Hiking at Rocky Mt. National Park

Today we took our last hike as a family for a little while. Little man #2 could arrive any day, so until he can go out with us, may be a few months. But, soon, I am sure he will be a little mountain goat like his brother Luka - starting out in the back pack and soon running up the trails himself. We went to Rocky Mountain National Park and were glad to use our park pass another time.

I am two weeks away from my due date, but my gut feeling is, the baby would not come early and we were a bit stir-crazy from the very hot weather we've been having that kept us inside recently. Record breaking temps up to 105 degrees in the Denver area!

Luka had a blast and we met a nice family with six kids (4 little girls and 2 boys they were taking care of). He has so much fun hiking and playing with them that he was heart broken to leave them at the end of the day. He is very social and it is often traumatic for him to separate from friends or family.

I have a big tummy (see photo!) and some people seemed impressed such a pregant mama was on the trail, but others obviously thought I was some kind of nut. :) The family we met asked when I was due and I was (almost) embarrased to tell them (38 weeks along). But, I was right - I felt good getting the excercise and Luka and Reynald had a great time too. And, anyway, the nearest hospital was Boulder where we are going to give birth anyway. Since we are now home safe and sound, that is all a moot point.

We started at the the Bear Lake trailhead and went to Dreamland lake. Luka was very happy to put his feet in the water like some of the other kids - though they were red a bit from the coldness of the lake. He had wanted to go swimming, but we convinced him otherwise (not safe and forbidden).

We had been up here before when I was ~1 month pregnant, on snowshoes in December. Then, there were just a few other people. Luka was on his skis then, I think, for part of it. This time, he hiked the entire way. It was fun to see it in winter and in summer. Nice in summer too - but very popular with lots of people! Actually, considering the situation, this time around, that was not a bad thing.

It's Summer Time...

...and the livin' is easy. Or, so the song goes. Actually, I'd say that, this week, the livin' is hot. :) But we have been enjoying the summer lifestlye. Summer to me also means strawberry shortcake and homemade ice cream. Last night I made a strawberry shortcake - the recipe we always used in my family from Better Homes & Gardens. It is easy and yummy.

Strawberry Shortcake

1/4 c sugar, divided
2 c flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 c margarine or butter
1 beaten egg
2/3 c milk

6 c strawberries
1/4 c sugar
whipped cream

Stir together berries and 1/4 c sugar; set aside in fridge; stir every 15 minutes or so. Stir together flour, baking powder, and 1/4 c sugar. Cut in butter till mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Combine egg and milk; add all at once to dry ingredients. Stir just to moisten (be careful, if you over-stir, the cake will be tough). Spread into a greased 8x1/2-inch round baking pan. Bake at 450 for 15 - 18 minutes till done. Let cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove from pan and split into 2 layers. Spoon berries and berry liquid and whip cream over top.

Dad's Ice Cream

This recipe is for a traditional (hand-crank) ice cream freezer. To make it in a smaller ice cream freezer (like the Cuisinart I have now), cut it down or it will never freeze. I cut it down by 1/3 or 2/3's, depending. Also, I guess this is recipe is technically ice milk, but it is what I grew up eating, so it tastes just right. Homemade ice cream that is heavy on the cream tastes too rich to me.

1-1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
3 cans evaporated milk
milk (not fat free)

Put around 3 c of the fruit of your choice aside, mashed, mixed with 1/4 c sugar. Add the eggs and sugar to the freezer, then the rest. Fill up to the "fill" line with regular milk. (If you are using a Cuisinart, don't fill too full, or it won't freeze hard enough.) Freeze until set, according to the instructions for your ice cream maker. Eat it fast - homemade ice cream is never frozen hard like the store bought kind. You can also put any leftovers in the freezer in an air tight container, but it is better when first made.

Eve Preg Pic

Eve Pregnant picture



Reynald took this picture of me to make sure we have some this late in the game: July 18, 2005. Baby's due date is August 6, 2005.

It's a new car!

Well, new to us anyway. Did I already say in here somewhere that our Ford Escort finally gave out? What a relief. 3-1/2 years ago, the mechanic said it could die any day and we put not one dime into since then - except for one oil change - and the !#$&%* thing would not die! We had sort of started looking for another car in the last few months anyway. The Ford was (poor) Reynald's commuter car to work. Luka had only been in it a very few times (on way to airport or whatever) because it could have stopped working at anytime... And I rarely drove it either. I worried that Reynald would die in it or something though, and we'd be sorry for not shelling out for a different vehicle!

It all worked out though - finally, about three weeks ago, Reynald called me and said the deed was done - yay! We were relieved, but I must say, it was nice over the years not to have to pay any car maintenance - hee hee. We just purchased a 2000 RAV 4 - a sporty, mini SUV with 4-wheel drive. Mostly, I think I will drive it. We will see how we feel when little man #2 is added to the back seat if I keep this one or go back to the CR-V.

In any case, buying a car is always stressful and an annoying process. But, within that parameter, so far I feel okay about this one and Luka and I are having fun tooling around in it.

Baby #2 Update

3 weeks and a few days to go - today is Thurs and it will be 3 weeks till D-Day (due date) on Saturday. Little man #2 seems to be healthy and happy in my tummy. I am thinking he will be like Luka and come out near his due date. Though when Luka was born, he was assessed at being 41 weeks! So, hopefully, this little guy (due date for him established by ultra sound, as opposed to Luka), won't decide to stay in a week past his due date!

Luka and I went to my (now weekly) OB appointment today. Baby's heartbeat is good and I measured 37 weeks - right on. I am getting pretty tired now, but feel good otherwise. Luka cries when they use the doppler to listen to the heartbeat and in general cries when he goes to appointments with (for) mommy. Not sure why, but I try to avoid taking him when I can...

We have a short list for #2's names, so will see what we come up with. We are leaning toward one that is pronounced (basically) the same in English and French, but is not that common in either. (Though we were surprised to see it listed as the 23rd most popular name in France!). Neither of us know anyone with this name, but both have heard it before. Well, will have to wait till the little guy comes out and see what he says his name is.

Spanish Numbers

Luka learned to count to ten in Spanish at school and he loves doing it. Maybe eventually, we will have him take Spanish lessons too. :) Sometimes, he will do it in English and/or Spanish, but refuse to do French. (French counting was his first experience/language to count in - I think it is just old hat, and he wants to do the "fun" counting.) In any case, he is very into it and I had to refresh how the Spanish numbers are properly pronounced to help him out - though he does a great job (just 4 and maybe 8 were a bit off).

The Mystery of Coliforme

A word that Luka has been saying and been excited about for several weeks was coliforme, or something like that. We couldn't figure it out. Whatever the real word is, that is close to what he is saying and neither I or Reynald could figure out what the real word was. It is something in French. Sometimes, I will ask Luka if he is a coliforme and he usually laughs and says no. Sometimes, he gets mad and says, "Je ne suis pas un coliforme, Maman!"

We finally figured out this was some word he was learning from one of his T'Choupi DVD's. Then, we got that it was actually coliforme des montagnes (coliforme of the mountains) and narrowed it down to the episode where T'Choupi goes camping. We thought it was the one where T'Choupi picks mushrooms with his Papi (Grandpa), and thought it was some kind of mushroom. But, various spellings didn't pan out in the dictionary. Then, Luka said it was the episode when T'Choupi goes camping - now we are getting somewhere!

Today, when he was watching T'Choupi, he got all excited and said, "Maman, coliforme - coliforme des montagnes!" It turns out it is the episode where T'Choupi goes camping. He is in the tent and is scared when he hears an owl hoot. And, he says something like, "Doudou, c'est le coliforme des montagnes," however, Luka was so excited to show me the episode that he kept talking over T'Choupi and I couldn't hear the exact word. I will check with Reynald - as the native French speaker, I am sure he will figure it out. It seems like it means "monster" or something like that. So, we will see. For now, the coliforme mystery is not totally solved!

Update 07/16/05 - The Mystery Resolved

I went out today to get my toes done (last time before the baby is born). They look great with flowers on the big toes. (Thanks, Jenni!) While I was gone, Reynald watched the "T'Choupi goes Camping" episode with Luka, and solved the coliforme mystery!

T'Choupi hears the owl and he says, "C'est le grosnivore des montagnes." Well, the reason we didn't solve it earlier is that "grosnivore" is not a word - but something T'Choupi made up: gros as in big and -invore as in "carnivore," we are guessing. So, I guess, to T'Choupi, that means "scary thing that lives in the woods." Well, that mystery is solved, but I think around here, we will still say "coliforme." :)

Luka Leads Circle Time

Today at Luka's school, when I picked him up at the end of the day, his teacher Sophie was excited to have him tell me that he led circle time. I asked if she always had the kids do it to teach them how to be up in front of a group. She said, no, she was just starting to do that though to see if they enjoyed it more if one of their own led the group, and Luka was the first one! She is very nice and is always enthusiastic about him. She said he did an awesome job, up in the "leader's chair" and sang his ABC's (in English) and tapped out the rhythm on his knees. He then proceed to jump on the chair and show me. He did awesome! She said at circle time he then sang a song in French for them and she was really impressed. It might have been "Dansons la capucine" but I am not sure - I told her he knows so many and has lots of favorites. In any case, I was proud of my little man!