Denver, Part Deux

Evans, CO

What a great day we've had today! I sure have enjoyed spending so much time with Robert and the kids. 24/7 for the past two weeks... of course we've had our moments, but over all it has been such a blessing.

Today's venture into Denver was much easier than Tuesday's. Everything went much smoother this time. We made it from Evans to downtown in just over an hour. We were at a KP medical facility this time for Robert's drug test. This was a really nice facility. The drug test, Ro said, was pretty weird - how security-minded they were and such - but they did the test while he waited. He passed, of course!

After that we drove about 7 minutes to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. What a great museum! We explored a wonderful space exhibit, great wildlife displays, a health exhibit that featured the miracle of life, dinosaurs (although we had to debrief our kids after all the evolution "facts" they were fed, hehe), and more. We really had a great time here. We hope to come back sometime to see the IMAX film on the Titanic and the special Titanic exhibit that they're having through January.

We got back into Loveland and did some errands - bank, post office, house. We got the bid from the painter and scheduled that work to be done this weekend. The carpet guy and radon guy are scheduled for Tuesday, and the repair guy completed his work today. It's getting exciting. We are scheduling the POD to be delivered on Thursday but we'll probably crash there Wednesday night - at least the floors will be totally clean to sleep on!

Unfortunately I got one of my wonderful headaches this afternoon and C was feeling a little queasy again so we had to back out of our picnic plans with Jerry tonight. :( We were really disappointed, particularly because he's interested in geocaching, and hmmm... there just happen to be a few caches in the park where we were planning to picnic... :)

A couple of fun things on the way back to the hotel, though... Have you ever heard of redbox DVD rentals? This is the coolest thing. I think we saw the first one at a McD's in Utah. You can rent a DVD for $1/night and return it to any redbox location. Had we not just purchased several new DVDs for the trip, this would have been ideal. Anyway, we stopped at a McD's tonight near the hotel, and they had a redbox kiosk, so we rented Night at the Museum. We grabbed some dinner at KFC and came home and had dinner and a movie. It was the perfect movie after our day at the DMNS!

Okay, the second thing: Have you been to Kentucky Fried Chicken lately? They have this picnic deal, and it is so cool!* You not only get your chicken, biscuits, potatoes, gravy, and corn, but they package it all up in this reusable insulated tote with a tablecloth, paper plates, and napkins. It is so cute! The kids think I'm a dork, but this tote really made my day!!! I even told them I might use it as a purse. ;) If it were plaid, I would. hahahaha

(*Although I guess it could be a regional thing as the McD's menu out here is slightly different from CA.)

So I'm happy to report that C and I are feeling much better, G seems to have triumphed over her poo-poos, and her rash is slowly improving.

More Tidbits:

• There's a dog show in town. :) When we first made this reservation, we were told they were sold out for this weekend. Lately we've been noticing lots and lots of different breeds of dogs here, and when Ro went downstairs tonight the candy jar was replaced with a jar of doggie snacks saying "Welcome, Doggie Friends!"
• We originally were going to have to move out tomorrow for two nights, and then come back. We'd hoped to just move once but this hotel is about half the price (at the long-term rate) of anything in Loveland, so we'd decided to just come back, especially since they said they'd continue the cheap rate for us. Thankfully this morning they called us and said they had a cancellation, and we can stay through until we're ready to move into the house. I'm so glad, because being in a hotel this long, we have a LOT of stuff, and moving from hotel to hotel is no fun, not to mention it probably will save us $100 on the room rate alone.
• Another G thing - she's taken to smacking herself upside the head and saying, "Ow!" with pursed lips. That makes us all laugh, and she gets going faster and faster until she says "Ow!" before she hits herself. Pretty comical. She's still dancing (tonight the kids thought she was doing the robot), but she doesn't drop for her massages as often as she did, nor does she stick her finger in her nose really. I think those were special things she did just for Grandma.
• J slept with me last night. I woke up to see him standing on the bed, slightly crouched, as if he were ready to jump onto the other bed. I said, "J, are you dreaming?" He looked at me a little confused and nodded, then laid back down and went to sleep! Of course he didn't remember it at all this morning. :)
• C lost a tooth yesterday. :)
• J's black eye is almost gone.
• Kids were hoping to swim tonight but mosquitoes are a problem. :( As a matter of fact I went out a few days ago to clean out the car and got bit up. I've got several that are driving me nuts, and I had to go buy some hydrocortisone cream for the itching. I hate buying stuff we already have, but it was easier than trying to find it.

Prayer Needs:

• Guess what? They're not for me. :) I have several friends who are carrying precious little babies inside of them, and I'd like you to pray for them! My friend CC is due anyday; my friend SM is due in December I believe; MG is due in January I believe; and my friend-who-is-practically-my-sister KM is due in February! There isn't much of a greater blessing, to me, than a precious baby! I hate that I'm not near any of them now, but I hope to see them soon after they arrive.