Day 1 of Our Trip Home!

Well, we made our annual pilgrimage back to upstate NY last week. It kinda started out with a thud. Our first day was so bad it gets its own post. We leave on Friday the 20^th. As usual our plan is to fly during Morhéa nap and thus an easier flight. We pick her up at daycare around noon and head to the airport around 12:30 PM. We get to the airport and the Pike Peak parking is full. For those of you that don’t live hear in Denver the airport is pretty much in the middle of nowhere. It is a new airport but from my house it seems like it is in Kansas. It is around 35 – 40 miles from my house to the airport. The other parking lot that doesn’t cost more then $15 a day is called Mt. Elbert. I have never seen this parking lot before. It turns out it is basically an overflow parking lot for the Pikes Peak lot. It really isn’t that much further away it just sits in the middle of nothing. They haven’t updated anything in it. No fancy gates and high tech machines. Just one old shack with some very frantic attendants trying to keep up with a large stream of cars. They have one register and one credit card machine and 20 – 30 cars waiting to get in. We pay and park and get on our bus to take us to the airport. We must have been some of the earliest customers because there were maybe 100 cars in a lot that might fit 1000+. It turns out that we park at stop #3. The first 2 didn’t have any cars near them so we were the 1^st ones on. Actually the lot was pretty full from our spot to the end so 99% of the people waiting got on at our stop. I am not really sure what our driver was thinking but he pretty much stopped at the next 8 stops in a row with zero people waiting at them at proceeded to wait at each stop for 5 minutes. It was like some kind of cruel joke or something! I thing the 2 buses behind us passed us while we were waiting. At one point I looked out the window and there wasn’t a car within 600 yards of us but our driver was standing outside the bus waiting for anyone to park in our vicinity.

We finally get to the airport and check in our bags within 10 minutes of us getting there. We go to the security check and it is a zoo! I think I read in Newsweek that Denver is in the top 10 worst airports to fly out of as far as waits are concerned. I have no idea why. They seem to move along efficiently but there must be a larger volume then people to work the lines or something. On this particular day there was a boy scout camp that had ended in Colorado. Somewhere in the mountains of Colorado thousands of boy scouts must have gathered to do boy scout things (I gave up after cub scouts so I don’t really know what they do?) So 50% of the kids in front of us (90% of the 50 right in front of us in line) are boy scouts. Now what does every good boy scout have with him????? That’s right!!! A KNIFE!!! That meant that the 40 people in front of us got their bags screened 3 times along with full body searches. I can’t even tell you how long we were in line but it seemed like 2 hours.

At this point I am getting a little nervous about missing our boarding. We get through and end up at our gate right at our boarding time of 2:40 or something. As we pull up there seems to be a slightly panicked feel to the crowd and then I hear the dreaded words, “I think our flight is cancelled!” I think I immediately freaked out but a minute late a lady with the premier club status says we are okay because our plane is broken and they are fixing it and we are scheduled to take off at 4:00 instead of 3:00. Praise the Lord!! Well, at 3:30 they switch it to 4:00 and at 4:00 they switch it to 6:00. Now at this point we are in trouble because we have already missed our connecting flight to Rochester. I wait in a 20 minute line for some annoying and irritated lady to ask me where I was going. Once I told her she gave an annoying look, tore off a piece of paper and told me to call the number. Now, wouldn’t it have been a little easier to walk the line and give anyone with a connecting flight a piece of paper with a number? Anyway, we call it and they tell us that we are going to miss our flight to Rochester and need to rebook it and of coarse all of the morning and early afternoon flights are sold out. Kim loses it and takes the phone out of my hands and takes charge. At my request she books her and Morhéa on a 7:45AM flight to Syracuse and I agree to fly a 2:00 PM flight to Rochester (Dad has a spare car and Carolyn had a spare car seat so I needed both but Syracuse was the first leg of the trip). Problem #1 solved!

We wait there until 5:30 and they push our flight back to 7:00PM. Northwest is right across the terminal from us and their flight had trouble and they were delayed a little more then an hour and they gave everyone food vouchers while they waited. American Airlines didn’t give anyone anything. The entire time we can see our plane on the tarmac being fixed. 7:00 roles around and they push it to 8:30PM. Now this stinks because at 8:30 we were supposed to be landing in Rochester and we haven’t gotten off the ground in Denver. Morhéa was a saint. She played in DIA for 6+ hours and hadn’t lost it. We finally get off the ground (by the way our plane has been sitting on the gound for 7 hours now and it is about 110 degrees in the cabin.) and think Morhéa will pass out but the entire time we spent in the airport we promised her that we could watch Shrek once we took off. (Another side note – the pilot informs us that the problem with the aircraft was that the hydraulics were shot and they had to replace them! Seems like something they may want to test out before they pack it with people. He also tells us this just after takeoff!) So as soon as we got airborne she wanted Shrek. We ask the stewardess for a pillow. She tells us that American airlines had to cut out pillows! Are you kidding me! Whatever! We try to recline Mrohéa’s seat and it is broken and won’t go back. Two hours later she is still awake and slightly moody. We put her in her seat for landing and she starts freaking out. About 100 yards off the ground I can’t handle it and take her out and hold her for the landing. As soon as the wheels touch the ground she passes out cold!! Kim and I passed her between us as we were getting off and her head was rolling around like it wasn’t connected. She didn’t wake up once.

We get off the plane at 12:30AM and get in a line of 30 people that are waiting for a hotel. I get the bags and Kim gets us a room. As I am waiting for her I hear people talk about the Holliday Inn they put them in which it a 20 minute shuttle ride away. This can’t be happening!!! Then we catch our 1^st break of the day. They feel a little bit bad for us and ended up giving us a room in the hotel in the airport! Sweeeet! We are in our room within 20 minutes. We check-in, get our room, they bring us bed for #1. I decide we have earned a beer and venture down to the bar on the 1^st floor. I order 2 Corona’s. The bartender tells me he can only serve 1 drink per person at a time. GREAT! I order one Corona and give him a $20. He returns with my 1 beer and $11. Did I just pay $9 for a Corona!!! I bring my lonely beer up to the room and sadly offer half of it to Kim who just looks at me with a look of amazement and says I can have it. I drink my beer in a mostly dark room and have to laugh because we probably could have made it to Djibouti or something by now and I am still in Chicago on the 1^st day of our trip. Tomorrow has to be better right??

Morhéa's 1st haircut and Cirque du Soleil

So after:

2 years, 2 months, 20 days, 7 hours and 56 minutes

Or

811 days, 7 hours and 56 minutes

Or

~19,472 hours

Or

1,168,316 minutes

Or

70,098,960 seconds

Morhéa has had her first haircut!!! We went to this little shop in Cherry Creek called LolliLocks which is a kids only salon. It is in a cute little old house in Cherry Creek. They did a wonderful job. We have been hyping up the haircut all week with Morhéa. By Friday she was telling everyone she was going to go the LolliLocks for a haircut, then she was getting a lollipop, followed by Starbucks (she gets a special Starbucks Milk which she calls her coffee.). The day before we went they called to remind us about our appointment and mentioned that with a kids first haircut that it is sometimes better not to talk about it and just let it happen or else the kids might freak out. To late for that one!

We got there and it was pretty cool. You walk into this house and they have tons of hair clips, hair products, jewelry, beauty kits and they are all for kids. Actually they were all very girlie but there were some boys there getting their hair cut as well. The next room had the hair cutting stations. Two of the stations had an elephant and a dragon where the kids would sit and get the haircuts. The other two chairs were regular chairs with big cushions where the older kids could sit. The back room had some beanbags for the kids to sit on and they had Shrek playing.

After waiting a few minutes it was Morhéa’s turn. I think Kim and I were a little nervous that she would freak out. Morhéa hasn’t sat still for more then 1 minute in her life! Both her and her stylist were great. Her stylist gave her a little toy to play with to get her to keep still but she really didn’t need it. She was actually pretty excited to get her haircut. Other then looking over to smile at us she sat there the entire time and even held still when she was asked to. It was a great experience. Morhéa’s hair isn’t long by any means but it did need a little style so we all agreed on a bob! I didn’t think she could get much cuter but I was wrong. She looks even more beautiful with her new haircut. They finished it off with a little hairclip and some spray on sparkles. We got the “1^st haircut special” which also came with a few locks of hair and her picture on a certificate. Overall, $20 well spent!

We got a lollipop afterwards and then walked over to Starbucks for 1 coffee (for Mom), 1 milk (Morhéa’s coffee) and 1 purple mineral water because Dad hates coffee (unless I am in Kona, Hawaii). Then we played at a nearby park for while before going home.

A busy weekend for us all though. We had the haircut Saturday morning, a birthday party Saturday afternoon, Kim and I went to Cirque du Soleil Saturday night and then

another birthday party this afternoon.

Kim and I went to Cirque du Soleil (Corteo) last night. Lots of drama leading up to it. When we asked our babysitter about it a few weeks ago she mentioned that she had to work yesterday at The Nationals (a very big national drag racing event in the foothills). She said that she had to work until 4 or 5 and that would end her 8 hour shift and she should be able to come over after that but warned us that it was the biggest event at her work of the year but hopefully they wouldn’t make her stay later. The show started at 8:00PM but we had VIP (Tapis Rouge) tickets that allowed us to get there at 7:00 PM for the evenings festivities. At first we asked her to come over at 5:00 but decided there was no point in having her come over until 6:00. So around 5 we called her to tell her she could relax until 6 but nobody was home so we left a message. This got us a little worried though because nobody answered and we didn’t have her cell number. So of coarse 6 rolls around and no babysitter. 6:15 and nothing! Now Kim is freaking out and I am disappointed seeing how this was our first date night in a LONG time! Our backups weren’t really an option buy now. The grandparents all live in NY, the Aunts and Uncles live in NY and Chicago, cousins are (hopefully) having a good time in the mountains this weekend, our backup babysitting drove by the house as we were freaking out and since the show gets over at 10:30 and we wouldn’t be able to get home until 11:00 PM at the earliest bringing Morhéa to a friends house wasn’t really an option. The tickets were quite expensive and I had printed tickets which are hard to sell so we decided that Kim and Morhéa would go and I would stay home and we would try and have date night another night. Just as they were about to leave our babysitter’s mother called and said that she would come over until her daughter got home from work. I think we were all a little embarrassed because we said sure which was odd because the mother (and as it turns out the 2 younger daughters) came over to watch Morhéa. I am sure she didn’t feel too comfortable having to cover for her daughter as well. Anyway, it worked out great! Morhéa loves all 3 of the sisters so she got to play with all of them by the end of the night. We got lucky and ended up making it on time.

With our tickets we got to go to a private party in the Tapis Rouge tent that included hors d’oeuvres, wine, martini’s, beer and a chance to see some art and buy stuff from Cirque du Soleil. That was followed by watching the show from our second row seats. We had the end of the row which was perfect for me. There wasn’t anyone in front of me so I got to stretch my feet out the entire time. I was a little nervous though because the set of 3 stairs leading up to the stage was right next to me and I know that they so little skits with crowd participation. Sure enough the second we sit down a skit starts and they park this coffin right next to me. The first clown comes down and shakes my hand and then the lady with him starts talking to me. Fortunately, it didn’t go much past that! At halftime we got to go back to our special tent for more Champagne/Martini’s along with chocolate covered strawberries and different cakes. We also had our own private bathrooms for those of us with Tapis Rouge tickets. If you have never seen a Cirque du Soleil show you must go. It is truly amazing what these people can do. I have seen 2 or 3 of them and have been impressed with all of them. This one wasn’t as good as the others but it was still VERY impressive (especially from the second row).

Boyfriends!!

So, it looks like I already have to keep my eye on 2 boys these days (not to mention Jack when he comes to town). Today was boyfriend day. First, Mom and Morhéa partied with boyfriend #1 named Mateo! They went to a water park and our little fish was fearless. Going down the water slides by herself and jumping into the pool without any fear. Observe the lunchtime date on the lounge chair. Also, notice Morhéa's baby that she takes care of these days sitting behind her.The second party was a gathering of force with the Hoefen, Abrams and O'Dougherty families! There were kids everywhere. Kim let me play washers with the boys and was very nice to me. Ricky made chicken that was actually cooked this time and it was very good!! I think washers was ruled by me as usual. The funniest was the Abrams son, Trey who is a little younger then Morhéa. Let's see, there was a fight, some biting, some shooting each other with squirt guns, some tackling in the trampoline, some push, some playing and of coarse some KISSING!!

I'm watching you Trey :) !! They were very cute though. Morhéa asked Dano if she could marry Trey. Okay folks!! She is 2! All of the 1 - 4 year olds need to back off.

Morhéa's loving and protective father,

Todd

Supermom, Rhéa updates and the 4th!

Congrats to Supermom again! This time for doing her first Olympic distance triathlon. She did the Loveland Lake to Lake Triathlon (1.5K swim, 30 mile biking and a 10K run). As usual we are very proud of her. Interestingly, this is just a warm up for the August 2007 EAS 5430 Long Course Triathlon. This one is a half Iron Man (1.2 mile swim, 56 miles biking and 13.1 mile run).

What else? I will catch you up on Morhéa’s past week. We will start with a photo from last month that we really enjoyed. It is of Morhéa dancing at Patrick and Jeannie’s wedding. She had a blast there and we are really glad that they were nice enough to let Morhéa be a part of their special day.

Then we move onto Splash day at school. Every Thursday afternoon the kids dress in everything from swim suits to bare butts. It is pretty funny. They turn on all of the sprinklers and let them go at it. It is around 100 degrees these days here so the water is a welcome relief whether you know it or not. Morhéa loves water of all kinds.

A few weeks ago we went to “La Piazza dell’Arte” in Larimer Square downtown. This was a pretty cool art show where artists and students transformed Larimer Square into a street museum. Anything from general artwork to famous painting were drawn on the sidewalks for everyone to enjoy.

Morhéa also loves her Splash Park near where we live. They have lots of activities for the kids to enjoy and most of them are very shallow which limits the chance of injury. Her and her friends love to play there.

Lastly, the 4^th of July!!! Our party started on the 3^rd. We wanted to take Morhéa to somewhere where she would have a good time. We took her to the Heritage Square near our house. It is a nice old school museum/activity place for the kids. It wasn’t really what I expected. Beer tents and loud music plus all of the rides. We ended up riding on the train around the park and then on a few others before standing in a very long line for 1 hot dog, 1 elk Braut, 1 small nachos and some drinks. Got those and headed out to the parking lot for the fireworks. This year Morhéa understood what was going on and didn’t like the noise so much. She loved the fireworks minus the noise. We ended up watching them with some friends in the car and everything went better.

The next morning we got up and went to the Lyons Park 4^th of July party in Golden sponsored by the Lions Club. It was really fun. They had free blow-up jumpy houses to bounce around in for Morhéa, a free jungle gym, mimi-golf, music, food and beer at 10 AM. We spent the better part of the morning plus part of the afternoon there. Went home for a nap and then started cooking dinner for the family. The neighbors around the corner started shooting off fireworks around 4:00PM and didn’t end until around 11:00 PM. Most of their spent cartridges ended up in our yard. We ate dinner on the deck and you could here rocket parts falling through the trees everywhere. None exploded in the yard or else I would of have to bust out some Todd on them. Again, Morhéa got scared with all of the big booms. So we decided to watch the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular on TV. I have seen a lot of fireworks in my day but the Boston ones were pretty cool. Since they weren’t as loud Morhéa loved them and we watched most of them. Then waited until the neighbors cooled off and finally got her into bed around 10-10:30.

I will say that Colorado has got nothin’ in upstate, NY. Come down to my cousins place on Lake Ontario and you will experience some of the best food and entertainment ever. Things haven’t changed on ounce from the first 4^th I can remember. (minus the fact my brother and I no longer wear matching swim suits.) The food is the same: white hot dogs, Dad’s German Potato Salad, wilted cabbage salad, macaroni salad, regular potato salad, red hots, hamburgers, jello salad, Kitt’s meat hot sauce and the list goes on. Washers, which has become a very popular game around these parts. Fireworks in every direction. Fireworks are illegal in NY but that doesn’t stop us New Yorker’s from driving 3-4 hours to Pennsylvania to buy real fireworks. The result is truly amazing. Think the Rockies fireworks show in every direction for miles and miles. Bonfires that start with wood 20 feet high and then when lit double their height. One of the best time you will every have. I missed every minute this year!! We will be back next year for sure though!!

T

P.S. – Dad and Carolyn are headed to Alaska for a few weeks for a trip of their lifetimes!! Have fun kids!