The Legend of Horsetooth Rock

So when Jason and I were first looking at places in Fort Collins to live via the Internet from California, we didn't know this town at all. The street names were completely foreign, we knew nothing about the neighborhoods and even less about the surrounding landscapes. We finally settled on a quaint little apartment sitting on the corner of Horsetooth and Timberline Road. Horsetooth is one of the busiest streets here in Fort Collins, named after the 25 mile long Horsetooth Reservoir located in the same county. Never one time did it occur to me to ask where the name Horsetooth came from. So it wasn't until months after living here that I came to find out the mountain directly in front of our little college town that was shaped so oddly was, in fact, Horsetooth Rock.

I always thought it looked funny, and now that it has been pointed out, OK yes, I see how it may look a bit like a horses molar.

After doing a bit more research, I've also come to find out this mountain has more of a story to it than just the coincidence of looking like a horses jacked up grill.

According to the Native American legend, The Valley of Contentment, (which is today's Horsetooth Reservoir) was at one time the responsibility of a giant. The Giant's job was to protect the wild animals in the valley from getting hunted by Chief Maunamoku and his tribe of Indians. So when the giant got in his way, the Chief led the Indians to slay him. The Chief himself went directly for the giant and in killing him slashed the center of his heart first, then the right, then the left with a tomahawk from the heavens. Upon his death, the giant turned into stone and his slain heart turned into what is now known as Horsetooth Rock.

Yes, well, isn't that pleasant?

There's actually another side to the story that the giant was super evil and that Chief Maunamoku saved the village people (the regular kind, not the YMCA kind) by coming to their aid and defeating the beast. Either way the story is told, the strange formation in the rock is the petrified heart of the giant. Years later, a group of fur trappers and traders decided that the mountain looked more like a horses tooth than a giant's slashed heart and shortly after the name Horsetooth started showing up on maps. So... Horsetooth was, in fact, their final answer.

So anyway, I've wanted to hike to the top of this giant's heart ever since I've laid eyes on it. I've been bugging my sister for months to come climb it with me, but we've never been able to sync our schedules...

...until last Thursday.

 5.5 miles round trip to a 7,260 ft summit is the funnest thing ever to do on a boring spring morning. What a blast! The trail is partly laid out in a nice friendly fashion and then the end you're actually climbing up a stone wall and hoping to find the top. Had we not run into a couple other hikers on the way, we most likely wouldn't have found our final destination.

So the moral of the story is... Don't take your local giant for granite.

(I'm so funny)

Also, if you live near Fort Collins, climb the rock. It's an amazing view at the top. On a clear day you can see parts of Wyoming so I've heard.

And now it totally makes since why my nephew randomly found a set of Giant's toes at the Spring Canyon Park which sits at the end of Horsetooth Road.

A Night At The Museum

Let me just preface this post by saying I have the best sister and brother-in-law that a girl could ever hope for. Not because of the things they do for us, but just because of who they are as people. They're the reason we're out here in Colorado and the reason we've felt as content as could be. Kalynn has quickly become best friends with her cousins Finn (age 5) and Harper (also age 3) and the three of them running around together yelling, laughing, and squealing is truly everything I thought it was going to be. They're absolutely hilarious to watch as a collective group.  So when my sister called and asked if we wanted to go to the Denver Children's Museum for Finn's 5th birthday, of course we were all over it.

Except...

This time we got to spend the night.

Like, grab our sleeping bags, throw on our pajamas, bring our pillows and sleep anywhere we choose all night long.

Apparently, once a year the museum allows a group of 30 people total, parents and kids included, to make a small (!!!) donation in exchange for renting the place over night to let us have the entire building all to ourselves.

I think I may have been more excited than my own child.

My husband and I took a trip back to his hometown in up-state New York a few years ago and visited my mother-in-law at The Strong National Museum of Play where she was working (Hi Penny!), so I sort of knew what I was getting into when they say children's "museum." Because at first I was thinking how boring it would be for a kid to go check out art exhibits and statues, which in my mind was what it was like. But no, no, no. I was very wrong.

The museum was closed to the public around 5pm, the doors opened for us at 6pm. The place is huge. I was hoping we had enough time to satisfactorily play in all the places we wanted to.

First thing we checked out was the veterinary room. Complete with doctor smocks, plastic stethoscopes, clip boards, play computer, phone and desk. We learned about pet health and safety while bandaging up patients (and throwing stuffed animals across the room at each other).

We hit up the apothecary shop, the garden, the fish pond, the blacksmith store, and the play kitchen. And yes, our daughter wears a tu-tu even with her pajamas. Big whoop.

There is a market provided by Whole Foods with tiny little shopping carts and healthy play food.

There is even a check out stand which goes smoothly after the negotiating of who will be checker and who will be shopper.

There is a romp room made up as half underground ant hill and half squirrel tree house. The kids are free to dress up as any animal and rummage for giant nuts and seeds.

The pillow acorns found in the bird's nest was a favorite for our bunny and platypus.

There is a paint gallery room for creating matching masterpieces together:

There's even a room devoted to the magic of bubbles where they drop down from the sky while kids jump up and down in science smocks and safety goggles competing to be the one who pops them first. Talk about team work, these kids spent hours manipulating all kinds of soapy suds to soak themselves in and blow on each other.

 You can even make a giant bubble from floor to ceiling in the bubble booth to stand inside of.

In the kinetic room you can literally play with the laws of motion. Plastic balls the size of  baseballs get sucked into the walls and spit out down ramps you build yourself. Kalynn learned all about momentum, gravity and how to build and test.

 Having the ability to run around a full sized fire truck in a miniature little fire hat and jacket was really fun for her as well as a great way to show community awareness. The fire station had everything it needed to show how firefighters help save the day and that they are on our side.

When it finally was time to get ready for bed, after our complimentary pizza (and wine!) we chose a nice soft corner of the lilly pad down in the infant room and rolled out our sleeping bags.

Waking up to coffee, pancakes and a few hours to do it all over again wasn't too bad a way to start the day.

I honestly couldn't have had a better time. The staff that stayed over night with us were so unbelievably welcoming and I don't think I've ever seen Kalynn, or her cousins for that matter, ever have a better time. If you have one of these sort of places in your area, check it out for sure. If you spend the night or not, the price is worth the experience!

College.

Lets play catch up a bit here.

Kalynn is officially 3 years old.

Everyone tells me the terrible twos have nothing on the thunderous threes. So far, this is proven to be extremely spot on. She's very opinionated, very stubborn, very determined and very sassy. She makes her own path, right or wrong, and she doesn't take no for an answer. I'm not 100% sure if this is an age thing, or a hereditary thing. I guess we'll find out in due time. Either way, trying to tame the wild, or at the very least trying to keep up with her, is exhausting. Fun, but exhausting.

It seems like the crazier life becomes with a growing toddler, the faster it goes.

I'm having a hard time believing that 2012 is already over, let alone the entire month of January and half of February in 2013. Sometimes it's nice to slow down a bit and remember what is truly important. Mainly, the people I love.

When we visited California a couple weeks ago, it was really important to me to get some pictures of Kalynn with my grandmother (her great-grandmother). She's been an awesome staple in my life from before I can even remember and I really wanted to figure out a cool way to capture of all 4 generations of women in our family:

I absolutely love love love the idea of this picture. Being more physically distant from that side of my family then I have been in years is really hard sometimes, so having this little piece of them to on hang on Kalynn's wall is really special for us.

And with time flying by quicker than I expected, I also came to the realization that we need to be financially prepared for things that will come faster than we thought they would. Like Kalynn going to college.

Because she is going to college.

Every holiday I get asked by friends and family "is there anything that Kalynn needs?" "What kinds of things does she like?" "What types of toys does she play with?" And the truth is, She's three. And a spoiled three at that. She has more toys than she knows what to do with. More importantly, she has more energy than any person I've ever met so sitting down and playing with anything for an extended period of time is just out of the question most of the time. Sure, she loves to open gifts and have new toys and we're not unappreciative of the things that she has gotten and loved over the years. A few of those toys have even become part of our permanent daily routine, but truthfully, at least at this point, we're blessed to not lack any traditional type of toy or clothing that she needs.

Gradsave.com is a way for our friends and family to give the gift of education instead of traditional presents for any of Kalynn's special occasions, holidays and birthdays. College is expensive. I'm currently in the process of paying back a portion of my student loans and it's almost impossible to see the light at the end of the tunnel. What we're trying to do, is to not let Kalynn have a giant mound of debt after she finishes her degree. After seeing the final bill of my own college experience, and imagining the inflating cost of a college education 15 years down the road, it's frightening to think where we'd be if we didn't start planning right away.

Gradsave is super easy to use and it's 100% FDIC insured. We've set up an account for Kalynn so all anyone needs to do if they wish to donate is go to her profile page. All donations big and small are welcome. As soon as she hits her $1000 goal, that money is then transferred into her 529 college savings fund and her Gradsave goal starts again at zero. This website makes it so easy for friends and family to participate in an extremely practical gift that she'll never outgrow no matter how old she gets. It's pure genius.

If you'd like to make a donation or if you'd just like to check out Kalynn's profile page, CLICK HERE.

Other than time passing far too quickly, things are returning to normal since the excitement of holidays and birthdays has come to an end. We're gearing up for Valentine's Day by planning a little photo shoot that will be posted later next week. Hope all is well with all of you!

xo

California Birthday Trip Day 2

This was not just an ordinary vacation. My baby girl turned 3 years old. This only happens once in a life. Important stuff here.

Accordingly, Kalynn woke up in our hotel to a room full of balloons, a princess Disney cake and a handful of gifts to unwrap. She was a very happy kid. 

Her party was in the monstrosity of a lobby at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel. We opened gifts with Kalynn's God parents, her Grandma Diana (DiNana), and another great old friend of mine. She had cookies and cake and even got the Happy Birthday song played for her on the grand piano by the hotel's professional piano player. 

Now.

 I'm absolutely not admitting to taking my mom's pass so that I could sneak into the park for just a few minutes before we had to leave for the airport the next day. All I'm saying, is that should you ever think you can get into Disneyland on someone else's annual pass, you most likely will get caught, thrown into the Disneyland doghouse, get the annual pass you were trying to use taken away and end up paying an additional $100 for a valid pass in order to get your mom's back from security. Not that I tried. I'm just saying. Don't do it. I'm assuming.

Since we were in the park unexpectedly for a brief hour before our flight took off, we used the opportunity to get some final signatures on our picture frame mat.

I figured, the majority of the kids I saw running around had autograph books to be signed, but what are they really going to do with them once they got home? Put them in a box somewhere in the basement? This way, we can at least display everyone we ran into somewhere in Kalynn's bedroom so she never forgets her birthday trip. Total, we were lucky enough to get autographs from Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Chip and Dale, Goofy, Snow White, Princess Aurora, Pluto, Alice, The Mad Hatter, The Queen of Hearts and The White Rabbit.  

It was an awesome trip and it went by way too fast.

I want to say a GIANT thank you to my Mom who went way out of her way to make sure the weekend was absolutely perfect. Which it totally was. Thank you, mom!!

And thanks to you guys who came out to celebrate with us. Fancy-pant hotels and gifts are great and everything, but in the end, celebrating is just not the same without the love of great friends and family in your life! Nothing is for that matter.

Happy 3rd Birthday Kalynn!

California Birthday Trip: Day 1

Alright, lets get the ball rolling already.

Overly excited toddler in stow, we flew to LA on United Airlines last Thursday afternoon after getting a ride from my oh-so-generous brother-in-law to Denver International Airport. Kalynn did awesome on the plane and mostly drew Paint Sparkles on the iPad while munching on Goldfish Crackers. Having skipped her nap that day, I was super relieved there were no melt downs. Not one. High five.

We went straight to my Mom's house, ate dinner, and directly climbed into bed. Traveling, as I'm sure everyone knows, is totally exhausting. We had a big day ahead of us so we needed some good rest.

Friday morning we spent a few precious hours with my grandparents taking pictures and hanging out before heading off to Disneyland. The Paradise Pier Hotel let us check in early, which was awesome because Kalynn was already ready for a nap by the time noon rolled around. Our room was totally adorable, decked out with characters in a beachy theme.

We had an amazing view of the water slide and the pool although we never got to use either of them because it was record breaking low temperatures the whole time we were there. Parts of LA County even got snow. Can you believe that? Leave it to us to choose the one weekend of the millennium that the temperatures decide to chill out in the 30's.

She woke up happy and ready to go! Thank God!

Off to Sleeping Beauty's Castle!

It felt so good to be back! We immediately headed to Fantasyland to meet up with our friends Melissa and Brandon and their son Elin (the same ones who gave us the hotel suite a couple December's ago in San Diego).

I can't even explain how nice it is to be around my friends again. People whom I've known for eons. People I can just pal around with and feel like we never skipped a beat.

Our kids played, we rode rides, we caught up on everything there was to talk about and we got to just have an awesome day.

Kalynn and I took a detour to say hello to Snow White while my mom saved us the perfect spot to watch the parade. Although Kalynn was initially super excited to meet her idol, she was a little nervous when Ms. White wanted a hug. 

Walking back from Snow White's Wishing Well to my mom, who was saving our parade watching spot, we got a bit of a surprise. There she was, sitting in the middle of a circle in mid conversation with Alice in Wonderland, The White Rabbit, The Queen of Hearts and the Mad Hatter. The 4 characters must have sat and talked with her for 10 minutes about absolutely nothing important while lines of patient Disney fans waited for pictures and autographs.

Kalynn wasn't as enthused. She's pretty terrified of the Queen of Hearts. Rightly so. Anyone who goes around yelling "Off with their heads!!" should expect a frightened toddler to deny a photo opportunity.

After the parade we met up my my friend Chris and his daughter Lilly for more rides. We kept the kids awake until 8:45 (9:45pm our time) to watch the fireworks, but they were canceled at the last minute due to high wind advisory. Just as well. Someone was a little tuckered out anyway.

My mom and I popped open a bottle of red wine (by popped open, I mean accidentally pushed the cork through the wrong way forcing a volcano of Cabernet to explode all over my face, the walls, the floor and the couch) and blew up a million balloons to cover the hotel room floor for Kalynn o have the next morning on her 3rd birthday.

Day 1 had overly exceeded my expectations of our first visit since our move to Colorado. It couldn't have gone any more perfect.

Day 2 (just as awesome) coming soon!