There is a place in Morrison, Colorado, nestled in the canyons, called Tiny Town. It is a one-sixth size miniatures museum where most of the structures are replicas of historic landmarks, many uniquely from Colorado.

I was searching on the internet for recommended outdoors family places to take advantage of the warmer weather. Tiny Town was well-recommended by parents, but I think the target audience is for younger kids - maybe 5 and under.

Surrounding Tiny Town is a 5/8-mile railroad track that carries passengers on small trains pulled by either a gas or steam engine.

Abby had a grand old time peeking into all the little houses with fully decorated interiors and running around inside a few of the larger structures. The highlight for her was the train ride, though. She has been fascinated by trains since we see several a week during our commute to and from daycare.

Price of admission was fairly easy on the wallet - $5/adult and $3/kid ages 2-12. $1/person for the train ride.

Abby has learned through daycare some very important lessons related to the friendships she has built. The goods and bads of these friendships we have all seen, but luckily almost everything has been extremely positive. I never imagined that by age 2 she could have developed so much in all the important aspects of social interactions with a peer - a friend.

Being gentle with one another, sharing toys, sharing excitement towards something, taking turns, saying you're sorry, showing kindness, consoling one another, and respecting one another are all lessons teachers had been enforcing on Abby and her classmates since she first entered daycare at 6 months old. As she grew, we tried reinforcing these lessons, but without other kids her age at home, we had to really trust her teachers to be the primary leads in these lessons.

The biggest lessons came around 18 months, though, when we learned that Abby started forming stronger bonds with certain kids in her toddler class. These girls spent all their outdoor free times together, preferred to sit with one another during all activities, and was certainly more willing to jump up and help one another when one needed it. From these girls she has learned so much about emotional empathy, the do's and don'ts (etiquette) of social behavior, better communication (the how and when appropriate - not just improved vocabulary), and the give and take of relationships.

As the youngest of her new friends, she was learning a lot of important lessons by being on the receiving side. For example, when she was dropped off in the morning and cried because I was leaving, her friend would come over, hug her, and reiterate to her that her Mommy and Daddy will be back soon. When kids weren't sharing toys with her, her friend will remind others that everyone needs to share and bring Abby something to do. When Abby got older, she naturally picked up a lot of these positive social skills from her friends and have reciprocated all of their good intentions. We have been very fortunate that her friends are all good influences.

She looks forward to school to see her friends and will ask for them on weekends. One of her best friends, Madison, moved away a couple of weeks ago and it has been heart-wrenching watching her deal with it. Madison and her family were also neighbors of ours and with our toddlers always asking to go to each other's houses, we ended up getting together outside of school several times. When we told Abby that Madison had moved, she ran over to the window, looked towards Madison's house, and cried. She continues to ask, "Where did Madison and Haley go?" Haley is Madison's 4-yr old sister. And every time she plays in her kitchen, she sets out plates, bowls, and spoons out for Dad, Mom, Madison and Haley....always.

I am very proud of Abby and the confident, well-mannered (her teacher says she's got impeccable manners - at least at school!), friendly, generous, sweet little person she has become and I know a lot of her personality has been honed by the great friendships she has been fortunate enough to have already had.

This past weekend was a four-day weekend for Paul, Abby, and I. We had the chance to really relax, get some work done around the house, buy Abby a mattress to turn her crib into a "big-girl" bed, hang out with friends and family, and watch football. It was a delightful long weekend.

We went to A Taste of Colorado down at the Civic Center Park in Denver. Only 2 blocks from Allen's condo, so we used his place as a meeting spot. As he was visiting friends in Utah, he let us use his condo parking spot, which saved us quite a big headache trying to find parking during a hot event. Our good friends, Jingjing and Andrew came along, as did my mom and dad.

A good representation of several local restaurants were there, selling samples of their food. Many, many artists and product demonstrations, carnival-type rides and entertainment, live music, and craft stations for kids rounded out things to do at the event. We had a lot of fun strolling around and eating free ice cream.


After A Taste of Colorado, we were invited to visit Kimberlee and Gwen to watch the CU vs CSU Mile-High Showdown. Gwen is one of Abby's best friends from school. We have gotten to know Gwen's mom pretty well over time, though we are still waiting to meet Gwen's dad. Sadly, the Rams crushed the Buffaloes.

I am so proud of my handy husband. Last weekend, he wrapped up the most difficult part of our backyard landscaping adventure by completing the sprinkler system.

Without research, without consult, and without assistance, he persevered a few minutes here and there late in the evenings on weekdays or a couple of hours when our schedules are not jam packed with errands and other activities on weekends and managed to have a flawlessly working, programmable sprinkler system in place in time for us to lay sod before the weather starts to get chilly.

This week, Paul, Abby and I plan to weed, lay down Preen and arrange for sod to be delivered by the weekend.