Our Weekend

Well, we had a pretty busy weekend once again. I was trying to figure out why we're so much busier out here than we ever were in LA and I think that I've got it figured out. First, we never wanted to do anything/go anywhere in LA because the traffic was so bad. Even on weekends. So, we'd get invited to things, or there would be fun activities going on for kids, but we didn't have any desire to sit in 2 + hours of traffic. Second, I always had paperwork, report cards, something that I had to do for work. My workload is so much less now. Teaching preschool has been such a breath of fresh air. I don't have homework to grade or worksheets to staple together. Our kids don't even do worksheets. And we don't do report cards for the preschoolers (actually none of the levels give report cards at my new school). I should take up a hobby with all my free time.

On Saturday we decided to visit the Denver Botanic Garden in Chatfield. Chatfield is about a 15 minute drive from where we live. There is a Denver Botanic Garden in Denver, but the Chatfield location was having their annual Pumpkin Festival. We thought it sounded great. One of E's little friends from ballet was going to meet us there with her parents. It potentialy could have been great, but everyone else in Colorado thought that it sounded great too. It was so, so crowded. Normally things out here don't get crowded, but this was LA-style crowded. The lines were very long for any of the activities. So, we only stayed for about an hour or so. E still had fun and it's nice that she had a playdate. By the way, if you want to view a picture larger, click on it.


E and Charlotte try out the cider press.


E eating popcorn from the popcorn hand that she made at the fest.


Having fun in the jumper maze.


E and Charlotte climbing the treehouse.


After the Pumpkin Fest, we came home to do yardwork (big surprise). Actually, our landscapers did such a nice job with our yard. I'm going to try to post some before/after pics of what they did. What we had to focus on was raking. I haven't raked or watched someone rake in a very long time. Probably since I was a kid. We had to do some of it this weekend. We have a big maple tree in our backyard that has been dropping it's leaves for the last couple of weeks or so. So, WS got out there and started raking. E decided to "help". She loves to do whatever we're doing.

Let the raking begin.


E got cold and decided to winterize herself.


Sunday was pretty low key. We had WS' parent over to watch the Broncos game. The guys grilled chicken for lunch. It was not a grilling day. The high was only upper 50s and it was rainy. The lunch turned out great. Still a good time even though the Broncos lost.
We turned on our fireplace for the first time. It's a gas burning one, but WS and his dad figured out how to light the pilot light. It was a perfect day to try out the fireplace. E loves fires and wanted to sit right next to it. The cool thing about our fireplace is that it's two-sided. You can enjoy it in the dining room/living room and the family room.