1/1/12 - Happy New Year!

- On December 14th, Preston had some time to kill while waiting for a flight from Washington Dulles.  He spent a couple hours at the National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Annex.  Here's an SR-71.

- And the Shuttle Enterprise

- And the Enola Gay

- After returning to Colorado Springs, Rigel's Tiger Cub Den went to KRDO for a tour of a TV and Radio Station.  Weatherman Anders Nelson gave a great tour to the little guys.  Here he's showing the green screen used for chroma-keying a weatherman with his maps

- the result

- Rigel trying out the Harry Potter invisibility cloak

- the result

- Chuck and Emma Jean Mader came over from Vail on Festivus.  Emma Jean opted to spend the day at the house with Diane, Lorna, and Andromeda while Rigel, Preston, and Chuck went out skiing.

- Preparing Santa's Snack

- On Christmas morning the kids were VERY excited

- Here Grandma

- Aren't you going to open it?

- Rigel's nifty new dinosaur hoodie and Uno Attack

- Andi's princesses

- Afterwards, everyone was tired

- But after recovering, we went skiing while Grandma kept an eye on the cooking turkey

- While Lorna was returning to Los Alamos, Barb & Greg arrived from California.  We went cross country skiing one day.  Andi really enjoyed being pulled in a sled.

- Rigel even enjoyed pulling her, when given the chance

- Lunch (with Barb's college roomie Sandra)

- Nice weather.  It was a tiny bit breezy, but NOTHING like the weather that rolled in 12 hours later (taking out power and dropping trees).

- Preston and Rigel on New Year's Day

12/9/11 - Electric Safari

We went to the Electric Safari at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo again.  They had a VIP Member Preview night on Monday, before it opens to the public.  These are GREAT nights to go because they usually serve good food AND there aren't as many people.  Preston also likes to go when it's really cold or snowy because that further decreases attendance and makes it feel like you've got the whole zoo to yourself.

- Well, this year Preston got his "cold" criteria met.  It wasn't QUITE this cold at the zoo itself, but pretty close.  (check for the temperature in the lower-center of the picture).

- Even though we didn't get to Santa until a half hour after the event opened, Rigel and Andromeda were still two of the first kids to visit.  They're well bundled up.

- Santa's pickup had a few candy canes in it

- just a few of the million-or-so lights that are put up.  Mrs Claus is on the left and is walking out to give Rigel and Andi their candy canes (while they stand under a patio heater and Diane stands near a warming fire).

- sampling some of the desserts

- Rigel lost another front tooth at school this day.  The last one is now loose too.

12/4/11 - Andi's Birthday Party

We had a very full weekend...

- It started on Friday night with a visit to the lighting of the Black Forest Community Christmas Tree

- Santa arrived on Sleigh-22 (BFFR Engine 722)

- Afterwards the kids could get snacks and do crafts in the community center while a local high school choir sang

- And they could meet Santa and Mrs. Claus

- He may look like a vengeful, Old Testament Santa sometimes, but he's been doing this for years and he's REALLY great with the kids.

Then on Saturday we started off with Rigel doing a service project doing an hour of Bell Ringing for the Salvation Army in front of a local Wal-Mart.  It was 18 degrees and snowing... 

- Then it was off to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science for their T-Rex encounter exhibit.  This was really good.

- Outside the exhibit they had someone explaining some of the fossils to you.   The thing closest to Rigel is a reconstruction of a T-Rex brain, based on CT scanning.  Near the lady's left hand is a section of jaw, showing the teeth and how there were replacement teeth always growing.

- This is a picture accidentally taken where there was to be no photography (inside the exhibit).  The T-Rex fossil (casts) on display are those of Sue, the largest, oldest, AND most-complete fossil T-Rex ever discovered.  They lived until they were around 30 at most.

What was really unique about this exhibit is that they've built robots showing what the dinos were like and how they moved.  They had a pair of raptors (something similar to the Velociraptor), a Triceratops (and nest of newly-hatched eggs), and a 3/4 scale T-Rex.

What REALLY made this cool is that the robot dinos acted like the scientists believe they did.  And they INTERACTED with you based on their vision.  There were monitors showing what the dinos could see and they were programmed to behave differently based on whether you were a single person, a small person, a group of people, whether you approached quickly or slowly, etc.  It was REALLY creepy to be 5' from the snout of a T-Rex, have it focus on you, and follow you around.  If you stopped moving, it would start sniffing at you.  It would track you.  If you squatted down, it would follow you to the ground and look pretty aggressive.  The small raptors were equally creepy, though in a different way.  And the Triceratops would react to the T-Rex and to people as well.  Very cool.

- After the T-Rex exhibit we met a couple folks at the Cheesecake Factory in Downtown Denver (ugh; terrible place to drive, especially at night) and then went to the Nutcracker.  It was a very nice performance.  Here we're in the lobby at intermission.

- Andi still alert before we head back in for the second half

- But Andi didn't make it long into the second half

- Then on Sunday we had a birthday party for Andi.  She and a dozen little friends all had a great time at a local church meeting hall with Coach Steve from Soccer Buddies.

- A pizza feast with a cake chaser

- Andi's cake

- The Three Muskateers.  Andi, Ali, and Laena are all best friends.

11/29/11 - Thanksgiving Week

- On Sunday afternoon before Thanksgiving, we went to The North Pole for the afternoon.  The kids loved the rides as usual.  And being there BEFORE Thanksgiving means that the crowds are a LOT less.  No waiting for any ride and the temps were nicer than they can be in December.  From there Preston and the kids went to Breck while Diane went back to the Springs for a couple more days.

- Andi feigning displeasure.  Towards the end Rigel was tickling her and they both had a good time.  As the park closes, Santa stands outside his house to wave at the kids as they head for the gate.

- Riding Rudolph

- Funnel Cakes get powdered sugar everywhere.  Here's Rigel trying to lick some off his nose.  Preston suggested that he'd have a lot of good friends in the future if he could do it!

- Fun with funhouse mirrors

- and a cookie on a stick as a parting snack

- On Wednesday Preston's dad arrived to partake in the festivities.  Richard, Andi, Rigel, and Preston all went over to ski at about 1100.  Preston was not feeling great about abandoning Diane to the cooking duties solo, but since the kids had been a bit wound up in the morning Diane had a big smile on her face as she wished Preston "good luck" at the door.  The snow was mostly man made, but it was a fun time skiing in beautiful weather.  This picture was taken by Preston right after lunch.

- While this one and the next were taken by the professional photographers right before lunch.

- After dinner on Thanksgiving it was time to break out the tree and start decorating

- On Friday nobody was hot and bothered to go skiing, so we did some chores instead.  Preston and his dad fixed a leaky sink and went outside to start up the splitter and start refilling the wood crib with a pickup load of wood.  On Sunday, Diane and Preston split and stacked another 4 loads of wood.  We've now got 3 cords in the garage, ready to burn.  We'd probably already burned nearly a half cord this fall because the thermostat in the Great Room hasn't been working (hence no heat).

- On Sunday Diane and Preston also moved 3 loads of UN-split wood onto the trailer.  This was returned to Colorado Springs along with the splitter for the winter.  Next summer we'll split it all and restock the wood crib in CS for the 2012-2013 winter.

11/11/11 - Veteran's Day

Preston went up to Breckenridge to get some filing done on Thursday, but spent most of his time recovering from a fridge issue.  Apparently GE has had a LOT of problems with motherboards.  We lost an entire fridge and freezer full of food and he had to spend hours removing rotted food (including a roast that made a HUGE mess) and scrubbing everything while waiting for a local technician to arrive.

But he was able to spend Veteran's Day checking out his first ski area opening day in at least 25 years.  He boarded the gondola at 11:11 on 11/11/11 and skied 11 runs for almost 11,000 vertical feet.  There was nice weather and decent conditions for opening day.  There was no ice and there were no rocks.  It was a hard man-made base that'll only get better as we get more real snow.

- The VERY cool EpicMix RFID tracking system now include a photo feature.  The old SharpShooters photographers that were at strategic spots on the mountain to take your picture can now scan your pass and take pictures that are immediately posted to your EpixMix account and able to be shared via Facebook and Twitter.

- Another one at the top of Peak 8.  Beautiful weather.  Preston's now a "Level 14" skier with 276,952 vertical feet accrued in the last 25 days of skiing.  As the kids become more able skiers, we might start moving towards a half-million vertical feet per season.

11/1/11 - MORE Halloween Pix

We haven't taken a picture of it yet, but this last Thursday the driver-side slider on Diane's 2001 Odyssey stopped working.  Rather than sinking more money into an 11-year-old minivan with 175,000 miles, we decided it was time to upgrade.  The company is selling us the Prius after fixing it up for sale and has purchased a 2012 Honda Pilot EX-L so it'll have an 8-person moving capacity.  Of course, we trusted without verifying and wound up coming home on Saturday with a 2011 Pilot EX-L that didn't have the expected features.  After complaining we were able to return it in a straight-up exchange for a 2012.  Aside from sucking up time, we weren't out anything and count ourselves fortunate since they COULD have said no.

- Last week we had our second snowstorm and got about 6"

- Rigel's class all dressed up

- over the weekend we had birthday parties for 4 kids to go to.  Here's a picture of Andi at Art Sports on the trampoline.

- Rigel got the glasses at Belle's party and had to get his mad-scientist lab coat on to complete the effect

- Andi on her electronic crack

- On Halloween day, Primrose had a costume parade & party which Andi enjoyed with Laena

- And that night was spent Trick or Treating with Laena, Liam, and Ellie

10/30/11 - Halloween Pix

SO many Halloween events.  By the time all is said and done, the kids will have had a lot of opportunities to dress up and go trick or treating.

It started last weekend with the Cub Scout Spooktacular at Camp Alexander.  Preston went to Camp A when he lived in Los Alamos and was a Boy Scout.  His last week at Camp was in 1980 (prior camps were Conchas (77), Alexander (78), and Frank Rand (79)).  We've probably driven past the turnoff to Camp A about 500 times since we moved here in 1988, but never took the 10 minute detour to check out the camp.  So this weekend was a long-delayed chance to resurrect some memories.

- Here Rigel is waiting in line to "officially" learn how to shoot a BB gun (even though he and daddy have done a bit up in Breckenridge).  This is the shooting range where Preston probably took his first shots with a .22 rifle.

- Rigel with shooting glasses and taking a few shots

- After lunch, Rigel wanted to do some sliding on a "track" they'd set up on a hillside near the dining hall

- "Lake Alexander," where Preston probably got his rowing and canoeing merit badges

- While Rigel was sliding, Preston walked past Lake Alexander to the campsite that he remembers from his Troop 122

- The lake, medical facility, and lodge haven't changed at all in the last 25 years

- Rigel in his centurion costume

- Rigel & Preston

- After lunch, Rigel also wanted to try Archery (bb gun shooting and archery were the 2 big things he drew on his to do list at his first Den meeting).  He was a BIT too small and kept accusing Preston of making his miss (he hit the target with 1 out of 12 arrows).

- Preston taking a crack at it while Rigel had a snack.

- Preston didn't miss though...

- After going to a Dove chocolate party, Diane and Andromeda came up to Camp A for the afternoon

- Then on Sunday we were off to Boo at the Zoo with Sarah and her family

- Preston took his ski lift chair off for sandblasting, zinc-priming, and powder-coating with something close to the original colors (if you look closely, you'll see the original deep blue was overcoated with a faded powder blue)

- On Tuesday we went to Rigel's 1st Grade musical based on some book called Frederick.  Unfortunately, we didn't get ANY good pictures of Rigel.  Hopefully the videos will work out.  This is a picture of Andi and Laena.

10/20/11 - October Update

Sorry for the 2-month delay.  The home computer ran  out of disk space and there were network issues.  All is better now.

- In late August Uncle Albert and Cousin Hannah met us in Breckenridge (the trip had been delayed from the 4th of July due to the Los Conchas fire).  We went swimming.

- And rode the "gongola" into town for lunch and ice cream

  - and made Gingerbread Trains leftover from Christmas

- the Forest Service has let the contracts and soon all these trees will be GONE!

- Enjoying a hike in the "backyard"

- more hiking

- the last weekend in August we met Jack and Cathy at Rocky Mountain National Park for camping

- We went  up the Old Fall River Road to the Alpine Visitor Center and saw a small herd of Elk near Timberline.

- On our way back, we saw many more Elk.

- Lunchtime on the West side of the Continental Divide

- the next day we took our walk around Bear Lake

- all 6 of us

- funny poses

- When Jack and Cathy joined us, we prepared to move Andi out of her toddler bed and into a big girl bed.  It was about this time that Preston made 3 trips to the Emergency Room with abdominal pain that was ultimately diagnosed as a bad gall bladder (in the end, the pathology report said there were 30 gallstones and it had been an unnoticed problem for 2-4 years)

- while Preston was out of action we missed this year's duck race in Breckenridge.  Cathy, Diane, and Andi went furniture shopping and this was delivered in a couple days.  Andi and all her friends really like it.

- For Rigel's birthday we decided to do a party at the house.  Rather than renting a bounce house, we decided to buy one (since you can buy it for just twice the cost of renting).

- a "hay ride" in the barn while Preston got Rigel's piñata set up

- post piñata excitement

- this fall Rigel started in first grade at DCC and did running with the Land Sharks running club

- In September we finally got back up to Breckenridge to work on some of Rigel's Cub Scout requirements and take a family hike (before the trees all go away)

- The fall colors were quite nice.

- Rigel is REALLY into legos and can follow the instructions by himslef

- Rigel, Connor, and Liam at their last Land Sharks meet

- The first weekend in October was spent at Mueller State Park where we hit the fall colors at their peak

- The DCC Field Day for elementary students

- Rigel's first pack meeting in his full uniform

- Of course, Preston was going to assist the Tiger Cub Den Leader, but when the group split into 2 separate dens, he was left to lead the DCC den.  Here he is in a Boy Scout uniform for the first time in about 31 years.

- The DCC "Duck Days" are the school's major fundraising push, with kids getting little ducks for magazine subscriptions and donations.  Rigel knows a CEO or two and got a $250 donation which netted a whole flock!

- October snows in Breckenridge.  This weekend its possible that Colorado Springs got more.

- The third weekend of October Preston took the kids down to Los Alamos.  The Spruce Lift was damaged in the Los Conchas fire, its lift line and chairs falling to the ground.

- Albert (right) sent Preston word that he could buy a chair for $100 and he jumped at it.  Albert fetched a chair much like this one and Preston hauled it back to Colorado Springs where it'll get sandblasted and powder coated before being turned into a nice hanging garden chair.

- Grandpa and Andi at the Bradbury Science Museum

- Posing in front of the Fat Man mockup

- and in front of Little Boy

- Aunt Erika trimming Rigel's hair

- And prepping to braid Andi's

- Afterwards, Ethan and Rigel playing video games against Dane

- the kids with "the Artist"

- the Rio Grande Gorge on the drive back.  Andi had a 4pm birthday party on Sunday and we pulled into the parking lot of Chuck E Cheese's at 3:57.

8/17/11 - End of Summer Update

Well, it seems like summer just started, and now the kids are back in school.  It's been busy.  Here's a QUICK trip through this summer...

- We tried taking the training wheels off of Rigel's bike.  It did NOT go well.  He's got it in his head that he can't ride like this until he's turned 7.

- over the 4th of July we got together with a number of families and did some hiking.  This is McCullough Gulch and it's every bit as beautiful as Canada.  But a LOT closer.  Uncle Albert and Cousin Hannah weren't able to come up due to the Las Conchas fire.

- Lunch on our hike.

- The Falls at the top of the hike

- On Sunday the 3rd of July, we went canoeing.  Much fun!

- During our stop for lunch

- looking back at Frisco.  Note the beetle killed trees.  In August the forest service approved a plan to clearcut all the way around Breckenridge and the Peaks Trail for the health of the forest and a fire break.  The contract for our area will be let in September so we COULD have amazing views before Thanksgiving.  Or it could be done next summer.

- After canoeing, Andi was so tired that she crashed while slurping on mom's slurpee

- a BBQ with Liam afterwards

- and the girls

- on the 4th of July, Andi tried a dress for the first time.

- Still LOTS of snow.  Later in July, all the rain and snowmelt caused flooding over a few of the local roads and actually washed out Coyne Valley road.

- Andi Vader - the kids LOVE getting out the old costumes

- Rigel became a Tiger Cub Scout this summer; here he's painting his boat that we assembled for the Raingutter Regatta

- Rigel won the first heat, then lost the second heat and the tiebreaker

- Unfortunately he hasn't learned to be a good loser yet, so he yelled and ran away.

- in July, we went to Sophie's birthday party where there was a really good balloon guy

- more costumes

- Another FINE pig at the annual Jim Clark pig roast

- SMILE!

- in August, Rigel (and Diane) went up to Elitch's with Sarah & her family

- good buds

- the flowers were nice this year.  In June, Preston spent some time outside charging the drip system and saw moose tracks right up next to the house

- This summer we celebrated IRC's 10th Anniversary with a group picnic at Sky Sox stadium.  Attendance was pretty sparse due to a rain delayed doubleheader, but it turned out to be a beautiful night.

- In August we went on another family group campout at Cutty's (near Canon City).   Here the little girls (all classmates at Primrose) await a shot at the pony.

- Andi's ride

- There were a BUNCH of kids at the campout

- After we checked out, we tried miniature golf.  It was trying.

- The next Tuesday, Rigel's cub scout pack had an outing at a Sky Sox game.  It was a lot of fun taking Rigel to a ballgame.

- on August 13th, we went to the Black Forest Festival where the kids enjoyed another parade.

6/19/11 - Camping at John Martin Reservoir for Father's Day

We were debating whether to spend the week after our big trip getting ready for a camping trip, but aside from de-winterizing the camper it wasn't a huge deal to get ready.  And it was a GREAT chance for the kids to play with other kids, play in the dirt, etc.  They rarely get to play with friends their own age outside of school.

Note: for those who were following the construction of the BLOG from the road trip, be sure to head back and look through it.  Additional pictures have been added, many of the typos have been fixed (thanks to Preston's dad), and the trip's last few days have been finished.

- Andi and Alli spent a LOT of time together

- including running around the campground

- the Hasty Campground is pretty nice.  Over half of the spots have pretty decent shade due to the large trees that have grown over the years.  That doesn't mean that it's not hot though.  At about 3500 feet, you definitely have heat and bugs.  On Saturday it was 99 degrees (according the Ridgeline) on the dam.  Probably a bit cooler down by the water.

- Our hosts had a ski boat, so while some of the adults were out skiing, many of the adults stayed back to set up on the beach and play with the kids.  This raft tows behind the ski boat (Diane and the kids did this in the afternoon), but initially Preston just waded out into the bay with a raft full of kids.  After spinning the raft to dump off kids got old, Preston wound up flipping it.  They protested and giggled all at the same time.

- Andi & Alli playing in the sand

- After a day and a half of being somewhat ignored by the 6 other girls, Rigel finally got to hold court in our camper on Sunday morning.

6/12/11 - TMC Annual Meeting Trip plus Canada

This year's annual meeting was held at the Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone National Park.  We took a 2.5 week road trip to get there and back, covering over 3,500 miles.  Traveling with a 3 year old and a 6 year old, it was quite an exercise in managing blood sugar levels, bladder & bowel levels, and sleep.  Fortunately the kids are good travelers and we only had a few incidents of emergency potty breaks, barfing, and such.

Places - Along the way we hit many national parks and monuments along with a number of other sights:

Animals - Along the way we saw LOTS of different animals.  We no good at bird identification, but did see lots of interesting critters including:

Technology - We tried out a few new toys this trip.

Overall Route:

- our approximate route.  This one comes up at 2885 miles but the actual mileage of 4250+ accounts for MANY hundreds of miles of day trips.  This map does NOT include all those excursions.

Travel Log:

Wednesday, 5/25/11

Thursday, 5/26/11

Friday, 5/27/11

Saturday, 5/28/11

Sunday, 5/29/11

Monday, 5/30/11

Tuesday, 5/31/11

Wednesday, 6/1/11

Thursday, 6/2/11

Friday, 6/3/11

Saturday, 6/4/11

Sunday, 6/5/11

Monday, 6/6/11

Tuesday, 6/7/11

Wednesday, 6/8/11

Thursday, 6/9/11

Friday, 6/10/11

Saturday, 6/11/11

5/16/11 - Yet more snow

We drove up to Breck this weekend to fetch a few things and relax.  The drive up was at twilight and we saw a lot of animals, including dozens of horses and cows, 2 dozen deer, a dozen elk, a dozen antelope, and even a couple of foxes.  Andi was talking about elephants and on the way back we figured out that she was referring to cows, because she had apparently woken up and was looking out the windows.  When we were passing some cows we heard this little voice from the back seat say "I see elephants!" and then yawn.

- It's still snowing in mid-May.  It appears that while we had nice, sunny, 50+ degree days in Breckenridge, that it was 40's, overcast, and snowing in Black Forest.  Even in Breck there was some snowfall during the day and overnight.

- the stream beds that we had cut and rocked are doing a nice job of keeping all the water away from the house (though the crawl space ventilation fans are running, meaning that the water table is rising for the season)

- in the past 10 days it looks like we've had enough melt and compaction to lose another foot of snowpack.

5/6/11 - Do Have a Cow, Man...

- This Tuesday we took the kids to a school fundraiser with Dave the Horn Guy.  He's got a whole bunch of horns attached to a jumpsuit and can play various tunes with all sorts of motions.  While he's at it he teaches the kids about music and such.  Definitely worth $5 per person.

- In the meantime, anticipating substantially higher food costs and substantially less income, we invested in a new freezer (for Breckenridge) along with a whole cow and a whole hog.  We ordered and received the cow from a local rancher and so far it's been very tasty.  The guy at G&C Packing commented that this rancher brings in the best cows that they see, so we're feeling pretty good about it.  We THINK it's even a decent price ($2.70 per pound based on hanging weight (which includes all the bones) so we figure it's maybe $3.50 per pound cut and vacuum packed for longevity).  Here, the new freezer is loaded onto the trailer and being transported to Breck.

- The new freezer (on the left)

- A half cow, nicely packaged and loaded into freezer in a bunch of tubs bought to fit.

- While waiting to ensure that everything is working, Preston put on some shorts, a t-shirt, and went out in the 50+ degree weather to cross-country ski.  There's still about 3 feet of snow.

- And more at the ski area

- The large wood pile at the back of the lot.  Note the spruce and the 3 posts to stabilize it.  Those posts are 4' tall

- Plenty of snow on the front side too

5/1/11 - Mother's Day

Yes, we're well aware that next weekend is Mother's Day, but we opted to celebrate a week early since there's no telling what'll be happening next weekend.

- Rigel making a fort with all the couch blankets

- Rigel took a picture of Andromeda

- Andi playing in a ball pit on Saturday at a birthday party for one of her friends

- Rigel and Andromeda watching cartoons on Sunday morning

- As we drove to Diane's Mother's Day brunch at the Sunbird, we encountered snow.  This is VERY normal for April and May.  Since we moved here 23 years ago, there's been snow within a week of April 30th EVERY year.  Most years there is snow on the 30th itself.  You don't plant anything fragile until mid-May or even June.

- Brunch

4/26/11 -Easter & the End of Ski Season

- On Saturday we went to the Breck Rec Center for the Easter Egg hunt

- The Rec Center also had a couple of bounce houses to burn off some of the sugar

- It may have been the last weekend of April, but the snow still flies.  There's been another 1 to 2 feet of snow since this picture was taken on Saturday.

- Up at the ski area, the Ripperoo Mini World Cup and Mascot Olympics took place.  Rigel improved his slalom time by 3 seconds (to 23 seconds) while Diane and Andi watched the Olympic challenges between Ripperoo, the Bronco, Dora, the CU Buffalo, the Beaver Run Beaver, and the Air Force Academy Falcon.

- Rigel & Dora

- On our way to the race, Rigel got frustrated, threw away his poles, and kept skiing.  Here he is heading back uphill to fetch them.  Oh the whining and screaming...

- There were also coloring and other activities

- When we got home, we pulled out some of the snowball making tools that Aunt Carol bought for the family Christmas vacation.  The snow was too cold to pack back then, but NOW it's perfect.  The kids had a great time nailing daddy.

- And then came Easter morning. 

- Along with another 7" of snow for closing day.  The ski season ended on a high note, having reported a record breaking 519 inches of snow this season (over 43 feet of snow, Barb).

- We still have a LOT at our place

- Diane took the kids back to the base of Peak 8 to play while Preston took a run from the VERY top of the mountain.  At 12,840 feet, there was about a foot of powder.  It was tracked up, but even at 11 am Preston was able to make a lot of turns in virgin powder.  In some cases it was knee deep and blowing up to waist high.  WOO HOO!  Fantastic way to end the season.

- Andi carrying her skis over to the Gondola

4/17/11 - Tax Day

As we do our last minute reviews of the CPA's initial cut at our taxes, and mourn the thousands of dollars of hard-earned money that the federal government will waste, we thought we'd also update the website with a few pix.

- Andi amazed Preston by consistently taking 3 cards with pictures and correctly putting them in order and telling the associated story (e.g. the grass is long, the girl mows the grass, and the grass is short).

- Preston took a couple hours and went out for some high altitude expert skiing before the season ends.  Here he's at about 12,500 (at the top of the T-bar) and snapped a shot showing our place and a lot of Peak 7 (the 2 main runs below are Claimjumper and Pioneer).  The snow remains fabulous, but closing day is coming up next weekend.  Preston currently has 22 days and a quarter-million vertical feet in for this season.  He's hoping to get two or 3 more days in on this next weekend.  The odds are not good for getting 300,000 vertical, but it COULD happen.  The whole family is closing in on 500,000 vertical and 50 days on the mountain.

- on Friday Rigel's entire elementary school had a field trip to the Monument Fire Center, home of the Pike Hotshots.  Diane, Preston, and Rigel ALL forgot to provide him with a backpack, water, lunch, etc. so Diane wound up leaving work mid-morning to run home, pull it all together, and then do her best to find Private Ryan amongst the madness.  She succeeded relatively quickly and Rigel was given a tiny ponderosa to plant (not realizing that the ponderosa is a weed where we live).

- lots of kids

- Rigel, in a decent picture with his front tooth missing, eating his lunch

- Diane's trying to get some pumpkins grown this year.  Starting from seed indoors is the best bet, since we are likely to get snow on the ground in the next 2-4 weeks.

- On Saturday morning we helped Russ launch the High Plains Drifter before heading off to an egg hunt at DCC. 

- swapping riders at Big Johnson Reservoir

- Pikes Peak in the background

- After the egg hunt we wound up spending 2 hours at Wal Mart, catching up on some shopping.  Then we were off to Liam and Laena's house for Liam's 6th birthday party.  Here Rigel and River are doing the old George Carlin bilabial fricative bit.  Oh, so proud...

- 2 little girls enjoying their cupcakes.

3/5/11 - Early March

- Andi likes playing her new Pretty Pretty Princess game

- And Rigel loves playing games so much that he'll play it too

= This weekend Grandpa came for a skiing visit.  There was not much skiing to be had at Los Alamos, despite an early start.

- On Saturday all of the Bombers kids raced.  Rigel took 4th place in his class (of 6)

- All of the Flaming Dragons posed with Ripperoo & Ms Jess

- At the end of the day, taking a run with Grandpa

- Before Grandpa left on Sunday, we rode the gondola into town and walked a bit

- There must have been warm temps that caused a lot of melting, but it's still a LOT of snow.  The dog houses are barely accessible.

2/19/11 - Andi's Birthday Party

- Andi and almost a half dozen of her friends (and siblings) joined us at Art Sports to celebrate her birthday

- she REALLY loved bouncing on trampolines with a harness and bungee cords

- trying a somersault with a coach's help

- her birthday cake

- the crowd of 20 ripped through 3.5 pizzas

- blowing out her candles

- So early on Saturday morning, she grabbed daddy for a tea party from her new Beauty and the Beast tea service (while mommy tried to go back to sleep).

2/14/11 - Valentine's Day

The family has been having a great time skiing this year.  The kids are halfway through their classes while Diane and Preston have been getting some good skiing.  2 weekends ago we were skiing in shin-deep powder while this past weekend it was in the mid-30s and beautifully sunny.  This is all helped with the best snowfall in years.  The Summit Daily News is reporting that:

For those who don't want to do the math, that's over 27 feet of snow.  With the remainder of February plus the heavy snow months of March and April left to go, we could have 40 feet of snow when all is said and done.

In the meantime, weather in Colorado Springs has been mild.  We've had very little snow this season with temperatures in the last 2 weeks ranging from 20-below to 71-above.  With windchills in the -30 to -40 range, that's well over a 100-degree swing in temps during the first half of February.

- Doing a bit of shoveling on the patio

- Getting ready for skiing after class

- the snowplow pile in front of the house

- at this point the fence around the dog run is really just advisory. 

- Rigel's Valentine's Day International Tea featured a tasty spread

- Rigel and some of his friends

1/21/11 - Jan Update

- "I'll put baby to bed"

- "A brilliant idea is coming to me..."

- "I know, I should feed baby to these dinosaurs..."

- Meanwhile, Rigel and Daddy have finished the 2nd stage

- Rigel completes a 3rd stage internal structure ring

- And then it's all done.  Watching the little car shoot to the top and then wind its way down is pretty cool!

- Preston left early on the day after MLK.  Before he could leave, he had to snowblow 2 feet of snow.  As of today, Breckenridge is reporting over 4 feet of snow in the last 2 days, with more expected.

1/9/11 - Bombers Begins!

- Rigel being dropped off at 0815 for his first class.  Bombers is a 7-week program where the kids have all day lessons with the same instructor and classmates.  Rigel likes his instructor (Jess Hoover) but (surprise, surprise) has a hard time listening.

- It started off as a beautiful, sunny, Colorado winter day.  Diane and Preston got our first ski day together in many years.  We don't remember when the last time was, but figure it to be 2003 or earlier.

- Preston

- We caught up wth Rigel's class at lunchtime and then waited for their first run after lunch to watch him ski.  We were waiting at the top and got to watch him neglect to stand up at the top of the lift.  So the lift shut down and Rigel got "evacuated" by the lift operator.

- Rigel's class after the evacuation

- then we went down to see Andi's class.  She looked pretty cute waddling to and from the magic carpet lift.

- Andi and her instructor.  We've been trying to get her potty trained in anticipation of this class and she made it through the whole day.  This past week, she even noted when she was dry for the day and exclaimed "now I get to go skiing!"

- It's finally time to get rid of the Thanksgiving gingerbread man.  Starting with a little decapitation. 

- Rigel & Preston kept working on the k'nex roller coaster.  We've finished the tower and the first stage.  Next weekend we should be able to finish it off.  The motor looks to propel the car at great speed.  It might have hit the ceiling had Preston not caught it before it left the track.

- Andi's picture of mommy & daddy. 

1/6/11 - Christmas 2010

We had a busy Christmas season this year.  Grandma Lorna joined us for Christmas and then the Davis' & Plevas joined us right after Christmas.  The Pleva men went skiing with Preston (including skiing in sub-zero weather on New Year's Eve day (with wind chills of -50).  We also celebrated Andromeda's 3rd birthday.

- Rigel's Christmas Party at school

- somebody got creative with the cupcakes

- meanwhile, Andi had a party and visit from Santa at her school

- At about the same time, Preston drove up to Breckenridge directly to ensure that the previous few day's snow (3') was cleared off.  It got into the 40s after the snowfall, so it compressed down to 1-2', but that was still enough to cover the path lighting.

- On Christmas Eve day, we all went skiing for a few hours.  Preston managed to lose one of Andi's skis when she got tired and needed to be carried, but it was identified by the lost and found folks a few days later.

- Christmas Eve

- Christmas Day and the mayhem begins with stockings.  Our kids are broken because they slept until 8 am and had to be awakened.

- Opening stocking stuffers with Grandma

- She LOVES her Christmas moose from Grandpa and Grannie

- And was JUST A LITTLE amped up

- Meanwhile Rigel continued to open his gifts and show them to all

- Rigel helping Andi deploy all the furniture in her doll house

- who needs a bathroom or diaper when I can pee RIGHT HERE

- Andi also made thorough use of her new dress up kit

- While Rigel continued to open his gifts

- Andi in another of her princess costumes.  Much to Preston's relief, she's MUCH more into fairies than she is princesses.

- The Plevas arrived on the 26th and immediately settled in with some nice Christmas mayhem (AKA Lord of the Rings).  Josh & Rigel shown here chilling on the couch

- Andi had a LOT of long days...

- On the 27th Preston's mom returned home and Barb & Greg arrived

- Matt trying desperately to get a structurally-sound gingerbread man down to the level of the milk.

- Rigel and Andi torturing everybody with The Duck Song

- On the 27th, Preston and Pleva men went skiing whilst some folks walked out to the picnic table.  Many snow angels were made

- Here's one

- Aunt Carol, Aunt Barb, Andi, and Rigel out in the snow

- Andi got ahold of a marker at some point

- The Women in Pink

- Santa gave Rigel the knex Roller Coaster and has over 1000 pieces of fun awaiting with Rigel

- We celebrated Andi's birthday early along with Aunt Carol's birthday

- Carol playing pinball

- and cuddling with wriggly children

11/28/10 - Thanksgiving with Grandma and the Gormans

Preston's Dad had a retinal detachment 2-days before coming up for the Thanksgiving festivities, so he and Grannie were unable to join in.

Preston & Rigel went for 2 runs on Thanksgiving Day and found that it was the best early-season conditions that either can remember.

- Andi exhausted after playing outside in the snow.

- On Friday, Bill & Preston assembled a 12' pre-lit tree

- Erika, Bill, and Rigel

- Andi decorating

- as did Rigel

- Henry VIII

- Back in her bed for Saturday night

- Unfortunately, after being turned off for 4 weeks, when we arrived before Thanksgiving we found that the pinball machine wouldn't boot up.

- The Xmas decorating this year included the GE Color Effects LED lights in a variety of incarnations.

11/15/10 - Mid November update

- dressed for Halloween Parties at school

- being goofy

- and sometimes they're pretty nice to each other

- tuckered rooby-roo

- Andi's picture of Rigel and daddy working on a Star Wars Lego

- this weekend we went to Santa's Workshop / North Pole.  Andi wasn't willing to get near Santa (either at the mall or at Santa's Workshop, but maybe we can work something out at the Zoo next month.

- Going before Thanksgiving minimizes the crowd (there were maybe 15 cars in the lot) and maximizes ride time.  Plus it was a little warmer than it is in December

- Daddy pretty well fills an ornament

- Andi LOVED the little roller coaster

- While Rigel did this horse ride 4 times in a row

- This week was Andi's first week in big girl underwear.  It's not an entirely smooth transition...

- Out cold after missing her nap for Santa's Workshop

- Normally she wakes up as soon as she's moved, but she was moved into bed for an hour without any any issue.  After that, she ate a bit but was still pretty snuggly...

10/27/10 - Early Trick or Treating

- in mid-October we wrapped up our Breckenridge winterization by finishing the splitting and stacking of 2 cords of wood in the new garage wood crib.  Here the kids are "helping."

- We also broke in our fire bowl with neighbors Randy & Ellen and their neighbors Michelle & Sammy from Parker.

- Roasting marshmallows

- Andromeda likes to try cleaning too.  She insisted on getting her own spray bottle (filled with water) and a towel.

- This past weekend we took the kids to a farm in Penrose, CO.  They're primarily an apple farm but they also have a pumpkin patch.  If you're early in the season you actually cut the pumpkins off the vine.  At the time WE went, everything was picked clean and the pumpkins that were on the ground had obviously placed there by hand off of a pallet.  Pretty sparse pickings by the time we were there.  Anyway, in this picture Diane and Andi are following Rigel back from a detour off to the Raspberry patch.  Andi picked a bunch and fed them to Rigel, so they were all gone by the time they got back to Preston who had the pumpkins.

- For Halloween, Rigel had Spiderman and Superman costumes.  Andi got Tinkerbell but that was not going to be warm enough for Boo at the Zoo, so Diane picked up a Scooby Doo costume for her.

- With Sarah

10/10/10 - Preston's First Hot Air Balloon Flight

- Preston offered to help Russ Robinson as crew on his hot air balloon ("High Plains Drifter") this morning.  As we were helping Russ get everything set up somebody noticed that the light on Pike's Peak was particularly spectacular.

- Much to Preston's surprise, Russ offered to take Preston up for a flight.  Here's the peak as we're ascending to 1000-1500 feet.

- Looking down at the intersection of Shoup and Highway 83 (near the launch site).  It was beautiful weather and a fantastic first flight.

- This is where we live in Black Forest (at the center of the picture).  We're just below the ridge of the Palmer Divide.

- Russ

- High Plains drifter after dropping Preston off and switching passengers.

- Our approximate flight path.  We flew about 6 miles and then switched.  The final landing and packing was out NNW of Slocum and Jones (another 9.5 miles away).

- Directly underneath at the Falcon Wal-Mart

- Preston learning about the association of Champagne and ballooning.

- Followed by cheese, crackers, sausage, OJ, champagne, and great conversation.  This was a very nice way to spend a Sunday morning.

10/9/10 - Rigel's Birthday Party, Fall Colors, and the last camping trip of the season

- Rigel's party was at Mr. Biggs.  It was a Pirate Party and our helper pirate did a great job with the kids

- They went on a treasure hunt

- distributing the booty after another kid found the treasure chest

- The following weekend, we drove over Boreas Pass (an old railroad grade) to see the fall colors

- Looking back to the ski area from Boreas Pass

- The old railroad grade takes you past an old water tank that was built in the 1880s and restored 52 years ago

- The section house and ruins from the Boreas Pass railroad operations on the continental divide

- On the way back, we tried going from Como to Jefferson and over Georgia Pass.  There was no problem getting up to Georgia Pass, but coming down to the north (into Breckenridge) involved the original wagon trail that supplied the town of Breckenridge.  Now Preston hasn't done much four wheeling, but this little goat track was definitely the steepest thing he's ever come down.  The Ridgeline had no issues coming down in 4WD, but without a low range it might have been a bit of a challenge going back up if we'd taken a wrong turn on the way down (we had no good map or instructions).

- Mount Guyot

- After we got back from our drive, we split a cord of wood

- the next day, the kids rode around on the driveway

- and then ate lunch on the patio

- with mommy

- While daddy built a wood crib to store a couple cords of wood for use in the winter.  This might get us close to using up the small wood pile so that we can start working on the big wood pile...

- The 1st weekend of October saw us up at Mueller State Park for our last campout of the year.  Andi slept pretty nicely.

- It's a very nice campground, with paved pull-through spaces and electrical hookups.

- Rigel and Andromeda enjoyed spending time with the three other couples from work.  Here they were playing with Sherri...

- While Tom and Diana looked on

- Andi loves dogs

- and didn't whine too much on our 3 mile hike.  On Saturday night Preston was trying to tell the kids to not yell when Andromeda replied that "I'm NOT yelling!  I'm WHINING!"

- Our Saturday hike really was nice.  Beautiful weather and we were just past the prime weekend for colors.

- Sherri, Diana, Rigel, and Tom walking while Diane and Preston coax Andi along

- Diane and Andi

- At this point we're heading back uphill.  Andi wound up walking between 1 and 2 miles while Rigel wound up walking the entire 3 miles.

- Snack time at an abandoned cabin on the way back uphill

- This was the view out the cabin's windows.

- Rick and Diana at Saturday Night's campfire

- John, Chris, and Heidi

9/13/10 - Rigel's Birthday

- Some of Rigel's summer artwork from Primrose.  This is a sunset with a shark chasing a pirate ship.

 - Reading with Grandpa

- This to him is a nice smile

- A cool Spiderman cake

- Which he shared with Grandpa for his 76th birthday

- On Sunday Andi wanted to go see Thomas.  Here she is with Mommy on our Thomas train ride.

- And with Sir Topham Hat

- And with Thomas

- Rigel got picked to help with a magic trick and the next thing we knew, Andi was up front with him helping out (without being asked up)

9/7/10 - Labor Day

We went up to Breckenridge with Grandma & Grandpa and had a great time.

- Cathy in front of a metal art dealer at the Art Festival associated with the Breckenridge Labor Day activities

- It was a nice day

- The kids & Cathy  checking out their decorated duck and all the others

- Some folks really got creative

- Waiting for the ducks to come down the stream

- Waiting "patiently"

- "Where are the ducks?"

- Oh, there they are

- Lots of ducks.  About 7500 this year.

- It was from this spot that Andi was allowed to put her feet in.  BUT she was REPEATEDLY told to keep sitting, because if she kept standing up then the slippery slimy rocks would put her into the water.  She was ALSO told that if she went into the snowmelt water that neither one of us would be happy because she'd be cold AND daddy would have to put a foot into the water to get her out.

- But sometimes the best lessons are cheap lessons.  Sure enough, she kept standing and eventually lost her footing.  She wound up on her back with only her face out of the (snowmelt) water and was HOWLING.  And sure enough, daddy had to step into the stream in order to reach down to grab her waistband and drag her out.  She kept howling and snuffling all the way back to mommy, Grandma, and Grandpa.  You can't really tell from this picture, but she was soaked from head to toes.  We have a video where she repeats the mantra "Daddy knows everything."   (now if we can just maintain that illusion for a few years)

- The day after the duck race Rigel and Preston volunteered to help sort and account for all the ducks.  Rigel did NOT want to go volunteer initially, but got into it pretty quickly.

- Then on the next day we went over to the Grand Lodge for lunch and then over to the Peak 8 Fun Park

- We took a scenic lift ride up to the top of the Colorado Super Chair and took a little walk to see the scenery.  Of course, Andi fell asleep while daddy carried her.

- Once we got back down, we did the Bounce House, the human maze, and the Alpine slide.

- But the slide didn't go so smoothly.  Diane and Rigel dumped off of it.  Diane's face & ear slid down the side of the fiberglass track (and actually melted part of the shoulder of her fleece from the friction).  Rigel got a little scrape on his elbow, but you'd think he lost a limb.

- After 24 hours, the bruise was developing nicely.

- Jack enjoying the pinball machine

8/29/10 - Camping at RMNP with Grandma & Grandpa

This weekend was the annual trip to Rocky Mountain National Park with Jack & Cathy.

- Chasm Falls on the Old Fall River Road, a scenic dirt road up to the Alpine Visitor Center on the Trail Ridge Road

- Somebody was a bit grumpy when we got there

- Snacking in some spectacular scenery

- We drove separate ways, but met up at the top

- Rigel had a strawberry dried fruit snack and made a mess of things

- Later on, we went to the Fall River Visitor Center and Rigel tried on some Ranger clothing

- Saturday evening, the kids decorated a duck for next weekend's Summit Foundation Rubber Duck Race.  When pondering themes like Army, Military, Friendly Force Tracking, Patriotism, and such, the kiddies came up with a duck decorated according to the themes of Transportation and Farm Animals.

- Sunday morning breakfast

- Sprague Lake

- Sharing some bread crumbs at lunch with the ducklings

- Wiped out on the ride home

8/21/10 - Update

This afternoon is Jeffy's celebration in Allen, TX.  I continue to watch the outpouring from people on blogs and would not be surprised to see the motorcycling community out in force to celebrate one of their own.

- The kids waiting for the parade part of the Black Forest Festival.  Rigel was asked if he wanted to ride on the fire department's kids float or stand in the sun and collect candy.  His response: "are you kidding me?"

- Fort Carson had a new M-ATV (MRAP All Terrain Vehicle) in the parade.  I'd never heard of this version of the MRAP and have to say that it looks like an awesome ride.  We checked it out afterwards and Preston was impressed with the armor thickness.  If this vehicle doesn't protect you adequately, you were up against something pretty bad.

- It was even equipped with an FBCB2-BFT unit

- Monday, August 16th was Rigel's first day of Kindergarten at public school

- Getting on the bus

- All weekend Rigel was saying that he was NOT going to a new school and would NOT get on the bus on Monday.  After the kids were loaded into the car and driving to their normal school, Rigel started yelling at Diane to hurry up because they were going to be late and he'd miss the bus.  His first 3 days went very well.  He loved it ("we only have to do 2 works each day and they're EASY") and thought he did really well on day 4 when they did the testing.

- On Wednesday the 18th Diane and Preston went to another Rush concert.  The last time we saw them was in August 2007 when she was pregnant with Andromeda.  As always, if you park in the south lots, you've got a good hump coming up the hill to the amphitheater at Red Rocks.

- We were in row 15.  Pretty great location.

- The screen behind the band provided a fantastic picture.  Sometimes videos related to the songs and sometimes of the band members playing.

- We were directly in front of the Stage Right speaker stack and both the Neil & Geddy's instruments could be felt deep in your chest.

- I was just a bit too late to get a picture of Geddy playing the keyboard, but still thought it a very artistic image

- Alex & Neil

- Big crowd at Red Rocks

8/11/10 - Jeff Eagan Celebration

On Friday, July 30th, one of Preston's high school buddies, Jeff Eagan, died in a motorcycle accident near Cody Wyoming.  While Preston hadn't seen Jeffy since our Yellowstone Motorcycle Trip in 1999, we kept in touch periodically via e-mail.  After learning of his passing, Preston kept looking for information on Jeff and ran across a number of motorcycling community blog threads that talked extensively about Jeff's involvement in the community.  While we hadn't been close for many years, it was GREAT to see the impact Jeff had on his many new friends.

(also, the Breck Blog has been updated for new landscaping and epoxying the garage)

- Jeff, Dad, Diane, Albert, and Ruth at Dinosaur National Monument in 1999 enroute to Yellowstone.

- Preston bought a big red tie to honor his big red friend

- About to scatter Jeff's ashes at the Ski Hill in Los Alamos

- The Texas Contingent on a perfect summer day at the Ski Hill

- Dad sharing a post-tequila-shot anecdote with Jeff's wife Ruth

- Los Alamos

- Dad and Preston after lunch.  Jeff's ashes were not so much like grey sand but more like black ashes (which also wound up on dad's pants and everyone else's hands).

- Albert & Preston

- Andi loves snow cones

7/25/10 - Los Alamos, Zoo, and Breck

Yesterday morning Kadluk died.  He was our second male Malamute and lived to the ripe old age of 13.  It was less than 24 hours before Rigel mentioned that we could get a puppy.  Meanwhile, Andi is still looking to take Kadluk treats along with Aurora.

- Last weekend we went to Los Alamos and camped in the Santa Fe National Forest with the Gormans and Preston's parents.  It was the hottest it had been so far, but we camped at 9000 feet and therefore enjoyed reasonable temps in the 80s..

- Andi was LOVING having a whole herd of dogs that were her size.

- The reason we went during that weekend was to attend the Mader's 50th Anniversary luncheon.

- Dr. Charles Mader, Preston, Emma Jean Mader

- After the luncheon, it was back up into the mountains for dinner and s'mores.  Albert joined us for a few hours.

- That night Andi rolled off her bed, bounced off a cushion (put there for just such a possibility), and kept sleeping on the floor with Cookie Monster

- Rigel and Little Bill enjoying some sun on Sunday morning

- After dropping Diane off at the Santa Fe Airport (where she rented a car and drove to ABQ for a business trip), we headed back to Colorado.  Here's the Rio Grande Gorge seen at 65 MPH just south of Taos.

- On Wednesday, Diane got back (despite having her Garmin GPS stolen from her rental car on Monday night) and we headed over to the Zoo for Corporate Night with 5 other families.  Here Andi's getting her face painted.

- Our little tiger checking out a snake

- Enjoying some punch

- Rigel, his girlfriend Sarah, and Conner B.

- Over Friday night and Saturday morning, Kadluk was howling and hacking.  We've anticipated his passing for quite some time, but he'd been doing much better in the last couple weeks since Diane took him to the vet and got him some drugs.  He died around 3 am when we heard one of the two dogs howl pitifully.  Both kids wanted to see him before Diane took him off to the county animal shelter for cremation.

- On Saturday afternoon Rigel picked some wildflowers from the yard for mommy

- Sunday was a relaxing day of odd jobs around the house which gave the kids a chance to run around the yard and get out on their wheels.  Andi loves her Chick helmet.

7/6/10 - Fourth of July

- Diane and Albert taking the gondola down to Breck for lunch on the 3rd

- The kids loved it

- At lunch, Rigel and Andromeda did a lot of jumping (Rigel's going up, Andi's going down)

- Diane and Albert at lunch

- Preston at lunch (Rigel took this picture)

- On the Fourth, we went down to town again for the parade.  The Firecracker 500 mountain bike race brings in about 750 racers

- After the bikes are gone, the kids go out to play in the traffic and solicit candy donations

- But Andi really doesn't like loud noises

- For dinner on the Fourth we tried making Turtle Burgers.  Beef plus cheese plus bacon plus hot dogs for legs, heads, and tails.  There were two proper turtles and the rest devolved into two legged unicorns and such.

- After about an hour of baking plus another half hour of broiling, they were sort of done.  Don't know what happened there, but baking at 10,000 feet still proves to be a challenge...

6/23/10 - Update

- We wanted the kids to see Yosemite when there's some water going over the falls.  I think we hit the target!  (Note the logarithmic scale)

- The week we got back, we had tix for the Ringling Brother's circus.  It was a first for all of us.

- LOTS of people

- flying high in the air

- in a case with many tigers

- they also had small bendy Asian women.  Shortly after this display of flexibility and breast insensitivity, the three of them were delivered to the center ring in a small glass box that they proceeded to unfold themselves from.

- Andi wondering what to do about the cotton candy that stuck to her hands after they were wet from sticking them in her mouth.

- "i wuv cotton candy"

- It was indeed a 3-ring circus.  One poor dude on TALL stilts (maybe 10'?) did a faceplant in the center ring.  The show must go on, but it was tough to do things in the center ring while a half dozen guys rushed to extricate him from the stilts and then carry him off (with an apparent ankle injury).

- Complete with elephants.  Note the guy on the right.  One of these elephants took an IMPRESSIVE dump right in front of us and then rolled in it.  Andi thought that this was REALLY funny.  As I'm posting this, Rigel is saying "I really wish you got a picture of the elephant pooping.  It was hysterical."

- And the big finale

- Everyone's tired as we left

- Our Breckenridge tenant bought a 1993 Williams pinball machine.  As I post this, Rigel's saying "now we can go to Breckenridge any time because the pinball machine is there and I LOVE it."

- Very cool game

6/7/10 - Back from California

We had a great road trip back to California to see Diane's family and visit Yosemite when there's actually water in the waterfalls.

Day 1: 600+ miles from Breck to Ely

- driving through some spectacular terrain, fighting ferocious headwinds the entire way.  It made our decision to take the Ridgeline versus the Prius prescient.

- Western Utah and Eastern Nevada saw the winds shift to the South where they could kick up some tremendous dust storms.  This picture was the beginning of one cloud, but other clouds were so thick that it was like driving through a white-out (and had to slow down).

Day 2: ~650 miles from Ely to Lehman Caves to San Jose

- the rare shield formation

- cave bacon

- the kids were repeatedly told to not touch anything

- the kids loved walking in the ranger's light

- family photo

- because they didn't touch anything, Ranger Kelly gave the kids Cave Cadet buttons

- leaving Ely, we saw the local steam locomotive working hard climbing west out of town

- Partway to Eureka, we ran into snow and rain that persisted through Austin

- It was snowing hard enough to collect on the ground (though not on the road)

- After spending much of the day on US 50, we turned south on NV-88 / CA-88 to cross the Sierra's over Carson Pass.  We went past Kirkwood (which Preston has always wanted to ski) and then down into the central valley and over to San Jose.  It had obviously snowed earlier in the day.

Day 3 - San Jose for Dalton's Graduation

- Jack & Cathy dressed up

- Andromeda licking Dalton's envelope

- This picture gets taken every 20 years or so

- And this is the first of the next generation

- The younger boys playing with squirt guns

- Little Ellen Ripley

- The girls & squirt guns

Day 4 - San Jose at Jack & Cathy's

- putting EVERY toy in the fountain

Day 5 - Heading from San Jose to Yosemite

- We took the Big Oak Flat Road via the Old Priest Grade road.  In warm weather and running the air conditioning, the engine temperature didn't budge (Preston has been in 2 vehicles that have had challenges getting up this road).

- Right about here our 1973 VW Campmobile gave up the ghost and we had to turn around and go ALL the way around.

- The Cascades at Tamarack Creek on the way into the Valley

- Ribbon Falls and El Capitan

- the view from our tent cabin at Curry Village

Day 6 - Yosemite Falls & a walk to Yosemite Village PLUS a Bike Ride

- 'nuff said

- During this trip we saw numerous deer and even a raccoon (though no bears)

- and again in bronze

- At the base of Yosemite Falls, the blast of mist is drenching (though less than at Bridalveil later in the week)

- the torrent of water off of Lower Yosemite Falls

- Back at Camp Curry for naptime

- ... and a post-nap ice cream

- Taking Andi for Walk

- and Rigel for a Ride.  On this hill he lost momentum and started rolling backwards into the road where he fell off the bike into oncoming traffic.

- the classic Half Dome view from Sentinel Bridge.  A few days later the Merced River was a bit higher and they were concerned with flooding of the Lower Pines campground.

- and again across the Ahwahnee Meadow

- the Royal Cascades

Day 7 - Hiking to the bridge below Vernal Falls

- the kids were good hikers.  Andi made it all the way up and a third of the way back.

- Yosemite Falls looks so small from this end of the Valley

- Illouette Falls

- Vernal Falls

- Waiting for a shuttle bus

- Wandering to the visitor center to get the kids' passport books stamped

Day 8 - Mirror Lake and Glacier Point

- Wearing Daddy's hat

- Enroute to Mirror Lake, Andi stops to "spray water" like she did when she was helping with cleaning the truck before we left.  10 years ago Preston took a memorable picture of Diane, Barb, Heidi, and Greg in this spot during the fall.

- What Mirror Lake has become since the dredging stopped in the early 1970s.  It's filling in as a meadow and is mostly sand later in the year

- they removed the parking area some years ago and people started piling up rock cairns where the road had been

- LOTS of cairns

- while the kids napped, we drove up to Glacier Point.  The road has been open less than a week and still has 4-6 feet of snow on the sides of the road

- goofy boy

- Half Dome

- Vernal and Nevada Falls (we finally caught some good light on an overcast afternoon)

- Yosemite Falls from Glacier Point

- the upper falls and Yosemite Falls trail

- at the Tunnel View

- Again; Half Dome is mostly obscured.  Note that the light is pretty fickle late on a cloudy day

- Happily marching off to a drenching at the base of Bridalveil Falls.  Diane and Rigel went until they were standing in 6" of rushing water and turned around at a sign noting the people are swept away every year.  Their next few steps would have taken them into 12" of rushing water.

Day 8 - Yosemite to Las Vegas

- At Wawona, we spent some time at the Pioneer History Center

- MASSIVE timbers

- we left the park briefly to take a 4-mile ride on the Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine railroad.  This is a restored Shay locomotive which is FASCINATING to watch due to the side pistons, crankshaft, and drive train.  The boiler is actually offset to the left to counterbalance the weight of the drive train.  This one was converted to burn oil and our trip used 50 gallons of oil and 600 gallons of water.  These trains pulled logs through the mountains to a mill where they were rough-milled in preparation for a 54-mile flume trip to Madera for final milling.

- 3 pistons

- we rode in logs

- Then back to the park for a walk through the Mariposa Grove of the Giant Sequoias.  Rigel is the blue spec at the base of this tree.  There are ~75 groves of these trees in California and they are the largest living things on earth.

- The Fallen Monarch fell hundreds of years ago, but the trees have lots of tannins that become tannic acid which retards decay.

- the family at the base of the Grizzly Giant.  The large limb on the right is 7' in diameter and larger than any other tree int eh area except for another Sequoia.

- inside the California Tunnel Tree

- Andi fell asleep on the hike back down to the truck

- We left Yosemite at 3:30 pm and then headed for Las Vegas.  We got there at 11 pm and along the way went through Tehachapi and Mojave.  500+ miles

Day 9 - Las Vegas to Breck (700+ miles)

- Oh the irony

- SOMEBODY didn't want to be told to finish her lunch before playing at the McPlay Place.  She didn't get to play and held 2/3rds of a hamburger in her mouth for 75 minutes.  She finally wanted to spit out the food when daddy started in on some Nilla Wafers

- Spectacular Utah

Day 10 - Breck to CS

We relaxed on Sunday morning, went swimming, and then headed back home.  We went to Yosemite to show the kids waterfalls with a lot of water and succeeded.  The water flow data currently shows that we were there VERY close to the peak flow.  And rivers across the west are all running very full (with the bike path on I-70 being flooded in some places).

5/21/10 - Rigel's Graduation

Turns out that our last snowfall was on Friday the 14th here in the Springs.  Last weekend Preston's dad joined the crew up in Breckenridge where it's been snowing frequently this month.  It snowed on and off all day on Saturday & then Dad left on Sunday morning for Canada.

- Grandpa and the kids

- Rigel wasn't a good kid with the scissors

- Daddy & Grandpa

- Rigel & Andromeda playing outside.  Rigel kept trying to get Andromeda to fetch the stick and refused to believe us when we said she wasn't a dog.

- Rigel's graduation was on May 19th.  All the kids were able to stand still, except for Rigel who was bebopping around and having a great time within a 3 foot radius of where he was supposed to be.

- Whee

- Andy making a scrunched up face

- When it came time to say what you learned, Rigel vapor-locked and ran back to curl up on the ground crying in his spot.  He got better after Mr. Rodwell comforted him.

- Later on Rigel sang a solo and then when it came time to say what we wanted to be when he grew up.  All the other kids said artist or pilot or surgeon, but Rigel said that he wanted to be a daddy.  It was very cool.

- Rigel and Mr. Justin Rodwell

- Rigel and his Graduation Puppy

5/2/10 - Last (?) Snowfall & Kids Computing

- Andromeda found her old Pooh costume and enjoys wearing it.

- We got the kids some new educational software (Jumpstart World).  Andi's so excited to be able to play on the computer that she fell asleep playing it.

- On day 2, she's starting to grasp the idea of a trackball.

- She and Rigel actually enjoy playing side by side, but when Rigel annoys her she'll scream and then occupy as much of the chair as possible.

- Our annual "end-of-season" snow occurred today (5/2/10).  There is still some snow in the forecast though both in Colorado Springs and Breckenridge (which should have received 2-4" of snow today).

4/24/10 - 2-day Snowstorm

We're now 36-hours into the latest snowstorm.  Every April 30th we have fresh snow on the ground.  This has been a trend we've noticed every year since 1988 and it looks like this year will be no exception.  This system has given us an honest 2 feet of very wet, heavy snow.

- Approximately 15-hours into the storm we've had about 18 inches.

- Update to last posting with another annotated picture of the area (from Google Earth)

4/21/10 - Last Day of Skiing

Well, ski season is done now.  Rigel led the pack with 11 "days" of skiing with Preston close behind at 10.  Diane got a half dozen days in while Andi went out 3 times.  We wound up wrapping up the season by purchasing a timeshare unit at the Grand Lodge on Peak 7.  We've always been skeptical about the value of timeshares, but decided that the day use privileges would make the whole thing worthwhile because we'd use it all the time to park for skiing, BBQ lunches while skiing, swim, and watch movies in the theaters.  Plus we can do the timeshare swap thing or rent the place out.

- Rigel on 4/11 after buying the timeshare

- Andromeda's first time to wear big girl underwear

- On 4/18 Breckenridge closed for the season.  We started the day off by watching Charlotte's Web in the Theater

- The 11-seat (plus 2 beanbags) theater

- The indoor pool area

- The outdoor pool area with the Independence ski lift in the background

- BBQing lunch by the fire pit

- After skiing, we soaked in the hot tub

- More soaking

- Where everything is relative to each other

- Ski Area locations

4/6/10 - Easter Update

- In March we saw Bill Engvall at the Pikes Peak Center with Erika and Bill.  As you can see, we accidentally got EXCELLENT front-row center tickets (10 feet away).

- Bill Engvall was hysterical, as you'd expect.  He's about 8 years older than Diane and Preston.  His kids are about 20 years older than ours, so we find his older humor INCREDIBLY funny and realize that his current stuff is all about stuff that we'll be feeling personally in a few years.

- The next day we went to the zoo on a cold and windy day (where we were 4 of only 28 guests that arrived that morning).  Here Andi was feeding a giraffe.

- The lions enjoyed a warm rock and some sun.

- As did the tigers.

- We were there for a pair of Behind-the-Scenes tours.  We started with going in back of Osito, the Andean Spectacled Bear's enclosure where we put together a package of "enrichment" for him.

- Once we were safely out, they released Osito who immediately sniffed out his treat.

- ...which included peanut butter that he had a hard time getting off his tongue.

- For our second tour, we checked out the elephants.

- Erika checking out the feet of an elephant, making another elephant jealous enough to throw poop at us

- Afterwards we went to Fargo's for pizza with Carrie and Cory (this being a picture that Rigel took of Uncle Bill and Uncle Cory)

- That next week, Diane went on a business trip to Albuquerque and Preston tried his first pony tails on Andromeda

- on Friday (4/2), the kids went with Mom to the annual egg dying event at the Fire Station

- After the eggs, the kids sampled real fire fighter recliner

- They also saw the easter bunny

- Meanwhile, Preston was skiing with Chuck and Emma Jean Mader at Vail.  Here's a picture of Preston and Mr. Mader at the top of Blue Sky Basin preparing for lunch.  We got a couple runs in on Mr. Mader's favorite run (Grand Review) before the cold and wind encouraged us to call it a day.  Turning 80 in August, he has 70 days of skiing in this season and has been skiing for 55 years (since 1955).  This summer the Mader's will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.

- Mrs. Mader serving up a tasty hot dog and italian sausage lunch.  In the morning we started off on her favorite run (a black diamond called Blue Ox).

- Rigel and Andromeda are now starting swim classes for the month of April.

3/7/10 - March Update

Click here to see Andromeda skiing by "Pushin Daddy Down Da Hill"

- In February we had a great weekend with the Gormans (plus Steinkes for a day)

- About to go sledding at Carter Park

- Little Bill going down headfirst and on his back

- Rigel going for a ride

- And Dane going feet first

- Diane, Andi, Bill, and Erika

- Andi with a braid

- It was also Erika's Birthday Weekend

- PLENTY of light for a picture

- playing with party favors

- Rigel showing off his missing teeth AND his new drawer pulls

- Rigel "helping" Jayme

- Andi playing in Rigel's room on a nice snowy day

- Static electricity

- Tired boy

- Getting ready for another day of skiing (Andi's second)

- Everybody got to say Hi to Ripperoo

2/1/10 - Andi's First Ski Day

- Preston & Rigel went to Walking With Dinosaurs.  Pretty cool.

- Andromeda reading to herself

- Andromeda's new doll crib

- Diane read that you can try skiing with a kid between your legs once they hit 2.  So, Andromeda got to give it a try at 24 months.  Blue River Sports in Breckenridge was nice enough to give us a free rental of her skis for a day (normally free with an Adult rental).  They don't work on skis this small very often.

- After renting skis, we went to check out the International Snow Sculpture Championships.  This was Team China's

- And here was Team Alaska's entry where an Aleut hunter and a polar bear are both hunting on the last remaining iceberg

- Sunday morning.  Andromeda's all ready to go and Rigel's trying to show off his two missing teeth.

- All suited up

- Andi's first chair ride

- Skiing her first run with Mommy

1/18/10 - Christmas Catch Up

Well, we haven't gotten our New Year's letter yet, but we can at least try to get the website updated this month.

- Waiting to give Santa a gift for the needy at the Lockheed Martin kid's party

- Andromeda too

- Rigel's getting along well with Santa now, but not yet for Andromeda

- We left the Lockheed Martin party for the Black Forest Fire Department kid's party where Rigel was still getting along well with Santa...

- And Andromeda was still NOT

- Later that weekend, Rigel was enjoying a CD with Christmas tunes

- and then fell asleep

- On Christmas Eve, Rigel and Grandma snuggled up on the couch and watched The Land Before Time

- and then everyone got together to assemble a gingerbread house

- Daddy and Andi reading

- On Christmas Day, Santa brought Rigel and Andromeda maps of Disneyland.  Erika and Preston searched Disneyland for these about 10 years ago, but Santa had no problem locating one at the World of Disney store in Downtown Disney.

- he also brought the kids Elephant and Lion pillows that they enjoy.

- Christmas Morning

- More Christmas Morning, enjoying the fire

- but having a hard time waiting for turns

- Andromeda LOVED her baby doll and forgot all about opening the rest of her presents after opening the baby, clothes, and a stroller.

- Grandma helping Andi with her baby stuff

- Rigel running a puppet show for us all

- After Christmas, mom headed back to Los Alamos and Aunt "Bahbahwa" arrived from San Jose

- Andi eating chocolate with Aunt Barb

- Andi out for her first time in snow paws. 

- Shortly thereafter.  She actually  did pretty well on the snow-blown driveway, but not so well in deeper snow.

- We all snowshoed out to the Picnic Table (except for Andi who rode)

- and fell asleep on the way back.  This is getting to be a familiar hiking position for her.

- Rigel making snow angels

- And a portrait with Aunt Barb before she flew back to San Jose

- On New Year's Eve, Rigel and daddy finally got to ski Ripperoo's Enchanted Forest.  He got to ski over bridges, through an igloo, past Ripperoo's House, and

- through Dog Bone Mine

- We haven't had that much snow yet this year, but through snowmaking and great grooming, the greens and blues are in pretty good shape.  Preston hasn't taken a black yet, so can't report on them (though with a only a 46" base he'd expect to see some rocks still)

- Picture of Peak 8 as seen from Peak 9.  The ski lift you see just below the peak is the one that we can see from The Cabin

- On a normal weekday, Preston and Rigel were both pretty pooped.

12/8/09 - Back from California

A great time was had by all.  The kids both turned out to be remarkable travelers.  The first day we drove 850 miles from Breckenridge to Barstow without incident.  Even the last day at 650 miles (2 exhausting weeks later) wasn't met by protests.

- Snoozing on day 1.  This helps burn the miles.

- Same with Rigel

- On Day 2, between Bakersfield and Fresno, we stopped here for lunch.

- Yosemite Valley Tunnel View

- The sliding rock near the old parking lot at the base of Yosemite Falls.  Preston remembers sliding down this rock as a kid, and Rigel took right to it.

- Yosemite Falls

- What's a driver to do?

- Diane and the kids at Lower Yosemite Falls

- TRYING to get everyone positioned for a family photo

- So sad

- in the Indian village attached to the visitor center

- While we were there, a tribe member was giving a tour and recalled spending the winter of 1954 in the valley and dealing with 3' deep snow (it was very cold).  She gave the group a tour of the Ceremonial Round House, which Preston can't remember ever having been inside over the past 44 years (though he probably had been).

- Tired baby while we're off looking for dinner

- Lunch with Cousin Sarah

- Andromeda's nap time coincided with the family hike up to the bridge below Vernal Falls.  Preston's hip resurfacing caused no pain, though hack of continued rehab on the hip muscles was DEFINITELY apparent after going uphill a couple hundred yards.

- Cousin Sarah seemed to really enjoy having another girl to play with

- Diane and Andromeda at the Yosemite Lodge

- Waiting with Aunt Barbara for a shuttle bus

- Family photo

- Looking up at the Half Dome Diving Board from Mirror Lake

- Andromeda likes people to catch her and will jump without letting you know that she's leaping

- After Thanksgiving, we went out tree cutting with Barb & Greg

- Andromeda modeling Cousin Sarah's Princess outfit

- Andi sliding with Uncle Stephen

- Rigel dogpiling on Aunt Carol while Andi tries to cover everybody

- In front of the Disneyland Hotel

- At the Build A Bear workshop picking out Birthday Presents from Grandma (Lorna)

- The Christmas Tree in front of Goofy's Kitchen.  Before our first day in the park, we had a character breakfast to kick it off right.

- Meeting Cinderella.  After quizzing the kids, she introduced them to Chip as Princess Andromeda and Prince Rigel from the Kingdom of Colorado

- Not just a stunningly pretty lass, this gal was a VERY good Cinderella.  2 days later at Ariel's Grotto (in the California Adventure park) she met the kids again and asked them if they hadn't already met on Monday at Goofy's Kitchen.  REALLY impressive.

- Chip & Rigel

- Chip telling Snow White about having sent Thanksgiving leftovers home with Happy.  When Snow White said that she hadn't received any, Chip questioned his wisdom in having Happy take them.

- Captain Hook and Rigel

- THIS is a breakfast buffet for kids: pepperoni pizza

- peanut butter and jelly pizza

- hot dogs and chicken nuggets

- Gummy worms in a crushed oreo plus pudding dirt

- and cupcakes.  There was NORMAL breakfast food too.

- The first line of the week.  Waiting to take the monorail into the park.  We actually had almost NO problem with lines.  For the most part, most lines were non-existent and few lines were more than 5 minutes.  Every now and then we'd wait 10 minutes.  Only three times did we wait 20-30 minutes. 

- a 6 foot Buzz Lightyear briefing new space rangers outside of Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters (a ride-through shooting gallery)

- It's a Small World during the quarter-hour show

- Dressed for the holidays

- Waiting with Daddy while Mommy and Rigel rode the Big Thunder Mountain railroad.  Rigel confirmed his reputation as a speed demon, enjoying all the "mountain" rides: space mountain, big thunder mountain, splash mountain, and the matterhorn.  The faster, the better.

- with Jessie and Woodie.

- The lights in New Orleans Square

- at the end of day one, Rigel begged to get into Andromeda's stroller and collapsed after we put Andi between his legs.  She collapsed too.

- Famous Photo Spot including Walt, Mickey, and the Sleeping Beauty castle

- The Dumbo ride.  We did this early on Tuesday morning when we were able to get into the park an hour early and knock out most of Fantasyland (which got longer lines later in the day).

- With Mrs. Claus

- and the big man himself

- A nice pose with Pluto

- and a family photo

- In Pixie Hollow, the kids met Iridesca, Terry, and Tinkerbell.  Here we see Rigel hiding behind mommie.

- But while Terry was working to get Rigel out of his shell, Andromeda wanted NOTHING to do with Tinkerbell.  She was like this, enjoying animals more than the people

- Terry making monkey faces with Rigel

- And then showing Tinkerbell how good his faces were

- FINALLY, a group photo.  Amazing that they're able to take enough time with each family to make a quick connection with everyone.

- On Wednesday we did another character breakfast.  This time at the Storyteller Cafe in the Grand Californian.  Very impressive parchitecture-style great room.  Afterwards we went into the California Adventure and while Diane and Rigel did Soaring Over California, Preston and Andromeda did a photo op with Mater and Lightning McQueen

- Rigel and Lightning

- The kids and Mater

- Going in to the Princess Celebration with Ariel

- And Aurora

- And Belle.  Monday's Cinderella was here too and still looking FINE.

- In a Bug's Land

- After Rigel's Monday Night collapse, we decided to start bringing along our spare stroller just to extricate ourselves from the parks at night.  A bungee and a spare stroller helped make each night a bit easier.

- The "C" in California

- Rigel was so pooped at the end of each day.  Even after getting a BIG lollypop, he only got a few licks into it before collapsing.  But it NEVER touched the bed.

- On Thursday, we saw Tigger in a Santa Hat.  Note Andromeda streaking out of frame.

- Rigel over on the former Tom Sawyer Island (now the Pirate's Lair)

- Note the old wooden ship.  In actuality, it's all concrete that's VERY well sculted.

- The Jedi Training Academy.  They "train" a couple dozen kids and then give them a crack at either Darth Vader or Darth Maul.  It's very well done and quite amusing.

- Darth, the Jedi Master, and a Storm Trooper

- It's a Small World done up for the Holidays

- We watched the fireworks show 5  or 6 times.  Hmm, it looks like the hair is REALLY starting to thin on top.

- watching the fireworks

- Andromeda loves poking through railings

- While waiting in line, I noted that there's JUST a bit of power used on the initial hill for the California Screaming roller coaster

- Andi fell asleep clutching her new Mickey

- The housekeeping staff always did something different with the kids' stuffed animals

- And some lights on the Castle

- On Friday night, we watched Fantasmic; it's still a great show but got a bit chilly when the spray from the water screens blew onto the crowd.

11/8/09 - Last Weekend before Yosemite, San Jose, & Disneyland

- Off for a walk to get a paper

- After fetching a paper we hiked over to the cascades and then over to the base of Peak 7 on the Peaks Trail where we met a neighbor and learned about the Forest Service's new Breckenridge Forest Health and Fuels Project that proposes to mechanically clearcut the forest behind us (cutting unit 102 on figure 2). 

- One tired little guy

10/25/09 - First Snowy Weekend of the Season

We were debating whether to take Rigel skiing over at A-Basin, but they only have 2 intermediate runs open, so we stayed home and worked and played.

- She's fallen and can't get up

- Surveying her domain

- Experimenting with punching down into the snow

- Rigel pulling Andromeda around on a sled for a little while

- Even pulling uphill!

10/19/09 - Boo at the Zoo/

- Rigel was pooped after school o/n Friday

- Andromeda looking adorable before heading into the zoo

- Rigel & Sarah

- Rigel & Darth

- Rigel, Sarah, & Captain Jack

- Enjoying the Carousel

- though Andromeda was NOT interested in a horse

10/12/09 - A nice relaxing Fall Weekend

- Reading with a new friend (Jackie Carlson)

- Decorating sugar cookies

- STRETCHING for a decoration that needs to be in her mouth

9/28/09 - Trying out Halloween Costumes

- Elmo & Darth

9/28/09 - A nice fall weekend

This weekend we enjoyed a nice quiet weekend.  For the first time ever (aside from school and sitters) Rigel was allowed out of our sight to play with some kids down at the end of the street while we knocked out a few things preparing for winter.

It's already snowing in the high country and snowmaking has begun at Loveland and Arapahoe Basin.  Opening day is scheduled for 3 weeks from now.

- The kids really like their Rubber Duck Race shirts and wore them all weekend

- The view from the dining room

- On Sunday we went for a nice fall walk

- More walking

- Snack time

- Coming back on the road so we could check for a newspaper

9/15/09 - Birthday Fun

Grandma and Grandpa left for home yesterday after a great 3 week stay involving camping, construction, and Breckenridge fun.

- Rigel's birthday cake

- Rigel & Sarah before their birthday party

- Rigel & Andromeda at A Day Out With Thomas

- A Thomas built out of Legos

- Andromeda checking out a the fountains in front of Casa Bonita

- Rigel taking a swing at a pinata at Casa Bonita

9/10/09 - Grandparent Update

Jack and Cathy's stay with us is unfortunately drawing to a close in a few days.  They'll get to participate in Rigel's birthday party on Saturday, and then will take off for home on Sunday while we head up to Golden and a Day out with Thomas (followed by dinner at Casa Bonita).

- one of our Breckenridge neighbors has seen this bull moose.  We know it's near us because that's our place in the background.  We DID see the accompanying cow and calf over this past weekend.

- Playing with Grandma

- And cuddling with Grandpa

- Playing with Grandpa and cousin Dalton's old train

- Rigel and the mascot for the Summit Foundation's Rubber Duck Races

- the big race "only" had 9500 racing ducks this year.  That's still enough to fill a u-haul.

- awaiting the start of the race

- And they're off!

- Racing down the river.  One of Tenaya's charity donation ducks wound up taking 3rd place, landing the family a new Unity Prestige snowboard.

- the kids and mommy

- Rigel enjoying a salami sandwich at the picnic table

- And Andromeda enjoying the weather too

8/23/09 - Camping at Rocky Mountain National Park with Grandma & Grandpa

- Walking with mommy at 12,000 feet in the tundra

- Enjoying a snack at the Alpine Visitor Center

- The whole family at the Alpine Visitor Center

- Another scenic vista

- Climbing around after lunch

- Splashing Grandpa on the reentry

- Hiking at Bear Lake

- Andromeda's version of hiking at Bear Lake

- Lunch with the "gucks" at Sprague Lake

- Enjoying mommy's popsicle

- Enjoying hand-me-down toys from the California Cousins

8/15/09 - Our 22nd Anniversary

We spent the morning of our anniversary this year trying to get the kids tired with a trip to the zoo.  Hopefully we'll be able to get a lot of work done around the house this afternoon (though nobody is holding their breath).

- Bubble Bath Soap + Jacuzzi Tub = FUN!

- Feeding the giraffes

- One of our herd of alligators

- The Grizzly bears are getting bigger

- Trying to fit it all in

- Enjoying the Carousel

- a popular picture spot

8/10/09 - Boating on Lake Dillon

This past weekend we were in Breckenridge for the Breckenridge 150th birthday celebration.  In deference to Andromeda, we watched the fireworks from near the house.  We were about a half mile away and all but the biggest fireworks were going off at or below eye level.  We were joined for the weekend by Resa, Glenn, Shayna, and Allyssa who had the fantastic idea of renting a pontoon boat for the afternoon.

- Andromeda working on her laptop

- Leaving the Frisco Bay Marina with Andromeda enjoying a peach

- Trouble at the helm

- Flying the kite on the Snake River arm of the reservoir

- Enjoying the sun and flying the kite near the Dillon Dam

- More relaxation with Allyssa driving

- Tuckered after an afternoon in the sun

- The boulder has been delivered and now needs to be placed

7/26/09 - Boulder hunting & Kite Flying

This weekend's fun involved checking out an address boulder for the street, Rigel's first taste of kite flying (with a light, intermittent wind), and swimming at the Breckenridge Rec Center.

- Andromeda checking out the water table at home earlier in the week

- Diane's first tomato harvest from the new garden (in Colorado Springs)

- We picture this boulder up on one end with an address plaque mounted to it

- At one point today Diane was wondering where the kids were (it was TOO quiet); they had gone out into the garage and climbed up onto the ATV while Preston was taking a shower after moving a cord of unsplit wood

7/19/09 - Jim Clark's Annual Pig Roast

As always, it was a chance to catch up with old friends while enjoying good food.  The kids enjoyed playing with other kids and playing with a slip-n-slide.

- The pig in the cooker

- Dumped out for access to the meat.  These guys put pheasants into the carcass and wire it closed for cooking.

- starting to shred the pork

- there's not much left when all is said and done.  More than enough to feed the 100 people at the party AND send leftovers home.

- SMILE piggy!

- 10 seconds after the smile, they're extracting more meat.

- Then comes the slip-n-slide; Rigel likes running and sometimes sliding on his bottom

- But Andromeda didn't want to walk on it this year

- Running around for another try

7/14/09 - Camping

- Swinging at the playground in Jellystone Park (near Royal Gorge)

- YO!  You gotta call!

- Relaxing near Lake Isabel

- Copycat soaking it all up

- Mommy enjoying the fire

- Andromeda ready for a trip in a rowboat

- Daddy, Rigel, and Peter out the next day for a go in a paddleboat.  The boys also tried fishing in the morning.

7/7/09 - Fireworks Video

Here's a 14 MB video of this weekend's festivities

7/6/09 - 4th of July in Breckenridge

We enjoyed our 2nd Fourth of July in Breckenridge this year.  We've found a great spot for watching the fireworks.  We're just a couple hundred yards from where they're launched and so close that you have debris raining down on you throughout the show.  It's really a fantastic show, especially when you consider that the town has only 2500 residents.  Andromeda was watching some go off a couple miles away and kept saying "boom please" while we were waiting for our show to start.  When ours started going off, she watched a few and then started howling and trying to climb on top of my head.  She spent the next 20 minutes with her head buried in my neck.

- Andromeda enjoying the parade with Daddy

- Those Clydesdales are BIG horses

- But in this photo (taken specially for LTC Cory Steinke, currently serving our country in Afghanistan) we see the Coors answer to the horses.  They're throwing out ice pops.

- Rigel enjoying an ice pop, probably never noticing from whence it came

- Andromeda too

- Then there's this character who's gleefully doling out gold coins to the masses (not realizing the complete unsustainability of the socialist model even though it makes you feel good to try [class warfare making for great rhetoric even though it's bad economics])

- Waiting for the fireworks

- (sometimes it takes a lot of pictures to get a decent one)

- On Sunday we took a 10 mile bike ride from Breckenridge to the Frisco Marina (which ended in a downpour)

- Andromeda trying to wear daddy's slippers

6/27/09 - Paint Mines Interpretive Park

We all went for a hike at the El Paso County Paint Mines Interpretive Park (where evidence of human presence has been found dating back 9000 years).  Andromeda probably walked about a mile and was carried for a mile (either screaming for mommy or unconscious because it was nap time).

- Fresh at the beginning of the hike

- Close up of Rigel & Preston

- Where they were for the last picture

- what they were looking at

- Sleeping baby, finally.  There was MUCH howling for mommy prior to LOC.

6/26/09 - Coloring

Andromeda is a very intense little kid; her teachers have even commented on her development for an <18 month old.

- she's focusing in on one little spot, carefully placing her crayon, and then obliterating the area with that color

6/22/09 - Gardening & Father's Day

- Diane's new garden in Black Forest

- they also installed some ornamentals near the house

- and near the barn

- our annual explosion of wildflowers

- Meanwhile in Breckenridge, for Father's Day Andromeda played with toys,

-while Rigel played with Cousin Dalton's first train set,

- and Daddy split, hauled, and stacked a cord of firewood using the ATV, the old splitter, and the new Craftsman ATV-cart

6/18/09 - A Trip to the Zoo

The kids enjoyed the annual Cheyenne Mountain Zoo Members Appreciation Night.

Andromeda's really blossomed now that she's walking and talking.  A teacher was chasing her around saying "I'm gonna get you.  I'm going to get you."  Andromeda would squeal and run away.  When the teacher stopped chasing her, she toddled up to her, raised her arms, and said "getcha, getcha?  Peas, peas peas!"

- Hi!  Andromeda's a pleasure, waking up happy pretty much every day.

- Andromeda's first cotton candy

- looking happy on the carousel.  "looking" being the operative word.  Once it started moving, she was NOT happy...

- checking out the grizzly bear statue

- and this is Andromeda's first ride on the Shongololo Choo Choo

- Rigel got his face painted as a lion

6/8/09 - June Update

Preston's hip is doing great.  3 weeks after the surgery he was cleared to drive and returned to work full-time.  At 4 weeks he was able to ditch the crutches.  At 5 weeks he was cleared to bike, hike, and even golf.  That weekend we walked about 2 miles and biked almost 3 miles.  It's now 7 weeks after the surgery and we did another 2 mile hike with a some steepish sections and the hip is feeling pretty good.  Minimal limping today with no trekking pole or pain.

On the kiddie front, Rigel and Andromeda are a joy.  They enjoy playing with each other.  Rigel is learning to ride his new bike with training wheels and Andromeda seems to enjoy her bike seat.  Andi has entered that adorable phase where she's toddling and chattering happily in that tiny, high-pitched, baby voice.  Lots of fun!

- Somebody insists on doing Andromeda's hair like Cindy Loo Who rather than cutting it short.  Somebody else always talks about cutting it short and has been threatened by at least 4 different females.

- Diane took the kids to an event at the zoo where Rigel decided to get his face painted after Andromeda showed an interest in getting hers done.

- Andromeda got a butterfly painted on her cheek.

- The kids both like small, confined places.  With their "secret reading place" dismantled while the floor was redone, they commandeered the front closet for playing and toys.

- This spot is less than a 10-minute walk (with a 4 year old) from the cabin.  No beaver dams, but it looks to Preston like the miners might have set up a series of earthen dams to hold water in storage for their hydraulic mining operations.

- Rigel learned here that Mommy and Daddy might know a thing or two when they told him not to go too close to the edge.  After slipping and submerging one leg up to the knee in snowmelt, he shaped up.

- Scenic

- A Father / Son moment

- starting on the wood-splitting.  Preston got about 1/18th of this pile done.  There's LOTS more to go...

4/28/09 - Still Recovering

Next week Preston may be able to go back to work part time.  For this week he's ramping way down on the Percocet but the Oxycontin low-level, long-duration painkiller is still needed.  The 10-day follow-up appointment went well with assurances that the swelling of the entire leg (which has been the most painful part of the whole thing) is not abnormal but may not go away until we're up to full weightbearing at 4 weeks.  As far as driving goes, that can be done as soon as I can confidently mash on the brake pedal without any narcotics on-board.

- Xray from 4/27.  The red line was drawn in to show how that single white blob breaks down into ball and socket.

By the way, for those who are wondering, I have Corin's Cormet implant.  It is made of high carbon Cobalt Chromium (an alloy consisting primarily of cobalt and chromium with nickel and molybdenum).

4/23/09 - More Cute Kids and Healing

- 2 dozen staples and a bit of bruising (4 days after surgery)

- At this point, a lot of the pain is caused by swelling of the operative leg.  Perhaps a factor of 2 in volume...

- our little hacker

- coloring eggs at the fire station

- and because Andromeda was doing it, guess who joined in

- little baby, big fire fighter chair

- "but I want to get into a fire truck NOW daddy!"

- "yes Veruca darling..."

- the Bunny showed up for our annual Black Forest easter egg hunt and snowstorm

- finding an egg

- starting to slow down from the Easter candy orgy

- Rigel's still slowing down, but Andromeda got a second wind

- ahhh, hossenfeffer in Breckenridge while Rigel, Preston, and John Wilson got in another day of skiing...

- they did face painting too

- Could she BE any more relaxed?

- now wait, THIS is interesting...

4/21/09 - Preston's Hip Resurfacing

The surgery was performed on the 17th.  I was doing partial weight bearing on the 18th and was released home on the 20th for 2-3 weeks of healing and rehab.

- Here you can see the bone spur that was tearing up the labrum and causing all the problems.  The Doc noted that there's no cartilage left...

- After drilling a hole, putting in a guide pin, and then using a drill to shape the ball of the femur

- Pouring cement into the socket part of the implant.  Note that there are little triangular ridges on the inside of the implant.  They don't appear to be routed out on the ball, so hammering the implant into place must carve a guide channel for the ridges.  Yea for anesthesia!

- About to put the implant on

- Hammering it home

- The finished product (from the femur perspective).  I don't have any pix of the acetabulum (socket) work.

4/5/09 - AIEEEE!

- Andromeda and daddy were playing for about 10 minutes before daddy realized how she was sitting.  She was perfectly comfortable with her bottom on the floor and her legs in a wide "W" (bendy baby) but daddy was wincing in pain just watching her.  His hip replacement is in 2 weeks but he's NEVER been this flexible...

- Andromeda getting towed uphill for sledding

- Andromeda after returning from sledding with Flat Sarah

3/23/09 - Andromeda Pix

- Little baby, big chair

- Ready for the outdoors

3/17/09 - March Videos

Another Rigel Skiing Video (4.5 MB) - this little guy just loves his ski time!

And Andromeda starting to speak (5.8 MB) - and Andi seems to enjoy starting to communicate via speech (mama, dada, pizza, ...) and sign language (please, up, thank you)

3/2/09 - March Update

This past weekend Preston's dad came up to enjoy some family and skiing time.

Rigel enjoys skiing a lot.  Click here to see a 14 MB video of him on a leash and failing to pay attention to details...

And Click Here for a Snowblowing Video...

- 3 generations of skiing Coopers

- Andromeda blissfully unaware of having sunscreen slathered on

- Preston and Rigel riding the lift

- the end of the ski day

2/3/09 - Feb Update

We're starting to get a routine down, though it's not quite streamlined yet...

- All tuckered out from all that walking

- Yummy ravioli!

- Rigel helping daddy with snowblowing

1/19/09 - More Andromeda

We spent our first "normal" weekend up in Breckenridge.  Rigel got his second "day" of skiing in (about 2 hours) and still LOVES to go straight down the hill.  "Faster daddy, faster!"  We did spend some time on turning, stopping, standing, and falling down if you get scared.

- Standing and playing with pots and pans

- All tuckered out

1/6/09 - Christmas, New Years, and First Steps

We spent 2 weeks up in Breckenridge getting everything shook out and enjoying the holidays.  We closed on a new mortgage and paid off the construction loan on the 22nd.  There's still a big punch list, but we're working through it.

Christmas was a nice, quiet family affair followed by spending a week with Aunt Barbara and Uncle Greg.

- Rigel's no longer scared of Santa.  Here we are practicing a Santa-tackle

- Chatting with Santa & Mrs. Claus at the Black Forest Fire Dept Xmas Party

- But Andromeda has no interest at 1 year old

- After arriving in Breckenridge, this is one tired kid

- Getting ready for Christmas

- We had quite a bit of snow the first couple days

- One of the wood piles

- Enjoying the new Bear and Frog blankets

- Christmas Eve

- Andromeda's ladybug towel

- And Rigel's Frog towel

- Whee!

- Rigel ready to go skiing on Xmas Day

- Post-Christmas (with the train set up under the tree)

- Cuddling with Aunt Barb

- After snowshoeing out to the picnic table in our monster feet

- Barb and Diane after snowshoeing

- Making Snow Angels with Aunt Barb

- The outside of the house at night

- THIS is a snowblower!

- Making snowmen

- Andromeda's first birthday party

12/14/08 - Andromeda almost ready to walk

Andromeda's now to the point where she can stand solidly by herself.  She's very stable but hasn't yet tried walking or even standing without having been left there by mom or dad.

On another fun note, Rigel is now acknowledging Andromeda with more than a "no dedromeda, no!"  They spent part of the weekend playing together with Rigel having a good time and Andromeda being thrilled that her big brother was paying attention to her.

- Andromeda standing without support.

11/30/08 - The Certificate of Occupancy is IN!

Check out the Breck Blog for more details...

11/16/08 - Breck Cabin is ALMOST ready

- The downstairs floors are now done, so this is the first time Andromeda's been able to crawl on the floor.  We're going for a CO on Friday.

11/11/08 - Visit to California

We were able to spend a few days with Mommy's family in California.  Rigel and Andromeda were exhausted at the end of every day.

- Enjoying a swing

- Digging with Grandpa

- Baking cookies with Aunt Barb & Cousin Kellan

- Getting a push from Uncle Steve

- Up a tree with Cousin Sarah

- Playing with Uncle Greg

11/3/08 - Halloween Fun

- Andromeda loves playing at the fridge

- Getting ready for a third round of trick or treating

- A picnic lunch on the deck in Breckenridge (while waiting for the toxic lacquer fumes to disperse)

10/18/08 - Climbing stairs and Boo at the Zoo

Oh yes, and it turns out that Andromeda is allergic to penicillin products.  She broke out in a head to toe rash mid-week.

- Andromeda's getting better at doing the stairs.

- Andi-the-Pooh, Andi-the-Pooh, Tubby little cubby all stuffed with fluff.  She's Andi-the-Pooh.  Andi-the-Pooh.
Willy, nilly, silly, little girl.

- Andi's first carousel ride?

- Rigel & Sarah

  -  And finally, Rigel on the zebra statue

10/13/08 - This year's Cheyenne Mountain Zoo "Behind the Scenes" tour with Emmitt & Digger

Our zoo's two 3-year old grizzly bears seem to enjoy their new enclosure.  Our annual behind the scenes tour was to feed one of them (perhaps Digger).

- Rigel feeding Digger.  Diane also fed him.

- The keepers train the bears to open wide to check their teeth

- This is our 4 month old tiger cub

- Fearsome looking, but really just a yawn and a fortuitous push of the shutter release

10/12/08 - In Hope, BC, with Grandpa & Grannie

The whole crew boarded a plane in Denver on Thursday morning (after a 3:45 am wake up alarm) and flew to Seattle.  Striking out from there, we headed to Sumas, WA, and then across the border and north-east to Hope for a couple of days with Grandpa and Grannie in Canada.

After regrouping from 2 hours enroute to DIA, another 2 hours waiting to take off, 3 hours in flight, and 5 hours to rent the car & drive to Hope, we spent the next 2 days visiting the Othello Tunnels, Hell's Gate, Bridal Falls, Minter Gardens, the Harrison Hot Springs 19th Annual World Championships of Sand Sculpture, and train watching.  The kids were both pretty good while traveling.

- Rigel not loving Andromeda's affection.  At this point, she's just enthralled with Rigel and wants to follow him and watch him whatever he's doing.

- With Grandpa enroute to the Othello Tunnels in the Coquihalla Gorge

- All four of the tunnels in the Othello quintet

- Checking out the Fraser River via a suspension bridge with grating for floor.  In 1913 and 1913 during tunneling for the Canadian National Railway a rockslide decreased the width of the river from 200 to 110 feet.  This sped up the river and made for a daunting trip for spawning sockeye salmon.  With populations plummeting, the US and Canada teamed up to build a fishway (essentially fish ladders with vertical slots vice horizontal pools) and populations are recovering slowly.

- Rigel & Andromeda

- The whole crew waiting for a ride back up to the Trans-Canada Highway (and our SUVs)

- Andromeda continues to improve her mobility (and ability to bother Rigel)

- Dressed for cold at Minter Gardens

- The Harrison Hot Springs sand sculptures are amazing.  See here for their website.  THIS sculpture has been up since March.  Others are from May and the latest ones are from early September.  They'll all be bulldozed next week to clear the slate for winter and next year's competition.

- The knight slew the dragon but was mortally wounded.  Check out some of the detailing on the castle in the next picture.

- Details

- Dad checking out a looney space themed sculpture.

- Deep sleep

- This one makes a political statement about the housing situation (with governments and banks encouraging greater home ownership while making it harder and harder to achieve.  Unfortunately ignoring some of the facts about the source of the current housing crisis which was caused by government and banks making it easier and easier to qualify without regards for ability to repay.  Artists...

- Dad and Rigel waiting for a train to come by and squish some pennies.

10/5/08 - One month out

The Breck project is now within a month of IOC (or CO, depending on your lexicon) so the whole family went up for our monthly visit.

- Andromeda is pulling herself up to standing quite well now.  This is her wearing an outfit that was a favorite of ours from Rigel's babyhood.

- Andromeda getting a snack in the only clean spot in the house

- Mommy and Andi in front of half of the wood that's been cut over the past 18 months

- Fall came and went in the past week.  2.5 weeks ago there were a few trees that had started changing.  Now we're clearly past prime with many leaves on the ground.

9/28/08 - A Day out with Thomas & Los Alamos Visit

Last weekend we wound up in Golden enjoying the 2008 Day out with Thomas at the Colorado Railroad Museum.  Afterwards Rigel and Andromeda enjoyed their first trip to Casa Bonita.

This weekend we went to Los Alamos where Andromeda first met Grandma Lorna and everybody enjoyed time with Aunt Erika & Uncle Bill and Aunt Melissa & Uncle Albert.  We also enjoyed Ullrfest at Pajarito Mountain and a hike through Bandelier.
- Andromeda enjoying Kelsey's stuffed dog

- Rigel and Aunt Melissa at Bandelier

- Rigel waking up before the hike at Bandelier

- Rigel and Andromeda sharing their first bath

- Waiting for a ride on Thomas

- Little Thomas, Annie, and Clarabel

- Big Thomas and the Family
- One day Diane and the kids got home and found a buck in the front yard

9/14/08 - Birthday Update

- Playing with Grandma before their return

- Posing with Grandma & Grandpa

- Birthday party at the Pool

- VERY tiring day.  We were a bit of a twit this day and it wore Rigel out.  He slept for 13 hours straight.

- Thanks to recent technological innovations (Google Earth & a GPS receiver) Preston was finally able to easily locate the ruins of the Reiling Dredge which had eluded us 2 summers ago when Barb & Greg visited.  The Reiling Dredge ran from 1908 to until its sinking in 1922, extracting gold from the French Creek area of Breckenridge.  These behemoths left one helluva mess behind but appear to have done their work pretty efficiently.

9/6/08 - Update

- Rigel and Grandpa playing with Play-Doh

9/2/08 - Labor Day labors

- Andromeda riding her rocking horse

- One TIRED looking baby enjoying her swing

- Rigel enjoying his new climbing wall while daddy and Grandpa are still building

- End of Day 7

- End of Day 8 - the decking is all done (except for one special piece), the railings are almost all completed, and almost all the toys are installed.  After another day of special trimming (which may require another lumber order) we're off to work on the roofing (which will DEFINITELY require another lumber order, by design).  Oh yeah, plus doing all the concrete or other work where slides and such contact the ground...

- Rigel's first formal day of 4 year old Kindergarten in his school uniform.  This is probably the best of a dozen pictures taken of a fast-moving subject.

8/30/08 - More Fun

- Andromeda's SO close to crawling forward. 

- Enjoying time with Grandpa

- Spending the morning at South Park City; this was a very good old-west experience (though there weren't people in period costumes and such)

- Rigel and Grandpa checking out the steam engine

- Daddy playing the role of pack mule

- The 21st Annual Rubber Duck Race to benefit the Summit Foundation.  This year the main race had 11,000 ducks.

  -That's a LOT of ducks...

8/24/08 - Grandma and Grandpa have Arrived

Grandpa and Grandma arrived for their annual visit via airplane yesterday (vice RV due to gas prices).

- Andromeda practicing her standing up with Grandpa

- Day 6: Grandpa and Daddy made some pretty good headway today despite a rain delay in the early afternoon.  The Tube Slide is now up and the climbing wall (sideways to us, next to the tube slide) is now ready for the climbing rocks to be installed.  Next up is to finish the railings on the tall platform, work on posts and railings for the bridge, and finish up the decking and railings on the two large platforms.

8/23/08 - Update

- Andromeda's better and has just pulled herself to standing for the first time.  So now it's time to lower the playpen floor and her crib height.

8/20/08 - Sick Baby update

Andromeda got a handless-and-footless version of Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease so has been home from school for 3 days.  Today she's pretty much back to normal and is ready to go back to school tomorrow.

Oh yes, and she's started crawling, sort of.  She can't get up on hands and knees to move forward, but she can move around backwards...

- More or less back to normal

- Except that she's sleeping a lot

- By the way, this was progress on the playground at the beginning on Sunday

- and at the end of Sunday ("day" 5).  The steps on the bridge are now finished, the top deck is done, the middle deck is 60% done, the "cool wave" slide is ready to be attached, the tube slide is close to being installed, and one set of handrails has been put up to see how well they'll work.

8/16/08 - Mid-August Update

Diane and Preston celebrated their 21st wedding anniversary earlier this month by going to sleep slightly earlier than normal.  We also had a cold snap (20+ degrees below average temps) so everyone cuddled up on the couch to relax.  In fact, it was SO cold that it snowed today while Rigel and Preston were in Breckenridge.  Enough so that CDOT pulled out a snow plow to take 2-3 inches of slush off the road at Hoosier Pass (it was sticking above 11,000 feet).

- Snuggling on the couch.  We were all kind of snoozing until Diane pulled out the camera.

- After visiting the Breck house, Rigel and daddy took a hike to the Peaks Trail where Rigel enjoyed dropping leaves in Cucumber Creek.  The whole county seems surprisingly lush given how hot and dry it's been in the front range until recently.

- On our way back, we walked around this puddle when Rigel asked me to wait.  He went back and started splashing through it every which way.  He rode back to the Springs on a towel in his underwear...

8/12/08 - Play Tower Update

- Day 3 was cut short by rain.  Day 4 was a few hours after work yesterday.  During days 3 & 4 we got the 2-kid swing up as well as the 4x4 tower & joists.  Aside from special cuts to make the steps and decking work nicely, the next challenge will be all the railings, slides, and rock walls.  By THEN we should be able to figure out what we need for the next order of composite decking material for the roof and other odd items.

8/7/08 - Laughing Flexi-baby

Check out the Laughing Andromeda video...  (6MB)

'nuff said:

8/4/08 - Aunt Erika and Uncle Bill Visit

We had a great visit which included Little Bill and Dane as well.  Though all of the Coopers were down with some nasty chest cold, we managed to make significant progress on the play structure thanks to Bill's construction experience. 

- It wouldn't seem comfortable, but they sleep like this all the time

- Now that Andromeda has mastered sitting, she's trying her hand at standing (and is very wobbly)

- Play towers as of Tuesday, 7/29/08

- Diane, Erika, and Bill assembled the tube slide (at least twice)

- Bill & Bill working away

- Erika putting down the decking on the 4' tower

- Andromeda supervising

- End of Construction, Day 1 (8/2/08)

- Sunday at the zoo after putting up the swing beam and using the 1986 Toyota to drive the sleeves down onto the posts

- It was a HOT day.  Even the tiger thought so.

- FINALLY a decent shot of Andromeda's teeth

- End of Construction, Day 2 (8/3/08)

7/24/08 - Enjoying roast pig & the Georgetown Loop

Now that the computers are back up, here's 3 updates...

- Andromeda sitting tall

- Last weekend we enjoyed the annual pig roast at Jim Clark's

- Followed by a trip on the Georgetown Loop where narrow gauge trains went through switchbacks and a 360-degree loop to keep the grade passable.

- Andromeda, Rigel, and Diane enjoying the train ride

7/16/08 - Andromeda's First Tooth!

- We were at the zoo tonight and felt Andromeda's lower left front tooth come in (BARELY visible, but definitely there)

7/13/08 - Mid-July Update

Here's some mid-month updates.  We may be offline for a week or two while we wait for a replacement computer.  The current one seems to be having problems and we were due for a tech refresh anyway.

- Enjoying some floor time

- If it can fit, it goes in the mouth

- Tired after a long afternoon of floor play

- Rigel outstanding in his field (up in Breckenridge).  Once the beetles kill all the trees, we'll have a lot more meadows.

7/7/08 - Fourth of July

Andromeda started trying to sit up last month and now is doing pretty well at it.  She likes the new vantage point so it constantly trying to pull herself up to a sitting position.

As for the Fourth, this was Rigel's first fireworks show.  We were sitting close enough to the launch site that we occasionally felt cinders bounce off us.  Rigel REALLY liked the big fireworks and the loud noise.  On Saturday we spent some time with the Trilogy family (Andromeda's feet never hit the floor having been passed around like a party favor while we did some work).  Afterwards we escaped part of our summer thunderstorms by visiting the Breckenridge Rec Center where Andromeda got her first swim in the pool and Rigel got his first trips down the big water slide.  Unfortunately, there aren't any pix of any of that stuff...

- Training wheels for sitting

- Sitting tall

- Rigel can sit too; here we are camping in our driveway in Breck

- And having dinner on the back deck / porch

- Andromeda's now on "real" food now and Rigel's loving silly pictures

6/22/08 - Andromeda's First Camping Trip (with Grandpa & Grannie) and the Zoo with Albert, Melissa, & Hannah

We had Uncle Albert, Aunt Melissa, & Cousin Hannah up for the weekend of the 14th.  We went to the Western Museum of Mining and Industry on Saturday for a special event where a number of the machines were operated (including a Maryanne the Steam Shovel and part of the Yellow Jacket II stamp mill which was going to be run in its entirety on Sunday).  Then we went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo on Sunday.

Then on the weekend of the 21st we met Grandpa & Grannie in Alamosa before they head up to Canada for the rest of the year.  Andromeda got her first camping trip in and everyone had a good time.  Saturday was a LONG day spent on the Cumbres and Toltec scenic railroad.  FANTASTIC experience and well worth a trip to Antonito.

- Albert & Hannah at the Giraffes

- Hannah & Rigel on the train

- Melissa, Hannah, and Rigel on the Carousel

- One of our porcupines

- And the grizzlies

- After the Zoo, Rigel went up to Breckenridge to play

- And wanted daddy to take a silly picture of him holding foam just so that he could see his picture on the back of the camera

- Rigel, daddy, and Grandpa in Antonito for the Cumbres and Toltec railroad.  Shortly after this picture they blew the whistle 4 times (to signal that it's time to get onboard) and scared Andromeda to death.  One UNHAPPY baby.

- Diane and Rigel looking out at Mount San Antonio

- Looking back at the Toltec Gorge

- After lunch, heading up to the Cumbres Pass

- Rigel and Grandpa

- Yes, sometimes it's smoky and sooty.  Rigel managed to get pretty black from time to time.

- Andromeda's learning to sit

- And stand

- While Rigel enjoyed quality time with Grandpa who read a new book on constellations that he gave to Rigel

- On the way home, we stopped by the Great Sand Dunes.  While Andromeda snoozed and ate in the car with Daddy, Rigel and Mommy went out to enjoy the stream and sand.

6/7/08 - Cuddly Kiddies

- While mommy was in Pittsburg I enjoyed helping daddy with my baby (once in a while)...

5/31/08 - End of May

- Andromeda has rolled over!

- Happy Baby!  We're fortunate that Andromeda continues to sleep through the night (9 pm - 6 am) and generally wakes up in a good mood (talking to herself).

- Mommy and Andromeda taking a snack in bed

- Rigel having fun in his old ExerSaucer

- Rigel showing Andromeda one of his planes

- Andromeda getting her first non-formula meal (VERY thin cereal)

- Bath Time!

- Rigel helping during bathtime

- Rigel going for his first bike ride (6+ miles) with very little peddling on his part...

5/17/08 - IRC's Annual Meeting (YMCA of the Rockies, Estes Park)

This weekend we had a great time getting to know two Koons and ten Thompsons.

- Something was SO important that Rigel had to check it out before pulling up his pants.

- Flirting for the camera

- Coopers and Thompsons fishing at Dorsey Lake

Click here for video of Noah's fishing success

- Emily teaching Rigel to cast

- And Andromeda laughing for mommy

- Rigel playing with his Leap Pad

- Noah, Diane, and Andromeda enjoying a campfire (prior to marshmallow roasting)

- We also enjoyed seeing the majestic elk in it's natural habitat (surrounded by Cats and Deere)

4/27/08 - Member's Preview of Cheyenne Mountain Zoo's Rocky Mountain Wild

Today we went to the zoo and a members-only preview of the new Rocky Mountain Wild exhibit.  This exhibit continues the zoo's recent tradition of seriously upgrading what was already a fine zoo with unique animals.  This new exhibit replaces the old Birds of Prey exhibit and features moose, river otters, mountain lions, lynx, bald eagles, grizzly bears, and more.  It opens early next month and will be followed later in the month by a new Mountaineer Sky Ride (which is a chairlift that will slowly take you to an overview, playground, and bouldering wall above the zoo).

- Andromeda enjoying lunch (while Preston tries to keep the sun from her head)

- A blurry picture of Rigel roaring at mommy from the carousel

- One of the Siberian (Amur) Tigers from one of the latest big exhibit updates (Asian Highlands)

- One of our two new Grizzlys

- A Bald Eagle in one of the revamped enclosures (this previously held condors and buzzards)

- A different part of the Grizzly enclosure featuring a trout pool, stream, rocks, and the Bald Eagle enclosure (you can see the eagle just left of the top center)

- A lounging Mountain Lion

- A porcupine (so THIS is what one looks like before being eaten by your dogs...)

- And Finally, this was a picture taken last Sunday after posting the pictures below.  Our neighbors called to let us know that there was a fairly big brown bear munching on their bird feeder.  We drove over and caught a few pictures of him as he ambled off into the forest.  We've never seen a bear on our lot, but they've probably been here in the past.  We have seen deer, fox, rabbits, snakes, birds, and squirrels though...

4/20/08 - Uncle Stephen's Visit

Uncle Stephen had a conference in Denver and was able to spend all day on Friday and Saturday with us.  We spent Friday at home and the park.  On Saturday we went to the zoo.

- Andromeda happily chilling in the play yard

- Uncle Stephen getting me ready for some tricycling

- and chilling out on the couch

- Andromeda getting ready for the zoo

- and enjoying the zoo (once she ditched the shades...)

- While Uncle Stephen was flying back home, I went with Daddy on our weekly visit to Breckenridge

- Once we got there, I got up on a BIG pile of snow, and ...

- threw snowballs at Daddy

4/13/08 - April Update

- Post-bath tummy time in front of the fire

- Still enjoying the fire

- And the aquarium

- Rigel lending a helping hand

- Trying out my new monster footprint snowshoes

- I got pretty tired.  While daddy was videotaping the scenery, I took them off my taking my feet out of my boots.

3/26/08 - Easter Update

- Rigel going to town on a chocolate Easter Bunny

- Rigel playing behind Andromeda's new stuffed Easter Bunny

- Andromeda, captivated by the thrill of it all...

3/22/08 - Easter Egg Hunt 2008

Today we took the kids to the Black Forest Easter Egg Hunt.  Eggs provided by Black Forest Fire / Rescue and the venue provided by La Foret.

VIDEOS:

- Andromeda bundled up for a typical Black Forest Easter Egg Hunt (in the snow)

- Rigel looking for eggs

- Last Sunday: Rigel about to head out onto the slopes

- Rigel's first time snapping into skis

- Sliding around the base (yelling FASTER DADDY!)

- Up on the slope after his first lift ride wearing skis

3/18/08 - Mid March Update

- Andromeda "enjoying" her first bath

- and Rigel ENJOYING a book with Grandpa

3/9/08 - March Update

- Playing on the floor

- Enjoying some time with Aunt Carol

- And COOKIES with Aunt Barbara

- Family fun

- Rigel checking out the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center in Woodland Park

2/15/08 - Mid February Update

- I'm going to throw this at Daddy

- Comfy

- All tuckered out

- Whatcha doing?

- I can reach it!

1/28/08 - New Website!

Preston here - I think I've now found all the external links, non-publishing pictures, and so on.  It SHOULD all be fixed, so let me know if you find anything broken.

1/27/08 - I finally made it back to my birth weight!

- Some Tummy Time

- Little baby, big table

- Rigel and Grandpa playing in the basement

1/22/08 - Still going well

- Still chilling out between feedings.

- Playing with big brother Rigel.

1/14/08 - Everyone is home and well

- Chilling out between feedings

- Wearing my reindeer hat between feedings

Born as Baby Girl Cooper:

    Born on January 2nd at 7:38 am

    8 pounds, 3 ounces

    20 1/2" long

    She looks IDENTICAL to big brother Rigel as a newborn (Rigel weighed 8 pounds, 4 ounces and was 21 inches long)

- Looking pretty purple just moments after birth

- Starting to pink up with a bit of oxygen

- Looking pretty good and ready to go with dad to the nursery

- Where she got another 30 minutes of low flow oxygen while she cried to get the gunk out of her lungs

- Finally snuggling with mommy about 2 hours after birth

Finally named on January 4th:

    After months of pondering names, "BG" Cooper was named Andromeda Lynn Cooper right before she and her mother were released to come home.

- Snuggling with daddy while names were being considered

- BEEP! (meeting Grandma and Rigel)

- Flowers sent by Trilogy Partners

- Snuggling with Mommy and Rigel

Yes, her name is Andromeda.  About half the people cringe, and the rest like it.  So far, it seems to have grown on everybody over time.  Andromeda wasn't even ON the list originally, but it grew on daddy big time.  Nothing ever REALLY appealed to mommy, so she went with it.

ANDROMEDA: