The mystery is solved

Usually this blog is just about the princesses; however, today I have some thoughts that do not include them. (Amazing isn't it??!!) Danielle has a great top 10 list that she does and on her last one she mentioned how great Katie Holmes has looked lately. She is right about that. Katie does look great but the way Tom Cruise and his "handlers" treat her creeps me out. Why, I wondered would this precious, beautiful girl during her 20's want to all of the sudden be married to him? What do they have in common? Why would she put up with a 24-7 chaperon when he is not around? Now, part of me wanted them to be "real". Maybe they are in love. Maybe they have LOTS in common. I do not know them. BUT, I did see something on one of my favorite TV channels, VH1, that put it all into perspective. Katie and Tom's pre-nup gives her a cool $3 mil for every year that they are married and an even cooler $25 per biological child that they have together. It is all making sense now and if I were her I would be throwing away all forms of contraceptive!!!

This now brings me to my other favorite topic - reality TV. And like a true addict I must admit that I LOVE IT! Not all of it but certain shows. I do not know why at my age I am enthralled by The Hills and The Real World (although Denver sucked a$$ and I quit watching). I LOVE all of VH1's shows - they just did a great countdown on 80's music! And I am fascinated by The Girl's Next Door (really? you like having sex with an 80+ year old man??) Little People, Big World and A&E's classic, Gene Simmons Family Jewels. Now perhaps because I have to think all day at work and this is my little escape but I really do not have an explanation. But since they are not illegal, they will just remain my dirty little secret!

Saturday

Yesterday Tripp kept the girls so that I could go to a baby shower for a friend. A baby shower at a SPA!! It was a heavenly 4 hours of pedicures, facials and lunch!

When I left the girls were in pjs. When I got home I found them in some crazy outfits! Crazy outfits that they had been to a couple of plant nurseries and the grocery store in!

Below are the outfits that made me giggle!

Jane is in a pj top and some cargo shorts. Not really bad and it does match but it just made me smile that not only is this a pj top BUT it is a size 12 months!

Mae is in a Lily P short and a smocked mermaid top! The colors do match.

Final Denver post

After dinner on our last night, we took the girls to a local park to let off some steam! They had so much fun playing and since our trip Mary Austin has asked me every day when we are going back to play with Lily and Megan!

Running and
running and

running!

Climbing on the statue! No fear at all!

Mommy, when can we go back?

Evergreen wildlife

Tripp and I love the mountains and even went to Highlands, NC for our honeymoon. However, those mountains and these mountains are entirely different! I had been to Denver once before but stayed in the city. Several time I caught myself thinking, "now I could really live here"; but, then I remembered how bad I am about snow and the cold and how far we would be from our families.

Below are some pictures of the beauty of Evergreen and some wildlife!

Our last night (the one that Mary Austin and were chilly on) we ate outside at a restaurant on a public golf course. During dinner elk decided to come down and join us. In the foreground of the above picture is a "Christmas" tree. Mary Austin was amazed and delighted to find out where "Christmas" trees come from! (Actually ours come from NC but that is a moot point)
The entire elk herd

Amazing country that we live in!

A beaver.

Now, we have beavers here in Alabama but I was still on the high of seeing elk and got a little camera happy!

The Denver Zoo

Thursday we went to the Denver Zoo. We had a blast seeing the animals and meeting up with some of the Parker's friends who also have daughters from China.

We miss our elephant Mona.

Mary Austin chose the leopard to ride! Now technically I know this is actually a cheetah but I was stunned that she knew what a leopard was!
Our hippos are NEVER out of the water!

I guess it is too hot here!

Zebras!

And lastly, a polar bear! We, for sure, do not have and will never have a polar bear at our Zoo! If we ever did he would have to lay on a bed of ice from May to October! Mary Austin is still talking about the polar bear.

Tiny Town, Colorado

Our first full day in Denver we went to Tiny Town, Colorado. A "town" full of tiny houses. Some large enough for the girls to go in and some too small. Some had windows that you could look in and see "tiny people" having fun.

Built around 1915 by a father for his daughter, it is now its own municipality and has a coal run train. The weather was perfect (not too hot to us) and the girls had lots of fun!

Waving to the people on the train.

Waiting for our turn on the train!

Ever the princesses, the girls spied several houses that could have been home to certain princesses. Mary Austin thinks this may be Snow White's house.

Hmmm.. This looks big enough to be Cinderella's house.

Ohhh.. but this one MUST be Cinderella's!

DENVER FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The next few posts will be all about Denver and the fun Mary Austin and I had with the Parkers! If you do not know the story go here to read how we are all related! It was our first "mother-daughter" trip and will not be our last! I cannot wait until the girls are old (and independent) enough for us all to go together! Jane stayed behind this trip as there was no way to travel with the both of them by myself.

The weather could not have been better! It was not hot or humid! Our last night Mary Austin and I were even a little bit chilly. We did okay with the altitude change with only some minor headaches and some asthma-like symptoms for Mary Austin. The Parkers live about 45 minutes outside of Denver in Evergreen. They are at 7500 feet above sea level.

Our travels went off with only 2 minor glitches. The first day I backed up the rental car into some rocks causing some "minor" damage to the rear bumper (this was only about 2 hours after I had turned down the supplement insurance) and on the way home we were delayed in Atlanta for nearly 4 hours. Mary Austin traveled like a pro, loved the airplane and "fancy" rental car and even thanked 2 soldiers in the airport.