Spirit Week, Fall 2013

It was Spirit Week a few weeks back at the kids' school.  They got to dress up in themed outfits.  Scarlett thought it was great fun, and sweet Max had no idea what in the world was going on.  Here they are in their spirited get-ups ...

Monday:  "Book Character Day"

Max is dressed as Max from the children's classic "Where the Wild Things Are."  (Well, "dressed like" him is a bit of a stretch ... he has a "Where the Wild Things Are" t-shirt on and a gold crown that stayed on his head for all of 30 seconds, but hey, we tried.)

Scarlett is dressed as Fancy Nancy from the series of books by the same name.  (Nancy adores all things fancy and dresses extravagantly, wearing boas, tutus, fairy wings, etc.)

Wednesday:  "Crazy Hair Day"

I bought (allegedly) washable color spray for their hair -- Scarlett of course wanted pink, and Max just went along with whatever we told him to do.  When I picked Scarlett up from school at the end of the day, her entire shirt was pink (and her nap mat, and her car seat).  Luckily, it came out of both her white shirt and her blond hair.  Max's color didn't really get on anything else, apparently because it was too busy permanently adhering to his hair and scalp.  The poor kid still has a green tint to his bangs and front hairline, especially in natural light.

Crazy look to go with crazy hair.

Poor Winnie inadvertently got in on the "crazy hair day" action with a patch of shaved fur and cone of shame following minor surgery the day before.

Friday:  "Pajama Day"

Self explanatory.  Do I get extra crazy-Mom points for changing the kids out of the pajamas they slept in that night into new pajamas for school?  

(By the way, I have no idea why Max is holding a flashlight.)

Another day, another overzealous hug from Scarlett.  Note the bed-head to go with the pajama theme.  (Oh, and watch out, Max ... she may be after your flashlight.)

Dinosaur Museum

Here's a few shots from Mimi and Papa Tig's visit in August when we headed to the Perot Museum (known as "the Dinosaur Museum" around these parts).

Making "rock music" in garden (you drop rocks into a metal contraption that makes music sort of like a wind chime as they fall).

Little lady.

Silly little lady.

Skyline.

Silly skyline.  (I see a pattern here.)

Trying to beat the heat in the river after our visit.

Ballerina

Scarlett started ballet lessons last month.  Here she is trying on her leotard and practicing some moves before the first class.

You're a natural, Scarlett.  (Although you might be "voguing" instead of ballet dancing, but whatever moves you ...)

Max does some posing of his own.

Sweet siblings.  (Max LOVES hanging out on Scarlett's big girl bed.)

Kiss from big sister ...

... that was really just a pretense for a followup "hug"/WWF wrestling move.  I'm telling you, Scarlett, you're going to be in for some big-time payback when he gets bigger, especially with all the photographic evidence.

Silly ballerina.

Dramatic ballerina.

Happy ballerina.

Just along for the ride.

Tough cowgirl ballerina.

Ummmmm ... maybe not so much, Max.

One last shot from the first day of ballet class.  The ballerina and her trusty side-kick.

Yucky tacos

Max's current catchphrase is -- inexplicably -- "yucky tacos."  Somewhere along the line he decided it's hilarious, so it's the punchline to most of his jokes.  He says it to new people when he meets them.  He says it to Chris when he walks in the door from work.  He says it when you ask him an innocuous question, like whether he's ready to put on his shoes.  Not to be outdone, Scarlett proclaims, "red, yellow, underpants!" in similar situations.  It's like living with Lucy and Ricky Ricardo around here.  Except there's no actual jokes, just very confusing punchlines.  Over.  And over.

Other recent comments from Scarlett and Max:

* * *

Scarlett:  "How old you are is what's in your mind."

Chris:  "What's in your mind, Scarlett?"

[pause ...]

Scarlett:  "Butterflies."

* * *

Chris:  "How was your first day of ballet class?"

Scarlett:  "When I walked inside I saw lots and lots of ballerinas.  But then I realized they were just kids dressed up like ballerinas."

* * *

Max [as Chris tried to dress him in a Texas Longhorns jersey on TX/OU Saturday]:  "No dirty orange shirt!  No dirty orange shirt!"

The good news:  Max probably isn't colorblind as we previously wondered.  (He typically insists that everything is pink or yellow.)

The bad news:  Max may be an OU fan.  Or (heaven forbid) an Aggie.

* * *

Other cute/sweet things Max is currently saying:

He calls Scarlett "Tarlett" and when he's mad or annoyed with her, he emphasizes the second syllable dramatically... "Stop it, Tar-LETT!"

"Bless you, Mama" whenever I sneeze, burp, cough, etc. (to which Scarlett responds with exasperation, "You only bless SNEEZES, Max!").

And of course, the heart-melting "I luff you, Mama."

Colorado Part 6: The wrap up

Here are some final photos from our Estes Park trip ...

Mini golf!  Let's just say that my winning streak against any and all Schwegmanns remained intact after this round (yeah, I'm talking to you Paw, Chris, Scarlett and Max).  

Firetruck tour around town.

Classic Scarlett move (holding her hair out of her face during a "I don't want a bow or hair clip or ponytail" moment).

Checking out the waterfall at lunch.

The giant slide!  We passed this multiple times a day on the way to and from our cabin, and even though we pointed out it was reaaally high, Scarlett insisted she wanted to go on it.

Max decided to watch from afar with Paw and Grandma.

Building up courage.

And we were off!

The look on her face cracks me up.

There's that smile!

Colorado Part 5: Let Freedom Ring!

We headed up the Trail Ridge Road at the RMNP -- the highest continuous paved road in the U.S. -- in search of scenic views.  The road winds and curves through the length of the entire park starting at Estes Park on the east, reaching a breathtaking (literally) height of around 12,000 feet, crossing the Continental Divide (which marks where water flows east versus west), and ending west side of the park at Grand Lake.

Checking out the views at an overlook.

Another pit stop above the tree-line in the Alpine tundra.  Don't let the sunshine fool you ... it was coooooold and windy way up there.

 Brrrrrrrrrrr!  Max was ready to head back to lower elevations and warmer temperatures!

We headed back down the Trail Ridge Road to the Junior Ranger Headquarters at Hidden Valley.

We were lucky to stumble upon two activities.  First, we arrived just as some park rangers and a group of about 25 visitors where filming a segment for the National Park Service's website.  August 28th was the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech.  As I'm sure you recall, a portion of the speech talks about letting freedom ring from various locations across our great nation.  Our group walked up a hill with the beautiful mountains behind us with bells in hand.  One of the rangers read a portion of the speech, and when he got to the part that reads, "Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!", all the kids rang their bells like crazy.  There were a few takes, and the one they ended up using for the website included Scarlett getting bored mid-bell-ringing and asking to be picked up and Max getting hacked off because they ran out of bells and he didn't get to ring one.

[This is where I would insert the link from the National Park Service's website so you could see it for yourself, but the national parks (and website) are currently shut down.  When the Congressional shenanigans are over and the website is back up and running, I'll post a link.]

The next fun activity at the Junior Rangers Headquarters was a presentation by two national park firefighters.  They showed their gear to the kids, did a little fire demonstration, let everyone check out their truck (while some of the moms (and grandmas, I might add) checked out the firefighters), and handed out badges to the kids.

After a picnic lunch, we wandered around Hidden Valley and engaged in Max's favorite activity -- throwing rocks in water.

 Unintentional butt bump while gathering rocks.

On our way back down to Estes Park, we checked out the Alluvial Fan.  In July 1982, Lawn Lake broke through a natural dam and tens of millions of gallons of water rushed down to the valley floor.  The water swept trees and car-sized boulders with it, creating a 42-acre "fan" of debris.    

Chris climbed up to get a closer look.

The water was freezing cold, but Scarlett loved sticking her bare feet in it.

Max ... not so much (which is surprising given that it was the perfect opportunity to engage in rock throwing).

Taking in the beautiful scenery at the Alluvial Fan at the end of a long day.  Note Scarlett's head on Chris's shoulder.  So sweet.