2012 Wrap Up

Hot Dog's version of "Bald Mama"

I wish I could do this year over.  I wish that I could have been healthy and involved for this last year of my children's lives.  My kiddos have not invented a time machine yet (although I'm told they're working on it).
I can't have this year back.
 So.
Thank God this year is over.
Sincerely.
Cancer treatment just sucks.

That aside, we also had some good times.  In spite of how I felt a good deal of the time, with the help of Firelord, friends, and family, we managed to get out and about.  It's was not as much as we would usually do, but still, much more than I would have expected. I'm writing this post to remind myself of those good times.

Bit Boy got braces - on and off - in 4 months.  We were all glad it was such a short treatment.

Bit Boy joined the Civil Air Patrol and earned his Eagles Wings, then decided that, as interested as he is in flying, the military bent was too much for his taste.  I was proud of him for sticking it out as long as he did and giving it a fair shot.

Firelord and Hot Dog in Geall

 We got to kayak and sail just a tiny bit at Boyd Lake and Horsetooth Reservoir.

Lego Kid and Hot Dog finally got their wish to go fishing.  We dragged Bit Boy, our near vegetarian, along.  Sadly he was the one who actually got a fish, much to his horror.
We were doing catch and release.  I promise the fish was fine.  Had Lego Kid been the one to catch it, we may have been eating sushi then and there, despite the lack of wasabi.

We got to foster some of the cutest kittens on the planet.  I'd have to go back and count but I'm pretty sure we've had more than 20 in just the last year.






We did lots of field trips
(many of which are worth doing again)
Celestial Seasonings
The U.S. Mint
Homeschool Day at Elich Gardens
Casa Bonita (might not need to do that again)
The Butterfly Pavilion
The Denver Zoo
2 different air shows - Warbirds Over the Rockies and the Wild West Air Fest
Yellowstone National Park
Harvest Farm Fall Festival
The DaVinci Machine Exhibit


This was the first year in a long time that I saw more performances than I was in.
Cirque du Soleil (Dralion w/ just Firelord, and Quidam w/ the kids)
Peter Pan
A Year with Frog and Toad

Winter Wishes Ice Show
A Musical Christmas Carol
Gift of the Magi




Yup, it was a hard year, but there were some very good times too.

Thanks to my family and friends, and especially Firelord, we got through it.

Here's to hoping for a healthy and happy 2013

Yellowstone!

Whee!  We just got back from a fabulous road trip to Yellowstone.  We met up with family, a cousin and her kids that stair step in with my younger two. It was planned, and reservations made, well before my cancer diagnosis, and I'm so glad we got to go, slipping this trip in between chemo treatments.
Here was something that I remembered from my first trip to Yellowstone - Bison always have right of way.

Yellowstone is a magical place to me. I've been there at least 3 times before this, and each time is different and special.  I was looking forward to seeing it through my kid's eyes, but mostly they were full of excitement and sillies because they got to meet up with some favorite cousins.  It's wild beauty was a bit lost on them.  :-D

Old Faithful just after noon

When you go to Yellowstone you will see a lot of this-  crowds around the most popular sites.  You'll have to put up with typical tourist behavior, but it's worth it to see things that just don't exist anywhere else in the world.   Don't miss the famous spots just to avoid the crowds, just get up early.

With just a little effort you find treasures that will make it your own special place.  My cousin did a little hunting and found a place where a hot river met a cold river and made a warm bathing spot.  Although this "hidden" gem was one we had to share with many other people, it was one of the highlights of our trip.






And if you are willing to just walk for 10 or 15 minutes on a well beaten trail, you can suddenly find yourself all alone, with not a soul in sight, surrounded by wild flowers, and the big blue Wyoming sky topping the vast horizon.

Of course, if you venture on to the less traveled paths, you have to be willing to deal with what you find there.  On this walk it was a couple of male bison on either side of the path on our return.  Despite one teen's great desire to get up close and personal with said bison, and much discussion on how one should best retreat from a charging bison, we discreetly choose a different path back to our car. 

 

The Bison on the path not taken

Steamboat

One of the silver linings with this new health diagnosis is that I don't feel very guilty about a few indulgences. Since I can't get too far from home for the next few months, one of the indulgences we are looking into are weekend getaways for the family.

Last weekend Firelord got us a condo for a couple of nights in Steamboat Springs. The condo didn't cost very much more than a hotel room, and we got to have an extra bedroom for the kids, two bathrooms, and a kitchen to cook in. We didn't ski. Not only was I not up to it (having had a minor surgery the day before) but they hadn't had new snow for over 2 weeks, and the slopes were icy. Not great for inexperienced skiers.

So if you can't ski in a ski town, what else can you do in Steamboat? If it were summer, we could have had some amazing hikes. If it were summer, we could have camped! But, it's still winter up there, and I'm a weather wuss (no winter camping for me). So we checked out the Old Town Hot Springs. Lots of different pools and hot tubs made this visit worthwhile. Had we had more time and energy we would have come back 4-8 pm when the big slides were open. After swimming (wading for me since I wasn't allowed to get the surgical site wet) we went to lunch at Jonny B Good's. The food was generous servings of basic diner food, but the milkshakes were excellent. Walking around town, our find was the Steamboat Hat Shop.

A camera, kids, and a hat shop make for no end of fun.

When he first saw this hat/scarf combo, Bit Boy exclaimed "Poor Ewok!" :-D

It was lovely to have some family time while I'm still relatively healthy feeling. Steamboat is now associated with fond memories.
Hot Dog cried when we had to leave " Can we come back here again? When can we come back?"
"Yes, sweetheart. We can come back here again, soon."

Colorado fieldtrips

Yesterday's visit to the Colorado State legislature has totally got me psyched about doing more field trips. Also, we've realized we've only got 3 more months with our exchange student, and we really haven't shown him enough (read "any") of Colorado beyond Fort Collins.

I've got a list of ideas, but I'm sure I'm missing some things. Can you make suggestions in the comment section of this post? And how to prioritize? Since he has to go to school, there's not enough time to get it all in!

Rocky Mountain National Park
Estes Park


Denver:
Butterfly Pavilion
Hammond's Candy tour
Capitol Building tours
U.S. Mint tour
Downtown Aquarium
Denver Zoo (we did the zoo lights, but a lot of the animals were asleep!)
Denver Museum of Nature and Science
Denver Art Museum (we did the King Tut exhibit, but didn't have time to explore much)
Denver Botanic Gardens
16th Street Mall/Larimer Square/Tabor Center

Boulder:
Celestial Seasonings tour
Pearl Street Mall

Colorado Springs:
Cave of the Winds
Garden of the Gods
Air Force Academy Tour

Too far/wrong season, so we probably won't make it there with our exchange student but we'd still like to take the kids some year soonish:

Dinosaur National Monument
Mesa Verde National Park
Yellowstone National Park

Hmm... now I see part of the problem. We have our student for the school year. The weather, combined with his busy fall tennis season and regular school, just didn't give us as many options as we have in the summer and homeschooling year around.

What we did this Presidents Day

Having an exchange student has opened some doors for us. Today I mean that literally.

Upon meeting our exchange student, our local state senator offered to host us for a day during the regular legislative session. This, being a day off school, and the Colorado State legislature being in session, was the day.

Anyone can go to the public galleries and watch the legislative session. I can not recommend the experience highly enough. We got the special treat of being hosted by a senator. It felt like a huge honor to be allowed onto the Senate floor sitting just behind our senator. He and his aid were generously on hand to explain what was happening. Other guests lined the cavernous room as we listened to 3rd and 2nd readings of today's bills. We also sat in on a committee meeting, joining other citizens while 6 senators discussed SB11-079 and heard public testimony. Although I'm sure I missed a lot of what was happening, especially on the floor, what I saw was fascinating. You can read about the legislative process, and you can even watch it on T.V. But there is absolutely nothing like being there.

I know my husband and I learned a lot today, but I don't know how much the kids will understand and retain. Certainly our exchange student couldn't catch everything that was said, since even my Colorado-born-and-raised ears were challenged. This was such a positive experience that I want to repeat it as the kids get older. Maybe every year on Presidents Day? :-)

So, for those who want more practical details:

We drove for an hour to get to the Colorado State Capitol Building, listening to "The History of US" on the way. That certainly helped put us in the right state of mind. There was paid parking close by, so we had an easy walk to the building.

Upon entering we went through security, just like at an airport, except we got to keep our shoes on. After we found the public restrooms (did I mention that drive?), we went to the senate floor where a Sergeant at Arms had our names and took us in to our senator. We got there at 10am, and listened until 11:15am. At that point the 6yo was pretty much done, so we left for lunch. The senators usually go until ~12pm, break for lunch and then head to committee at 1:30.

We had enough time to walk to the 16th Street Mall and catch the free bus to take us close to the Wyncoop Brewery, and still make it back in time to get to the committee meetings.

Doing this made us want more. There are 3 different tours offered of the Capitol building. Hopefully we'll get to take a couple before our exchange student leaves. Maybe we could add a tour of the Denver Mint while we're there!