Hanging with Uncle Mike

Yesterday was our crazy day. Everyone has them. You know - when all your events happen on the same day?That's a crazy day. We had a birthday party for Brandon's friend Ethan down at the Denver Zoo. We are now proud members of the zoo, since it was cheap - at least compared with the San Francisco Zoo. And, there's free parking! The kids had fun! They ate pizza! They had soda (a HUGE treat)! They got water bottles! Caitlin blew through two diapers in a big way due to drinking an absolute ton of water in her water bottle (we went back to her sippy cup after that, since we were running out of clothes)! Caitlin had an enormous breakdown in the park around 3:30 or so, which prompted our departure, and then our drive around Highlands Ranch and Littleton so the kids could nap for an hour.

Brian's uncle Mike is in Denver for the week. He's got a seminar all this coming week, but he was free yesterday, so we headed to downtown Denver after naps to spend some time together. We had dinner at Buca di Beppos (which is a great restaurant choice for squirmy, talkative kids, by the way), and then walked around the 16th Street Mall in downtown Denver afterwards.

The number of times that people noted how Brandon was having fun with his Grandpa was pretty funny! People must have thought Brian and I were much younger than we actually are! At one point Brian ducked into Virgin Records, and I wondered if anyone thought Mike and I were a couple with our two young kids!

It was fun to walk around Denver. It reminded me of the days that Brian and I use to go out on Friday nights (date night) and walk all over downtown Palo Alto after dinner. Kids have sort of ruled that out for a while, but last night made me think that we can do fun things like that again. Since Brian's out of town next week, I might head up to a neighboring town to see a Celtic rock band that's doing a music-in-the-park type deal. If I like it, and the kids are good, I might do that on most Tuesday nights for the summer. Even though we made a few friends during the school year, our summer is looking slim yet again. Ethan and his family moved about 50 miles away a few weeks ago. Liam, another friend, and his family are moving back to Pennsylvania in a few weeks. Brandon's friend Eli is still here, but his family is pretty established with friends and stuff to do. We can work in a few play dates before their next baby is born (mid August, most likely, since the first two were 4-5 weeks early). I'm glad when friends and family swing by the area. If you're in town, call me! We have an extra bedroom (with it's own bathroom). We'd love to see you! Even if it's just for a few hours, or overnight!