Spring Break

Who has two thumbs and will never again drive 820 miles each way with a kid and a dog?

This girl.

Ah, Spring Break. Flowers blooming, warmish weather and, for us, a ridiculously long drive to Arizona. I'm not sure why I decided not to fly, I think the idea of bringing Memphis along (rather than acclimating him to a new kennel) and having my own car once I arrived in Phoenix seemed appealing. In any case, we headed down to my mom's place and after a less than stellar overnight in Albuquerque and at least a thousand potty breaks, we made it. There were some kitschy stops we planned to make along the way, however, most were no longer open so we had to settle for dinosaurs, craters and lots and lots of dust.

Upon arrival, Teague really just wanted to swim and scooter around. Fine by me. In visiting my mom's new active adult community (for those ages 55+), we learned quickly that young visitors are quite the novelty. I now know what it must feel like to be a zoo animal on display. We enjoyed chatting up everyone we encountered and walking/riding along the beautifully landscaped grounds.

Coincidentally, Sean had been away training in the middle of nowhere AZ for a couple of weeks. While down in AZ were able to drive out and see him on his birthday. This new job is quite different than what he has done for most of his career, so it was interesting to see him in action in this new role.

Blue skies and parachutes all day long.

One of his landings.

The weather this particular week was lovely, still just cool enough to be enjoyable. When checking temps back in CO, we saw that it had snowed a tiny bit. Memphis was super glad to be out of the snow; he detests his winter jacket. 

I decided to drive straight through on the way back instead of stopping for the night. It turned out to be much easier, believe it or not. On this world's longest drive we didn't dilly dally much, but did encounter some beautiful scenery along the way. 

                             The sun was setting as we arrived back in Colorado.

Adjusting

We went out to dinner the other night and all at once it sort of hit me, we're not just visiting. We live here now. I have to admit, the first 10 days or so weren't ideal, with single digit temps, snow and dark, cloudy skies. (Poor New Englanders, I don't know how you endured this all winter). The great thing about Colorado is that the snow typically doesn't stick around. The sun shines, "they" say, about 300 days a year. I hope this is true.

Teague's school is great and we love the community we're living in. I had never heard of a master planned community before coming here. Apparently they design  neighborhoods specifically with families in mind and include cool things like trail systems, community centers, playgrounds and dog parks. It's lovely and I fear I'm now spoiled.

What I've noticed the most since arriving is that people are friendly. They smile at each other. Clerks and cashiers are helpful. People hold doors for others. Polite is the norm. After Miami, it all seems just a little bit like the movie Pleasantville out here. 

But I like it...I like it a lot.

Aside from adjusting to the colder temps and driving in snow, post-Miami everything comes across as really conservative. Take the local traffic anchor, for example. Compare Colorado's sensible older fellow and Miami's young, full-screen style queen. 

                             

With or without warmer temps, Miami gals wear a lot less and it's typically flashy. High heels and clouds of perfume are involved. Here, the typical woman's staple is a fleece jacket, jeans and sneakers. Especially when it's cold, I'm a big fan of comfort. I am more than happy to step into the world of uber casual. (As long as, at some point, flip flops are involved).

Things here are not lush and green, and I certainly miss the ocean and the palm trees.

However, wherever this guy is, the views are going to be just right.

Colorado or bust

Our drive began during one of the big East coast storm systems and sadly (for one of us) the trek to Graceland had to be scrapped for a less icy route. We enjoyed warm temps at our lunch and dinner stop in FL, but after that the outside air was officially not warm. At each restroom break, Teague would ask before he got out of the car if it was going to be warm or cold. He was a bit disappointed when I told him that from now on it's not going to be 80 degrees in winter. 

Despite our route change and lack of Graceland souvenirs, the trek out west was relatively painless. Our pup Memphis, now deaf and senile, did surprisingly well. 

Typically, the radio game & "animal, vegetable or mineral" are played ad nauseam on our road trips, but this time, Sean and I binge listened to NPR's Serial podcast (which is excellent, by the way) and spent the remainder of the drive googling case-related articles.

Our main "attraction" stop was New Orleans. Luckily, it was just after Mardi Gras ended so things were far less crazy. It's a pretty town and the fresh beignets were delish. We tried some Nola dishes, stayed the night and called it good.

We couldn't drive through North Texas without stopping in a little known town called Dalhart. It's actually where we were engaged. Why podunk Texas, you ask? Well, Sean, a cadet at the "Colorado School for Wayward Boys", had travel restrictions on weekends. My graduation at Texas Tech University exceeded his allowable travel distance. He was authorized to drive as far as Dalhart, Texas, though, so with a lot of behind the scenes planning via my folks, he surprised me on my drive back from graduation at the gazebo in Dalhart with a ring and a proposal. 

We hadn't visited since our actual engagement in 1999 and as is typical of teeny one-horse towns, not much has changed. I feel like the randomly installed ginormous arrow was some sort of nod to our exclusive engagement location.

                                                  16 years later...dog, kid, move #8.

                      The ridiculously big arrow gets no respect. Thanks Memphis.

Somewhere along the drive Teague lost another tooth.

                           
Lucky us, we arrived in Colorado few hours ahead of the big storm and quickly settled into a snow-bound routine at the TLFs of hot cocoa and wet snowy everything. 

A few snow days and snow delays later, our furniture was delivered and we are now officially living in Colorado. This was our first conus to conus move in 14 years and I have to say, it's a heck of a lot easier than shipping household goods to/from overseas! What a relief to have an almost seamless door to door move.

Sunset on Miami

"Live in the sunshine
swim in the sea
drink the wild air"  
-Emerson

Miami is like the relative that everyone adores; cool without trying to be cool,  accepting of everyone and always happy, relaxed & up for something fun.  (This relative also dresses a tad too provocatively and drives like a moron). 

Our sleepy little town of Surfside was an absolutely delicious slice of paradise. We will miss it every single day.

Ninja Lounge

My dear Granny used to say that time passed so much faster once you had children. Truer words have never been spoken, Gran. It seems unbelievable that 8 years ago I delivered a tiny little 5 pound peanut who is now a karate-chopping soccer-loving universe of energy. 

He's a great kid; funny and clever. Most importantly, though, he is kind. His teacher told me that he stays in the classroom with friends to help them finish their work when the class has gone to lunch.  He asks me to pack extra treats in his lunch to share with his friends. He recently had a run in with an older kid at the playground who made fun of Teague for being born in Korea. (How is that  even a thing?)  Teague stood up to him with a calm and thoughtful response that made my heart swell. This kid is an old soul who uses words like "jolly" and not only says he likes Elvis tunes, he actually does. Happy 8th Birthday to my sweet little old man Teagy Bear.

One of his favorite tv shows, American Ninja Warrior, became a fast family favorite. We watched the season together, even bringing his grandparents in on the action who diligently watched from their time zone and then discussed with him by phone. Surprisingly, there are gyms around the country which are built specifically to train contestants for this tv show challenge. Even more surprisingly, one was opening up near our house on February 1st, aptly named Ninja Lounge. So yeah, there was no question as to where we'd hold his birthday party/farewell to his buddies party. I don't know if he or Sean and I were more excited about the venue!

This is what happens when sixteen 8 year olds are asked to take a group photo: 

A little trampoline dodgeball first, team Chicken Nuggets vs. team Tigers.

Teague's first crack at the obstacle course. 

                                                           His favorite Miami girl.

Sean rocked the salmon ladder. He was also incredibly sore the next day.

A chimp probably could have done a better job with this, but it did taste fantastic.