Colorado Vacation (chapter 3)

(ugh! I deleted the picture AGAIN!!) After a full day of mountain driving, stopping for tons of pictures, and touring Silverton, Ouray and Ridgway, we rested up back at the condo and then headed out to go fishing. Between the kids’ short attention spans and the empty hooks, we spent less than an hour at Haviland Lake and headed on to Durango Mountain Resort to see what activities they had open. It was an almost empty resort area, but we were able to play 18 holes of putt-putt for free. We abandoned the idea of teams and keeping score and just played to have fun and finish. It was so nice and such pretty scenery. There were some annoying unsupervised kids playing around and we had to watch for some of their stray balls and eventually their clubs that went flying through the air. Dad was about to go looking for some parents, but they ran off and we were finally at peace with playing by ourselves.

Another fun picture in the beautiful scenery at Durango Mountain Resort near the putt-putt area.

A - 11
G - 5
S - 9
K - almost 7


Mom and Dad posing for a picture the same as they did almost 15 years ago - only there was lots of snow then!







Mom and G on the chairlift. G hadn't let go of Mom's arm just yet, but she was soon comfortable and sitting by herself and telling Mom she didn't need to hold her any more. Little did G know, but Mom DID need to hold on to her!!





We got to the top of the mountain on the chairlifts and were set to walk around and explore. Unfortunately, (or fortunately as the storms were rolling in) we were immediately attacked by massive mosquitoes and decided to head right back down to the bottom. Seeing us taking pictures of the kids, a nice ranger at the top of the mountain asked if we wanted him to take a family picture, so we finally got everyone in at the same time.


After we got back to the bottom of the chairlifts, the storms were clearing out and the kids ended up talking Dad into a ride on the alpine slides. (Mom was shocked!) We all got to ride (G with Mom since she wasn't 6 yet) and got back in line for the chairlifts so we could go halfway up to where the slide started. The kids had a blast! (and so did Dad!) Given time and money, we probably would have done that many more times. We saw a grandma and grandpa racing each other down the slide at least twice in our two chairlifts up the mountain!

After lunch, we rested for a while then headed out to Lime Creek for an “easy” hike (so the map indicated). What it didn’t show was that the drive there was exceptionally difficult – 3 ½ miles of the absolute worst rocky road. We were about a mile away from out destination and we could go absolutely no further. So, we turned around and carefully treaded our way back to the main road. The kids were disappointed in the hike outcome and we headed back around the corner to the condo. Just before crossing the bridge, we turned down a side road beside the Animas River to see what we could find. We parked just off the road and walked a ways into the wooded area and headed down toward the water. It was a perfect “hike” for the kids. They waded through the rushing water and K went for a slippery “swim”. The slide and the hike were the highlights of the day.

Colorado Vacation (chapter 2)

We drove past Silverton and on to Ouray, CO along the Million Dollar Highway. Quite the perilous route! The white line on the side of the road in some places was the side of the cliff! This is the small town of Ouray.





The kids in front of the neat sign along the road outside of Ouray, CO.







We drove farther north just past Ouray to the small town of Ridgway, CO to eat at the True Grit Cafe. It was covered with John Wayne memorabilia. The cafe was built as a tribute to him as he had spent a great deal of time in the town filming the movie, "True Grit". There was a wall in the cafe that was a backdrop for part of the movie (the restaurant wasn't around at the time) and the park across the street was used in a hanging scene in the movie. It was a very picturesque little town. Made us want to go rent some old movies and see what it looked like way back when.


A & G at Haviland Lake. I accidentally deleted a great picture I'd uploaded (ugh!) of the lake with the mountains in the background (can't get it back, so I'll have to post it later).










K & S at Haviland Lake just north of Durango, CO. It was raining when we got there and so nice and cool. S & K did some fishing with Dad, but no one caught anything. It was peaceful fishing, though.








After fishing at Haviland Lake, we drove up to Durango Mountain Resort (formerly and soon-to-be-again "Purgatory") to see about playing Putt-Putt. It was late afternoon and it looked pretty deserted around there. We were walking up to the putting area to see if it was too late to play and couldn't find any place to get clubs or anything. There were some people just finishing their play and they said we could have their clubs if we fished some balls out of a water bucket (a stinky water bucket . . .). So, I guess we caught something afterall! Dad fished some balls out and he and the kids played while Mom took lots of putting pictures. G was funny as she just kind of scooted the ball around with her putter like in this picture. The club was actually a little big for her and being left-handed made the coordination a bit tricky for her (and us as we tried to help her putt left-handed!)

Dad made a hole-in-one here (so he says), but no one was with him at his hole to witness the event. A is putting in the foreground. Dad is standing in the background with his hands in the air. See the chair lifts up above?









Such great scenery and landscaping, so we had to take some fun pictures of the kids. This was such a pretty spot and made a cool picture! Too bad Mom and Dad aren't there - could be our Christmas pics!

Colorado Vacation (chapter 1)

After the disappointment of table-less, shade-less roadside parking areas (aka “Rest Stops”) coming out of Amarillo, we ventured into the small town of Vega. Visible from the interstate, we almost pulled into the 1st Baptist Church parking lot to sit under a shade tree and fix our picnic, but at Mom’s urging we drove just a few blocks farther into “town” – hoping to find a small park or something similar. Dad rolled his eyes, so we were turning around at the next intersection when we suddenly came upon a cute little (very little) historic-type building with a couple of picnic tables. Then just beyond that a very nice shaded gazebo in front of a larger old building (with a fall-out shelter sign on the front door . . .) Perfect – well except for the odd sign. As we got out of the van, the kids immediately spotted a sign they would have totally ignored had they not enjoyed the movie “Cars” several times over the past month.

We were picnicking right beside the historical Route 66. The kids thought that was so cool. There were small old buildings like in the movie and the kids were fascinated with the area. It was so similar to the movie with the interstate less than a mile away, yet the road and town were totally bypassed – except for the gas station and Dairy Queen right on the interstate service road, a must for any small town situated right beside a major interstate.

Shortly after our picnic in Vega, we entered the state of New Mexico! The kids were so excited!







G woke up the next morning in Albuquerque with "scary hairy" and K enjoyed making fun of her while Dad tried to take a picture of her.








We left Albuquerque and headed for the Rocky Mountains of southern Colorado. Of course, K was quick to point out that the kids beat Mom and Dad to Colorado since they were at the sign and we weren't there yet . . .





We stayed at the same condos (Cascade Village - between Durango & Silverton) where Mom and Dad stayed on the honeymoon almost 15 years ago - bigger accommodations were needed this time, of course. We had a great 3 bedroom/3 bath 2 story condo with a spectacular view. This doesn't do it justice, but here's a picture of the sun coming up the morning after our arrival. Dad loved the aspen tree right outside our balcony.


Our first full day in Colorado, we headed farther north toward Silverton and Ouray. Here are the kids at Molas Pass with Crystal Lake behind them.



Well, no more pictures to be uploaded to this post. I guess this will be "Chapter 1" of our little vacation story!

Last Swim pictures

Well, at least I got 6 pictures in that last post. I was stuck on 3 for several posts before that. I've got to figure out what is causing the problem I'm having where I can't upload more than 3 photos to a post. This messes up my orderliness!

Here are two more pictures of A's summer swimming. She competed in the Championship Meet for the Dallas Amateur Swimming Association and placed 1st in 3 events in her division as well as 4th in another event in her division. We were so proud of her! Her 3 first places allowed her the priviledge of competing in the All-Star meet last Monday. She was playing with the big guns there! Those girls were huge and fast! Most, I dare-say, had been swimming since they were 4 or 5. For A to be there competing with them after only one year of swim training was outstanding. She was disappointed in her "slow" finishes, but we were so glad that she didn't get discouraged and quit. She pushed hard to the end and did a great job. Oh, and at the DASA championship meet, her team won the big 1st place trophy for their division! They actually "ran away" with the trophy with the huge number of points they accrued! A and her 2 relay teams got to contribute to that win! It was a great experience for her and great to hear her disappointment that swim season was over even though she didn't win any of her usual blue ribbons at this last meet! She still wanted to keep on swimming.


Dad and A at the Championship Meet last week. Mom didn't get to go because she was in charge of the music camp going on at church during the same time that day. (What a disappointment to not be there to see A win her last 3 blue ribbons of the season!) Dad took pictures and videos so Mom got to see some of it. Dad was so proud of his little swimmer!




Not too much bubble eating this last day of the All-Stars, but they still had team spirit! They all wrote on each other's backs "Eat Our Bubbles". Must be a "swim" thing. There were some teams that had shirts with that logo - that and "Breathing is Overrated" . . . Swim humor?? :-)

More swimming pics

I think this is such a cool picture of A as she swims the breast stroke. She's all spread out under the water getting ready to come up for air in that strange position that I can't understand. Kind of frog-like. Some of these swimming strokes seem so bizarre - almost unnatural. I guess frogs are aquatic, though . . .


Continuing from the previous swimming post, A's coaches are gathering around her as she wins her IM (Individual Medley) event. She smoked the competition and was out of the pool before they even got close to finishing. It was amazing! We're so excited for A to find a sport she enjoys and excels at. Less than a week since the summer season ended and she's already missing swim practice! (Look at those little back muscles!)

A's start dive in the 25 yard free - she barely got 2nd (photo finish below), but you can tell she's getting better with her start dives. She's actually beginning the race with everyone else! Look how small she is! She's the oldest in her age bracket, too! She's moving up to the BIG girls next year . . .!!










Swimming the IM again - coming up for a breath in her breast stroke. She's going to work on her upper body strength this next year and getting a stronger breath and arm motion in the breast and butterfly. She's got great form for a "beginner" and needs to work on her upper body strength. Maybe Mom needs to work right along with her! Might even be able to convince me we need a pool in our backyard!



Here she is on her free sprint to the finish in her IM. She got 2nd behind a big tall girl that was younger than her! That's the only drawback for Audrey in this sport - she's vertically challenged so her arm is shorter when it comes to reaching out for that wall in a close finish! What she lacks in height, she's going to make up in form and speed!

Summer Swim Ends

A's summer of swim (practice and meets) has come to an end. She's glad for the break, but sad that it's over. We're glad she feels that way. She's had a lot of fun swimming with her team this summer and she's learned a lot over the past year that she's been involved with the sport. She earned 12 first place ribbons, 4 second place ribbons, 1 third place ribbon 1 fourth place ribbon and 1 fifth place ribbon this summer. Considering that a year ago she didn't know one stroke from another and she belly-flopped anytime she tried to dive into the pool (she would come out with a red front to prove that any time they worked on start dives!), that's an AWESOME start! She's already talking about where she's going to swim this fall and what she needs to improve on. As much as she had to drag herself out of bed some mornings for practice, she was always glad for that early morning swim to start her day. Wish I could have done that! Swimming was definitely NOT something I found appealing at any time in my life - not REAL swimming anyway! I'd rather have some sunscreen and a beach towel! Here are some highlight pictures of her swimming adventures.

A is the one still on the wall (blue swim cap) looking the same as she did before they blew the start whistle. She needed to work on her starts. HOWEVER, guess who won this race . . . hmmm, A DID!





A looks so focused and ready in this picture. She's getting ready to swim in the free relay. They had a good team and won 1st almost every time! Look at those little shoulder and back muscles she's working on!





This is an interesting picture. You see A in the foreground looking like she's going the opposite direction of everyone else? Well, she is. The funny thing is, she got a late start (recurring summer theme) and was actually behind everyone else. This was the IM (Individual Medley) where they swim butterfly, back stroke, breast and free - 25 yards of each. By the 3rd stroke (breast) she was almost half a pool length in FRONT of everyone else! This was her first time to do this event and she'd grudgingly agreed with Mom to do it since she hadn't done it before and needed to get a "time" for all the events. We didn't have to convince her to do it again . . .

More to follow - I'm only able to upload 3 pictures to this post, so the rest will have to follow in a subsequent post . . .

Two Wheels!

We've always told G she couldn't ride her bike in the street with the others as long as she had training wheels. So, for about the 3rd time, she convinced Dad to take her training wheels off her little bike so she could try again. (Since we are experienced in this area, we know that it's easier to learn to ride without training wheels on a bike that's just a bit too small . . .) Dad got into place with his running shoes behind G on the bike in the middle of the street heading in the slightly down-hill direction (another voice of experience talking there). At that point, had it been a dirt road, he would have been standing in little G's dust! She took off pedaling away on her little bike and left Dad standing in amazement in the middle of the street. We are officially a 2-wheeled family now. Maybe Mom can ride a little easier and enjoy the family bike rides a little more without the extra 40 pounds of child and seat attached to the back of her bicycle!


Video Hosting - Upload Video - Video Sharing

3 more blooms today!

We have 3 new blooms today on the Passion Vine! One is in the neighbors backyard where the vine has climbed up into their tree by the fence! I am just so in awe of these flowers!

It Bloomed!!

Mawmaw gave us a cutting from her Passion Flower Vine last summer. We planted it in the backyard and it took off vining across the fence into the neighbor's yard. No blooms, but lots of vines. We were hoping to get some blooms this summer. Mawmaw's has already started (nice humid south!). We were so excited when we got back from New York (post in progress) last week and found all these buds popping out. Too many to count! (those fat round green things below)














I looked earlier today to see how it was going and HAD to have missed this, because look what I found just before it got dark tonight!! (It was kind of hidden under one of the groups of leaves.) Isn't this the most amazing flower??!! I can't wait to see the rest of these buds all pop open!! I'm just amazed by the intricate blossom of this flower!! Unbelievable detail!

NYC - post #1

Mom and Dad just returned from a whirlwind trip to New York. I think we saw almost everything in 4 days! Brooklyn to Harlem and everything in between! We left the kids at Mawmaw and Pawpaw's house in Houston and flew out from there.



We stayed at the Crown Plaza in the United Nations area. (Once called Tudor City.) Our hotel was small and quaint - only 6 rooms on our floor! We had a great terrace (biggest on our floor) that looked out over rooftop gardens in nearby apartments. From our terrace, we could see the UN Building and the East River about where the Queens Midtown Tunnel came across under the river.

After we got to the hotel, we changed into serious walking shoes and headed out to tour the city. We walked about 50 blocks (felt like it!) to the Empire State Building. I would say it was our first "stop", but we actually stopped at lots of places between here and there enjoying some freedom without counting kids every 2 minutes to make sure no one had wandered off. :-)


We got to the top of the Empire State Building and Dad suddenly got "wobbly legs" and couldn't go near the edge of the building to look out. He's only half-kidding in this picture. Mom took lots of pictures of the city as far as we could see.

Here's a picture of Upper Manhattan. The green area in the middle is a small piece of Central Park. To the left of that is the Upper West Side and beyond that is Harlem. (You'll want to click on the picture to enlarge it.)

Dancing Diva . . . ?

This was a scary evening for Dad. G had her dance recital tonight - in full costume and make up. Well, as full make up as Mom would allow anyway. We did discover that her eyelashes are extremely long - touching her glasses with a touch of mascara to enhance. Her class did a great job (for an intro group). They all knew the routine and only looked at each other occassionally to get back on track. G looked so sparkly and glowing up there on the stage with her sequins in the light. She thought about not wearing her glasses for the dance, but forgot about that thought until after the fact. She blamed Mom for forgetting . . . She liked looking pretty, but the getting ready wasn't her favorite part. Especially since she had to do it twice today. She had pictures and rehearsal at noon today and then the recital this evening. Mom insisted on a nap (since she didn't dance until almost 9pm!) and then the play in the sprinkler in the backyard incurred the necessity to shower, re-roll and wait for more curls to appear in her fine, thin, straight hair.

Her class did a number from "Chicago", so they had the "can can" look to their costume. Dad brought her flowers and Mom almost forgot to take pictures of her tonight. (Mom took TONS this afternoon at rehearsal - like this one.)

K insisted he get his picture taken with G and her flowers. He looked so proud of his little sister. The flash didn't work (and Dad was beyond ready to go), so the picture didn't come out great, but it was so sweet how much K wanted to stand next to G for a picture. Have to cherish those moments while we have them!! On the way home, K was checking G's lipstick for her to make sure it wasn't smeared. She must have wiped her face, because she said something about messing up her makeup and K turned his light on in the van to help her check and make sure it was still ok. Mom had to laugh, but it was such a sweet moment.

True Cajun!

Mom was shocked to hear the slurp from the girl in the orange shirt sitting beside her! Yes, S was sucking the crawfish head as she peeled and ate boiled crawfish Dad cooked last night! Mawmaw would have been so proud of her Cajun offspring! She was still peeling, sucking and eating today at lunch as she and Dad shared cold leftovers. Mom and A had leftover cold potatoes and corn on the cob, but the crawfish were all for Dad and S!


Kyle & Kim came over to help with the 29 pounds of crawfish. Kyle was still sitting at the table eating but Mom wanted to get a picture of the mess on the table. This was the 2nd half of the peeled mess.


Dad was preparing for the boiling and K had to get his apron on so he could help, too. Mom told them to stand together and hold a crawfish for a picture. K was afraid it was going to pinch him if he held it, so Dad had to hold it for him. Of course, later on, he was chasing all the girls around the backyard with a live crawfish - guess he got over his squeamishness of holding the wriggly crawfish in his hand . . .

End OR Beginning?

Isn't this just so sweet!? Squint just a little and you can see 13 years down the road . . . Oh, that's just too much to think about! It's been a full week with one more to go. Mom finally and reluctantly took G's kinder registration papers up to the school. G had her 5th birthday. G graduated from preschool - twice (let's just rub it in!) due to the two different programs she's part of at the church. This weekend is her ballerina birthday party. Next week K graduates from Kindergarten and A graduates from 5th grade. G has her last two days of preschool next week and then Mom's done with that era of life. Too many endings at one time!!!! Or is that too many beginnings at one time!?!?

Recital time

This is so cool! I just saw this kind of thing on my cousin's site and had this from A's recital last night. Dad's out of town, so I took a short MPEG for him to see A's voice recital. I was too far back in the Chapel to get a clear shot and the wiggly 4 year old on my lap makes the visual even worse, so you'll have to listen more than watch. Here's a better picture of her singing.




S was so glad to be through with her recital. She played first and that was good. She wanted so badly to get through with it. Her instructor made a neat CD recording of her playing several pieces during her lessons this semester. She started taking piano halfway through the semester after begging for several weeks to take lessons again. She enjoys sitting down at the piano and piddling around. She played her piece perfectly, but she'd rather play in the privacy of her own home than the huge platform of the worship center at the church on the Steinway. Where did she get that??

Not to be left out!

Ok, some long awaited pictures and stories on K! T-ball season has finally started and K's getting more and more into the game. Still some dirt kicking and goofing off on the field, but balls are being hit and caught more this season. Actually, he caught one with his face last week. Fly ball almost stayed in his glove, but it just bounced out and landed on his cheek. He wasn't too keen on that catch . . .




On the flip side, K played "Yankee Doodle" tonight in his piano recital. It was a sweet duet with his piano instructor. He played perfectly and the two of them looked cute sitting there on the bench together. He has a great instructor who is so patient with K's energetic disposition.


Click on this picture of K to see it up close - notice his tongue sticking out in concentration . . .

Big Hair!

G’s dance class performed tonight at the Relay for Life, so we had to fix her hair all up. “Half up, half down with soft curls” – Ha!!

The “soft curls” part was a real stretch for us, so she spent all afternoon in rollers. She played and ran around the backyard and didn’t let it slow her down. Obviously, the rollers held well! Here’s the “before” picture as the rollers were taken out. I teased and sprayed her hair in hopes of keeping the body and curl as long as possible. She looks like she’s wearing a wig!




Here’s the “after” picture once her hair was fixed and ready to leave. She was TOO excited about the big hair. They decided this week not to wear the costumes so no one’s would get messed up before recital. One of the other moms brought matching pink ribbons for all the girls. They looked so cute and they actually remembered most of their dance and did really well in front of the audience. Unbelievably, the hair held ("got 2 be Glued" hairspray!) and after walking the race track twice and hanging out for an hour outside at the relay, her hair looked almost the same when we got home! She had so much fun and enjoyed her big hair!

Showering out all the glue - now that's another story . . .