Snow Day

Once again Colorado's weather has come through and delivered cold and/or snow just in time for halloween. Yes, Mother Nature didn't let us down.

She delivered quite a good storm on Wednesday and Thursday. The Denver Metro Area got close to a foot and a half of snow although today only about two or three inches remain.

On Wednesday my Mom trekked down here to watch the kiddos, God bless her (thanks Dad for bringing her), but on Thursday I opted to work from home and watch the girls rather than waste prime working hours on a longer-than-normal commute that would have involved dropping them off up north before heading in to work. Working from home while watching the kids typically doesn't work so well... shocker, but I woke up Thursday morning, determined to make it work. Overall, the day was a success! I got a ton of work done and keeping the kids entertained required a lot less TV than I was afraid it would. They did a lot of crafts; mainly drawing and stickers.

Just before lunch, I got the girls bundled up for some time in the snow. Honestly, I probably spent more time getting them dressed for the snow than they spent playing in it. They had a great time and I was super excited that they could play out in our finished-this-summer side yard where they have a playhouse and could wander around without worrying about dog bombs lurking under the snow (Sophie's only allowed in the other yard). I cleared a little path across the patio so that they could easily get to the playhouse, and then they took care of the rest. They spent most of the time digging with shovels and passing snow through the playhouse window so that they could "cook" it for dinner. I also convinced them to follow me on a trek around the yard during which I led them through all the deepest snow drifts. All the while I snapped photos of them toiling through with their short little legs ;) They were real troopers.

After thoroughly exhausting them, we went in for chicken soup, mmmmmmm, and then they went down hard for some serious nap action. Then, it was back to work for me.

10 Years Together

Victoria Vivian and I have been together 10 years. Yes, October 8th marks our 10th Dating Anniversary.

Yes, yes, I said Dating Anniversary, but don't laugh yet because, in addition to the Dating Anniversary and the obvious Wedding Anniversary, we also celebrate our Engagement Anniversary (it's in February). So now that we've spilled our guts about the milestones we celebrate, go ahead and fire away ;)

I'm not sure how or why we threw the Engagement Anniversary in (Viv, help me out here), but I think we've always liked celebrating our first date because it lets us really acknowledge the great two-and-a-half years we spent together before getting married. Maybe this isn't that uncommon of a thing to celebrate. All you couples out there, sound off.

To bring it all back around, the main reason this is post-worthy is that it's 10 years. 10 years! That's a third of my life, and I'm excited by the fact that with each year the ratio of My-Life-Before-Vivian:My-Life-With-Vivian tips more and more in favor of the latter. In digging through our old photos to find the gems you see before you, the importance of this ratio really sunk in. I mean 10 years is a long time, but when it represent one third of the time that you've had to become who you are, it becomes obvious that our relationship is a big part of who we are. As we go forward this "we" is going to grow to be an even bigger part of me and Vivian, and I love that.

Disney World 2009

Brrrr... after a week in sunny Florida, this Colorado fall weather
is kind of brutal.  Yes, we paid Disney World another visit this year, but no 15K runs were on the agenda this time.  This was an end of summer vacation with the Pierz Family.  We always have an easy time hanging out.  Just call us Pierzarrios (think mash-up like Tomkat, Bennifer, or Brangelina).  The kids had a blast together as well.  The Marielle-Alex duo was in full affect, and Lila was thrilled with all girl power that was going on between her and our girls.  I think Harper and Lila are starting to become quite a duo as well.

With the economic downturn and all, Disney had some pretty compelling late-season deals available, so yay for us (that's a SYTYCD reference just for Sarah).

We stayed at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort.  This was the first time that we've stayed at an actual Disney Resort.  I would recommend it for the shuttle service alone.  despite the fact that some of the shuttle rides were kind of long, the frequency was way better than at other hotels we've stayed at; plus, not dealing with parking lots and trams was nice.  And resort guests get some other sweet perks like extended park hours.  Since Disney's not paying for this endorsement I'll stop there.

Despite the fact that we've been to Disney World several times (Marc = 5, Marielle = 3, Harper = 2, Vivian = ∞), and despite the fact that I'm always protesting going so frequently, I'm always excited about how much the kids love it.  Although age definitely plays a part in what the kids appreciate, without a doubt, there is something for kids of all ages.  This year Marielle definitely new what rides she really wanted to go on.  The Dumbo Ride was number one on her agenda with the carousel (actually, the girls referred to it as the "princess" carousel) as a close second.  After that, it was all of the remaining Fantasy Land rides like Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, and It's a Small World.  For Harper it was the Magic Kingdom, in its entirety, or bust.  No really, as far as she was concerned, Disney World began and ended with the Magic Kingdom.  Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and even the Animal Kingdom were all only pit stops on the way to "Disney World."

For us it was exciting to see Harper's reaction to everything.  She spent the entire journey through It's a Small World pointing out everything she could.  The whole time it was, "Look at that giraffe! Those guys are dancing!  I see some flowers!  Those flowers are shaped like hearts!  I like those heart flowers!"  She also wanted to interact with everything rather than just take it all in like last year.  She hugged every character she came across and wanted to participate in every show we went to.  She emphatically shouted out her name when a kid twenty feet away was asked his name.  It was hilarious.

For Marielle we were excited that she would be able to go on some of the "bigger" rides.  We ended up a little disappointed that in her petite-ness she was technically too short for the 40" minimum for most of those rides.  However, between us carrying her and her standing on her tip-toes when the park attendants checked her, she was able to get a few of the good rides under her belt.  She rode Soarin', Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, and Goofy's Barnstormer.  She was a little reluctant to ride Splash Mountain.  We walking by as one group was taking the plunge.

Marielle said, "I don't think I want to ride that."

I replied, with excitement, "Do you hear that, everyone is cheering!

To which she flatly replied, "they're not cheering, they're screaming..."

After applying the "you have to try it once" mantra that we use for tasting new foods, she gave it a try and loved it.  She was quite bummed that she couldn't go a second time because the park attendant at the head of the line picked up on her less-than-40-inch stature.