We landed on the moon!

A few weeks ago my little family packed up the car and headed for the Rockies.  When I say packed up the car, I mean stroller, booster, 3 suitcases, 2 coolers, a baby, a Samsonite briefcase, a bird named Petey and the kitchen sink.  If you travel with kids, you know what I mean.  However, I still lurch at the idea of buying a minivan so we will just settle for not being able to see out the back window of the ole' CRV.

We stayed in Estes Park which is home to the Stanley Hotel.  I have to tell you that going to the hotel was what I most looked forward to as well as my favorite part of the trip.  Grant and I had so much fun taking a Haunted History Ghost Tour.  Our tour guide explained how the hotel {which is still serving guests} is haunted and was the inspiration for a little movie called The Shining!  If you haven't seen it, get it immediately.  It is one of my favorites and as my childhood friend Emily and my adulthood friend Ann can attest to, I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE scary movies!  I was disappointed to learn that the major motion picture was not actually filmed at the hotel, however it was the inspiration for the movie Stephen King's version was filmed at the SH. 



Ah, just looking at this makes me want to rent it right now!  If you have seen it, you may be interested to know that this little number was a picture I took with the flash on at the end of a dark staircase leading up to the hotel's bell tower.  Read it carefully.  Freaky huh?

Also, I did have a ghostly experience in what used to be the children's wing of the hotel.  I won't go into it now, but I'd love to tell you about it over some cosmo's.  Call me.

Another unknown fact to me until I got there was that Dumb and Dumber was filmed at the Stanley Hotel as well.  Please enjoy clips from the movie and how they are oddly similar to the places we hung before the tour began.

Movie version:

Our version:

Movie's view:

Our view:

Movie:

Us:

Last, but certainly not least.  We had a chance to meet up with great friends who also happen to be Everett's future in-laws.  My friend Krystl sucked it up through car sickness to drive through the mountains to eat dinner with us.  Please enjoy our baby's first real date and the genius that is the iPad.  Thank you iPad for giving the adults some time to catch up.  Thank you friends for taking the time to visit us.  I am more jealous than you will ever know that you live in Fort Collins {my favorite place on the planet}.  Like your perfect little genius adorable family needed to get anymore perfect!  I still love you guys very much and miss you even more!

Look Who We Met!

Last week the head coach at ONW asked me to come up and pick up our STATE CHAMPION (you know I had to plug it one more time) shirts.  He also said Cole Aldrich was running his summer basketball camp in the gym so I should bring E up to meet him and Tyrel Reed.  Uh, no prob!  So here is basically how my morning went...

8:15- I knew the camp started at 9:00, so I had to be out of the house by 8:35 at the latest in order to possibly catch the guys before camp started.

8:20- Put E in his KU Basketball gear (of course!) and hand him a container of Cheerios for breakfast on the go.  I know, I am such a great mom.  Oops.

8:35- We are out the door and on our way

8:50- I am seriously sweating because of #1 the heat, it is like 1,000 degrees in Kansas City right now and #2 I didn't pay the $150 for this camp.  Yes, you read that correctly.  I don't know if they will let me take pictures of the players let alone the players with my kid!

The rest of the story goes as follows...

I walk into the commons of ONW and see Cole and Tyrel sitting at a table selling camp t-shirts and signing a few things for kids who, you know, actually paid to be there.  I think to myself, "I just can't walk up there.  I will look like such a weirdo.  I will just go back to the weight room, get my t-shirts and be on my merry way.  At least I got to see them up close and personal.  That's good enough".  As I am walking away I hear a lady ask if she can take her son's picture with the boys.  Ok, here's my chance!  I back that train up in reverse and do the same thing.  Who can resist a one year old with a KU t-shirt on?  I mean, please. 

I first ask Tyrel is very nicely agrees and tries to get Everett to smile at him.  No luck.  Everett is hanging onto me like a monkey.  I say, "Don't worry about it, you can hold him," as I seriously pry Everett off my hip and basically throw him at Tyrel.  Then Cole walks up behind him and grabs Everett out of Tyrel's hands.  Now Everett hears all the boys in the gym dribbling so he is screaming, I mean screaming, "B Ball!  B Ball!" and pointing wide eyed at all the kids.  Cole says to him, "You're gonna play basketball!  You're a stud!" OH-EM-GEE, I kid you not.  You can see in the picture that Cole is facing a different direction because Everett was basically trying to claw his way over Cole's shoulder to see the boys playing basketball.  I love it!  Everett is starting a little collection of KU pictures and his parent's could not be prouder.