weekend adventures

On Saturday we went to the Estes Park Sheep and Wool Festival. I had thought it was next weekend, I don't know why, but it was this weekend. I had never been before - something had always distracted me - so even though we had plans for Sunday and it would make it a very busy weekend, we went anyway. Dane's parents went too, and we met them there.

Before they arrived, though, we spent some time wandering around. We parked on the livestock side of the show and saw all the sheep, goats, vicunas, llamas, alpacas, and of course angora rabbits for display and for sale. The Jacob sheep were adorable. This guy had an absurd number of horns!

There were some wool vendors in with the sheep people, but not that many, and we were very confused about where all the fiber freaks were. We found whole fleeces for sale, but that seemed extreme. Then when Dane's parents arrived they directed us to the appropriate barn, which was chock-a-block full of cat ladies and people spinning while they walked and then people like us, just wandering around. There was a booth right outside this barn selling lamb meat, and booths inside the barn selling shearling products. Some people had yarn mixed with dog hair, or fancy wood products like drop spindles or bowls or shuttles. I ended up getting exactly what I came for and nothing else, which took most of my willpower.

It was very nice to hang out with Dane's parents, especially Dane's mom since she is quite the expert on fiber, especially with regard to knitting. Eric remarked how funny it was to feel comfortable hanging out with his friend's parents, and even enjoying it. He took this as evidence that we old. He may be right.

Then on Sunday we went to the Rockies game! Everyone was very nice to us. Our seats were excellent, right on the first base line with an expansive view of the mountains. We could hear the ball land in the catcher's mitt and the crack of the bat. However, they were right in the sun and going to stay that way the whole game! I think these seats are preferable for a night game, perhaps. For the afternoon the third base line is where it's at, as you can see in the picture. Shade abounds and only increases as the game goes on. 

Even after we escaped higher to shadier ground, we were impressed by how different it feels to be confronted by the real live players. The Foxes are a summer club for college ball players here in town that plays at City Park, so we might try to go to a few of their games this summer. At the end of the day yesterday we were most pleased that we actually did it, and Oscar did impressively little complaining. He's a pretty good all-around baby!