March 2017 – Gribblog

March 5

My mom (aka Grandma) came to visit for a long weekend. Dave took the opportunity to go mountain biking in Sedona with our friend Dann, so I drafted Mom right away to watch the kids while I went to band on Thursday night. I took Friday off, and she and I spent a wonderful day shopping and eating lunch at the Japanese restaurant near our house, Udon Kaisha. Then we spent most of the afternoon and evening making a hazelnut cake (Kelli Bronski’s recipe), which we delighted in eating throughout the visit. We watched a movie every evening and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Mom got to spend a little bit of time alone with Phoebe while I took Benjamin to his friend David’s birthday party. (He and David were in preschool together last year.) I don’t seem to have taken a single photo of Mom, but here are a few from the party.

Climbing up the ladder in the bouncy house.

Benjamin didn’t seem to notice that all the other kids split up by sex to wash their hands before cake.

March 11

One of the coffee shops near our house, Proper Grounds, moved locations, so we went to check out the new spot.

Benjamin brought a few Legos to entertain himself.

March 16

We decided to have Phoebe’s birthday party the weekend before her birthday, since her birthday started spring break, and we were worried some families might be out of town. I made a marble[d] cake and gluten-free marble[d] cupcakes, at Phoebe’s request.

The cake didn’t marble as well as I might have hoped!

Now it’s frosted! Phoebe did the decorations.

March 17

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

I turned 40! The flowers are from my dear friend Karen.

March 18

Phoebe’s birthday party! She invited Take-A-Break friends Kylie, Isabelle, Calae, and Fritz; school friends Isabelle, Mazzy, and Ellie; kindergarten friend James; church friend Julia; and kid-of-parents’-friends Tilley. Only Calae couldn’t make it, so she got to celebrate with all her peeps. Unfortunately, Benjamin was feeling pretty horrendous the day before the party, and we were loath to invite a whole bunch of kids into our germy house. We finally decided to move the party to the park just half a mile away. (Dave and Phoebe went out the night before to make sure it had open bathrooms, and we were in luck.) It was the perfect weather, and the kids had a great time playing “groundies” and other games on their own. The grownups stood around and chatted. This might be the template for many birthday parties to come!

The girls are playing telephone (not posing for a photo).

Blowing out her candles. How did that kid get to be seven?

March 19

Another birthday party at a park! Our friend Whitman (Tilley’s younger brother) turned five. Phoebe was keen to read one of the books Tilley gave her for her birthday, so she brought it along.

Benjamin is making me eggplant and blueberries.

I love this photo of Phoebe and Tilley reading together.

March 21

Phoebe’s school had a first-grade learning fair. We didn’t know exactly what to expect, but it turned out to be songs from many cultures and a classroom full of work the kids had done. We were impressed with the music teachers, Mrs. Miller’s hard work, and especially the hard work of the kids!

Phoebe pulled over a chair at Cannon Mine so she could pay for her snack.

Phoebe’s class singing. (She’s wearing a striped dress just behind the music teacher.)

The art one of the first-grade teachers is painting on the wall at the school.

For a video made by her class, click Mrs. Miller’s first-grade class/Japan.

March 22–24

I had a work trip to Baltimore for the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) conference. Because I’ve started to acquire professional development books for academic librarians, ACRL is now an important conference for me. I’d never been to Baltimore, so I was looking forward to getting to know the city a little bit.

My friend Karen gave me this cool coat to wear to conferences. Much more stylish for the city than my puffy winter coat!

Passing an old building on my way from my hotel to the Baltimore Convention Center.

At first, I just loved these concrete waves; then I figured out that Baltimore is on the water!

This photo was for Phoebe; she loves to read Ripley’s Believe It or Not books.

Duck walking along by the inner harbor waterfront.

One evening I walked down to the inner harbor to see the sights. Here are the CHESSIE paddleboats.

Looking out toward the Maryland Science Center.

The Chesapeake with Barnes and Noble and the Hard Rock Cafe in the background.

Friday morning, I ran from my hotel to Fort McHenry, now a national monument, which was closed until later in the day. This is where Francis Scott Key wrote “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

The intersection of Benjamin with David streets.

Looking across the bay to the tourist attractions.

Lovely brick esplanade with the city in the background.

I left the conference early to fly back to Denver for a special occasion: a certain girl’s seventh birthday! Grammie was visiting, so I hadn’t been too much missed. I got home in time for dinner at Chipotle (Phoebe’s choice) and the opening of a million presents (at least!).

March 25

Dave and I left on Saturday morning to drive up to Beaver Creek for our friend John Friedberg’s wedding to Kimberly Zissler. It was a lovely drive. We reminisced about when we used to drive up into the mountains all the time for the weekend! We got to our very cute hotel (the Green Bridge Inn in Red Cliff) in plenty of time to sit down for a few minutes and then change for the wedding.

We drove about 25 minutes to one of the parking lots John had recommended and got on the free shuttle. Everyone else was dressed in ski gear; we had on black tie. Kind of fun! It was only a block from the shuttle stop to the church. What a beautiful wedding! Kimberly looked happy and beautiful, and John was beaming.

Dave owns a tux for musical performances, and I still had my bridesmaid’s dress from N and Laura’s wedding.

Very pretty church—and we could see people skiing out the window!

After the wedding, we got onto buses and were driven to the reception in a really cool facility. We were met at the door with glasses of wine and “new fashioneds.” It was such a fun night! We liked everyone we met and had a great time dancing. The food was terrific, too. What a treat to know that the kids were being cared for by Grammie and we could relax and enjoy ourselves.