Mini-Vacation Day 2

The morning of Day 2 we enjoyed breakfast in the castle, and a cool walk. The weather warmed up a bit towards the afternoon.

Unfortunately, David had to make a run back to Denver to pay a ticket! We really hated that!! While he was gone, though, the girls and I took a tour of the castle. Palmer was a very ingenuitive man, and it was really interesting to learn about his life and the way he built this spectacular home. The fire prevention mechanisms he put in a hundred years ago are still up to code and very much usable today. He designed the chimneys in a way that reduced the amount of smoke in and near the home. He had hothouses for fruits and vegetables, his own creamery (he is suspected to be the first man to use pasteurization in Colorado, learned about the process on a trip to France where he visited Louis Pasteur himself!) for his daughter, who suffered from tuberculosis, he had ingenuitive ways of building things and using things in and around the property. I think he must have been a man of truly superior intelligence.

I also got some really good pictures of the girls enjoying the castle's gardens.

Glen Eyrie Castle

Lilacs were everywhere!! The whole place was filled with the scent of them!

Part of the Carriage House

The "Music Room"

Detail of the wall embellishments in the Music Room.

The solarium attached to his youngest daughter's bedroom, so that the dry Colorado air might help her with her illness.

There were a couple of fairies in the gardens even...

We got to see some Bighorn Sheep! They were looking shabby with their winter coats shedding off, but it was still quite impressive to see them for the first time.

And several little bunnies enjoying the green grass.

On the way to Savelli's, a really great pizza/pasta joint in Manitou, (where we ordered an artichoke and sun dried tomato pizza-the girls were unimpressed...) we spotted this gas station sign. I HAD to take a picture, and managed to hold it steady despite my chuckling.

Then headed to Cave of the Winds! Which, despite our time living in Colorado Springs, we had never seen! Despite my figuring out that I suffer from mild claustrophobia, (I was borderline miserable in there), it was very educational and interesting, and a lot of fun. The history of the place most interested me (of course) and the girls loved the guide we had. I was impressed that Alecia was able to answer many of the questions he asked us, including 'Who was Atlas?' Well, Alecia knew that from our recent study of Greek culture! Zana found it very interesting too, and was most interested in the bats and other creatures that called the cave home. The most fun for her was running ahead into the dark parts of the caves, and the scary delight she had! It is fun to be scared sometimes! A cave is not the ideal place for a picture, so I didn't get many good ones.



This is a picture of the original road to the cave, used back in the day when it took a full day to explore the cave, and cost a full day's wage to pay your guide. Early cave visitors would have to scale the rocky mountainside below to reach the cave entrance before scaling down into the cave and spending many hours underground with candles and lanterns. Yikes! I have become quite positive that it would take me less than one hour to begin to lose my mind....

Mini-Vacation Day 1

We took a mini-vacation! We spent a few days at Glen Eyrie in Colorado Springs. It was absolutely beautiful and just what we needed. It has been a long time since we have had any kind of vacation as a family.

The first day, we went to our favorite Colorado Springs destination, Palmer Park. We love Palmer Park. It's a special place for us. It's the first park we ever visited in Colorado, and the place the girls learned how to climb rocks. We visit Palmer Park every time we visit the Springs.

After that we went to Glen Eyrie to check in, and headed out to Edelweiss Restaurant. It is a very genuine German restaurant, and we all enjoyed the experience. Wasn't really sure what David thought of the food, but the girls loved the Spatzle! I had to take a picture of the really cute photograph in the bathroom.

Then we picked up a couple of games to play, and spent the night playing Jenga, or something like it anyway. We hit the sack early so that we could make the most out of the next day!

Botanic Gardens

What a beautiful day for the Botanic Gardens! Even though there were tornadoes going on up north at the very same time we were there. It was nice where we were, thank goodness.

We joined our Workshop crew at the gardens and enjoyed a fun time with flowers, water and bugs, and we also sketched some flowers too. The gardens are one of my favorite Denver destinations, along with the branch at Chatfield where you can visit an old farmhouse, an old one room school house and many animals, plants and bugs. Denver is really a city that makes the most of it's outdoor attractions.

Soda Creek Llamas

Llamas, llamas everywhere, and not one will eat our hay!!

We visited Soda Creek Llamas, and learned more than we'd ever hoped to learn about these furry friendly creatures from the owners, Jim and Marta Haas. Their llamas were very sweet and gentle, and the kids loved attempting to feed them, but they really weren't very hungry. Well, atleast the girls weren't.

Jim was a very knowledgeable and easy to talk to kind of a guy. He answered all of our many questions. Marta was just charming! She is from Switzerland, and is very smart, warm and outgoing, and I could just listen to her for hours. She was a very bright woman, and had all sorts of ideas about everything, from using the llama's fiber to using the llama's manure! She taught us all about the fiber made from the llama's hair and showed us some of the wonderful scarves she has created. Llama fiber is a very useful material and I'd love to try some knitting with it. She talked about felting too, which I am already mesmerized with. I'd love to try it! She also offered all the llama manure we wanted! Which is actually quite an offer...we are working on a community garden plot, and also a lettuce patch at home. We had the blessing of having dad with us, and in David's usual fashion, he was full of questions and thoughts we didn't even think of. He's alway great to have around on these kind of field trips!

What I loved best was her beautiful home, custom built just as if it had been built in Switzerland. She had a solarium which was gorgeous, I could just live in it. Beautiful baskets of flowers with blossoms just spilling over the sides. I told David someday I'd love a home like that!

Spring Soccer Finale!

What a great 6 weeks of soccer we've had!! Monday, we had our final game for spring and received our awards. The kids gave it their all, but that heat was really getting to them. We start T-Ball here in a couple of weeks, and we are really excited about that! Yay for Heather for stepping up to the plate (so to speak...lol) and putting all this together. You rock!! :)

Indian Pow-wow

At The Fort! The girls enjoyed exploring teepees, learning about Native American culture and many of their crafts and customs. We also learned about their respect for wildlife, and some of the birds that they considered sacred. We watched traditional dances, but I think what was best of all was the sounds of their chants and their drums. It sounded almost magical echoing across the valleys between the foothills and the hogbacks. Very educational! The girls, of course, loved the birds, especially the eagle and the owl.

Mornin' Chores!

What fun it was, feeding the goats and the horse! We had a "Mornin' Chores" co-op with our homeschool group, and we got to learn lots about what it takes to take care of farm animals, what their purposes are and what kind of an appetite they have! And what the girls thought was most fun? (Well, besides getting to ride the horse...) Shoveling manure! It was loads of fun. In fact, when they got home, they pretended to shovel manure in the driveway! Ahhh....if only it worked for the catbox. Not quite the same joy. :)

Getting wet!

On the banks of the S.Platte! You can tell by the red toes that the water wasn't very warm...

Budgie Update!

At 4 weeks!!

Budgie Update

Here is one of our budgie babies at about 3 weeks old!

We enjoyed ice skating on the 9th of May. I say we, I mean the girls. I have tried ice skating once, and despite my expertise roller skating, I can't handle the ice! I hurt all over after that! So I just watched the girls. They had fun and started really getting the hang of it after about 30 minutes. Here is Alecia and her good (and patient) friend!

May Day Celebration

This week at workshop we made May Day boquets, but the highlight of the day for the kids was playing in the rain. Everyone got wet and enjoyed a spring shower, took of their shoes and ran around like....well like little kids!

Bird Update

Here are our three birds. I doubt we will have more. They are really growing fast! They grow a little more every day. We have begun picking them up and handling them just a bit, so that they can be used to human hands and aware that we are not going to harm them. They are starting to be a little bit cuter!

Hiking at Dinosaur Ridge

We are so thrilled that spring is here and hiking weather has returned!!

The girls and I went to Dinosaur Ridge to explore. Alecia is always so brave with rock climbing. I can't deny that comes from her dad teaching her to be unafraid and in control of your movements at all times when you are on a rock! She really has gotten good!

There is a great view of Red Rocks from Dinosaur Ridge, and is near Matthews/Winters where I found the Judy grave. Here is a view of the landscape between Red Rocks and Matthews/Winters.