Fall Break

Well fall break has come and gone. The kids had 2 weeks off of school. It is hard to believe that they started back in the beginning of August, and here it is almost November. We enjoyed the time off. We took one week to vacation up in the mountains near Wyoming. We rented a cabin and the first day we hiked and enjoyed the relatively warm air. The next morning we woke up to snow!!!!!!! We spent much of the rest of the week in the hot tub, playing cards/board games, and watching Harry Potter movies. We enjoyed playing in the woods and climbing all of the massive rocks. At one point we were out on a deserted trail and went off to climb this huge collection of rocks. When we got to the top MBJ said, "I just saw an animal run into that cave". I asked him what it looked like and he said "It has 4 legs", he also said it was as big as a dog, so we hurried out of there :) There are mountain lions and bears and all kinds of things here whose den I wouldn't want to wander into.

We took Sunny with us and she really enjoyed chasing chipmunks from rock to rock. I swear they were taunting her all week. We didn't see any bears or moose, but we did hear coyotes in the evening. We were advised not to let Sunny out by herself in the evening or morning, she might wander into something unfriendly...yikes!!

It's a tie!

They both opened at the same time! Hahah. Now I, personally, had no interest in heading out to ski ONE RUN at either place. But kudos to all who did :)

Update!

Loveland has upped the ante and is still in the running, they said they would open a half an hour BEFORE A-basin on Wed...A-basin replied by saying they too would open earlier...hahaha, I guess we'll have to tune in tomorrow AM :D

Life

So last week we had field trips. Emma's class went to the capital and to the history museum. They had a good time and Emma came home with lots of facts that I've forgotten, she has a memory for that stuff like my dad. MBJ's class went to a pumpkin farm. It was really neat. The kids each got a bag and could pick their own veggies out of the ground and load up. MBJ picked potatoes and carrots, which I cooked with dinner last night and they were awesome. One striking difference about pumpkin farms out here as opposed to the ones in Ohio is the mountains in the backdrop. I'm still enjoying taking it all in each day.

And fall break started on Friday, no school for over 2 weeks! We are enjoying being lazy in the mornings and playing with friends. We saw City of Ember this weekend, which was a pretty cool movie. We liked it. We also got some new ski duds. Emma way outgrew last years gear, so we got some new pants and a coat. They had gotten new skis right when we got out here. I can hardly believe it's even time to think about this stuff, but A-basin is opening tomorrow with Loveland (where we are going to get passes) not far behind.

And for those of you who have never been out here, no...it's not really cold here. It's still into the 50-60 range during the day and in the 30-40 range at night. But the mountains are always colder. AND the sun is so darn warm here that in the 50's you can feel roasty if you are not in the shade. I think we have had more sunny days here than when I lived in Florida.

And beyond that, I'll be off to the library today. We are starting our master bath remodel and I want to get some good ideas before I commit to a plan. Colors, tile sizes and design layouts, etc. Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehaw!

GO MARTY JR!!

MBJ learned to ride his 2 wheeler! He was hesitant for a long time and it finally occurred to me to take him to a more open space (our sidewalks are narrow)...duh! He just started riding all on his own!

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!

Fall!

Fall is here, and it is really terrific weather here. It's really cool overnight. During the day we're still into the 60's-70's and enjoying the sunshine. This weekend we went out to Golden Gate Cayon park to hike and enjoy the colors. From here in Parker, it looks like someone splashed gold randomly across the front range. So cool. The aspens are so vivid yellow, I'm really glad we got out to get some pictures, because snow is moving into the mountains!!

We had a great hike. We are still just picking random trails. We chose one that happened to be classified "difficult" and started out. It was a cloudy day so we didn't want to get stuck out too far. We figured if it was too tough or started raining, we could turn back or catch another trail. Well it didn't seem tough so we just kept going forward. We were probably 1 to 1.5 miles in and up before we realized we might want to get onto an easier trail. There were segments of rock scrambling and just extreme elevations. Sunny could be a mountain climber I swear. The kids too. At this point we figured we would trudge on to the next connection (about 3 miles from the start, keep in mind this is all a climb), so we did. It got really insane at points and we lost the trail a few times. You could hear the rain a couple mountains away and it got really cold and the wind kicked up. Whoopsie! After about 6 miles of covering the mountain from bottom to top to back down again, we were finished. It took about 4 hours. Our kids did not complain once. Emma is really a machine on the mountains, she just races on ahead and we are always reigning her back to us. MBJ loves taking the harder path just to challenge himself. I, was freaking exhausted by the time we got back to the car.

Hiking Pics

A few pics from out hike at Chautauqua park 2 weeks ago. It was a gorgeous day with awesome views whichever way we looked. We hiked up and out for awhile and the trail got trickier and trickier.

As we went on the edge of the trail was pretty much a cliff. The kids were troopers and didn't fret. Too much fun to be had.

Eventually we were essentially rock climbing and decided it was time to turn around. MBJ had just come down the trail in this last picture and I had to take a shot to show what kinds of trails we have been hiking. The kids are doing great and learning so much about the great outdoors!

And it was the first time Sunny experienced getting a cactus stuck on her paw. She didn't even notice. I saw it and pulled it out, it was in there good. But in true Chesapeake form, she didn't make a peep, there was work to be done...a trail to conquer!

Proud Mamma

I am so proud of my kids. They rock. I'm getting into the swing of volunteering at EB and MB's classes each week. I get to see them regularly in class and interact with them on a different level. They really dig school. They are doing really well, participate a lot, and are having a great time. We had PTK conferences this week. Here kids are req'd to come to their PT conferences and are encouraged to participate, ask ?s, discuss goals and how they feel they are doing, etc. I love how interactive the school is with parents and kids. The kids are req'd to set goals and are active participants in evaluating their progress. Far stretch from the OLHC curriculum set for us back in the dizzle.
But beyond how much I like the school and staff, I am just so happy my kids are digging school. They always did, but with the move I didn't know what to expect. Not only from the school, but from them. They are handling the transition beautifully and I am really proud of them!

Say what?

Yesterday I was reading an article which stated that mothers generally have a favorite child, and just don't want to admit it. Huh? For real? That's really appalling to me. And the article implies that we SHOULD admit that we prefer one child over another! Sure, kids go through phases where they are easier to get along with than at other times, but to secretly favor one child over another really makes me angry. For parents who grow up fostering a closer relationship with one child over another, and rationalize to themselves that it's the child's "fault" or "choice" (she doesn't need me as much as her sister or he is just fine on his own), shame on them. Not only is that thinly veiled delusion, but what it does to the unfavored child is irreparable. As human beings we ALL seek a close bond with our parents. Imagine seeing someone you are seeking love and acceptance from give their time and attention primarily to someone else. It's going to have an effect all right. I guess we can decide that it's the best we can do but that is a complete cop out in my opinion. I don't hope to do better, I will do better. I have never loved one of my children more than the other. Do I cherish different qualities in them? Absolutely! But I will always give of myself equally to both of my kids. Not because it's fair, but because I couldn't imagine it any other way.