Casa Bonita!

Let me widen your knowledge by exposing you to the gem of my childhood: Casa Bonita. 

This place, this glorious and spectacular diamond in the heart of the ghetto was the place to be in the 1980's. It's in a questionable looking neighborhood, the food blows and I may have it built up in my mind because I still see it the same way I did when I was 5. Regardless, I'm still in love. 

The last time I visited was my 7th birthday, it's been 25 years almost to the day. So when my mom came for a visit this last weekend and asked where I wanted to go for my birthday dinner, the pink palace was of course the best option. 

The place looked identical as the image in my head from all those years before. It was surreal standing in line with my daughter waiting to order food as she played peek-a-boo with my hair.

We ate dinner and watched the shows that took place high above our table; cliff jumpers doing swan dives and flips from the 3 story tall water fall, comedy shows, and a gorilla running through the audience.

When a lady came through with glowing toys to offer, my mom bought the world's most annoying singing butterfly for Kalynn and Kalynn has had it turned on as loud as it goes ever since. Yes, thanks Mom.

Mesmerized.

This 4 story building has 3 arcades, a haunted tunnel,  an old time photo booth, puppet theaters, serenading mariachi bands and also can hold over 1000 people in separate theme related seating areas.

Walking through this eatertainment monstrosity, even if you're not participating in all the excitement, is still pretty cool because it's all decked out like an old Spanish villa.

So if you're in Denver, stop in for cheap crappy food and an evening that will change your kid's life forever. And even though you're in the middle of a run down neighborhood that looks like you may get shot, don't fret. The fried ice cream is totally worth it.

Foam Fun

So my mom gave me these little strips of color foam paper that she found a few months ago. I had no idea what I was going to do with them and they've been sitting in my craft closet ever since. Today I finally came up with an idea: bath art.

Once you cut them into shapes, the water in the bath tub makes them stick to each other and the wall tiles. Surface tension is a fantastic discovery for toddlers so I've found out.

Brilliant!

The possibilities are pretty much endless here. It's easy enough to make roads and cars, or monsters that you can place your own arms and eyes and ears, or if you have older kids you can make words for practicing sentences, family members names, gardens scenes, Lego looking blocks to build towers and landscapes, whatever you feel like! We're practicing our ABC's...

Happy foaming everybody!

Don't forget, you can find the Brighter Writer on Facebook now HERE!

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Up The Poudre

My birthday is coming up on August 8th.

This year, I  want to explore more of Colorado. With the High Park Fire destroying 87,000 acres of our surrounding forest, I figured throwing a little cash towards our local economy couldn't hurt. I've heard it's going to take an estimated $24 million to restore our area, especially the Poudre Canyon where the fire was the most aggressive. (The Poudre Canyon starts at the North point of Rocky Mountain National Park where it descends from the Continental Divide.)

SO.

We'll be camping in the great Colorado Rockies to ring in my 32nd year on this cute little planet of ours I haven't been camping in the Rockies since I was a teenager visiting Mary's Lake in Estes Park and I'm so excited I could pee. I chose Mountain Park Campground right up the Poudre Canyon Highway 14 just 9 miles past the Mishawaka Amphitheater in Roosevelt National Forest. The highway follows the Cache Le Poudre River with all of it's twists and turns through the mountains, so even though it's a short 45 minute drive from the headquarters in Fort Collins,  I know it promises to be a gorgeous one.

This morning we made the drive so I could check out what it is we're in for exactly. I wanted to preview our campsite, see the burn damage, and how bad the water quality was from the soot in the Cache La Poudre.

The drive was incredible.

You could definitely see the path of the High Park Fire on the tops of almost every single mountain. Trees were now just charred stumps.

The trees that were still standing were dry as bones and look like they had been singed from the heat even if the fire hadn't taken them over.

 Every single driveway that we passed had written appreciation for the Larimer County Fire Department, volunteers, and red cross workers.

We even passed some white water rafters on the way up; a great sign that the water quality was back to normal!

Since this was the case, we had to stop and play in it just a little bit.

The soot mostly stayed on the banks and left the water clear as crystal.

There are still fire restriction signs every where, but they are now allowing personal campfires as long as they are built in designated fire pits and in listed campgrounds.

Now, as I'm about to head into work for a closing shift (2AM), just to turn around 6 hours later for my open shift (8AM), I'm still dreaming of today's little day trip to Mountain Park. My body may be pouring Jack and Cokes, but my brain is already on vacation!

I hope everyone has a great weekend and if you're in town, come see me!

High Times

Speaking of tree houses...

A friend of the family has the coolest tree house I've ever seen. We made a stop a couple of weekends ago to check it out after hearing about it time and time again. Now, I've seen some fancy schmancy tree houses (online, not in real life) that look more like apartments and they're all done up with couches and picture frames and electricity. I think those are cool and all, but I'm sorry, that's not a tree house. The tree houses that I adore are the old school, climb the trunk to get to it, no adults allowed, clubhouses. This is one of those. Get ready to be jealous (I am already...)

2 floors!

The sun deck!

Hey, so my birthday is coming up...(hint hint) I need a house to build one of these bad boys. Anyone want to pay a mortgage for me? I'll be your best friend!



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Spring Canyon Splash Park

I have found nirvana for my toddler. It's in the form of a 100-acre park with two separate age-appropriate playgrounds and a splash park built on shotcrete (the rubber cement). ECI hauled more than 120,000 tons of earth during this project, along with several hundred tons of carefully selected boulders from nearby Poudre Canyon that were placed in the playground and throughout the park. This place also has the largest dog park in Fort Collins (2+ acres) including a lake for swim-crazy canines, bike trails, free-ride course for mountain biking, lighted basketball and tennis court, baseball/soccer fields and an inline hockey rink. We're all set for entertainment around this place.

And it's free.
So beat that...

What a lovely Summer we're having so far! I've been super busy this last few weeks soaking up the sun, working, and getting to know our new town. Thanks for everyone's patience on my sporatic posting! It'll go back to normal soon enough, I promise!

Happy Birthday America!

We're having a rough week for some reason. There are no teeth coming in, sleep has been peaceful and at regular intervals, food consumption is normal, water intake is the same, emotional stability is in tact from both parents... I suspect it just has something to do with being a 2-year-old.

Whatever the reason for Kalynn's display of disobedience, I was able to have a break from it for a few hours by going to work. "State wide fire ban! Come blow up your livers instead of firecrackers! What else to you have to do??" 

After work, I stole a free moment from melt down mode to escape to our local firework stand and pick up some Independence Day necessities. Colorado has a state wide fire ban right now (all city park charcoal grills have been covered, campfires have been prohibited, the city's annual firework display was canceled...), therefore it's not illegal to buy them, but it is illegal to light them off. So... awesome. That sort of put a damper on our 4th.

Kalynn cried about it. Shocker.

(Even in her most "terrible-two" moments, she's the cutest thing I've ever seen in my life!)

But her mood quickly brightened when I showed her what we had in store for the evening. Like these Black Cat Snappers!

and party poppers!

And snakes! ("long black poopies!")

Even though it was totally against the law, we lit off a sparkler. I poked a hole in the bottom of a plastic cup to slide the stick through so when she held it, the sparks didn't land on her sensitive little arms.

We hope everyone had a safe and happy 4th of July! Happy 236th birthday 'Merica!!