Denver Aquarium

With Ben not having school in August, I've been very thankful to get to spend some quality time with the Lineberry girls.  Today we went to the Denver Aquarium for both mine and Ben's first visit.  It certainly did not disappoint and I decided it would be a wonderful place for a date.  It's proximity to the Highlands and all the great restaurants there could really make one heck of a date night.  We even spent some time post-aquarium at a nearby playground, making for one heck of a great day.

Lunch tank-side was a real treat!

The tigers really surprised me!

MONTANA or bust!

On Thursday July 18th, Ben and I loaded the car after a crazy couple of days (see scary school post,) and headed for Big Sky Country.  I do really enjoy a road trip and thanks to lots of trips back and forth to KS when he was young, Ben is a great car traveler.  Well, thanks to that and Steve Jobs and the iPad. :) The first day our goal was to make it to Sheridan, Wy and we did that with relative ease and were enjoying the hotel pool by 4:30pm.  A more than decent restaurant within our hotel meant we could take dinner up to the room post-swimming for a little mock room-service fun. This was the first time Ben was allowed to eat on a bed and with the TV on as well, he was in heaven.  He refused to sit up and eat saying, "bed, go sleeping," so he laid back and got his grilled cheese on, in ultimate comfort. :)

The last two hours of the next days' travels were tough.  We both REALLY wanted to be out of the car.  We arrived at Papa Ken's just in time for his arrival with my favorite Chinese take-out.  Ben had a great time re-introducing himself to pups, Billy and Boomer (boom-boom,) and exploring Papa's house. 

the flowers at Southgate Mall where I used to work have always been amazing

On one gorgeous run we encountered sheep....

roosters (and chickens).....

....and even some playground time at the end.

(whose long legs are those? :)

This local school playground was the perfect end to many evenings.

Over the next week we ran errands with Papa, gave-in and bought a kiddie pool for the backyard, spent time with dear friends and even spent a couple days at Flathead Lake and exploring Bigfork and Whitefish.........

We got to join a friend I met in college while working at Gap kids and her two daughters, Finley and Neah, for a morning at the river.  It was on her mom's property where I had watched her get married years ago, so it was really fun to go back.  Ben had way too much fun playing in the mud and swimming.  I daydreamed about a life for him under the big sky exploring his days away in the great outdoors. :)

Ben had lots of sand in his shorts by this point.

This is why.....

Aunt B had recently moved to Missoula so seeing her was an unexpected treat.  She joined us one evening for dinner with Uncle Carl, Julie and Eric and his family.  Ben had tons of fun on the trampoline with Eric's daughter, Jaycee until my mama heart couldn't take the stress of him on an elevated and unprotected trampoline any longer. 

The last couple days of the trip, we headed with Papa and the pups up north to the lake.  In hindsight, we should have packed lunches and just parked ourselves by the lake all day both days as both Ben and the pups were happiest there.  The crystal clear and unseasonably warm water were fantastic in both Flathead and Whitefish lakes.  Ben would really have been happy to never leave!  It reminded me of the lakes and streams we have near home that might not be quite as majestic or unspoiled, but that are there to be enjoyed.  We had some great food and spent some time exploring the towns and enjoying the hotel pools.  Ben was a trooper as he was outdoors and busy from sun-up till sun-down, and meals were often delayed.  He (mostly) hung in there with me through lots of changes to his schedule and routine and I thanked him repeatedly for his cooperation.

We took Ryan to this same restaurant years ago and sat at the same table.

 

On this day he didn't stay awake for the lake but stole mama's heart.

 We visited Whitefish ski area

 

Ben approved of the MT rocks

After a couple days at the lake and one night back at Papa's, it was time to head home.  We left Missoula about 730am and only planned on making it to Buffalo, Wy.  Well, my little traveler did remarkably well and we hit Buffalo so early and in the rain that I decided to keep going.  Unfortunately the rain never let up and got really bad when we hit Denver in the dark, but I wasn't tired, and had a willing travel partner, so we ventured ALL THE WAY HOME! We arrived just after 9pm.  I had even asked Ben if he wanted to stop and swim and all he wanted was to, "go homeeeeeeee and see Dada!"

Sadly, "going home" was a theme all trip long.  Ben has traveled so much and has always been so good at it, but this trip included lots of requests to "go home to Ben's home." One sure reason was that he had pulled his stackers out of his toy bag at the last minute and left them behind. I had checked and double-checked and triple-checked and sure enough at our first stop, they were no where to be found.  We tried some others that just didn't suffice and there is certainly not an Ikea in Montana.  We are happy he enjoys home so much except that the old, "if you don't shape up, we're going home, never works with Ben." In the end I know he had tons of fun and was always happy to return to "Papa's home" after our outings, but we will keep up the travel so my little home-body doesn't get too attached.


Big thanks to everyone who made our trip so great!! The fresh air and big open sky were beautiful reminders of the majesty of nature we so often take for granted living in the mountain west.

*note: Due to a whole new level of single-moming it, and frequently being near water with my little fish, I took sadly few pics on this trip.  I was thankful for the phone pics as the few standard camera pics I took were blurry. :(  I definitely gained a new appreciation for all the help I get from Ryan and the people who are regularly in Ben's life.  I also know taking pics when it's just Ben and I will get easier quickly and some day I'll wish for this time when I struggled to keep him in my sights. :) I will??

camera time

Well, I'm doing it again...interrupting the promised post flow for a little creative outlet.  I didn't hit it quite early enough today but I've been wanting to shoot (photograph) Ben in the morning light in our bedroom.  The light is fantastic and our sheer drapes diffuse the light perfectly.  I had planned on a little shoot Sunday morning but had a little too much fun Saturday to be up and on the ball for the early light.  There was that and the fact that the little man slept in too.  So, I attempted it today and although it was too late for the perfect light, we had SO much fun having the camera out today.  I even bribed Ben with a lollipop if he would cooperate and look at the camera and smile for mommy.  My favorite shots of the day actually came later when we were playing outside but it felt great to get back behind the lens and spend some time shooting my most favorite subject.

In these he was looking in the mirror near the foot of our bed and actually posing. :)

I didn't have the right lens or settings for these jumping shots but we had so much fun!

the prize

 

"airplane!!"

be still my mama heart

 

scary school situtation

When I arrived at Ben's school the Tuesday before our recent trip to Montana (post forthcoming,) I was informed about a very scary incident that had taken place.  It's extremely hard to write about without crying, even weeks later.  Ben had been taken out of the pool early for not staying on the wall and waiting his turn and the other kiddos were pulled out to be dressed before returning to their classroom.  Suddenly when a second count of the kiddos was done, Ben was missing!!  One teacher quickly ran outside to the adjacent outdoor pool and informed another teacher who knew him and the search was on.  He was missing for a couple of minutes before they found him six kids back in line on the ladder of the slide that goes into the pool.  On the day I asked to be shown exactly what had taken place, there was no one in line for the slide.  It was terrifying to see and to think about what might have happened if the pool had been less busy.  There were 3 lifeguards on duty, but with a busy pool and only seconds required to drown, the ending could have been far worse.  After the news sunk in and I talked with Ryan, we decided Ben definitely had to be taken out of the school.  Although lots of changes had been made only 24 hours later as well as many other potential safety risks having been identified, after seeing some things that were still taking place near the un-secure pool area, I wasn't at all comfortable sending him back.  Thankfully there were only 3 weeks left for Ben at the JCC before a short break and a new school in the fall.  I wish he had had more of an official ending to the year as he routinely says, "bye-bye school-y," right now, but with our trip to Montana to start the interruption, I hope he'll make the transition unscathed.
Fortunately, this very scary incident ended well for our family.  Ben's teachers agreed that all parents should be invited to walk through the area where swimming lessons are taking place.  Regular readers might remember these lessons at school were a surprise to us and in hindsight, I should have asked to tour the area where they were taking place, or at least observed a lesson or two.
I am happy our action will make the pool a safer place for the public at large and Ben's former preschool as well.  A door that had long been broken is finally being fixed and more attention is being given to some basic safety practices that had been ignored too long.  I'm thankful for all of us that an important lesson was learned this way, as it could have been so much worse for all involved.  Boy were Ryan and I in search of some extra Ben snuggles in the days after this!!