Saturday, January 18, 2025

Timeline 2024

In January I explored the Palmer Park Overlook and took the kids to Great Wolf Lodge. In February we attended Allison's 2nd grade showcase, had a pretend disaster day, and celebrated Valentine's Day. In March we celebrated my birthday, pi(e) day, watched Allison perform in her primary activities talent show, mom came to visit for spring break, and we had a fun Easter. On April 8th we traveled to Poplar Bluff, MO to see the total solar eclipse and visited our Missouri friends and family along the way. 


In the spring some collared doves nested on our pergola,
Tyler had his expander removed, Nibbler
was cute, the kids performed in their talent show at school,
Tyler did his Marble Run camp, I played the wolf and the Mother/Grandmother in "Red Riding Hood," Tyler made a DNA presentation for school, we got an annual pass to the Denver Children's Museum, we celebrated Oscar and Tyler's birthdays, mom came while Oscar and I went to California, and Tyler graduated from Elementary school. Sadly, we had to put our sweet Leela down after learning she had a malignant tumor in her bladder.

Read more in Spring 2024

In May Oscar won an award through work, and he and I got to take a trip to Huntington Beach, CA while mom stayed with the kids. There was a yummy luau dinner, we took several nice walks along the beach, we spent a day at Disney's California Adventure, Oscar ran a 10k pirate race, we ate delicious pizza and gelato, and they had a formal dinner and awards ceremony with fun swag for all the winners. 

Read more in Huntington Beach 2024

After the kids were out of school we took a trip to Utah to see the Layton Temple open house. We first drove I-70 to Mike's house and celebrated Tyler's birthday with a School of Magic Escape Room and a little party. On Sunday we went to Church, played on the nearby playground afterwards, and played with cousins that evening. On Monday we went to the open house then Oscar and I took a hike up waterfall Canyon in Ogden. On Tuesday I drove to Montrose, CO to coach with my friend Judith and see some more beautiful scenery. The kids and Oscar stayed in Utah and played with cousins while Tyler made a house for his new beanie boo. 

Along my drive I saw Bridal Veil Falls in Provo, some petroglyphs in Sego Canyon, and hiked the Trail Thru Time right on the Utah Colorado border. In Colorado I visited Box Canyon Falls in Ouray and hiked along the perimeter trail, ate a grilled cheese wrapped in cheese, strolled along the river walk, and explored the Black Canyon of the Gunnison before meeting up with the family in Grand Junction.


After only a week back home, we then took another trip down to Sea World San Antonio, stopping off at the Capulin Volcano in New Mexico along the way. It was a great theme park for Allison since she could do all the roller coasters except one. Since we purchased platinum passes we were given a photo key and got to keep all of our ride photos. In addition to the fun rides the kids enjoyed the giant light bright, cooling down in the Bay of Play, meeting characters, watching the parade, seeing the fireworks, dancing with Sesame Street characters in the Block Party, feeding the sea lions, viewing marine animals, and watching the fun shows. Tyler's friend Fillip and his family were able to join us for a couple days and use our free guest passes. We also visited downtown San Antonio, got to get in the water with sting rays and feed them, did an animal ambassador tour, and bought some fun souvenirs. 


At home during the summer Allison did a camp with the GT program at her school, I took Tyler and Nolan to the children's museum, we bought a swing bench for outside, had a lot of fun outdoors, saw 4th of July fireworks, and mom came to see me perform in the Vocal Arts Festival. Before mom left we took her to the Manitou Cliff dwellings and the Manitou Penny Arcade. 

Read more in Summer at Home 2024

During the last weeks of summer we took a loop around the mid west. We first visited cousins in Missouri and went to Adventure Oasis water park with them. The kids had some extra cousin time while Oscar and I went to the Kansas City Temple. We then drove to Nauvoo, IL where we played at the pageant fair, met up with our friend Sister Dahl, saw Carthage jail, went on an oxen ride, and the kids did scavenger hunts to earn Nauvoo bricks. I also walked along the Trail of Hope before we continued our drive up to Waterloo, IA to see my old mission companion Rachel. 

After a night in Iowa we drove up to Minnesota and visited Nickelodeon Universe at the Mall of America theme park. We also visited the Lego store and met up with our new friends at Valley Fair theme park the next day where Allison went on her first ever 52 inch coaster. 


After our time in Minnesota we drove west to meet up with Amy and James in South Dakota. Along the way we saw Sioux Falls, visited Badlands National Park at 108 degrees, saw lots of prairie dogs, and went to The Wall drugstore. The next day we visited Mt Rushmore, ate at the Purple Pie Place, met up with Amy and James at Crazy Horse, and explored the Needles Hwy with them. 


During the following two days we visited Dinosaur Park, Storybook Island, and Reptile Gardens. We also saw Mt Rushmore at night, Oscar ran a race in Rapids City, we took a ride on the Buffalo Mountain Coaster, and we said our goodbyes to Amy and James while visiting the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs. 


In August the kids went back to school. Granny and grandpa came to visit on their way to Missouri, the kids worked on a new puzzle, and Allison and Oscar played live Hungry Hungry Hippos at the daddy daughter stake day. Throughout the first part of fall we learned the game Sleeping Queens, we played at the Children's Museum with Rachel, the kids had fun at PTA Stem Night and Skyzone, and we celebrated Allison's birthday party. Unfortunately I got Covid, but we were still able to do the Mystery picnic auntie Malia had purchased for us. Allison participated in her school fun run, Tyler had choir and band concerts, Oscar and Tyler ran the 4.9K, we attended our rec center's Harvest Festival, and we had a fun afternoon at Schubert Farms.
Read more in Back to School 2024

In September we took a trip to Mesa Verde and Great Sand Dunes National Parks. Along the way we saw beautiful Wolf Pass and stayed in Durango where Oscar did a trail run 1/2 marathon at Purgatory Ski resort. While he was running the kids and I ate at Oscar's Cafe and played at Powerhouse Children's Museum.

At Mesa Verde we picked up Jr Ranger booklets for the kids and they got right to work on them while we drove to our tour of Cliff Palace. We then visited the top dwellings and saw beautiful fall colors. The next day the kids finished up their books and were sworn in as Jr Rangers. We then took a tour of Balcony House and saw wild horses. We also toured the Far View sites, which were definitely worth the extra time.

That evening we stayed at a hotel in Alamosa that had several resident cats. We also went to Zapata Falls before going to the Great Sand Dunes visitor's center. There the kids got to work on a new set of Jr Ranger books, and we all went sand sledding.


During the kids fall break we took a trip to Florida to visit Sea World Orlando. We rode some great coasters, went trick or treating during their Spooktacular celebration, played in the Sesame Street interactive areas, and enjoyed viewing their animals, parades, and shows. Oscar did a race and ran his fastest 5K ever thanks to the change in elevation. We also enjoyed the low crowds, fun slides, and rapid river at Aquatica.
We also visited Busch Gardens, another Sea World owned park, and didn't even have to rent a car to get there thanks to their free shuttle service. We were thrilled to be able to ride the great Iron Gwazi, do some fun animal tours, feed the rainbow lorikeets, see an incredible ice skating show, ride their new coaster Phoenix Rising, go trick or treating at their Halloween Harvest, and cool off at Adventure Island.


And we used Oscar's work benefits for our free annual day at Universal Studios. We timed things perfectly and got a lot done staying the whole time from 8:00am to 8:00pm. Allison was tall enough for Velocicoaster and Rip Ride Rocket this year, we played and met characters in the new Dreamworks land, Tyler was chosen by Ollivander during the wand choosing the wizard show, Tyler and I geeked out in Diagon Alley, we got to ride Dudley Do Right's Ripsaw Falls (which was closed for maintenance last year), and we even managed a ride on Hagrid's Motorbike, which consistently has the longest lines in the park. 


After our trip we came home and had a fun Halloween shortly before a whole bunch of snow days kept us stuck at home (except for Oscar who still had to go into the office for only the 2nd time ever). Tyler made a  dodecahedron book report, the kids both went to birthday parties at Main Event on the same day I had a choir concert, I hiked the Castle Rock incline, and we had a fun Friendsgiving at home. For Thanksgiving we went to Toucano's and did a Cornucopia Hunt at home. We also took Rachel to the Children's museum, went to Allison's 3rd grade showcase, attended some fun Christmas parties, went to Tyler's band concert, attended our rec center's "Cookie's with Santa," and figured out an easy outfit for Allison's "Dress like a Roman" day. 


After the kids were out of school we celebrated the holidays, starting with meeting up with Nolan and family to see the Pueblo Zoo lights. We took the kids to Urban Air and Fazoli's for Christmas Eve, and had a great Christmas at home. Nibbler taught himself how to wack an inflatable ball, and Oscar got to work on our kitchen remodel breaking down our counter tops and painting the cabinets. Tyler and I celebrated New Year's Eve with Nolan's family then met up with them again on January 2nd to see the Denver Zoo lights. We also enjoyed snow days at the Children's Museum and got a new treadmill.

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