Month: June 2009

Moo Baa Lalala

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The knitting dork that I am, the thing that I was most excited about was that our trip to Estes Park coincided with the Annual Estes Park Wool Market.  A whole day of sheepy fun! When we got there, it was even cooler than I initially thought.  On the schedule was sheep judging, alpaca judging, a whole tent of paco-vicuñas, sheep shearing, and sheepdog herding!  And, of course, a whole tent of yarny goodness.

The boy communed with the sheep:

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We all watched, fascinated, with the sheep shearing:

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There was a children’s tent where you could try out a few different fiber arts.  The boy loved the spinning and the weaving, and did pretty good! He later saw a spinning wheel for sale and wanted me to buy it for him to take home.

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Then it was off to the paco-vicuñas.  I was so enthralled by these creatures I forgot to take a picture, so here’s  a stock shot of them (no pun intended).

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These critters are really cute in person, and make some very soft (and expensive, I might add) yarn.

Then the sheepdog demonstrations, in which we watched how they train a sheepdog to herd sheep, largely by watching a somewhat spastic dog run circles around a quartet of, well, sheepish sheep who obeyed his every command. It was amazing to watch the animals interact with each other and see creatures doing what they are meant to do.  (After hundreds of years of breeding and domesticity, that is.  If the creatures were in their wild form, I suppose the dog would have eaten the sheep.)

Then off to the yarn tent, where I purchased a hole in the head some amazing handspun and hand dyed one-of-a-kind yarn.  This time, I swear, there are projects attached to each piece.  I think.  I’ll take some pics and post them later.

That afternoon we went for another hike, this time to Fern Lake. Our number one hiker was in top form yet again.

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By the end of the hike he had lost a bit of weight, completing the journey shirtless and pack-less.

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In the middle of the hike he announced, as 3 year olds will, “Mommy, I have to go poopy.”  Note how he did not say, “Daddy, I have to go poopy.” After a bit of stalling, we realized he meant it and found a spot to go.  I will spare you the details, but suffice it to say that we only left footprints, and took only pictures. I will at some point use those pictures to either blackmail him or embarrass him at his wedding reception.

Today happened to be my birthday as well, and for the occasion the boy came up with a list of 10 things he loves about Mama.  I’ll leave you with that list.  Number 8 is my favorite:

1. Takes me to the Dinosaur Museum.

2. Takes me to the Art Museum.

3. Takes me to school.

4. Helps us clean up.

5. Makes us dinner.

6. Reads books to us.

7. Helps me spell.

8. How she cuts up watermelons.

9. She drives the car well.

10. When we stay in the house and play with me and my sister.

Best. Birthday. Ever.

“Camping”

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This last weekend, the family took its first vacation as a foursome to Estes Park.  We stayed at YMCA of the Rockies, in a delightful little 2 bedroom cabin, complete with fireplace and coffee maker.

I used to be someone who could pack enough for a month long trip into a backpack and have room left over.  This is no longer the case.  Our car before leaving:

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We got up to Estes and took a walk downtown, where the boy competed with a mountain lion statue for fierceness:

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Then we got to our cozy little cabin.  When we arrived, the boy ran around the cabin, declaring, “I love this place!”  We had a nice 2 bedroom cabin with a fireplace and settled in, reading books and playing memory.   The boy did spend a bit of time looking for the switch to “turn on” the fireplace, and was a bit surprised to learn that you actually had to start a fire with real wood. The next day was time for…the big hike!

Hikemaster was ready to go!

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The boy did great on the hike, making it up the 1.1 miles to Dream Lake and back with minimal carrying.  The girl did great, too.

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We saw these cool trees we learned to be limber pines.  They are made of a flexible wood and twist with the wind as it whips around the mountains:

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At Dream Lake we had a nice lunch with some overly inquisitive squirrels.  Sadly, they are completely tame at this point because of people who feed them.  Those buggers are fast, and probably got a bit or two of veggie booty before we could shoo them away.

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When we got back down, though, Eric noticed that the girl’s eyes were completely goopy with yellow discharge.  This made me grateful for the fact that I have a Colorado medical license, we were 5 minutes away from a pharmacy, and I know one pediatric antibiotic eye ointment.  This also made me realize that I really don’t have any interest in remote backcountry camping for a while.  I know you can’t prepare for everything, but I’d like my children to be a bit more independent and a bit less tasty snack for predators.

The next day was the Estes Park Wool Market!! Details in next post…

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Evolution of a Tantrum

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There was a good 5-7 minutes of screaming before this video started, so you’re just catching the tail end of it.  The funny thing is, I started the tantrum by telling him that he could not use more tape to hang up his poster.  That was it.  Somehow, the anger was transferred to Eric and I’m still invited to the party.

Lest you think this is a bit unfair, well, I suppose it is, but the boy was eager to see the video shortly after and laughed at himself the entire time.  Dinner was uneventful, other than when he killed a bug who was unluckily crawling along the railing of our back porch.

When does being 3 years old end? Sigh.

Co-opted by Disney Already

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The boy is totally into princesses. 

He has decorated our powder room sink thusly:

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On Sunday, he wandered about shirtless except for an Ariel sticker on his torso.  He considered this getting dressed.  He asked me to pick up a pair of pink princess sunglasses for him at Target. 

I’m not entirely sure what the appeal is–he’s never seen any of the movies and doesn’t really even know their names or what they do.  Part of it is just exposure at school, I’m sure.  I see the Princess pandemic as a direct result of aggressive Disney marketing strategies, nothing more.  Disney figured out that they could make a whole lot of money on the Princesses.  (They also then learned that girls grow out of the Princesses around age 7 and have now come up with Disney “Fairies” as a way to move on but still buy plenty of branded merchandise.)  Moreover, as is noted in a popular children’s book, “Princesses don’t DO anything!”  All the Disney princesses basically sit around looking pretty and waiting for their prince to come.  Please do not post something about how Belle is different, just because she (gasp!) READS.  A longer and more eloquent discussion of this can be found here.

Of course, I grew up on a healthy diet of Disney movies and I seemed to have figured out what to do with my life instead of just waiting around, but I still think it gives the kids some troubling messages. 

The funny thing is, I find that although I’m generally very anti-Princess for girls, I find myself much less so anti-Princess for my boy.  I think I just support anything that turns accepted stereotypes on their heads, though I should sit down and have a talk with him about why I’m not a fan of Princesses. 

But I might have to ask him to take off his pink glitter sunglasses first. 

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