Tag: denver

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Back home in Denver

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It’s good to be home. We have been home and enjoying getting our life back on track. Can we even say normal? This whole year is not normal. I’m doing the best I can to shield my kids from too much information on this global pandemic. They know something big is going on, however, they are not sure what it really means. That’s how I’m keeping it for now.

My kids are very happy to be back home. They are really enjoying being home and playing in their rooms with their own toys. I missed my bed. It’s stupid but I missed my own bed.

We began to transplant some of the stuff we planted in Hawaii. I had things in orange containers, but the other stuff had to stay. Mads said he is going to take care of it. I hope they flourish. The kids and I have begun our gardening here, we picked a spot that would be sunny but not full on sun the entire year. I think we have a great start. When I can I will go get more things to plant but for now it is not essential so I’m not even worrying about it. Remember, everything I have started out as seeds. I don’t want plant starters because for me that’s cheating. I want to grow the entire way through.

The other day my former nanny Sarah, had her baby girl! She is healthy, Sarah is healthy, everyone is finally at home at Sarah’s parents’ home and enjoying the sweet little bundle. Sarah has turned in the DNA for testing and in a few weeks she will know who the father of her kid is. It’s a little up in the air. It’s either David, her ex-boyfriend, or it’s the random party hook-up guy. I’m very happy to know that Sarah and her baby made it through everything and they got the heck into safety as soon as possible. She has a beautiful name and even better middle name. And she missed Lindsay’s birthday by 1 day. Lindsay told her she better push hard, she wasn’t sharing her birthday Lol

Happy Birthday to Lindsay, this past Sunday was the celebration of the Nascar Experience that Drew and I got her. She loves it. She is going to go as soon as they can schedule it. It may be next year. I’m happy she’s happy. We didn’t know what to get her at all. I’m glad she’s staying in Chicago and not going out. She’s working from home and doing the best she can to help our businesses survive.

That’s about it guys. Not much happening. I love being home. I’m excited to get into our summer months. I am opening our pool up this week. It’s a heated pool so come on over if you live in Denver Lol The pool and the hot tub are all hooked into each other so it’s a nice experience. The view from my backyard is dreamy, I can’t wait for our garden to grow and we get to enjoy the full beauty of my home. I’m so blessed.

Stay safe guys. I love you! I hope you are okay. I will start getting back to your messages this week finally. Have a great week!

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It’s starting to Fall around here

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Hey guys! I haven’t updated in a while. I have been out of town and I also broke my hand. I was going to try to one of those dictate into text apps but that wasn’t going so well. Now Brenda is typing for me because Sarah has “attitude right now, I don’t want to help you”. That’s her own words. I’m not sure what I’ve done now.

Some big, BIG, BIG NEWS to update you all on. Sarah is pregnant. It’s obviously NOT MINE in case any troll tries to lie about that. Her ex-boyfriend David and her had one last goodbye that was eventful enough to get her pregnant. Unplanned. She freaked out initially. I tried to fire her twice so she could either fly home to her parents or fly back to Chicago to be with David. She said no. I didn’t have to wait long that weekend after she found out, both her parents and David showed up. She was on the fence on what to do but after much prayer, she’s keeping the baby and raising it as a co-parent with David. They are not back together (Yet, I have hope for the kid, he’s a nice guy) and I’m supposed to shut up about it Lol Maybe that’s why she’s annoyed with me today?

Brenda are you even typing any of this. You know there’s a spell check as you type, right? Brenda? Don’t type all of that. OMG Brenda stop! Very funny. My nanny has some jokes today.

Yes put a space down from my main paragraph. Don’t type that.

Brenda has settled in well. She’s doing a great job with my kids, especially Sky. Guy,s Sky is getting so big. I missed her the most while I was out of town. I came home thinking she wouldn’t even remember me but she did. I love her so much. I’m very happy she’s with us. The boys are causing all kinds of trouble at home and at school. Their new school seems to be working out fine. I wasn’t sure how the school system in Denver would work out but so far, so good. I really enjoy dropping Peace off for some socialization and fun, and the boys into their classroom. We’ve had a few issues with the 3rd grade teacher but that’s been resolved. I hope. I have no idea why the 3rd grade teacher was causing an issue but she did.

I had Lindsay stay at my house to help with the kids while I was out of town. That was fun for them and a headache for me. While I was away, no I’m not paying you to type this blog for me. I’m going to say thank you and then start thinking on what to type for my next blog. Brenda, you better not be typing all of that again. Don’t type when I tell you things, only type to dictate my blog. It’s not funny. No it’s not. This is my blog. Not Brenda’s HAHA time. Fine, we will go get a Starbucks. No. Because I said no. Fine, 1 muffin. That’s it though!!!!!!!!!!

I broke my left hand. Showering was a trick at first so I switched to baths. I don’t fit into any bath tub in North America so that was short lived. Short lived doesn’t have to have a hyphen but you can. Brenda, can we just finish this please!!!! I was already ambidextrous so it wasn’t hard to do things right handed. It’s challenging. What? There’s no I in the ending. It’s just the extrous. I’m getting a little big frustrated with you typing this out. Let’s just wrap it up, go get your Starbucks, and get back home. Okay? Can we just finish this blog please?

Fall weather in Denver has been up and down. Nice sunny days followed by snow (Yes it snowed already once) and then more nice days. The wind is completely different here. I’m still getting used to sitting outside. The kids love Denver I think. They have adjusted well and this is the month when I’m going to start doing playdates for them. I think meeting their little friends and their parents will be interesting.

Giant sigh, Brenda I don’t know who Timmy is yet. Who is he? The one with glasses? Oh he’s a total, wait don’t put that in there.

Let me read this blog please. Thank you Brenda.

I did not want you to put that in there. Edit it all out please. Brenda. Don’t hit publish! Wait, no

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Peaceful morning?

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So far this morning things have been going smoothly. Let’s hope it stays that way. I woke up early still, my insomnia and the losing and turning has been bad. I think I was worried about the school stuff. I’m almost all the way unpacked. I have half a garage stall left of boxes to get through. I have found things I know we don’t need now. I left them in another garage stall to be donated soon. This was a great way to purge things. I have way too many kids toys in my house. I’m so glad I was able to stop most of them from going back inside.

I am starting to like Denver quite a bit. I’m still learning the places to go but I’ve found the essential things, the grocery store and the nearest comic book stores Lol I have to get my latest comic books you know. We are attending the Church where the boys go to school. Peace’s daycare is somewhere else but it’s still a Catholic based place. I think the kids are happy. They love getting out and socializing. It’s a great time for me to get the errands or cleaning up done. I think Denver was a great decision. I am going to love raising my kids here. I am still trying to downsize my life. A lot of the extra properties I own I’m now selling off. I don’t need any of that in my life anymore. With the invention of Air B&B I can now travel with my family and have a more comfortable place to stay than a hotel.

I haven’t had time to really explore the city just yet but I plan to do that soon. I thought those can be some daytime dates with Peace. I don’t really want to take Sky out yet. She has a doctor appointment for a checkup next week but that’s an easy trip. Sarah LOVES Denver. I’m so shocked. I think she’s thinking of staying with us. She wants to finish up a few things and can do it from here. Then she’s thinking of looking for a job here. I think she really was trying to get away from her ex-boyfriend. It was a back and forth thing for a few months and she wanted a fresh start. Hey, I’ve been there, I know how that feels.

My life is going great. I have met someone who is amazing. I’m happy. We have so much in common it’s crazy. She is so nice and sweet, and she loves family life. No she’s not in her 20’s. I know, I know, finally Sam! I’m learning. It’s a very fun time. We laugh every day. She is so funny and smart. She’s been teaching me a lot of things I’ve never known about. Her job is very interesting to me. And she’s on my Twitter. We DM because we want the privacy. It’s cute. Then she calls me out of nowhere and I get happy immediately. I usually start laughing as soon as I pick up the phone because I can’t believe she’s calling me during the day for a few minutes. We are one of those cute couples everyone hates. This could be my first true partnership. Sarah talked to her on the phone yesterday while I was feeing Sky. They got along fine. Sarah said she seems very sweet. She is! And gorgeous. We are both very happy.

I hope everyone has a great weekend. I will update on Monday to share how my weekend went. I’m sure I will have some fun stories to share. See you guys soon! I love ya’ll!

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School is starting Monday, am I ready for this?

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Hey everyone. I’m finally back from my trip(s) and ready to update you all. Sky is doing great. She’s starting in her little fussiness already but it’s fine. I’m doing all I can to bond with her. I’m getting up at night, I’m doing diaper duty, feedings, holding, kissing, rocking, carrying around. She is a blessing. She’s very easy during the day. At night she has begun to get a little cranky but I get it. At night or deep into the early mornings I’m also cranky Lol

The boys are wonderful. They really are great kids. They help with their sisters and our pets. We made it all the way to our new house with the dog and both cats. The parakeets got rehomed. I didn’t want to deal with it. I really didn’t. The lady they went to loves them, she posts photos on Facebook and she keeps them active. I’m very happy to see they are okay. That was my main worry. Heston and Alex are getting taller. They are sprouting up so fast. I love watching them grow. Peace is still my sweet baby girl. I love her to pieces or (peaces Haha) and I know how happy she is here. She LOVES her room. I can barely get her out of there. Winnie the Pooh all over. The boys we did baseball theme since they are getting into that most. Sky’s nursery is clouds and sky of course. It’s all working out.

So we moved to Denver, Colorado finally. The move was okay. The business trip I had to squish into this move weekend ended up extending. I had to go, do business, leave, go back to Canada. It was very hard. I found out I don’t like Canada but I sort of like Canada? It’s different. I’m not sure how much business we can do in that area but we did finally made an end all decision on Detroit. It’s just not making us money. The commercial buildings have to be torn down and the dirt has to be EPA approved before we can rebuild. It’s costs us way more than we can get back through leasing. It really has been upsetting so we have decided to pull business out of Detroit this winter. We made the announcement today. Of course it didn’t go over well but I understand. We gave everyone 3 months notice. That should help. I wanted to tell our employees in our factories first because they depend on that paycheck. Our staff can fold into my other firms around the U.S. so I’m not worried about that. It’s the best decision. Denver is awesome! I love it here. I am finally relaxing and enjoy my house. I’ve been here, left, been here, left.

My kids are all outside right now playing in the backyard. Sky is hanging out with me in her baby seat. I’m so thankful that my new nannies are working out. It really was something I’ve been worried about. My kids love her already and our new neighbor (Nickname is on Facebook but I won’t put it on here Lol) comes over a lot to help or hang out. She’s very nice and thoughtful. We are the only 2 houses in this area but I’m sure more construction will be happening some day. I bought this lot and the one next door so that I could have a huge backyard for the kids. I think everyone is happy. I had to do a ton of bribing at first. I had gifts for a few days in a row per kid. That way they would be excited to stay. I’ve been planning this move for so long I feel like a huge relief? is that what this is? now that’s done. I don’t know. There’s still so much to do.

I’m thankful to my family members that have come out to help set out house and watch the kids with the nanny while I was away on business. I made a huge Taco bar last night to thank them and we had a heated discussion about my weekend plans. I’m going back up to Canada. I have one last thing I need to get to and this time I didn’t need my staff with me. It’s so hard to talk privately, to plan privately with 5 people with me 24/7. This will be my last trip for a while. I’m going to have to stay put and raise my babies. Sky and I will be getting plenty of bonding time. The boys start school on Monday morning and Peace is going to a half day daycare program with the nanny. She’s getting a jumpstart to early education but it’s mostly about socializing. I don’t have a mommy for her so I’m trying to introduce women into her life. If she doesn’t like it she’s coming home. I’m not going to force her into that program she is still pretty young. I’m just trying it out. I think Miss Social Butterfly Peace will be fine though. It’s not at the boys’ school so it’s a little bit of a ride between the two places in the morning. We have our school supplies ready, backpacks full, teacher supplies and extras ready and new school clothes. I have to get the boys haircut today but other than that, we are ready for school!

Who else is stoked school has started? The boys get to go all day long. I am so excited! I get my girls all afternoon and we can play and learn and just really enjoy a little quiet time. I can’t wait for Monday.

Everything else is fine. I’m just busy trying to get my new house in order, find the stores, and figure out what I’m going to do with my next chapter.

I have met someone. We have been talking almost a month now. She’s great. She had inserted herself into my life around the whole Peyton dinner thing in late July. That discussion started something between her and I we weren’t looking for. It’s always so great to start out as a friend first. We are still in the “Oh this is new, you are new, I like talking to you” phase. No pressure, no drama, just laughs and life stories going back and forth. I’m opening up to her more than I did with some of my past relationships. She’s well aware of my kids, my new born, my life decisions. She’s shared her stories too. She also has kids so that’s very cool. We have a date on Saturday. Wish me luck Batfans!

I love you all. I will try to update more. Now that I’ve moved things might slow down a little. Prayers for everyone dealing with all of our world’s tragedies. Mass shootings, Hurricanes, Forest Fires, Protests for weeks on end. It’s all too much to get into. I pray the world heals and finds love for each other. That’s what life is all about. Oh and ice cream. Definitely ice cream!

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It’s August 1st, 1 month to go!

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Having my kids full time with no help has kept my pretty busy. I love it. My kids are hilarious. They say the funniest things and my gosh how smart they all are. Alex has finally hit the last of his milestones so he’s all caught up with Heston. Thank goodness. They are now the same height, within 2 pounds of each other, and have all the same abilities. It has been a lot of hard work for him and I’m so proud he stuck it out. I kept telling him he’s going to catch up soon. He was not listening to me but that’s okay. We are finally there! We had our checkups on Wednesday and I was able to see the growth chart since they were babies up until now. WOW! Just wow. A huge difference. I don’t know how I have survived all of this. I really don’t.

I feel like all of my food prep work with the kids in the morning with breakfast is helping us keep a semi-normal schedule for them. We have been out in the city going on adventures and exploring a lot of the kid friendly sites. We have spent more time down at Navy Pier than I can remember. There is so much for us to do. This weekend the nannies are taking the kids so I can have my first set of movers come in and help me pack up some of the spare rooms we don’t use. Mostly the nannies bedrooms. They did take all of their things over the past month so it’s just a shell of a room in each one. All of their furniture is going to a Domestic Violence recovery house. And all of my spare beds in my house and the guest house will also be going. Lindsay finally got the key to her new house (Cough cough mansion) and she’s out of here. She is so happy. She still comes over to eat with us because she’s not going to cook yet. She said she hasn’t had time to go get groceries so I told her I would take her to my club (Haha Sam’s club) this weekend and we will load up both of my Range Rovers with stuff for her.

I am really going to miss living in Lake Forest. This place has served as my home base for over 10 years. I have grown so much as a man and now as a father here. It’s home. I just need to move on though. Selling it will really be an emotional thing for me. I do have several friends interested in buying it and I’m definately getting back more than I paid for it. This month is going to be a lot to deal with.

But Denver…..oh Denver, Colorado. You had me at Mile High! It’s closer to Alex’s doctors and I really want his growth spurts to be monitored and we take all of the precaustions we can with him. It’s the best move for my kids and right before they start their main school. My goodness I’m going to have 2 kindergartners next month. What??? Their birthdays fall within range of them going in. They will be not the youngest in their class but it’s better I get them in early. I don’t want to make them wait another year. We did so much prep work last year to get them a really good start. Plus I really think they are ready. Socially they are both so friendly. They make friends very easily because the kids are amazed they look exactly alike. It’s hard the first week to know who is who but I put them in shirts that have their names on the back. So far they aren’t hip to the fact they can just change shirts. I know they will pull that one me when they are older Lol I hear almost all twins do it. Thankfully they are still my sweet little boys and I don’t have to worry about those kinds of things….yet.

Guys, my daughter is perfect. She is so sweet, so smart, and she runs this house. Whenver she’s upset we all 3 rush to her side to see what’s going on. The boys are already protective over her. Maybe too much so. I admit when the boys are in school I am absolutely going to love my one on one time with her. Last year we did the shopping and errands together. Or we would go have fun play dates and do fun things together. She’s so easy to take care of. I love every day with her. She’s much easier than the boys and I have to say it’s special bonding time I don’t want to give up.

That’s why I won’t be working. I will be available as a consultant. The offices can call me anytime but I’m no longer going to be making many decisions. It’s all on Lindsay. I trust her. Of course I do, I just gave her the keys to my empire. She is the right person to run things, she has amazing staffs and she knows how I expect things to run. Kindness, take care of our customers as we take care of our employees, and pay them all well. She has done a fantastic job and I’m so proud she’s helping me keep my businesses not only running but successful.

I want to raise my kids. I want to meet the love of my life and get married again. I have so many hopes for moving. It’s a fresh start and I can’t wait. I’m so excited.

How is your summer going, guys? Do anything fun? I just uploaded all of the photos and the videos from this week. Go check that out on our Family Facebook page. I hope you enjoy seeing my kids grow up. They are so happy. I’m doing the best I can to raise them up right, whatever that means. I hope you all know how much I appreciate you still coming here and reading about my life after all of these years. The trolls have gone way and crawled back under the rocks they live in. It’s nice and quiet and I love it. Life couldn’t be better. It’s boring just the way I want it!

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Upload that one Lol

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Good morning Batfans. I’m still in Denver, Colorado. It has been an amazing weekend and I’m sad to have to leave later today. I’m taking my friends out for one last lunch together and then I’m flying myself back home. Boy has it been a big, fun trip. My house is coming along great. We had a few changes to the mistakes that were made and I’m happy to say in about 3 to 4 weeks my house will finally be done. It’s been a huge 4 month renovation. It’s been worth it. I know the school district is great and I’m going to be very happy raising my kids in Denver. It’s the right move at the right time.

Starting over can be scary if you let your fear win over the fun that it can be. I’m always up for an adventure. I’m a “Go For It” kind of guy and I really enjoy new experiences. I just want my kids to be happy and enjoy their new home. It’s a lot to ask of them to move, give up everything they have ever known, but I know it’s going to be okay. My safety net is being taken away. I have always had my 3 nannies to back me up whenever I needed help. Now, I’m all on my own. I’m finally going to really retire from everything. I want to focus on my kids and find myself a new business or a new hobby or something. I don’t know yet.

I thank God every day that I’m in such a great financial position. I don’t have to work. I always have because I don’t know anything else. I have already put money in all of my kids’s college accounts, I have a savings account for each one, and I have a large savings account in a completely different bank for anything else that comes up for them. My paychecks I get from Lindsay/mine businesses I throw into savings and some in checking. I’m fine. I’m more than fine. I give money to different charities each month because I truly feel with this much cash I need to help others. I have been known to help my friends that read this blog or from Twitter on small things. I tend to be generous in cash and love. I want my kids to learn it’s okay to help people. But only help with what you are comfortable with.

I did find a Church that I really like. The Mass wasn’t that long, they allow the children to be in the sanctuary as services are going on and I prefer that. I won’t have my nannies to take my kids down to Bible study while I’m at Mass. I want all eyes on them at all times. It’s going to be complicated at first but I can always pick up and leave if they don’t behave. For the most part my kids are well behaved. I give them a look and they knock it off. I’ve got that DAD stare down Lol KNOCK IT OFF, with my eyes. I signed us up for transfer so all of my records from our Church in Chicago will come here. And of course I’ve already got my box of envelopes for our family donations Lol I thought that was pretty funny.

I’m going home with a lot of plans to pack, sell, or donate a lot of our stuff. It’s time downsize. I don’t even know where to begin but I have a month to get it done. I’m so happy, guys. I really am. I mean I wish I had someone to share this all with but I’m happy to have some new friends that are looking forward to us moving out. It’s going to be so much easier to have some buddies to help me out when we get to our new home.

I better get myself going. I hope you all had a great weekend. I just uploaded videos and photos to our Family Facebook page. Go check that out. I took some great shots of Denver! Yes, the blonde hair is almost all gone. It’s fading away slowly. I won’t do that again, it was worth a little change. I think I will stick with my brown hair. I like it much better.

I will miss you Denver, but see you soon!

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Paintball anyone?

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I woke up late. Well much later than I wanted to. My buddies and I got dressed up in our old camo outfits and met up with a group to play some paintball this morning. It was a lot of fun. I have not done that in, well I don’t even remember. Maybe 10 years? Wayyyy before my kids came into my life. I forgot how much fun it is and it’s a great way to get some outside exercise time in. I loved it. We lost, I didn’t mind, I laughed so hard at some of the plays.

I’m making a bunch of new friends. I added probably 20 or so guys numbers into my phone so I can start getting info about Denver and specifically my neighborhood. A few of the guys live blocks from my new house. That part is really exciting. We FINALLY got to see my friend Nice show off her skillset as a police officer. It seemed like every time our team tried to move up she was right in the front line picking us all off. She knows how to shoot Lol There is no question at all she can handle a gun and very, very, proficiently. She was awesome. She also looks really good in her outfit. It was different, I think all of the guys had a comment or two about it. She had to take off but she’s going to come over the house later today to check it out. Then we will all go out to eat together.

This weekend has been about fun, community, and really just hanging out with the boys. I needed this and didn’t realize it. My kids are doing great I check in with them a few times a day. They are spoiled rotten. My daughter had her nails done. I don’t like that at all. When I get home I’m getting that stuff off of her. She has plenty of years to do that, I want her to be my little baby girl for as long as we can. And that means no nails painted! I was told to chill out, it looks great, and she loves it. We will see.

I only have today and tomorrow left in Denver. I’m going to take off after lunch tomorrow. I’m going to Church in the morning because I need to start finding a Church close to the house. It would be easier if I was Roman Catholic but I’m not and never have been. My kind of Catholic does have a few Churches close to downtown so that may be my option. We will see. Church is very important for me and the kids and it’s at the top of my list to deal with this weekend.

I did make it to the nearby grocery store yesterday and I’m happy to find out they do deliver groceries. That will sure make life easy. There is a dry cleaner nearby and a Subway. I’m happy to figure this stuff out.

I’m going to go get cleaned up. I think we are heading downtown to check out a few places. I know tonight we are going to a restaurant that plays live music. That’s going to be fun, I love places like that.

I hope everyone is having an amazing weekend. I know I am! Have a great Saturday Batfans!

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Can I move in? Not Yet!

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Hey Batfans. I’m in Denver! The kids are back home being smothered with love and attention by Lindsay and my 3 nannies. They all decided to make it a girls’ weekend and I know that means swimming, laying out by the pool, shopping, and eating every piece of food in my house. As long as my kids are taken care of, I really don’t care what they do.

I got into town yesterday afternoon. I went straight to my new house to check things out. WOW! It has really progressed. The photos just don’t do it justice. I’m very happy with the finishes we picked out. I’m happy with the furniture, flooring, and mostly the landscaping. I’m not at all happy with the master bathroom, the kitchen, or the living room. Those are all things we can get fixed. It’s frustrating. If I lived here I could watch out for a lot of these mistakes and prevent them from happening. My guys are working very hard and I do appreciate them.

Guys, it’s almost done. Probably the end of August. DONE! I can not believe they can finish it up that fast. Of course I’m pushing for sooner but I don’t want to move in and have to do a thing. I’m going to be busy enough getting the kids settled.

All of the guest rooms and kids bedrooms are all done. The furniture is all in there but still in the boxes. I told my interior designer to send over her staging crew and unpack everything. Get it done, close the doors. The less rooms we have to deal with, the better. She told me it would cost me this much or that much and I said just get it done, soon. She said next week they will come over and get it all set up. Thank goodness. I just want them to do as much as possible so we can get in here sooner.

We have spent most of the morning and afternoon shopping, eating, and checking out the new neighborhood. Some of my friends know this area well and have been very helpful. We’ve had a chill rest of the afternoon focusing on our gaming and talking about how to better build the apps/game dev. The ideas are so interesting to me. I love it.

Tonight we are hosting a big dinner for everyone and then we will be heading downtown for a few hot spots. Denver is hopping after 10pm, I’m kind of surprised. We met some very cool girls last night that told us about a few places to go to tonight. I asked if they will be there and they said yes. I’m already making friends here. I like that a lot.

I just called to check on my kiddos. Everyone is fine. They are grilling out tonight for supper to make it easier. That means they will grill fish (Yuck) on my grill (Double Yuck) and I’m going to have to scrub the heck out of it the next time I use it.

I’m so happy here. Things are going smooth, I’m trying to remember how to get around town but it’s a big place. I hope I can find my way back to the house from downtown tonight. It will be fun but I’m a little worried about staying up too late again. My old butt needs sleep Lol I can’t hang out with these youngsters like I used to. 11pm and I’m zzzzzzz.

Anyone in Denver? Want to come say hi to me and my crew?