Happy 2nd Birthday Dear Sydney

Today is Sydney's birthday! Happy birthday little Angel.

Yesterday we got all the preparations handled for the party, straightened up the house and baked the bone-shaped cookies and the "pupcakes."

Late in the afternoon, Nana took us all to see "Madagascar 2: Escape from Africa." The kids really enjoyed it (I liked it, but thought the 1st one was much better).

It snowed last night -- a LOT! But that didn't seem to dampen the fun for Sydney's b-day. Aunt Susu arrived around 1PM=ish and we were ready to receive our guests at 2pm.

Sydney had a blast -- her friends all got "doggy boxes" (with treats), bone-shaped cookies, headbands with dog ears on them and pupcakes. They played pin the tail on the doggy and it was sooooo cute. Sydney got some nice gifts, and I got all my thank-you notes written already.

Susu stayed for dinner (her cat allergies seem to be nearly disappeared!) and we had Thanksgiving leftovers, recreated into some interesting stuff (thank you, FoodNetwork.com).

Sydney had a great birthday, but Mom and Dad still can't believe she's already TWO!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Nana got into town yesterday (hooray!) and after I picked her up from the airport with the kids in tow, we had to run a few errands on the way home from the airport and also stopped for a late lunch at Sweet Tomatoes.

This morning we all walked the 5k "Rock Trot" which was lots of fun, good exercise (a few uphills legs!) and funds all went to support a great cause (the Douglas County Task Force).

We had our dinner around 2PM and it was deeeee-lish! Yum yum. Brining the turkey really makes a huge difference!

Tomorrow is all about preparation for Sydney's b-day party...

Starlighting in Castle Rock

Last night was the annual Starlighting event in Castle Rock -- one of the longest running town traditions anywhere in the U.S. (73 years!)

We met up with some friends, enjoyed hot cocoa, Christmas carolers, the lighting of the star atop Castle Rock, bought the kids some very cool fiber optics light wands, and watched some stunning fireworks.

Sydney was enthralled by the fireworks. She was "oooh"ing and "aaah"ing, laughing and pointing and watching with wonder and amazement.

So fun! Then we went out to dinner at the Rockyard with some friends -- good thing we had made a reservation, some of our friends were also there, and they wound up waiting 45 mins for their table -- yikes!

It was a great evening and we look forward to seeing the lighted star every night from now through January.

We Felt Like Royalty At "The Duchess"

It's been a great week -- Daddy sang "Seasons of Love" at church with "Spirit" on Sunday, we skiied on Wednesday while Sally enjoyed an extended day at school, and last night the kids got to play at MyGym during the Parents' Night Out event.

Meanwhile, while the kids were bouncing, singing and eating pizza, Mommy and Daddy went out for an extraordinary moviegoing experience.

We heard about a new theater: Landmark Theater in Greenwood Village.

So what's so great about a movie theater? THIS theater is special -- truly the way movies were meant to be enjoyed.

We purchased our tickets online (the only film showing at the time that worked for our schedule was "The Duchess" and while I had low expectations, I absolutely LOVED it. I laughed, I cried, and the biggest compliment to the film is that Andy actually stayed awake and alert throughout the entire film. Can't recall the last period piece I could say that about!) Prepurchasing tickets which was pretty normal for us, but when we arrived at the theater (gorgeous, by the way, and plenty of very close parking available in a garage which was great because it was REALLY cold last night)...

... we asked for the "VIP treatment."

Now THAT'S what I'm talking about!

It was only a few bucks more, and after being adorned with a VIP pass on a lanyard that kind of reminded me of a back stage pass for a concert, here's what we got:

+ special reserved seating in the front 2 rows (not the neck-cramp section -- the front of the main part of the theater)

+ had there been a line (we were there pretty early, because of the timing of the Parents' Nite Out event where we dropped off the kids) we would have skipped the line entirely with our VIP status

+ oversized leather chairs, paired in twos for cuddle-ability, and they REALLY recline (not that pseudo-recline most theater chairs have, where you've got to throw all your weight back just to budge an inch)

+ personal wait staff service -- yeah, you heard me right -- they bring popcorn and sodas directly to your seat -- and these were included in the purchase price of our tickets (with unlimited refills of both)...and without having to walk a half-mile to wait in line to get a refill

+ expanded menu -- our server brought us a menu that included gourmet snacks (I have no idea what I actually ate because it came while the theater was dark, but it tasted like pistachios, pepitas, golden raisins and some other stuff in a crispy honey-wasabi coating), sandwiches, desserts, pizza, etc. YUM! Andy ordered empanadas and cheesecake and since I'm off wheat at the moment, I ordered a bratwurst without the bun. Andy also ordered some kind of imported chocolate that was very decadent.

+ a wine list. Hell yeah!!! Why not have a beer or a glass of wine while you enjoy the movie? and brought right to your seat, no less! And the folks next to us ordered a bottle and 2 glasses. Hmmmm, that's a thought for next time.

By the time the movie started, I was already feeling so pampered and relaxed, the movie could have totally sucked and I still wouldn't have cared. Hey, as far back as the seats reclined, I could have slept well if I didn't like the flick.

But I DID love the film, and this only enhanced the experience.

Can you guess where our new movie theater is?

Sally's First Theatre Outing

Last night we took Sally to see her very first play: Guys and Dolls.

It was a high school production in Monument, CO, and we figured it was a safe bet for a first theatre outing.

Sally got a new dress and got to pack some special candy and treats in her Tinkerbell handbag and we got a sitter for Sydney so it was just Sally's special night with Mommy and Daddy.

She loved it -- even though parts were kind of hard for her to follow (how do you explain gambling to a 4 year old?) and parts of it were slow (we forgot how many gaps there are between songs in this particular musical) but she loved it anyway.

She especially loved the song "Luck Be a Lady Tonight" and she liked all the dancing.

It got kind of hard for her to stay awake near the end (as it ran quite long, what with intermission and all) but she sat on Daddy's lap and stood to clap at the end. (And slept in the car on the way home.)

What fun! I look forward to taking her to many more plays in the coming months and years.

Update on Sydney & Sally

Sydney is stringing together longer and longer sentences (stuff like "Mommy, look up here" or "it's over there" or "where kitty go?") and climbing up a storm. Is it too soon to teach her to fold laundry?

She is also doing quite well with her potty training, although she still hasn't pooped on the potty yet. Although something may be getting lost in the translation, because yesterday she didn't poop in her pants, but rather, took off her pants and pooped on the floor. Sally witnessed the whole thing and was struck speechless (that in and of itself is nearly as shocking as Syd pooping on the floor!) But I think we cleared up that little matter and we are hoping and praying for her to poop on the potty any time now. Today she kept her pants dry nearly ALL DAY and peed on the potty almost every time. Wonderful!!

Miss Sally is waxing a bit wicked lately. Tuesday, I told the girls to stop playing with the door -- they like to take turns "locking" each other out of my office by shutting the french doors. After putting them each in time out more than once for playing with the doors, I caught Sally whispering to Sydney (you know, at this age, it's more of a stage whisper) "shut the door" and so Sally got into big trouble for that.

Later that evening, she and Syd were eating dinner while I was putting dishes away, and I heard Sally tell Sydney to take a sip of her juice and then spit it out through her mouth.

Good thing Syd's no dummy! Naturally, she didn't fall for it. And Sally got a stern talking to.

Do parents with boys have to deal with any of this crap?

We are also preparing for Sydney's 2nd b-day party. Nana is coming in town for the whole week (Thanksgiving time) and Susu is planning to fly in just for an overnight to be here for the party. Fun times!

Happy Birthday Dear Mommy...

November 9 came and went, and I celebrated all weekend long. Matter of fact, I'm still getting presents, which is very cool.

I mentioned a perfume I liked (Notorious by Calvin Klein) and Pooky took the hint and snatched up a bottle for me. Lots of beautiful hand-made gifts from friends, and a bunch of us went out to dinner on Saturday night at the new place-to-be restaurant in Castle Rock called Uniscali (owned by the same folks who run our other fave place here -- Union Bistro).

Today we picked up Sydney's prize package from the costume contest -- pix from the local upscale photography studio. Too cute!