The Mantle Is Complete

From the dirt in Sig's back yard in Pecos, New Mexico, to superstardom above my fireplace - this hunk of wood has made the journey. It truly is a cinderella story.

What a Weekend!

So last weekend I was gifted the opportunity (by Megan) to have the kids all to myself for the weekend. Meg ran away from home on Friday afternoon to Winter Park for a girl’s scrap booking extravaganza. Little did she know, she was heading toward a April blizzard and spent the entire time inside while the snow kept falling. Meanwhile, back at the homestead, I employed a "cooperation through exhaustion" philosophy. We hit everything hard. The rest of Friday was spent playing in the yard. Saturday, we woke up to mild drizzle and decided it would be a great day for the zoo. We were right. All of the animals were enjoying the cool weather (aka not lying in the dirt). Lions were roaring while their teenage cubs sprinted across the landscape and tackled one another, peacocks pranced freely around the grounds with full feathers on display, the cats paced in their cages hungry for lunch, and all other animals one finds at the zoo seemed to be out to show off (except the penguins and the polar bears - they were boring - too hot, I suppose). So, after 3 hours of zoo time, we headed to Heidi's Deli for lunch. On the way, Garret spotted the Museum of Nature and Science and thought it would be a good idea to go see the Dinosaurs. So we grabbed our sandwiches, ate at City Park (after I shook Owen awake from the car ride) and headed in to the Museum. We pushed our way through so that we could get out in time for naps, jumped in the car, and headed home. I drove around so that naps would last longer, then we spent the afternoon in the backyard again. Funny, the boys didn't make a peep at bedtime. Neither did I. Sunday was spent at Garret's swim lessons and doing things around the house. While the boys played, I somehow managed to paint a few walls, install outdoor speakers, cut some crown molding for the family room, clean, wash windows, mow the lawn, and have a few beers. Meg came home on Sunday night and we are back to normal. What a weekend!