Casa Bonita!

So when Bob and I met way back in September of 2002 one of the first group outings that we ever went on was dinner at the Famous Casa Bonita!  To give you a two word depiction of what this place is Bob has aptly labeled it "Mexican Disneyland."  Casa Bonita is one of the largest indoor restaurants in the world and it is all underground.  From the outside it looks like a hole in the wall Mexican joint, but enter the doors and your world slowly opens up to seemingly acres of seats, tunnels, catacombs and water!  Yes there is even a 30 foot waterfall in the center of the restaurant.  So back to college days.....Bob and I had just really met each other and we are out at this crazy restaurant, eating questionable food and watching the cliff divers (YES, you heard me right, there are actual diving shows  in the building) when Bob pipes up and tells me that he was a diver in college.  We watched the divers, me showing utmost interest in this sport I knew nothing about, and Bob explaining all of the different dives etc.  He found a manager that night, auditioned the next day and was officially hired as one of Casa Bonita's "professional divers."  Bob entertained at this great place for 2 years.  You really could say that I fell in love with him at this restaurant.  I mean seriously, a guy in a swimsuit, rock climbing, juggling fire and performing 1 and 1/2 somersaults into a tiny pool.  Yeah, I won't lie, it was a great source of pride to be the one going,  "That's my boyfriend...."  We girls....

Well, upon moving back to Colorado, Bob and I knew, inevitably that we would have to go back to Casa Bonita to reminisce.  It is a FANTASTIC place for kids because the service is fast and there is so much to do and so much entertainment to be had.  It really is wonderful.  We asked Heather and Derek if they wanted to join us and complete with Kennleigh, Mykenna and her twin niece and nephew, Landon and Sophia, we had a great Bonita crew.   Lily is all about water and Bob and I have had full glasses of water dumped on us numerous times lately so she LOVED the big waterfall at the front of the restaurant.  While we waited for our other party members to arrive we played by the waterfall and took advantage of the special moments together.  Gosh I just love this little girl!

If you want to know how the restaurant part of this place works you have to imagine a cattle shoot where they corral you all into a line, feed you and then let you into the dining area.  It's fast, efficient and man can that place pump out tacos, enchiladas, beans, rice and sopapillas.  It is IMPRESSIVE.  Lily simply could not hold enough of Kenny and Kenna's hands.  We adults were all a little worried that the corral/line part of the adventure was going to get out of hand quickly, but it didn't.  All of the kids stood in a circle holding hands and talking to one another.  Landon was a ham and wanted me to photograph him all night.  He would even pose for me.  What a cutie.  Once we got our food they made a kiddo train up the ramp to the dining area while all of us adults carted the food, drinks, napkins, toys, straws and paraphernalia. Seriously, for beings so small, it took 4 of us to get everything organized and snake our way through the craziness that is a Saturday night at Casa Bonita.  

We made it to our table and enjoyed our food.  Lily was all too happy to sit next to Landon and mooch off of his fries.  With so much to see and do, eating was somewhat low on the toddler priority list, but once she got seated next to Landon, she was happy as could be.  They must have sat together for about 15 minutes, AWWWWW first little date.....

Once dinner was eaten (well lets call it shoveled), we headed out to explore the shows, divers and endless hiding places.  Bob remembers all of the shows down to what time they happen and could frankly almost quote what was going to happen next.  We watched the Gorilla show and then stood by the pool to give a high five to the diver.  Lily was a little overwhelmed with all of the kids and quite unsure of whether or not the diver was safe to high five, but following the example of all her little cousins, warmed up to the idea in no time.  She even high-fived the Bad Black Bart when he "fell" off the waterfall after running from the sheriff (yes, this all happens in a restaurant).  

Lily spent much of the night clinging to her Daddy or to me.  The entire experience was a bit overwhelming to her and she could only be down in the chaos so long before she was calling "Daddy Uppies, Mommy Uppies."  It was precious.  Lily is not much of a cuddler so when she does it is extra special.  I loved her little hands wrapped confidently around her Daddy's neck.  Such a sweet picture.  Such a sweet moment.  

It was such a great night and Bob and I smiled at each other remembering those long ago times.  This is where we fell in love.  Not the only place, but it definitely has a wonderful place in our relationship.  What a great way to spend time with Derek, Heather and all of the cousins.  Casa Bonita may be cheesy (literally), but it is one of the best places to go in Denver. Adios Amigo!

Let's meet at the Zoo!

About a month or so ago I placed and "ad" on Facebook for Lily and me.  Basically saying that we were fun, loved parks, would share our animal crackers, don't smell too bad usually and were looking for friends.  

I got so much response from old friends and new friends that it really made my day.  Two of these friends were Meagan Teague and Beth Yaffe, both ladies from the good ole days at Faith Christian High School.  We have not seen each other for nearly 11 years and decided it was high time to remedy that.  So we got our schedules lined up and found a morning to meet at the Zoo.  

Meagan has twins, little Emma and Benjamin.  They are absolutely adorable and Lily instantly took a liking to Emma and especially her awesome Radio Flyer wagon.  She wouldn't get out of it and when she was out she wanted to help Miss Meagan pull the wagon.  

Beth (the only other Bethany in high school), has two boys Asher and Azriah.  It truly is the most enjoyable thing to take kids to the zoo.  The Denver Zoo is amazing too because all of the animals are very close to you and they are rarely in hiding.   We started the morning with a visit to the lions.  Lily kept saying, "pet lion, pet lion" all the while growling at them.  Such innocence and frankly so cute.  I didn't have the heart to tell her that the lions would not be as cuddly as Bryce and Maddie.  We got all of the kids together for a zoo photo. This was really the only time that we were able to compile all of the children in one location with all but one of them looking at the camera.  Asher, Benjamin, Lily, Azriah and little Emma all made up our entourage.

When Lily and Emma weren't riding in the wagon together, they were exploring everything else.  I just love to watch these little ones become friends.  It's such a pure thing and so sweet.  I have such amazing  friends and hope dearly that some of the little girls she meets will grow up to be her lifelong friends.  The type of friend that will love her, support her, pray for her, hold her up and walk through life with her.  Friendship is such a wonderful thing and watching it blossom is one of the most beautiful and sweet things.

We spent a considerable amount of time in the Feline area of the zoo.  With both indoor and outdoor exhibits, all of the kidlets were well beyond occupied.  Lily was simply in love with the "kitties" and showed no fear whatsoever.  In fact, I had to constantly keep her on the right side of the railing.  As you can see, she was ready to climb right in with them.

All of us Mom's knew that we were going to be on borrowed time after a bit and would need to walk quickly through the other exhibits before we had a full 5 child melt down.  Sometimes even zone defense is no match for exhausted little ones.  We stopped by the giraffes and ate some snack then headed over to the big polar bear that crawled right out on his big rock perch for us all to get a good look at.  Again, Lily was nothing but interested calling "por bear, por bear" and growling at him.  We made our way into the tropical exhibit to catch a glimpse of all things creepy crawly and slithery.  Lily was ho hum about the fish, but LOVED the big Komodo Dragon that was only inches from her little self.  

By the time we got out of the tropical exhibit we knew we had to hurry along if we were going to see the elephants.  We made it, but seemingly all at once, the kids hit their limit and started the melt down phase.   We ate our picnic lunch and then slowly, through some tears and drama, made our way back to the front gates.  

The zoo was simply a wonderful trip and it was truly special to reconnect with these wonderful ladies now 11 years and 5 kids later.  

Before I leave this blog post there are a couple of things sentimental that I have to share.  I have been truly and utterly blessed with friends.  God is simply astounding me with His goodness and love.  He works amazing things through the power of those closest to us and yesterday was one of those days.  I am amazed that even through rough times in life,  God never leaves us and sometimes His presence is realized through friends.  It's big and it's a blessing.

Also, there are moments where I cannot believe that I get to spend my days with this precious and beautiful little girl.  There is so much life, compassion and love in her and it is simply overwhelming to watch her grow.  Her unfettered happiness is something I aspire to. 

She finds joy in the small things......like a big puddle of water.

Therapy Sessions

One of my best girlfriends came for a visit this past weekend and when she left she gave me a card.  One the outside are two girls walking hand in hand down a road and the caption says "Thanks for being my friend.  You've saved me thousands in therapy bills," and the inside aptly says "No, I'm not paying you."

Friendship is one of those special things that we as humans get to experience.  Up next to family and your spouse, friendship can in many ways be the only thing providing sanity in a rather insane world.  It's special, it's cathartic, it's revitalizing and frankly it's theraputic.  My dear friend Tara came into town for a visit this past weekend.  Her sister Megan lives in Colorado Springs so we were all able to get together again.

 It has been well over a year and a half since I last saw Tara and, although phone conversations are wonderful, there is simply nothing like having her in my house on my couch.  Oh it was wonderful.  We spent the entire day on Saturday enjoying shopping.  Bob and I are going to Vegas with Tara and her husband next month so it was fitting that we got to do all of our Vegas shopping together.  There is simply nothing like girl time.  It was especially wonderful to leave Lily at home with her Daddy.  I love the dear, but having a "step out of the mother box" day was just what I needed.  Our conversations were deep, sweet, strengthening and healing.  Gosh it was good to see her.  We topped off the night with a dinner, cocktails and dessert at The Cheesecake Factory. Mojitos and friends........there is just no better therapy.

"Happy Burday Papa!"

This past weekend we got the special privilege of celebrating Papa's Birthday!  We have missed so many of these over the past few years and it is so wonderful to be back and celebrating.  All week I kept telling Lily that we were going to make a cake and go up to Mema's house for Papa's birthday.  She then repeated nearly every day, "burday, Papa, cake, burday, Papa!"  It was so cute to watch.  Now you have to realize that my Dad has a special way of celebrating another turn in the years.  WORKING!  All of us went up the mountain and Dad had a host of "projects" that, given the extra hands on deck, he knew he could get done.  Nothing gives Dad the satisfaction quite like having a to do list and getting the to do's crossed off.  

One of the biggest to do's was hanging up the several elk heads on their property entrance.  It was going to be a major project because they needed two people in the bucket, without harnesses or any safety gear I might add, and one person in the driver's seat to raise and lower them without dumping them out.  Bob's height really came in handy especially considering the bucket only extended so far and they had to put a kitchen stool in the bucket just for dad to be able to reach up to the elk head.  Yeah, if anyone from OCEA is reading this, we know it would not have passed inspection.

I  sat wordlessly on the ground taking photos, praying all the while that one of my photos wouldn't catch one or both of them falling through the air.  

At one point I decided that fretting over them was a poor use of my photography skills so I decided to turn the other way and catch a few pictures of the changing leaves.  It is simply beautiful this time of year and the combination of gorgeous tree colors and the blue sky makes for simply breathtaking images.  

The guys were still working when Lily woke up from her nap so Mema and she came out to observe the workers.  Lily was somewhat concerned about her Daddy, and even more concerned about the tractor.  She has a lot of fear these days towards anything that makes loud noises and is convinced that anything she sees out of her normal scope of life is going to hurt her.  Hopefully its just a phase, because it is driving this Mommy a little bonkers.  "Lily, calm down, its just a fire hydrant, no tears necessary."

The finished product.  They did a great job.  After this project there was a chicken coop to mend, hay to cover, poop to scoop, and a few other birthday chores.  By the time dinner rolled around, all of the chores were done and we were all in great spirits.  Including Lily, she loves ice cream and discovered this new dinner time game of put ice cream everywhere and lick it off. YUM.

Following our mexican feast, we enjoyed this delicious cake.  Daddy's favorite cake is German Chocolate with Coconut Pecan Frosting.  I love any excuse to bake so I made Grace and my famous chocolate mayo cake with homemade frosting. Oh it was amazing!  It was a blessing to be able to make Dad's favorite cake for his special day.  68 years and still amazing as ever.

Lily was afraid of the fire on the cake and she needed Bob's and GranFran's moral support.

It was a wonderful day to celebrate a wonderful guy! Happy Burday, Papa!