June 2009

After moving to Boulder and spending 10 days living at Wendy and Ben's place (thanks!), we moved into our "executive rental" on June 1. It was a nice place and the nicest thing was that the storage areas were completely empty. So we could unpack swiftly and stash our luggage.

R&R with Nichole
We weren't moved in long before I took off for an R&R weekend with Nichole in Phoenix. Nichole and I spent most of our R&R lounging in a lazy river at a fancy resort. After enjoying some slow time together (well...Nichole did work some) we went to Anthem to visit Aunt Harriet, Uncle Joe, Grandma, Nick and Meredith. We had a very relaxing time with them too: lounging poolside, going to meet Harriet's horse, Cinnamon, and generally having a nice time. As always, the time flew by and seemed too short but I was very grateful for the experience.

Socializing in Boulder
The best thing about spending summer months in Boulder is visiting with old friends. Of course, my top priority was to spend as much time with Wendy as I could. So we went hiking at Betasso and spent plenty of afternoons/evenings waddling around Pearl St. Mike and I also had Wendy and Ben over for pancakes as a little "thank you" for letting us take over their place for 10 days. They brought Anne (Wendy's sis) and Amy (Ben's cherie) and we cooked up some pancakes and bacon to enjoy together. So, every weekend was packed with things to do. Hans had a party, I went shopping with Cath, Mike did a nice long ride to Heil Ranch, and Mike and Wendy and I went for a hike in RMNP.

We also said "farewell" to several people over the course of the summer. First to go: Alina. And boy did she go out with a bang! We sent Alina off three times: once over dinner at the Rib House, once over fondue at her place, and lastly at the Corner Bar. Fondue at her place was easily the most entertaining. As the evening progressed Mike, Alina, and Hans polished off a few bottles of wine and as the wine bottles emptied, the air filled with amazing conversation. Not amazing as in thought-provoking...amazing as in the stopped taking turns to speak and listen. They - all three of them - started talking and listening to one another simultaneously. It was fascinating and hilarious to observe.

Michigan
This summer I made no plans for my trip to Michigan except to arrive and go up north. Nichole picked me up at the airport and took me to her place. Then I made a teeny attempt to see if anyone was around to join us for dinner at Buddy's Pizza. Teresa was around and available (after nearly jumping into the Detroit river off her boat) so we had a nice small gathering.

The next day I drove myself up north to visit with my parents. For the most part, I spent my time shadowing my parents. And it just happened that they had a lot of cleaning and organizing to do because they had just moved in to their Au Gres house and needed badly to downsize. I think there were two things that stuck with me: 1) my mom likes to collect books that she hopes to read but can't quite keep track of what she has stashed away for later (I found 4 to 5 copies of some of them); and 2) it is truly unfathomable how much baby clothing (etc...I will leave out the embarrassing list) she kept for 25 years.

One extra-fun thing that happened while I was up north was when the baby seemed to respond to Mike's voice. He called to check in from his trip to Washington DC and the baby gave me a big kick. When I said, "I think the baby knows I'm talking to you," the baby gave a couple more kicks! So call it silly pregnancy thoughts if you want. I just will remember that moment.

Since I didn't make any effort to organize any visits with anyone I was delightfully surprised when my Aunt Dori and Uncle Garry came to visit for the day! We spent the afternoon lounging together and watching the lake...which is one of the things you do when you are on the coasts of those big lakes! Nichole, of course, knew that I was coming to town and she came up and spent the weekend with me. In fact, she spent plenty of time keeping me company while I went through all the baby clothing. And in the evening she and I got the Wii hooked up over the internet and raced Alex on MarioCart. Ah the miracles of technology...Alex was in California!

Adventures with Ellie
The most excitement we had all weekend was with Nichole's dog, Ellie. To start the weekend off, Ellie darted from the car on Friday evening and found her way to the lake. Until that moment, she hadn't been a water dog, but oh my how things change! She waded in the water, dipping her face up and down getting thoroughly soaked. Then, as dogs do, she darted out of the water and started to dig. And before it was time to turn in for the night she was one muddy dog!

The next day Nichole and I went for a walk up the beach with Ellie. While we were walking a big black lab with a big not-so-friendly bark came charging at us. I panicked (an odd feeling) and lifted Ellie up by her leash! Luckily, she is a light dog and luckily the black lab didn't chase her into our arms and tackle us! The owner, by the way, said that people don't "understand" his dog...that she's really quite friendly. I don't think the owner understands dogs. So we were scared and the proceeded cautiously whenever we passed that dog's territory but everything was fine at the end of the day.

The real excitement came on Sunday when my mom and dad and I sat on the front porch while Nichole showered and got ready for her drive home. Ellie was with us - off leash like she had been all weekend - and hopped off the porch and was out of sight for about 2 minutes before my mom asked where Ellie had gotten. My dad and I looked and saw her digging and then we were startled to see her digging out poison from under the porch. (I had no idea it was there.) After calling poison control and a handful of vets in the area, Nichole rushed Ellie to get her little tummy pumped. :( By the time the vet was ready to let Nichole and Ellie go for the evening it was 9PM and Nichole still had to get down-state for work the next day. So, I practically insisted that I drive her home while she rested and held Ellie. She quickly accepted my offer and we rode the nearly-empty I-75/US-23 home. Ellie, thank goodness, is fine.

High Five

Today we think Mike felt the baby give him a high five! I was laying in bed and waking up. I put my hand on my tummy where the baby seems to be growing and said, "good morning baby." And I felt a little bump in the center of my palm. I thought, "hm. I think that was the baby," and directed Mike to say good morning too. So Mike placed his hand on my tummy and I placed my hand on his and he said, "good morning baby." After a couple minutes he felt the same thing I had felt. Today marks an exciting milestone, we think.