Four Busy Days with Mom in Denver

Fredrica went to Denver this week for 4+ days for a yoga and meditation retreat. This was the first time Isabella and I were on our own for several days in a row. We did great... and Isabella was a great helper. The weather was really warm so we kept up on watering the garden... twice a day. Luckily Isabella was a great helper.


We also ate really well. Mom cooked up a storm the few days before she left so there was lots of food to eat. Pumpkin raviolis, chili, tofu and scalloped potatos. We actually ate like a king and queen. What a great mom!!!





Thursday at work was a fun day... We had a team offsite for team building. We did a "Top Chef" style cooking competition. We broke the product management team into 3 teams and we each prepared a meal... appetizer, main course and desert. Our menu included a steak, asparagus tips, smashed potatos and a chocolate creme brule. I was on the same team as my boss Barry... He is looking over the potatos here.

Elizabeth was in charge of the cream brule. Here she is tourching the sugar on the brules. It was by first time to use a fire in cooking... wow it was a ton of fun. We gotta get one of these at home!!!

I was in charge of the asparagus. Drizzled in olive oil with some salt and pepper they came out great (but I could have used a touch less salt).

We had four people from other teams show up a 2pm to be the judges. All the teams went all out! We sequenced the serving. We 'plated' the food for the judges so it looked great! We won a prize for overall pair of food with the wine we served... but didn't win overall. But it was super fun, one of the best team building days I've ever participated in.

We also had a drink competition. Don't worry, I didn't drink much my 'first day on the job' alone with Isabella. I'm not big on foo-foo drinks anyway, but the wine we served with our meal was on the the best wines I ever tasted. After we plated the food for the judges we all brought the rest of our food up to the kitchen table and everyone served themselves. All the food was really fabulous. I was so full that night I didn't even eat dinner!


Saturday morning my good friend Seth game over. He and Isabella had a ton of fun together. Seth shared Isabella love of legos so they made lots of fun things together!







After Isabella's naps on Saturday we went up to Sandy's house (my Aunt who Isabella's middle name is for). Isabella was faciniated by Kinoa's scotter so we lowered the handle bars and I carefully pushed her around. Once she got a taste of it there was almost no getting her off it. She had a ton of fun and even started getting the hange of landing with one foot and pushing with the other. I can't believe how fast she learns!!!



She loved playing with my cousin Cindy. Fascinated as ever with buttons and snaps.









Sandy's house has a big back yard and Cindy took her out exploring. Isabella got super excited when she found pine cones. Just like in Sweden, she really remembers things! She took Cindy all around collecting pine cones. I wasn't sure I'd ever get her to leave she was having so much fun!





My parents had given Richard and Kinoa an electronically controled surf board... It is capable of going out in the ocean surf and catching waves. Here is Richard testing it in the pool. Isabella found this absolutely fascinating as we drove in all around the pool!


On Sunday morning my parents came down for a visit. Isabella also loves to grab "Grean Eggs and Spam" and have grandma read it to her. I think it's the way grandma reads it... she just loves it!






After going through lots of her books she decided it was grandpas turn... She had fun running back and forth getting more books to read. It gave me some valuable time to do some laundry so Fredrica could return to a nice and tidy house and we could start the week off relaxed after her long trip home!



After playing at home we went over to Anthony's Fish Grotto restaurant. I didn't even realize this was close to our home. Once we got there I immediately recognized it as a place my parents had often taken me when I was a kid... I had wonderful memories of the place. There is a big man-make lake outside the restaurant. We really went over just to feed and play with the ducks. Isabella really got the hang of throwing the seeds out and having the ducks swim over.



Isabella thought this was so much fun... she kept saying "more... more" each time we used up all the seeds grandpa bought. This is a picture looking back at the restaurant... the ducks are swimming around!



We hadn't planned to stay for lunch but I was surprised by how nice the kids menu was. Vegetarian options and every meal came with vegetables. I will have to go off on a rant later about how almost every restaurant we go to has a kids menu devote of any fruit or vegetables... and when we ask for vegetables the waiters/waitresses usually look at us like its the first time they've ever been asked the question!! Isabella ate great and we had a nice early lunch.



Well... we've had a fun four and a half days. Each morning Isabella was surprised not to find Mom in the bed and went looking around the house for her. Finally by this morning I think she understood that mom is coming home tonight. We leave in a few hours to pick her up at the airport. It will be nice to be back together again as a family and I'm sure Isabella will be so excited to see her!