Fear and excitement.

WAKE UP!

This morning's alarm clock came earlier than expected when our smoke detectors went off at 4:30. No, it wasn't one smoke detector chirping because it needs a new battery. Every alarm in the entire house was going off. It was awful.

Griff grabbed the womping stick from under the bed, thinking at first that it was the security alarm. Not knowing what was going on, I got dressed to leave the house and gathered kids. The three of us went downstairs to put on shoes while Griff checked the whole house. And found nothing.

An hour later - It was probably just 4 or 5 minutes - the alarms stopped.

I told Griff I would feel better if we called 9-1-1 and just asked them about it. So, I did. I stressed that it wasn't an emergency but we didn't know why the smoke detectors sounded for so long this morning. They said they'd send the truck over to walk through our house.

Relative tangent to the story: Sawyer is OBSESSED with fire trucks and everything firefighter. He loves his Fireman Sam DVD and always requests Fireman Sam whenever Madelyn and he are getting a show. Last weekend, at the picnic in Aunt Shelley's neighborhood, the Denver Fire Department came by and (gently) sprayed people with water as it was SO hot that day. Madelyn and he played "white firetruck spraying you" for quite a while that evening. There is a fire station (Station No 18) less than a mile from our house. We toured it in April and he always requests to "see firetrucks" when we drive by because I have so much pull in whether the fire station doors are open or closed and if the trucks are in or out. For his birthday in June, we gave him a framed picture of our fire station with the hook and ladder parked out front. It hangs on the wall right beside his crib.

As we waited for the firefighters this morning. I could see both fear and excitement in Sawyer. Excitement because the fire truck was coming! And, because it was not quite 5:00A, we could hear the truck coming down the street behind us (without sirens, thankfully) and making it's way to our house. To make a story that's becoming longer than necessary shorter, Sawyer was definitely scared when the fire truck pulled up and the firefighters came inside.

The firefighters explained some things to Griff and I about smoke detectors. Basically, without smoke and the alarms having stopped, we have to wait until next time (Yay!) to figure out which one is malfunctioning. Yadda yadda yadda. We also determined, between the two of us, that it was probably the humidifier in Sawyer's room which had generated too much moisture with his door closed and subsequently set off the alarms.

No one went back to bed. Later, Griff told me that he thought it probably was a good idea the firefighters didn't walk through our whole house. If they had seen the framed picture of their truck in Sawyer's room, they might have thought we were crazy firefighter fans who had called in the middle of the night just to have them stop by. Yep, I'm sure that's exactly what they would have thought!

Hopefully we can avoid any more false alarms. And, hopefully our next encounter with the fine folks from Station No 18 will be at a fire station tour or when they visit school again in the Fall.

Steamboat sillies

Sawyer aka Houdini escaped twice from his Pack N Play on Friday evening. One of those times, we are certain he had assistance from his older sister. As for the other, no one is quite sure or will admit to anything. On Saturday afternoon, he managed to get into the Pack N Play unassisted only to find himself stuck. Oh, Sawyer.

I never get tired of delightful decor of mountain condos. As is the stereotype, there was a lot of antique ski pictures, posters, and gear. However, this condo also had an equestrian theme which included a bridle, reins, and bull whip hanging on the family room wall and a friendly sign on the front door reading "Please wipe your hooves!" which we did. Sawyer was even so kind to wipe his hooves on the way out the door as well.

And, I almost missed this little beauty. Thank goodness I noticed it on Sunday afternoon so I could capture its essence.

One of the downstairs bedrooms featured denim bed spreads along with this fancy matching valence. Yep, handkerchiefs and jeans. Do you suppose this was found on Pinterest?

Children drinking coffee. NO, we didn't actually let them drink coffee but they did get to have their milk out of coffee cups each day.

On our gondola ride on Sunday, Sawyer literally had sweaty paw pads and left steamy handprints on the gondola window. He wasn't so sure about the whole thing. Luckily, he was able to relax a little on the way down.

All in all, I'd say we had a pretty good trip. Madelyn was sad to leave on Monday morning and return to the city. But, it was also time to go home to the rest of our family, including cats, and friends. Interestingly enough, Griff and I stayed at this same condo complex in August 2004. Hopefully it's not another 9 years before we return! Something tells me we'll be back sooner.

Country mice - Day 3

Breakfast at Winona's including a cinnamon roll. I would like to point out that the plate is a full size dinner plate. Ridiculous.

Gondola ride to the top of the mountain. Had we been better prepared, we could have gone for a short hike. As it was, we still had a nice time walking around...collecting sticks...and playing in the dirt.

Madelyn took this picture for us. Way to go, Madelyn!

Another nature walk for Madelyn and Griff. They found all sorts of things including "Indian toilet paper" and a solid walking stick.

Afternoon swimming.

And, a little night swimming.

Can't beat it!

Balloon festival

Slow to get started, the balloon festival was well worth this morning's early wake up.

We were out the door shortly after 600A, caught the shuttle, and made it to the launch field by approximately 630A. Right on time.

Based on the pilot balloon (Def: A small balloon used to determine wind velocity) that was sent up, there was a little too much wind to send up all the balloons right at the start. We couldn't feel the wind on the ground but could see the looming grey clouds leftover from a small weather front that was breaking up.

Regardless, one by one, about half of the balloons launched as the morning went along. In all, we probably saw 20-25 and each one was as exciting as the first.

Some our favorite moments included:

The balloon that was inflated and launched literally on top of us. It was the first one of the morning, too, so we had no idea what to expect. But, it was cool.

Video to be posted later.

The balloon -- Madelyn and I named it "Purple Lightning" -- that snuck up on everyone only to dip into the lake and then seemingly go straight up the ski jump ramp. (Dipping into the lake was part of the balloon rodeo portion and the teams were judged on this skill.)

The next balloon -- "Rainbow" also named by Madelyn and I -- to dip into the lake which actually skimmed all the way across the lake. Quite a daredevil feat! I wouldn't have been a brave camper had I been in the Rainbow's basket.

Donuts and coffee which lifted everyone on Team Anderson's spirits before the balloons really got started.

A sky full of beautiful hot air balloons and some fun for a group of country mice from the city.

I definitely recommend this to anyone and look forward to doing it again sometime.

Balloon glow

Saturday night's event at the base if the mountain. A late night but a fun way to wrap up our experience of the festival.

Country mice 2013

Inspired by the house we stayed in for Shelley and Mike's wedding last Fall, we decided to take a trip to the mountains to be country mice. Destination: Steamboat Springs.

We were lucky enough to find a nice 2-bedroom condo at The Ranch for a very reasonable price. When Honey and Poppie accepted our invitation to come along, we upgraded our 2-bedroom condo to a 3-bedroom condo. Auntie Kate soon joined in on the fun and our party of four country mice became a party of seven.

Unfortunately, with the events of the last few weeks, three of the mice could no longer join us and we were back down to a party of a four. No biggie. We'll just have plenty of room to spread out in this three-bedroom condo.

We arrived mid-afternoon today. After checking in and stretching our legs, we noticed a hiking trail across the street from our condo. It was the perfect little trail for a mini adventure. Turns out, it led us the long way to the pool and clubhouse! Regardless, there were sticks collected and messages written in the trail by both Sawyer and Madelyn along the way.

And, we encountered a family of deer along our way. Thankfully, they were willing to allow us to pose for a few pictures.

We had rain after dinner so plans for after dinner swimming were postponed until another night. Tomorrow morning, we're planning on attending the balloon festival and rodeo. The event starts at 600A so it will be an early day. As I write this, two little mice are giggling and squealing in their shared bedroom. We'll see what time they fall asleep!