Nikita's Choice

Good pick from my intellectually superior little girl. She has the answer for everything, just ask her. Most 13 year olds do. Flash-back to my childhood. Could she be my clone, only with a different face? I would like to take this moment to tell my own parents, mom, dad, I am sorry. I didn't mean to be so stubborn and strong-willed. You said revenge would come naturally, by way of your grandchildren. I should have listened.

Canine gone feral (kind of like a teenager) Don't let this junk yard dog scare you, it's good.
Yard Dog 2005, Australian. This blend of Petit Verdot, Merlot and Cabernet is a great value at $8.99. Big, bold, spicy yet smooth. Big fruit. Goes well with lasagna, goes especially well with kids bedtime. Oh yeah, screw cap to open. Easy access.

Uno Attack 100 Times- Vacation Hell

So, the Bob part of me left the day after Christmas to go back up to the big north. He miscalculated a little. For some reason he thought he would be home until after the Albuquerque trip. What fun we would have driving down for a day or two to visit his sister Cherie and favorite brother Pete. Yes-sir-ee! Unfortunately, he went back to work, and we already had plans, so I loaded up the kids and both dogs and off we went.
It was all figured out. Nolan and I would get a "pet friendly room" (Cherie's new apartment is not wheelchair accessible) and the girls would stay with Aunt Cherie, Uncle Pete and the 3 cousins, not to mention Mario and his sweetheart, Rana (also down for a quick overnighter). Where should I start? So many bad things happened. Ok, the first night was GREAT! We all got together, went bowling, made the Masitti Family pizza, played games, sang songs (Cherie can sing by the way, we thought it was just Pete). The dogs got to run almost free on a few acres, the loved it except for the cactus in their paws. This is where the fun ends. We all call it a night. Mario, Pete, Rana, Nikita, Jessica, Tyler, Nastyia, Masha and Cherie go back to her apartment for the night, Nolan and I back to the "pet friendly" hotel. Nolan snores. We slept poorly. Cherie's apartment ceiling started leaking from a previous snow, now melting on a flat Adobe style roof, so they were up at 3am finding buckets. They slept poorly. Mario, Pete and Rana had the right idea. Get out. Fast. They all left that morning. Pete back to Florida and Mario and Rana back to Denver. We had different plans. We didn't drive all the way down to turn around the next day. We were going to stay one more day. Besides, I wanted to spend some time with Cherie and get to know my new sister-in-law better.
That very same day a blizzard blows through Denver, dumping another foot or so on top of the 2 feet we already got. Then it hits Albuquerque. It doesn't happen much there, so the city pretty much shut down. A whole foot in a town used to a few flurries. Mario just made it back home when the interstate (I-25) closed. Santa Fe to Pueblo and a few stretches north of Pueblo in Colorado. We weren't going anywhere. So, Cherie, her kids, my kids, Nikita and Jessica were at her place and I had Nolan and Cherie's youngest, Nastyia. We couldn't go to her house and she couldn't get to me. Nolan, Nastyia and I played 47 games of Uno Attack, with and without the motorized case, a few games of Life Simpsons style and watched Cars, Nacho Libre, and Kindergarten Cop.
On Saturday, we met a nice couple at breakfast from Louisville, north of Denver, with 2 kids, also stranded. We offered to play games with their kids that day. Yes, more Uno Attack. Their daughter was 11 going on 15 and their son 8, well, going on 8. Boys are strange, I have decided. Sunday Cherie was finally able to make it to our hotel and we exchanged kids, I got my 2 back and she got Nastyia back. That day my kids and the Louisville kids, Ruby and Coleman hooked up for games and swimming. I stayed at the pool with them for 3 hours. Don't kids ever get tired of having fun? Which reminds me, did you all click on that hotel link in the beginning of this blog? It is not as it appears. It looks nice, eh? Don't be fooled. The pool was a health inspectors greatest conquest. They would have a hay-day. I have never seen so much mold in on place before. Lawsuits just waiting to happen. It was thick. The table games they are so proud of are water-logged. Yep, they are in the poorly ventilated pool area. The ping-pong table was so warped, the ball would go different directions on every hit. The air hockey table was on 3 legs and looked like a electrical shock hazard and the Foosball was too warped by moisture to play but looked the best from a distance.
The highlight of our trip was Sunday night, New Years Eve. I took the kids up to the High Finance restaurant 10,000 feet up in the mountains. You had to ride a cable car to the top (the longest cable car in the world) and of course back down. The food wasn't that good and it was over-priced, but the view was amazing. There was some fog in the city so the city lights made it look mystic and surreal. The kids even liked it. That night the highway opened back up. We didn't waste any time, Monday I got up at dawn and got the kids and dogs out as quickly as possible.
Oh, I forget to mention Sunday night the hotel threatened to evict us because while we were at dinner our dogs barked? So much for pet friendly. I do have to give them credit for a pretty good free breakfast.

Arrogant Frog- Ribet Red. 2004. $10.00 Cab-Merlot blend. French. Smooth, Dry, subtle texture, a little smoky. Much needed after the New Mexico trip. I suppose I would like anything. It's good, very good and a great value. Oh, yeah, just screw it open too! Easy access.