When I was little, there was an amazing place I loved to visit. A giant old mansion, full of hidden passages, a three-story spiral slide and crazy science experiments! We knew it simply as “The Magic House.” And it was one of the first and still one of the best hands-on science museums I have ever been to.

This awesome place is still around, only it’s been expanded and grown for the last 25 years, and is now known as The Magic House – The St. Louis Children’s Museum. We managed to fly out and visit the grandparents in St Louis for a few days after Christmas, and now that Gabe is old enough to run around, I thought he might enjoy a trip to the Magic House.

And he did!

Gabe is still pretty young for a lot of the exhibits and activities at the Magic House. But they have added a special small area for toddlers, so we spent an hour exploring the little ball pits, the tiny habitrail-like play set, the little kitchen rooms, and the big mirrors, knobs, buttons and blinking lights in the Baby Zone.

Gabe loved an area where kids play in a long series of water-filled sinks. I was happy to have a change of clothes in his diaper bag. Another spot had a room full of light switches that he could turn on and off. There were exhibits with huge, weird musical instruments that he wanted to explore, and a pioneer-based play area where he spent half an hour finding fake potatoes in the sand and carrying them up to random people.

It was really fun seeing Gabe get out and explore the Magic House, in much the same way I did as a kid. It will be even better when he’s old enough to really enjoy most of the activities! Though, after seeing this face, I’m not sure anything could be better than a ball pit and a giant mirror!

Have you had a chance to share a special place with friends or family this year? I’d love to hear your stories in the comments!

The days before Christmas are quiet in a college town. The streets empty, and the population disperses. For years, our group of young friends has traveled to distant family for the holidays, but this year, with new family members popping up, many of us stuck closer to our own homes.

This is why we found ourselves at the sunny trailhead for Eagle’s Nest Open Space just a few days before Christmas, with Doug and pregnant Liz, our own baby and dog, and a plan for enjoying mountain views and blue skies.

Since Gabe was born, Mark and I have started to appreciate the local trails and open spaces surrounding our little Northern Colorado town. We used to drive right past these for high peaks and tall granite climbs, but we’ve recently learned that we were missing out on some great hikes by doing so. The tall peaks of the Rockies are dramatic and stunning, but there is a quiet beauty in the wooded foothills, hidden plains rivers, and local sandstone.

Eagle’s Nest Open Space is located about 40 minutes north of our house in Livermore, CO. The 755 acres offer 5 miles of hiking trails, beautiful views of the Laramie foothills, and access to the North Fork of the Cache La Poudre river. The area is named for the large rock formation that stands sentinel over the river valley, and has (supposedly) been home to nesting Golden Eagles for over 100 years.

Mark, Gabe and I were all fighting off colds (as we have been all fall and winter) and Doug and Liz were being super adventurous at 26 weeks of pregnancy to even come out and meet us, so we opted to forgo the long hike, and stick to the first 3.4 mile loop.

Even though the ground was covered in 3-4 inches of snow back at our house, these high-plains trails were well melted, and our hike was done almost entirely on solid dirt. The winter southern sun warmed us up nicely for the afternoon, casting long shadows on the hills and posting sage brush and yucca in stark relief on the hillsides.

Gabe tried out his new REI snow suit, which might have been overkill for such a mild day, but he seemed comfortable enough. He zonked in the backpack about 20 minutes into the hike, and had a nice afternoon nap as we plodded along the hillsides. He slept though our break on the banks of the frozen river, so didn’t get his usual chance to get out and wander around on his own two feet until we were back at the cars. For sitting in a backpack for 2.5 hours, he did really well though, only getting cranky at the very end of our hike.

It was a beautiful day, and a really lovely hike. The trails were nearly deserted, only one horse rider and a handful of other people crossed our path during the afternoon. These wide-open spaces just south of the Wyoming boarder glowed in the low afternoon sun, and I sucked up every moment of the light, the air, and the freedom of those hills.

Ok, ok, we’re not climbing as much these days. I’ve actually been pretty proud of the amount of time we have gotten on the rock this year, and the fact that we’ve managed to visit most of our favorite places. With the baby in tow, we’ve climbed trad in Vedauwoo, sported it up at Shelf Road and in Estes Park, and even gotten in a bit of bouldering on the historic sandstone at Rotary Park.

Ok, well, Mark and I did a little bouldering. Gabe tried out eating, licking, running on, and falling off the boulders.

The bouldering at Rotary is notoriously difficult, and Mark and I are absolutely out of shape. So, we mostly tossed down the pad and tried a few moves of a traverse across the bottom of the wall, the Bolt-Wall chimney, and a traverse across the lower left side of the bolt-wall dihedral.

It was a beautiful November evening, and very nice to get out on the rock. These days, I’m dreaming about the snow melting and more fun trips in the spring!

It’s been a little over a year since the Great Gabe-ini joined our family. I wanted to write this post around his first birthday, but clearly, I am slacking in the blogging department lately.

We have a friend and neighbor who loves asking me what I have learned from Gabe each time she sees us. It’s such an interesting question, and she always makes me stop to think and appreciate some of the more subtle joys of having a baby.

Gabe is learning new things constantly. It is amazing what new skills he can pick up and lessons he can learn every day. I have really enjoyed and been astounded by how much he has changed and grown in just one year.

And I know Mark and I have changed and grown quite a bit in that time. We love this little kid more than words can say, for everything that he is, was, and will be, and every amazing moment he has brought us.

So, here are the top 10 things I have learned from Gabe this year:

1. Dirt is awesome!
2. Sleeping may look easy, but it’s actually a difficult skill to master. It takes work, patience, and sacrifice to keep healthy sleep habits.
3. Everything should be experienced with as many senses as possible. Remember to watch, touch, listen, smell AND taste everything!

4. Some things don’t have reasons, causes or answers. They just are.
5. Skills that may seem simple to you can be the most difficult thing in the world to somebody else.
6. Perspectives can change rapidly. And to get the most out of them, they should change often!
7. It is surprising what you can eat without any teeth.

8. Sometimes doing nothing is the hardest thing in the world.
9. Our basic needs are so simple – warm food, a safe place to sleep, and love. Focus on those, and everybody is happy.
10. You don’t need hair or teeth to be really, really, really, really ridiculously good-looking.