June 2005 Archives

I know, I know, we came back like more than a week ago, but we've been busy. I posted a PARTIAL album of our trip to Denver. It doesn't have Pike's Peak or some of the other fun stuff in it, but it does have some good pics. It is broken up into three sections: the visit to Dinosaur Ridge (and Red Rocks), the aquarium, and the zoo. Take a gander and I promise there will be more to come as soon as the little man's 1st birthday is over. Right now we are busily preparing for a real blowout. I hope to see you all there!

In case you're lazy, here's a direct link to the new photo albums.

Last month, Dad was telling me how he needed another adult to help him take the Boy Scouts to Camp. He even offered to pay my way. That was definitely an offer I couldn't refuse. Will Rogers Scout Reservation has been a place near and dear to my heart for many years. I attended Cub Day Camp a few years and Boy Scout Camp even more. My very first job was as a summer camp staffer way back in 1992.

--Dream Sequence--
I remember being quite pumped to find out that I was being paid the MASSIVE sum of $45 a week (plus room and board) to help shape the minds of young Boy Scouts. I taught Mammals and Reptile Study merit badges (even though I refused to pick up any of the snakes) at the first stop on the nature trail. My tent mate was Ricky and we had a totally happening front porch on our tent that we hung out on every spare moment. Our tent was pretty popular because Ricky had brought his SuperNES and John Madden Football (91 edition). There were many a game decided on the last play by a long Montana to Rice TD pass or an amazing Thurman Thomas 90 yard scamper.
--End Dream Sequence--

I'm quite anxious to see how much the camp has changed in the 10 or so years that I've been away. It's gonna be hot, but luckily, the swimming pool and boat pond figure into a lot of my plans. Prior obligations keep me from staying the whole week (a blessing, I'm sure) but if you can't get ahold of me for the next 3 or 4 days, then you can rest assured that I am out there, roughin' it like my Squatch ancestors. Pray for me, I'm a little rusty!

We were driving around today and Myra was entertaining the little man in the backseat with her fancy pink pom-poms. Too bad we don't have a video of this, because there were some seriously funny chortle-snorts coming out of Noah.

There are all kinds of fun things to play with at Grandma's house. Noah has discovered how much fun it is to play with Toni's cat Patster, who doesn't really appreciate all the attention that the little man gives her. Last night, she was hunting for...whatever cats hunt for in the back yard when suddenly she was pounced on by an uber-friendly Noah. Thank goodness she's de-clawed!

Yesterday we loaded up the family-mobile and headed down to Colorado Springs for a little trip down memory lane. Chris and I spent our honeymoon in the shadow of Pike's Peak 5 years ago. It was nice to go back and see it all again. It was a beautiful day to go mountain climbing with just a few thin clouds in the sky. We took our time driving the 19 miles to the summit, stopping and looking around at the great views as well as squishing a few pennies--more on that later--along the way. This first picture was taken at Crystal Reservoir which sits about 5000 feet below (and 13 miles away from) the summit. The water was ice cold and there were quite a few people fishing in the lake.

It was nice to see that they were expecting me, so I posed for some pictures for the tourists before we went on.

As we went higher and higher, we felt the temperature drop dramatically and our ears began to pop. We kept feeding Noah crackers and milk to help him with the changes. Myra was very anxious to see snow and the mountain didn't disapoint once we got above the treeline. I was beginning to feel light-headed about the time we reached the summit. I don't remember the lack of oxygen affecting me this bad the last time. The Cog Train was there when we arrived, so the gift shop was overrun, but they left shortly thereafter and gave us space to enjoy this beautiful place in relative peace and quiet.

We've got a ton more pics from this day-trip and we'll post them in album form as soon as we get home. Today, we're off to the Butterfly Pavillion!

Yesterday, Great Grandma took us to the Denver Zoo. We saw all the animals and even caught a couple shows. The first show was a sea lion feeding with a few tricks mixed in. You wouldn't believe how fast those things can move or how high they can jump. You also wouldn't believe how much one particular sea lion can eat. Everyone, meet Hannah the 23 year old California Sea Lion...

We also met Brittany and Dolly the Elephants. Honestly, their show wasn't as exciting as the sea lions so we didn't stick around for all of it. Not to mention, by that time, Myra was dead set on seeing a monkey. I guess it's a good thing she moved us along, too. After finally visiting the monkeys and riding the safari marry-go-round...

...it started to sprinkle with lots of thunder. It was off to the gift shop and then back to Great Grandma's for a snack and a surprise. Look what we found hanging in a collage of Uncle Bob pictures...

It turns out we have a "Little Billy Bob".

Well, it's off to the store. We're cooking Jerk Chicken tonight for the family. Be sure to check back for more "Davis Colorado Adventures".

Well, we finally made it up here and we've been so busy "doing Denver" that we haven't had a chance to post, so here's an update. We've really been enjoying the weather here. It rained and hailed a little the first day we got here, but since then it has been beautiful. On Sunday we went to Ocean Journey, Denver's aquarium. It was really nice, but was under heavy construction when we were there. We saw all kinds of tropical fish, rays, and a couple of moray eels, but the best thing to watch was the divers! The kids really loved playing with the Scuba Steves that were cleaning up the tank.

After the aquarium we visited Great Grandma Irene and Chris's cousin Erica. She has a pretty swingin' pad out on the east side of Denver. We went for a walk on their hiking trail which we later found out went almost 100 miles from Greeley down south to Colorado Springs. It kinda put the Trinity River trails in Fort Worth to shame.

Today we headed out into the mountains to find Dinosaur Ridge. This is where some important dino skeletons and tracks were found way back in the 1800's. It's a neat little museum that is located on the side of a small mountain. You can drive (or hike or even bike) up it to the various exhibits. There are fossils, footprints and some great views. One side of the mountain looks over the world famous Red Rocks Amphitheater, site of one of the best live albums EVER, Dave Matthews Band Live at Red Rocks. Here's a little tease from Dino Ridge:

There are lots more pics to come, but I'm going to wait until we get home to post them in album form since I'm having to do this over dialup. Keep checking back because we have a big week planned!

Uncle Ricky took a couple of nice pictures of Daddy and Noah in the pool yesterday. The Davis' flight school involves the very dangerous "rocket maneuver". (Beat that Godes!) As you can see, Noah is having a ball!

This first one is a glamour shot of Chris taken way back in the Fall of 1996. Lookin' good eh? The second one is of Anna and I that was taken in the Spring of 2000 at my wedding shower. (Christina didn't think I'd remember that!) Check out my unruly hair. I used to think it made me look like George Clooney.

Just a quick post to show everyone my new mountain bike! I got it at Wally World for 99 bucks and so far, I'm loving it. I just took it out for the first real ride this morning and it shifted smooth and rode very well. I do need to adjust the seat and rear brake though. I may have to consult Kiko, the bike guru on that. Anyway, I'm hoping this thing helps motivate me to start exercising and melt away a few more pounds. Behold, in all its glory! My Mongoose DXR!

--UPDATE-- Myra and I went to the local school parking lot to ride our bikes together this afternoon. She said that my bike was missing something so she gave me a little bird off of her bike. Even though it's pink, it's still my favorite part of the bike!

It's been a while since I've posted to this blog for real so I thought I'd toss my two cents in. Today we are going to Lauren's 5th birthday party at the Main Event. Lauren is one of the girls from Ms. Debbie's house and Myra is really pumped about going. So are we. It's a lot of fun to watch Myra interact with all the little girls her age (even though they're a little bit older). It's kind of like a sneak peek at watching her at preschool.

Noah has been feeling kind of sick lately. His appetite is down, he has a nasty diaper rash, and he was running a fever last night. We think it might be another yeast infection. We put the athlete's foot med on him last night and he's looking better, but he still eats reluctantly. This is the total opposite of normal Noah, the human garbage disposal. I know he's going to love all of the attention and fun at the big party today, too.

In less than a week, we'll be heading to Denver to see Grandma Irons and the rest of the Colorado gang. I'm looking forward to hanging out up there and maybe doing some hiking up in those beautiful Rocky Mountains. I know Grandma Kat and Great Grandma Irene are excited about playing with the little ones.

In other news, I'm ALMOST finished with my first "professional" website. It's taken me over a month off and on and I'm very excited to see how great it came together. So far, my client seems to like it a lot, too, and that's always a plus! The best part was actually seeing a check for doing stuff that I consider fun! I'm hoping that this leads to more jobs as a designer because I enjoy doing it and learned a lot from this project. I'll post the URL once we launch so you all can check it out.

Update From Mommy Squatch:
Noah's appetite seems to have returned. They served pizza at the party (which was a BLAST) and Noah decided that he just couldn't pass up the chance to have almost an entire slice. We did, however, skip the cake. We didn't want to press our luck. So far, so good. I'm glad he's feeling better.