), and replacing coffee with green smoothies most mornings; going to bed around the same time every night, even on the weekends; and frequent and consistent vigorous activity.

I'm feeling very empowered by these changes right now and look forward to continuing to make more positive changes in my routine that will have me feeling better all the time!

This article really resonated with me this morning (and inspired this quick blog post) and includes some great tips that I want to start incorporating.

Big Kid Hike

A couple weekends ago, Sadie and I packed a picnic lunch and headed off to explore an open space park in Castle Rock that was new to us. Memmen Ridge Open Space isn't too far from home...just a 5 minute drive.

Sadie loved having space to roam and explore. I encouraged her to check out anything she was interested in and tried not to impose much of an agenda on the day. Although I brought a carrier to put her on my back (and was planning on it), Sadie wanted to walk the entire way, which ended up being just over a mile. The topography varied throughout the hike and Sadie loved running down the hills.

She played in the dirt...
And gave kisses to all the trees.

We stopped for lunch when she decided she was hungry and then we laid back in the pine needles and listened for birds (and then tried to spot them in the sky).

From my perspective, this wasn't my ideal place to go for a hike. It appears to be heavily used...I noticed litter occasionally, and way too much dog poop near the trailhead. It's pretty much right in town, and so it wasn't incredibly quiet (town sounds were more prevalent than nature sounds). But it was absolutely an ideal place to take a toddler. The loop we took was short enough for Sadie to walk the whole way, and the surface was well-worn and soft without a lot of tripping hazards for little legs. The outing was just long enough, but not too long. In all, we were gone from the house for about an hour and a half and home in time for a nice early nap.

I'm really looking forward to doing this as often as possible this summer and exploring some of the other great trails in our community.